Comedy about a group of Americans on a 18 day (I think) tour of Europe.

Unlike some previous posters, I've never been to Europe, so watching this film was not like reliving old memories. On its own, this was a very pleasant movie. The script is not bad and the jokes are pretty funny. There are some real groaners too, but the good ones far outweigh them. And the cast is full of talented character actors giving their all.

The movie basically concentrates on a romance between the tour guide Charlie Cartwright (Ian McShane) and tourist Samantha Perkins (Suzanne Pleshette). Usually romance subplots in comedies are the kiss of death, but this one works. McShane is very handsome and Pleshette incredibly beautiful; the dialogue is well-written; they both give good performances and they have great chemistry with each other. It also is a good excuse to show all the romantic places in Europe (this was shot on location). And the romance has a surprising, realistic ending.

Another point of interest is an 18 year old girl Shelly (Hilary Thompson) meeting a guy her age Bo (Luke Halpin). Their fashions are VERY 60s and the dialoge is SO old-fashioned...but it's all interesting. Also a visit to Canaby Street in London (which was the place to be in the late 60s) is visually fascinating. Also Murray Hamilton's one liners throughout the movie are frequently hilarious.

They visit London, Holland, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Venice and end in Rome. I saw a widescreen print on TV in strong color and the movie just looked beautiful. Sometime it was like seeing a travelogue but an INTERESTING travelogue.

It's not a great movie but a pleasant one. You could do worse! Recommended.

There's a lot to be amused by In this ensemble comedy about a tour of Europe by a group of typical Americans, where the spouses are paired together by how they look together. Of course, glamour is provided for the leads, Suzanne Pleshette and Ian McShane. Norman Fell and Reva rose look like people you would see across the street or next door in your neighborhood, and the same goes for Murray Hamilton and Peggy Cass, bringing along a teenage daughter. Mildred Natwick is a finger wagging widow who begins to lighten up as she begins to have fun. The only real story is the romance that grows between Pleshette and McShane, mainly focusing on the slice of life situations that occur for each of the characters.

Fans of "Keeping Up Appearances" will be delighted to see Dame Patricia Rutledge as a British tour guide. This was the same year she won a Tony Award for the short-lived musical "Darling of the Day". Fell keeps repeating "Irma would have loved this" because his wife keeps disappearing, taking separate tours, and at one point, her boat passes his. It's a standing joke that becomes up more amusing each time. Too bad that Cass and Hamilton really have little to do although she does get laughs simply with the voice that audiences fell in love with in Auntie Mame

Not much here as far as a rich analogy is concerned because we seen stereotypical American tourist in Europe ever since the movies began, and of course while in various countries, they end up in tourist frequented restaurants where the specialty is hamburger. Stereotypical Europeans represent each country, and it's difficult not to laugh when they arrive in Switzerland greeted by yodeling. It's an amusing time killer, not much more, but anything with this ensemble, particularly Pleshette, is always a good thing. There are allegedly a ton of cameos here, but you have to be pretty sharp to point them out.

Though the nominal stars of If It's Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium are Suzanne Pleshette and Ian McShane have a nice romantic fling in the film, the real entertainment value lies in the varied group of American tourists roaming the continent. If these are typical no wonder our image is so bad.

Ian McShane plays the guide for our two week tour and Pleshette is traveling to Europe alone to get away for a bit and ponder the marriage proposal from good old reliable Frank Latimore. It takes a while, but she falls for tour guide McShane. He's however not a person to settle down, it's why he has the job he does.

But the rest of the members of her tour are a grand collection of character players. Norman Fell loses wife Reva Rose to another tour of Japanese touring the continent where she makes the biggest contribution to American-Japanese friendship since MacArthur. Michael Constantine is interested in reliving the best time of his life which he spent in Europe during World War II. Marty Ingels with camera in hand is looking to get pictures of beautiful women from each country to show how he's scoring to his buddies.

Best of all is Murray Hamilton and Pamela Britton. She wants to go to Europe for herself and to get daughter Hilarie Thompson's mind off boys, this was the Sixties you know. Hamilton goes kicking and screaming. And Hilarie finds American student Luke Halpin abroad and he's better than what she left in the states.

Hamilton is great as the ultimate American Philistine. I could see coming out of his mouth a comment that William Frawley made on an I Love Lucy episode when the Ricardos and Mertzes are in Rome. Frawley was singularly unimpressed with the Colosseum, saying that Joe DiMaggio would hit 80 home runs a year in that band box of a ballpark. Stuff like that comes out of Hamilton regularly.

In fact he has a very funny encounter with an Italian shoemaker in Rome, played by Vittorio DeSica. Language problems and all each eventually gets his message across.

I hope in real life we don't get as many laughs as this crowd does. Less laughs would do wonders for our image.