The Facts of Life

The Facts of Life is a 1960 romantic comedy starring Bob Hope and Lucille Ball as married people who have an affair. Written, directed and produced by longtime Hope associates Melvin Frank and Norman Panama, the film is more serious than many other contemporary Hope vehicles. The film features an opening animated title sequence created by Saul Bass. The film was nominated for five Academy Awards, winning one for Best Costume Design (for Edith Head and Edward Stevenson). Lucille Ball was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Actress – Comedy. Plot As the yearly vacation of six neighbors, the Gilberts, Masons and Weavers, approaches, Kitty Weaver and Larry Gilbert find themselves frustrated with the routine. When their spouses are kept away from the vacation, Kitty and Larry find themselves alone in Acapulco, with the Masons bedridden with illness. Forced together, Kitty and Larry fall in love. However, when the vacation is over, they face difficulties deciding whether to continue the romance. They can't bear seeing each other at their usual social activities, without being together. This leads to a rendezvous at the drive-in movie, where they are recognized, followed by a botched visit to a local motel with humorous consequences. They arrange a weekend together in Monterey, and Kitty leaves behind a note for Jack telling him she is leaving him. The bungalow with a leaky roof rented by Larry becomes the backdrop for their gradual realization that leaving their families is much more complicated, and Larry and Kitty are much less compatible than they thought. The result is a madcap race back home to retrieve Kitty's breakup note before her husband Jack reads it. Cast Bob Hope as Larry Gilbert Lucille Ball as Kitty Weaver Ruth Hussey as Mary Gilbert Don DeFore as Jack Weaver Louis Nye as Hamilton Busbee Philip Ober as Doc Mason Marianne Stewart as Connie Mason Hollis Irving as Myrtle Busbee