How to Commit Marriage 1969

Nancy Benson JoAnna Cameron is a 19-year-old music student and the daughter of real estate broker Frank Benson and his wife Elaine. She dreams of marrying her fellow music student David Poe [Tim Matheson], the 20-year-old son of Oliver Poe [Jackie Gleason], a powerful record producer who is strongly opposed to marriage and tries to block the young couple’s plans. When Oliver discovers and exposes the Bensons’ secret, Nancy and David decide to press pause on a formal wedding and instead choose to live together. They head out on the road with a rock band, following the advice and peculiar wisdom of a Persian mystic known as the Baba Ziba [Irwin Corey].

Meanwhile, the Bensons drift into parallel relationships. Frank [Bob Hope] begins a relationship with a divorced woman, Lois Grey [Maureen Arthur], while Elaine [Jane Wyman] finds interest in Phil Fletcher [Leslie Nielsen], a man recently divorced. Poe, meanwhile, meets Laverne Baker [Tina Louise], who becomes his live-in partner. The dynamic web of romances and secrets grows more tangled when Nancy discovers she is pregnant.

The Baba Ziba, allegedly paid off by Oliver Poe, persuades Nancy to place the baby up for adoption, a plan that leads Frank and Elaine to secretly scheme to adopt their own grandchild. This creates a string of schemes and counter-schemes as Frank tries to influence or outmaneuver the Baba Ziba, even disguising himself as one of the mystic’s followers in a misguided bid to secure his granddaughter.

In the end, family ties win out. The Bensons are reunited, David and Nancy welcome a baby of their own, and Oliver Poe, whose life intersects with Laverne Baker, ends up marrying her. The film closes on a note of reconciliation and the resilience of family bonds.