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| Tuesday Weld and Teddy Randazzo |
When high-schooler Dori (Tuesday Weld) discovers she has competition for the charms of handsome Tommy (Teddy Randazzo) in the form of sexpot Gloria (Jacqueline Kerr), she determines that she simply must have a strapless evening gown for the prom. But how to get the money? She opens her own "bank" and charges 1% interest but is so stupid she doesn't realize that 1% of $100 is one dollar and not a hundred! Her intellectual shortcomings are the least of her problems as every time she opens her mouth to sing, it is Connie Francis' voice that comes out. At least Randazzo, who has a pleasant voice, isn't dubbed and he does a nice job with "Give Me One More Chance" and "Thanks to You." Randazzo [Hey Let's Twist] is appealing but only did two pictures, focusing instead on a recording career. Although she was cast in Dobie Gillis, Weld [Pretty Poison] shows no particular promise as a comedienne. Alan Freed puts on his Rock 'n' Roll show with guest-stars Tommy, Chuck Berry, the Flamingos, 14-year-old Frankie Lyman, Elvis-like Johnny Brant, and a weird little girl named Baby whose singing is flat and terrible. Randazzo and Kerr give the best performances. This movie bridges the gap between swing music and rock, which was only just emerging as "rock 'n' roll."
Verdict: Life was much simpler then -- or was it? **.
The only movie I like Weld in is Looking for Mr. Goodbar, as Diane Keaton's promiscuous/swinger sister. In the rest, she is a very pretty woman with not a lot of else going on...but people of my parents' era all seemed to idolize her.
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She certainly had her admirers and was considered a sex symbol, although I never thought she was really any kind of raving beauty. I have "Looking for Mr. Goodbar" and will get around to seeing it again in the near future.
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