The War Between Men and Women

The War Between Men and Women is a 1972 American comedy-drama film directed by Melville Shavelson and starring Jack Lemmon, Barbara Harris, and Jason Robards. The film is based on the writings of humorist James Thurber, and was released by Cinema Center Films. It features animated cartoons interspersed in the story based on Thurber's works. Shavelson was creator of the 1969 Thurber-based television series My World and Welcome to It. The screenplay is by Shavelson and by Danny Arnold, who also worked on the 1969 series. Lisa Gerritsen, who plays Linda Kozlenko in the film, previously co-starred in My World and Welcome to It as Lydia Monroe. Plot Peter Wilson (Jack Lemmon) is a sarcastic near-sighted cartoonist, author, and swinging bachelor living in Manhattan. He detests women, dogs, and children. He is flustered by women's priorities and avoids commitment, much preferring transient physical relationships. At the office of his eye surgeon, Peter meets a leggy, eye-catching strong-willed woman named Terri Kozlenko (Barbara Harris). He likes her very much, but discovers later that she is a single mother to three children, Caroline, Linda, and David. The first thing she learns about him, from his ophthalmologist, is that he's in danger of losing his sight, which would make it impossible for him to continue his work. Nevertheless, they develop a close friendship that grows into romance, when Peter realizes that Terri is the only woman who can tolerate his strong anti-feminist opinions. When she rejects his plan of a sexual relationship conducted exclusively at his bachelor pad (so that he doesn't have to bond with her demanding family), he reluctantly proposes to her. They get married and he moves into her apartment, but her rogue ex-husband Stephen (Jason Robards) appears to spend more time with their children. Stephen and Peter clash at first, but they soon become good drinking friends, much to Terri's disapproval. Peter also begins to bond with David, who has had no stable male role model with his father perpetually off photographing war zones.