An ad for this alleged comedy steamily announces that after viewing The Secret Life of an American Wife, "You'll breeze through any test from Elementary Enticement to Advanced Fun and Games."
Like its promotion, the picture is witless and pointless. Worse, it is also sexless. In the title role of a bored sub urban housewife, Anne Jackson prattles endlessly to the camera about love and commuting, but never manages to make a connection with the audience or her fellow players. As an oversated movie-star seducer, Walter Matthau—unglamorous, unamorous and unfunny —galumphs around with his shirt off, revealing a physique as saggy as the script. A busy actor these days, Matthau also stars in a current box-office hit, The Odd Couple (TIME, May 3). Thus, in a single season, he has touched the top and scraped the bottom.