Lemmon, Matthau Ship-Shape in ‘Sea’

The “Grumpy Old Men” movies reunited Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau with box-office success, but “Out to Sea” is more like it. Much more. Here’s a movie mainly about people who are considerably over 21 without a single old codger joke and without anyone apologizing for his or her maturity. “Out to Sea” generates both considerable laughter and emotion.

Robert Nelson Jacobs’ script, his first to be produced, is a wonder, a classic shipboard farce that gives full play to Lemmon’s and Matthau’s formidable comic gifts that are deftly played against genuine sentiment.

What’s more, Jacobs has come up with a raft of roles for a wide array of esteemed veterans who glow under the direction of Martha Coolidge, who can always be counted upon to bring out all the gleaming facets of both script and cast. Coolidge has brought to films as diverse as “Rambling Rose,” “Three Wishes” and now this comedy a sense of unity and pace while never losing focus on the human heart and its often mysterious workings. Coolidge has always been interested in people rather than special effects, and this kind of concern is a terrific anchor for the freewheeling mayhem of “Out to Sea.”

Lemmon plays Herb, a retired department store salesman and grieving recent widower, whose brother-in-law Charlie (Matthau), a fearless, lifelong gambler and con man, maneuvers him onto a Caribbean cruise where they wind up as “dance hosts” aboard a luxury liner. Under the impression that Charlie has won them a free trip, Herb is appalled to discover too late that if he in fact resists working as an unpaid taxi dancer he’ll have to cough up for the expensive trip.

Charlie’s motives are unapologetically base. Having never married, he figures it’s time to snag a rich wife, and what better hunting grounds could there be than a cruise ship loaded with wealthy divorcees and widows of a certain age? In regard to Herb, however, there’s some actual altruism in contriving to bring him along. He feels Herb ought to start living again. What Charlie, who’s been caught up in conniving his entire life, doesn’t count on is falling in love--for the first time--himself.

But how could he possibly resist Dyan Cannon’s Liz, a gorgeous, sexy divorcee with a wicked sense of humor who seems to respond to Charlie’s basset-hound charm, even though he’s older than her salty mother (Elaine Stritch, in typically astringent form)? Meanwhile, Herb meets a lovely recent widow, Vivian (Gloria De Haven, in a most welcome return to the screen). Despite his mourning, he has to admit he’s attracted to her.

Such are the sturdy emotional underpinnings of a wacky farce with Charlie pulling every scam in the book and complicating Herb’s life and burgeoning romance in every conceivable way. Charlie and Herb’s nemesis is the liner’s deliciously prissy cruise director (Brent Spiner), a self-important, ambitious martinet who imposes military discipline upon his dance hosts while also serving as the ship’s absurdly terrible singing star. Spiner is so hilarious he comes close to stealing the show.

What a delightful cast “Out to Sea” has. Hal Linden and none other than Donald O’Connor also play dance hosts. The late Edward Mulhare, who memorably took over for Rex Harrison as Henry Higgins in the original company of “My Fair Lady,” is Charlie’s handsome rival for Liz, and Rue McClanahan, the ship’s bejeweled owner, winds up as Charlie’s sole dance partner in a classic scene of awesome, undaunted clumsiness on his part.

Cinematographer Lajos Koltai brings a burnished look to the film, and designer Jane Robinson must be cited for her splendid costumes. All the actresses have beautiful wardrobes, keyed to the characters they are portraying yet elegant in their considerable variety--glamour for Cannon, understated good taste for De Haven, lush extravagance for McClanahan and a smart, witty look for Stritch. In a key scene Cannon wears a clinging, shimmering evening gown that is surely one of the most dazzling creations she has ever worn on the screen.

“Out to Sea” uses lots of sets and fakery, sometimes amusingly so, when it leaves the ship, but production designer James Spencer manages to make this strategy give the film a vintage feel that reminds us fondly of the kind of studio movies O’Connor and De Haven used to make in Hollywood’s Golden Era. But this is only a nod to nostalgia, as appealing as it is, for “Out to Sea” is fast and funny, tart and clear-eyed about love and mortality.

* MPAA rating: PG-13, for language and sex-related humor. Times guidelines: The film’s language and references to sex are comparatively mild, and the film is suitable family entertainment.

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‘Out to Sea’

Jack Lemmon: Herb

Walter Matthau: Charlie

Dyan Cannon: Liz

Gloria De Haven: Vivian

A 20th Century Fox presentation of a Davis Entertainment Company production. Director Martha Coolidge. Producers John Davis, David T. Friendly. Executive producers Dylan Sellers, Barry Berg. Screenplay by Robert Nelson Jacobs. Cinematographer Lajos Koltai. Editor Anne V. Coates. Costumes Jane Robinson. Production designer James Spencer. Art director William F. Matthews. Set designers Glenn Williams, Lauren Cory. Set decorator Anne D. McCulley. Running time: 1 hour, 47 minutes.

* In general release throughout Southern California.