MAN'S FAVORITE SPORT?
Man's Favorite Sport (Howard Hawks, 1964) is a key film in the Auteur Theory, which recognizes the director as the chief architect of a film despite the collaborative nature of cinema. An argument of auteur critics is that the signature of a director (the director's personality) is more important than how good the film is. The worst film by an auteur is better than the best film by a mere "director" (a metteur-en-scene: someone who just translates a book to the screen, however well).
In this case the auteur is Howard Hawks. He achieved legendary status among auteur critics yet was almost invisible among mainstream critics during his best years, eclipsed by directors who made "prestige" films based on major literary works but who left no signature in their films. But Hawks, auteur critics discovered, left a visible signature in all his films and a personality. Persistent themes and a style could be traced in them.
Among his dramas critics discovered the theme of the masculine group united in a dangerous adventure. A woman was allowed in after accepting masculine standards.
The comedies focused on the irrational war between the sexes. These are called screwball comedies, with fast ripostes, farcical incidents involving sexual humiliation, and a reversal of expectations (the hostile couple united at the end).
In terms of style, Hawks preferred an eye-level camera (no fancy angles), overlapping dialogue, invisible editing, and functional camera movements such as follow shots.
The problem with Man's Favorite Sport is it's Hawksian but not funny. It shows the hero, Roger, secure in his masculine environment (a sports store), humiliated by women.
Mise-en-scene often shows two women (Abigail and her friend, Easy) in dominant positions, laughing at the male hero's ineptitude at a masculine sport (fishing). They initiate the comic encounters throughout the film, until the end, when Roger initiates the final development, insuring closure (the hectored male regains control to a more balanced degree).
Hawks uses wardrobe changes and props (fishing gear and outfits, fish, pajamas, a bath towel, an arm cast, and tools used to break it) for comic effect. Scenes are scripted to show the male at a disadvantage with women and even men, as when Roger is in his pajamas.
The problem is, though thematically and stylistically Hawksian, the film lacks distinction. Though a comedy, it's not funny, though some have found it so.
A comparison of this film with Hawks' great comedies, such as Bringing Up Baby, Twentieth Century, His Girl Friday, I Was a Male War Bride, and Monkey Business will show the difference. Most notable is its slow pace compared to the earlier screwball comedies. Also missing is the overlapped dialogue typical of Hawks' comedies.
More seriously, Rock Hudson is awkward as Roger. His conception and execution of the part are wrong. He reads his lines as if he were in a drama instead of a comedy. Paula Prentiss, as Abigail (Abby), is good but her character is poorly written and unmotivated
The poor script shows how important good writing is, even to an auteur. The dialogue is not funny and the incidents contrived. They seem imposed on the characters rather than developing naturally from their motives. This is true from the first sequence, where Abby steals Roger's parking space. The dialogue should sparkle but fizzles.
Comic incidents are predictable. A fish caught in the pants. Roger upside down in the water or victimized by an inflatable suit. A bear riding a bicycle. A Caucasian pretends to be an Indian.
But the film is important as a late work by one of Hollywood's most celebrated filmmakers, a hero of French auteur critics such as Francois Truffaut. It's a model of mise-en-scene, whether successful or not, since comedy, more than drama, requires an ostensive use of props, wardrobe changes, and blocking (proxemics).
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