Man’s Favorite Sport at 60: Howard Hawks Put Rock Hudson through the Wringer

When I first saw Howard Hawks’ 1964 romantic comedy Man’s Favorite Sport? many years ago, I was unimpressed. As a fan of Hawks’ seminal, screwball rom-coms of the ‘30s and ‘40s Bringing Up Baby, His Girl Friday and Ball of Fire, I thought this one he did in his late career was derivative and silly. And, yet, it’s a derivative, silly film I find myself going back to every now and again.
Maybe it’s because the whole movie, adapted from Pat Frank’s short story “The Girl Who Almost Got Away,” borrows the straight-laced-guy-meets-unpredictable-gal plot from Bringing Up Baby. However, instead of Cary Grant’s engaged paleontologist getting harassed (and eventually won over) by Katharine Hepburn’s dizzy heiress, we have Rock Hudson, already a rom-com star thanks to the cotton-candy comedies he did with Doris Day, having to deal with not one but two daffy dames. (Hawks wanted Grant to star in Man’s Favorite Sport?, but he opted to instead star in Stanley Donen’s spy comedy Charade.)
Hudson plays Roger Willoughby, an outdoors salesman (at Abercrombie & Fitch!) who’s known for being an exceptional fisherman. His toupee-wearing boss (John McGiver) requests that he take part in a yearly fishing tournament held at a lake resort. This idea comes from Isolde “Easy” Muller (Maria Perschy), the resort owner’s daughter, and Abigail Page (Paula Prentiss), the resort’s PR director.
Unfortunately, Willoughby has never fished a day in his life; he’s built his reputation by listening to other fishermen and simply regurgitating their expertise. When he tells the ladies about this (in a loud piano museum?), Page uses the info to blackmail him into taking part anyway. Willoughby already doesn’t like ol’ girl; they first met when she stole his parking space and he got a ticket for leaving his car in the wrong place.
Most of Man’s Favorite Sport? has the female BFFs trying to teach Hudson’s so-called outdoorsman how to properly fish. His attempts are predictably slapsticky, as he gets hefty catches through dumb luck and, during one fishing session, unlikely help from a wandering bear. Although this movie has two beautiful ladies making this guy’s sporting life quite miserable, the story—penned by sitcom writers John Fenton Murray and Steve McNeil, with longtime Hawks collaborator Leigh Brackett (The Big Sleep, Rio Bravo) doing an uncredited rewrite—sets up the inevitable romance between Hudson and Prentiss’ characters. Much like in Bringing Up Baby, when Hepburn adorably wore Grant out until he eventually said “I love you, I think,” Page works on Willoughby’s last nerve until he inevitably finds this girl to be a lovely loon. (Perschy, an Austrian-born beauty whom Hawks discovered—and later dated—also takes part in kooky bits with Hudson, like a ripped-dress scene that’s a rehash of the beloved ripped-dress scene between Hepburn and Grant in Bringing Up Baby.)