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Cactus Flower

Cactus Flower

Comedy · Romance · 1969

A dentist pretends to be married to avoid commitment, but when he falls for his girlfriend and proposes, he must recruit his lovelorn nurse to pose as his wife.

Movie details

Cactus Flower

“The prickly stage success that convulsed audiences around the world... with all its barbed wit and the sharpest comedy cast of the year!”

1969 Comedy · Romance 1h 43m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

7.2 / 10

Community rating

A dentist pretends to be married to avoid commitment, but when he falls for his girlfriend and proposes, he must recruit his lovelorn nurse to pose as his wife.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over Cactus Flower?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Where it lives

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Gene Saks

Written by

I. A. L. Diamond

Walter Matthau

Walter Matthau

Dr. Julian Winston

Ingrid Bergman

Ingrid Bergman

Stephanie Dickinson

Goldie Hawn

Goldie Hawn

Toni Simmons

Jack Weston

Jack Weston

Harvey Greenfield

Rick Lenz

Rick Lenz

Igor Sullivan

Vito Scotti

Vito Scotti

Señor Arturo Sanchez

Irene Hervey

Irene Hervey

Mrs. Durant

Court is in session

Put Cactus Flower on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Sentimental Softie

“Sincerity is not manipulation.”

The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.

The prosecution The Cool Ironist

“The strings are showing.”

Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.