A very funny movie from Howard Hawks. It's a throwback to the screwball comedies of the 30s and 40s with Rock Hudson as a fishing "expert" roped into entering a fishing contest by loony PR woman Paula Prentiss. It turns out that Hudson is an expert on paper, having never even been near a lake, never mind having fished in one. It's all very goofy, fast paced and there's great chemistry between uptight Hudson and free-spirited Prentiss (who attempts to teach Hudson how to fish in some of the oddest ways). It's studio-bound to be sure, but it's stylish fun and features a very good supporting cast including John McGiver as Hudson's boss, Norman Alden (nearly stealing the film as John Screaming Eagle) and the fetching Maria Perschy as "Easy." The great music score is by Henry Mancini.

Rock Hudson stars as a man posing as a fishing expert who basically passes on information from one customer to another. He has written a best selling book on fishing and no one knows he's a fraud, not even his fiancée. He is shocked to learn his boss has entered him into a fishing contest and doesn't know what to do until Paula Prentiss and Maria Perschy tell him they got him involved and are going to teach him to fish. This is a pretty good comedy but it does have a little too much slapstick in it. There are some scenes that are taken from Bringing Up Baby and Howard Hawks did ask Cary Grant to be in this movie but he said no because he didn't want to be seen on screen with women who a lot younger then he was. The movie is two hours long and goes by pretty quickly.

Fishing expert Roger Willoughby (Rock Hudson) is a salesman at Abercrombie & Fitch Co, an outdoors sports specialty retailer. Isolde 'Easy' Mueller (Maria Perschy) runs her family's fishing tournament and Abigail Page (Paula Prentiss) is her PR person. They convince Roger's boss to send him to compete in the tournament. He confesses to them that he has never fished in his life. He doesn't even like fish.

Legendary director Howard Hawks directed the great Bringing Up Baby and I can see the comparison. The leads have very similar characteristics. In the beginning, she's negging him and it's a very effective meet-cute for a rom-com. The back and forth is delightful. Of course, the comparison does not help. It could never be good enough to exceed the classic and any attempt would feel inadequate. One should accept this on its own although Prentiss is a very good copy. This is funny as its own movie.