her third movie, later wrote she "was shocked to learn that producer Martin Ransohoff actually wanted me to gain twenty pounds for the role... so I could play a somewhat dowdy Southern wife... Given how much the press had loved to talk about my weight going up and down in the past, I was hardly keen to purposely plump up. But I took the part because it was a great cast and I knew it would be a lot of fun." Page says she still was not "fat enough" for the director and producer so had to dress appropriately. Garner wrote in his memoirs that Novak "was beautiful and she had a wonderful quality that audiences liked but she didn't know how to act. I think she was insecure because she was always running off the set to fix her face. She was more interested in her makeup than the script." Michael Gordon felt Garner "was so good in both of the films I did with him that it made me feel I was stealing the money I was paid." He thought Novak was "a nice gal" adding "while she wasn't the easiest person to get an effective performance out of, I didn't mind working with her. She tried very hard. She just wasn't the most adept comedienne." Reception Financed by Novak's Kimco production company and Filmways Pictures – and, it turned out, its first and last production – Boys' Night Out was intended to resurrect Novak's career, which had hit a snag at the age of 29 with the death of Columbia Pictures' production head Harry Cohn, but it was not a financial or critical success. Box Office According to MGM records, the film incurred a loss of $262,000. Although Novak's career was not resurrected, it did propel James Garner's forward. Critical Variety called it "only sporadically amusing". Home media Boys' Night Out was released to DVD by Warner Home Video on December 22, 2010 via its Warner Archive DVD-on-demand service as a Region 1 DVD. References External links James Garner Interview on the Charlie Rose Show James Garner interview at Archive of American Television 1962 films 1962 romantic comedy films American films with live action and animation American romantic comedy films American sex comedy films Films scored by Frank De Vol Films directed by Michael Gordon Films set in New York City Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films 1960s English-language films 1960s