when i saw lauren bacall do cactus flower on broadway and i never dream that one day i would see an actress like ingrid bergman play the bacall role on screen . but here ingrid really let her hair down for some good comedy moment a the dental nurse pretending to be walter matthau wife so he can go on with the fib he tell goldie hawn . it a story play for laugh from begin to end and good humor stuff that never run out of dry humor and wit throughout it running time . there be plenty of one liner or gag that be way above the usual situation comedy stuff one hears on tv the line ring true because they blend so well with the character and their motif . a the daffy girl who contemplate ( in the beginning ) commit suicide over her unhappy affair with matthau and goldie hawn ( fresh from her day a a star on tv laugh in ) do a dumb blonde role to perfection . easy to see why she win that support actress oscar . ingrid be surprisingly fetch in a rare comedy role and although there be time when she seem just a bit too matronly for the part . at any rate and she a surprising choice to play the nurse who put on a freeze act at the office but be considerably warm off duty . a goldie next door neighbor and igor and rick lenz acquit himself admirably and and make a suitable match for her in that final scene . matthau play the kind of character that become his stock in trade in all those neil simon role he have a lovable cad who get catch up in his own mess when he tell lie after lie . it the kind of rib tickle comedy that will have you laugh out loud at some of the amusing line that abe burrow and i. a. l. diamond have manage to scrap together and base on a french farce .