Lively, entertaining reviews of, and essays on, old and newer films and everything relating to them, written by professional author William Schoell.

Thursday, December 17, 2015

FOLLOW THE BOYS (1963)

Russ Tamblyn and Paula Prentriss
FOLLOW THE BOYS (1963). Director: Richard Thorpe.

Liz (Janis Paige) and Bonnie (Connie Francis) are "sea gulls" who follow their Naval husbands around from port to port, grabbing what moments of intimacy they can. Bonnie is a newlywed married to Billy (Roger Perry of Count Yorga, Vampire), while Liz's husband is a Lt. Commander (Ron Randell of Most Dangerous Man Alive). who hopes to become admiral. Unfortunately, Liz is more interested in settling down with him and starting a family. In the meantime Toni (Paula Prentiss), a wealthy woman, shows up claiming she is engaged to playboy Lt. Langley (Richard Long); her parents hope to make a strictly business match that will increase everyone's coffers. Finally Michele (Dany Robin) is anxious to meet up with Langley herself, although for unexpected reasons. Assigned to escort Michele, seaman Smitty (Russ Tamblyn) winds up falling for Toni and vice versa. The actors are all professional, with Tamblyn [The War of the Gargantuas] and Prentiss making an appealing couple, and while the movie threatens to become another Connie Francis Movie it never quite gets there, despite a couple of song numbers. Francis is too self-consciously "cute" by far in this, and while it has some good scenes and entertaining moments, Follow the Boys eventually becomes an effort to sit through. The most interesting thing about the movie is Langely's recipe for a Torpedo: one part each of rum, vodka, brandy and creme de menthe, with a maraschino cherry, cucumber slice, lemon peel, a piece of orange, and bitters added for good measure. Having two of these beforehand may definitely make this or any other movie more entertaining!

Verdict: Torpedo this one! **.

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