There is little doubt that, by 1955, the world was crying out for a western, musical version of Lysistrata. Determined to end the suffering, Universal and director George Marshall (!) stepped up with The Second Greatest Sex, a fluffy bit of nonsense that has a surprising amount of unassuming charm.Starring George Nader (who is pretty adorable in a sprightly, musical comedy persona) and Jeanne Crain as its central couple, newlyweds Matt and Liza, the movie tells the story of a Kansas town that is engaged in an endless war with two others to be county seat. Whichever town has possession of the safe that contains the region's Important Documents has that theoretical label of "seat", but since none of the towns has a)built a courthouse, or b)can hold on to the safe for more than a few weeks, it's turned into an obsession for all of the men in all three towns. Needless to say, the womenfolk are sick of being neglected and, when Matt runs off after the safe on his wedding night, Liza has had enough: it's sex strike time!The story plays out as it has for hundreds and hundreds of years except for, this time, there are songs and copious dancing mixed in, most of the latter starring the always fun to watch Tommy Rall. The songs vary in quality, but "What Good is a Woman Without a Man?" is more clever than you'd expect, and every time Paul Gilbert takes center stage as womanizing traveling salesman Roscoe Dobbs he's great, particularly when there's singing involved.In addition to Gilbert and Rall, also on hand in good supporting roles are Bert Lahr as Liza's father, and Mamie Van Doren, as a wide-eyed local girl with a mad crush on hot priest Keith Andes (who gets to show off his singing voice a couple of times.)Anyway, The Second Greatest Sex doesn't need to be as long as it is and some of the songs aren't great, but its enthusiasm and lack of pretense make it far more appealing than it has any right to be — I bet a boutique label Blu-ray release with a quality restoration and some sweet extras (Bonus Tommy Rall dancing! George Nader pretending to sing! Paul Gilbert being amazing!) would do mad business.
