THE MAN FROM THE DINER'S CLUB is not Danny Kaye's best film by any stretch, but it has it's moments. Kaye is a member of the staff of the local office of the Diner's Club, and has several things against him. He is a stumble-bum type, frequently causing trouble for fellow employees. There is a running gag with Anne Marie Gilbert, who runs the computer system. It is one of the original computers - which had hundreds of cards in the system. Kaye keeps causing a switch to be pushed that causes all the cards to come out and fall through a window into the street like so much confetti. His boss Everett Sloane threatens to fire him if he goofs up again. So does his supervisor Howard Caine (who is mad that Kaye got the job that should have gone to Caine's nephew).
Kaye is also in the middle of wedding plans. He is marrying Martha Hyer, and is more nervous than usual as the date of the wedding (a few days later) approaches). But then a real disaster upsets everything. Kaye discovers he has approved the credit card application of a notorious mobster (Telly Savalas), and that this is the type of goof-up that Sloane and Caine are looking for.
The film follows Kaye's attempts to retrieve the credit card from Savallas. Little does he know that Savallas (in an early role here - complete with wig) is planning to get to Mexico using the Diner's Club Card of a member - but not the one Kaye would think. He also is planning to have his trail ended by using a substitute corpse.
There are funny moments in the film - Kaye rushing through a wedding rehearsal much to the dismay of Hyer and the annoyance of minister Ronald Long. Also Kaye pretending to be a German masseuse and giving a ridiculous rubdown to his foe Caine (you will see this and never be able to hear the word "tensing" said again with a straight face). Savallas is fine as a self-pitying gangster, wondering why we fought World War II if we allowed a home-grown gestapo (i.e.: his take on the FBI) take root. Savallas is also good dealing with his girlfriend Cara Williams, who he keeps referring to as a "birdbrain". In the end she does show she has more in her than he thinks. George Kennedy, as Savallas' right hand man, does the best he can with his role. And the final sight of Everett Sloane is also curious. Injured towards the end of the movie, we last see him on two crutches. Momentarily we think of Sloane's best recalled film role: Arthur Bannister in THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI.
Kaye is also in the middle of wedding plans. He is marrying Martha Hyer, and is more nervous than usual as the date of the wedding (a few days later) approaches). But then a real disaster upsets everything. Kaye discovers he has approved the credit card application of a notorious mobster (Telly Savalas), and that this is the type of goof-up that Sloane and Caine are looking for.
The film follows Kaye's attempts to retrieve the credit card from Savallas. Little does he know that Savallas (in an early role here - complete with wig) is planning to get to Mexico using the Diner's Club Card of a member - but not the one Kaye would think. He also is planning to have his trail ended by using a substitute corpse.
There are funny moments in the film - Kaye rushing through a wedding rehearsal much to the dismay of Hyer and the annoyance of minister Ronald Long. Also Kaye pretending to be a German masseuse and giving a ridiculous rubdown to his foe Caine (you will see this and never be able to hear the word "tensing" said again with a straight face). Savallas is fine as a self-pitying gangster, wondering why we fought World War II if we allowed a home-grown gestapo (i.e.: his take on the FBI) take root. Savallas is also good dealing with his girlfriend Cara Williams, who he keeps referring to as a "birdbrain". In the end she does show she has more in her than he thinks. George Kennedy, as Savallas' right hand man, does the best he can with his role. And the final sight of Everett Sloane is also curious. Injured towards the end of the movie, we last see him on two crutches. Momentarily we think of Sloane's best recalled film role: Arthur Bannister in THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI.