Hogan (Jack Lemmon) has quite a life. He's an independently wealthy landlord of a California apartment complex that he rents exclusively to beautiful women for just $75 a month. Women are his passion, which is why he has a swinging bedroom to rival Dudley Moore's pad from Foul Play.

Now, he has his sights set on Robin Austin (Carol Lynley, Beware! The Blob, The Night Stalker),which is the perfect thing to get his mind off his breakup with Irene (Edie Adams, who was both emotionally and financially devastated by the death of her husband Ernie Kovacs, so friend Jack Lemmon got her hired and her part expanded from the play that inspired this movie). And who cares if Robin is Irene's niece, right? Well, those are Hogan's morals...

Speaking of morality, Robin wants to live with her fiancee David (Dean Jones, as always just on the edge of screaming and being mad at everyone),but doesn't want them to sleep together. As you can imagine, this drives David mad and gives Hogan plenty of chances to break them up.

The best part of this movie? The older married couple that works for Hogan, Mr. And Mrs. Murphy, who are played by Paul Lynde and Imogene Coca.

Hogan's cat, Orangey, had quite the career. Trained by Frank Inn, who also was the owner of Green Acres' Arnold and Petticoat Junction's Higgins - also the first Benji - Orangey was in everything from the TV series Our Miss Brooks and The Beverly Hillbillies to This Island Earth and The Diary of Anne Frank. He's most famous for his roles as the cat in Breakfast at Tiffany's and for menacing Grant Williams in The Incredible Shrinking Man. He also was the lead in the movie Rhubarb, which was a name that he also used.

Director David Swift may be best known for Pollyanna and The Parent Trap, but he also wrote How to Succeed In Business Without Really Trying and directed another movie on the Mill Creek Through the Decades: 1960s Collection set, Good Neighbor Sam.

Back when it debuted, I am pretty sure that "Under the Yum Yum Tree" made a bit of a splash with its plot that was strongly infused with sex. However, despite the novelty of the story, the film, down deep, just isn't very good. Mostly it's due to the writing--as the characters are more like caricatures and are very, very difficult to believe. As a result, I found it an absolute chore to watch this movie.

The film is set in an apartment complex run by a creepy guy (Jack Lemmon). I am sure back in 1963, he was seen as a great comic character by the filmmakers. However, today he really comes off as a guy you'd expect to see registering as a sex offender--he was THAT creepy. A young engaged (Carol Lynley and Dean Jones) move in together. She sees it as a great experiment to see if they are compatible--he sees it as Purgatory, as this is supposed to be a sex-less experiment. Throughout their stay, their nosy landlord keeps dropping by to either offer Jones unneeded advice or to try to score with Linley. However, neither one seems to understand the true nature of Lemmon's attention--he is neither helpful nor innocent but a perv who thinks of nothing but sex 24-7.

The sad fact is none of the people in the film are the least bit believable or likable. Lynley is an oblivious idiot who talks and talks about modern love and relationships but she obviously knows nothing. She speaks in platitudes and faux intellectualism so much that she sounds more like a comic book character than a real woman. Jones is a bundle of sexual tension and nothing more--and his character is given no opportunity to be any more. And, as for Lemmon, well, I have already talked about how he's just super-creepy.

By the way, the IMDb summary describes Lemmon as a "love-struck landlord"! This is NOT at all accurate. Love is not what he's interested--the guy is a sex offender. He likes to climb on windows to peek at his female residents--hoping to see them naked. This is not what I'd call love-struck!! Overall, the film tries very hard to be adult and edgy--pushing the 'new morality'. However, instead of making you think or being clever, it just comes off as badly written. All the characters are unlikable and plastic and the film never engages.

By the way, I sure found it surprising to see Dean Jones in a movie like this considering his squeaky clean image and promotion of family values. It just didn't seem to fit in this case.

Lawrence Roman's popular stage farce comes to the screen seeming a bit undernourished, with everyone playing 'perky' to perfection but without benefit of any funny lines. With a whole apartment complex full of sexy, single gals, landlord Jack Lemmon becomes fixated on innocuous college girl Carol Lynley, who has just moved in with her boyfriend--a platonic arrangement that has Lemmon up in arms (and on the roof!). A shiny package with nothing inside, and Lemmon visibly strains to give the proceedings some bounce (tough to do since his wolfish character is thoroughly loathsome). The script, adapted by David Swift (who also directed),tries for snappy repartee, but since none of the characters are particularly sharp, the results here lack wit, sparkle and imagination. *1/2 from ****