Eve And The Handyman

Following the international success of The Immoral Mr. Teas filmmaker Russ Meyer returned with what I thought was going to be another nudie-cutie film but was actually a straight comedy, Eve and the Handyman. This time around the auteur cast his Playmate wife Eve Meyer as the creatively named Eve and WWII pal Anthony-James Ryan as the dim-witted Handyman. Released in 1961, Eve and the Handyman, like The Immoral Mr. Teas, contains no dialogue other than voice-over narration and features a score of library music and goofy sound effects. The film has surprisingly little nudity.

Mysterious Eve is on the case following the Handyman over the course of a day. Who is the Handyman and why is she following him? Well, to be honest I don’t know. He seems to be a normal, everyday handyman.
We see him wash windows, sweep floors, clean toilets and do other handyman/janitorial jobs while Eve delivers a film-noirish narration. It turns out Eve is impressed by the Handyman and its not because of his cleaning skills. No, Eve is awed by his ability to keep his cool around beautiful, shapely women, most of who are played by Eve. He isn’t concerned with the buxom secretary while he’s cleaning windows from a ledge and he only wants the nude hitchhiker to put on some clothes. While all of this is played for laughs none of it is funny. There are no punch lines only set ups and this gets tiresome without plentiful female nudity we came to expect. Thankfully, the film is short clocking in at a scant 65 minutes.

The Handyman seems to enjoy the female form, he watches a woman passionately play pinball, but appears to be disgusted at the sight of a nude body, he shields his eyes when encountering a nude bathing beauty. The film seems to have the same affliction. It stares fervently at Eve in her various costumes but pulls away when we get a chance at seeing her in her naked glory. Shockingly it takes 55 minutes before we see a fleeting shot of a frontal nude breast and it doesn’t even belong to Eve.

Eve and the Handyman unfortunately was a set back for Russ Meyer, it’s not as funny, fast paced or titillating as The Immoral Mr. Teas. Eve Meyer was a beautiful woman but her looks alone can’t save a film from unfunny comedy and zero plotline. The film’s problems could be excused if there was nudity because at least that would explain why the film was made but as it is I’m not sure what the point was.