THE AFFAIRS OF DOBIE GILLIS

Bobby Van and Debbie Reynolds

THE AFFAIRS OF DOBIE GILLIS (1953). Director: Don Weis.

Dobie Gillis (Bobby Van) has enrolled in college but he doesn't seem to have much on his mind academically. He is much more interested in girls, especially Pansy Hammer (Debbie Reynolds), who is initially resistant. Pansy's parents, especially her grumpy father (Hanley Stafford), rarely approve of her boyfriends and Dobie is no exception. Further complicating the matter is that Dobie's pal and roommate, Charlie (Bob Fosse), goes for Lorna (Barbara Ruick), who only has eyes for Dobie. Then Dobie manages to get into trouble over and over again, and it seems as if he and Pansy are to be separated forever.

Roomies: Bob Fosse and Bobby Van

The Affairs of Dobie Gillis is a trifle, but what a charming and entertaining trifle it is, with a great cast of talented performers giving their utmost. Bobby Van [The Navy vs the Night Monsters], while not traditionally handsome, proves an adept leading man with both singing and dancing skills, a pleasant, outgoing personality, and plenty of exuberance and charisma. The same could be said for Bob Fosse, who is both cute (if not on a Tab Hunter level) and appealing, but chose to work primarily behind the scenes as a top choreographer in later years. Debbie Reynolds [Singin' in the Rain] is also cute and perky and while this is mostly Van's show, gives him her best in support. Barbara Ruick, who was in the film version of Carousel as well as Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella, scores as the love-sick gal who adores her disinterested Dobie and is given at least one snappy number. 

Reynolds, Van, Freeman

As for the supporting cast, Hans Conreid, as a stuffy professor, reminds one of Mr. Livermore on I Love Lucy. Kathleen Freeman certainly adds to the fun as the comical leader of an all-girl band. Percy Helton shows up as a shop owner, Charles Lane is well-cast as a -- what else? -- grouchy chemistry professor, and there are bits by Alvy Moore,  Almira Sessions, and John Smith. Lurene Tuttle is Debbie's mother, and is fine, but Hanley Stafford as her father is all bluster and no laughs. The songs include "All I Do is Dream of You," "I'm Through with Love;" and "Can't Do Wrong If It's Right," which features some fancy footwork from Van and Fosse. The somewhat episodic film reminds one a bit of a sitcom at times, and indeed it wasn't long before The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis was being telecast every week, although with a completely different cast.

Verdict: Lots of fun, good tunes, and fancy footwork. ***. 

THE GENE KRUPA STORY

Sal Mineo

THE GENE KRUPA STORY (1959). Director: Don Weis.

Gene Krupa (Sal Mineo of Crime in the Streets) is fascinated by the syncopated rhythms that are taking the nation by storm and his dream is to be a drummer. His Polish-American and devout parents would rather he become a priest, but while he prepares for that role he comes to realize that it just isn't in him. Eventually moving to New York, Krupa becomes not only a famous drummer, but does solos that astound and excite the audience. Although Gene has a girlfriend named Ethel (Susan Kohner), he lets success go to his head, holds loud and fabulous parties, neglects Ethel (even on her birthday), and takes up with seductive singer Dorissa Dinell (Susan Oliver). In other words, he basically turns into an asshole.

Sall Mineo and Susan Kohner

Krupa gets his comeuppance, however, when reefers are -- according to him -- planted on him and he winds up arrested and jailed. This film has him winding up performing in Chinese restaurants and topless bars as he struggles to get back to the top, but I suspect much of that is fabricated for the movie, although the basic facts of Krupa's life are realistically presented.  Nevertheless, as a show biz bio, this pic leaves no cliche unturned.

Sal Mineo gves a terrific performance in this, and even resembles Krupa a bit (this is the rare case when the real person is as good-looking as the actor portraying him). He really seems to be playing the drums during those sequences when he's really letting loose on the percussion. Susan Kohner, always an excellent actress, also scores as the lovely, loving and disillusioned Ethel. (In real life she divorced Krupa, and then remarried him, living with him until her death.) James Darren [The Brothers Rico] is given the thankless role of Gene's friend, Eddie, but he's good, and gets to pleasantly sing "Let There Be Love" (Darren had some hit records back in the day). Susan Oliver [Looking for Love] saucily slinks around like a perpetually horny pothead and the real Anita O'Day delivers a fine version of "Memories of You" in a cameo. Red Nichols plays himself, but Tommy Dorsey, who had passed away three years earlier, is portrayed by Bobby Troup. Celia Lovksy (the former Mrs. Peter Lorre) portrays another of her patented suffering old European mothers.

Verdict: Entertaining biopic with a charismatic and excellent lead performance. ***. 

BILLIE

Patty Duke pulls ahead of the boys

BILLIE (1965). Director: Don Weis.

15-year-old Billie (a 19-year-old Patty Duke) is a real tomboy who excels in sports, especially track. Before long the coach (Charles Lane) is making her his star player, but she's afraid this won't make her seem feminine enough. Will her new boyfriend, Mike (Warren Berlinger), accept her as an equal, or will she have to change herself to keep him? Billie, which was based on the play "Time Out for Ginger," has a surprisingly feminist perspective, until it completely cops out at the very end. [An entire book, which I have not read, has been written about this movie and its implications.] The elephant in the room, which is never mentioned outright, is that her family deep down probably fears that the boyish, athletic Billie may be a lesbian [or transgender]. She's given a whole song in which she rhapsodizes about discovering she's attracted to boys. The dated aspect of the movie is that even in the sixties there were female athletes, and they weren't all gay. [Not to mention the innumerable movies about tomboys who discover they're "women."] Duke [Curse of the Black Widow] is okay, although there are too many close-ups of her running, her scrunched-up face being positively thrust out at the viewer. A production number of chorus boy/athletes has them acting as if Duke were the sexiest teenager in the world, when actually Jane Greer [Run for the Sun], playing Duke's mother, is a lot more attractive (although Duke looks okay at the end when she's dolled up). Greer is excellent, Jim Backus is quite good as Billie's father, and there's nice work from Susan Seaforth as Billie's sister who, unbeknowst to her family, is married and pregnant. Others in the cast include Billy De Wolfe as Backus' political opponent -- who is not given enough to do -- and Ted Bessell as Seaforth's husband. Don Weis also directed Looking for Love with Connie Francis.

Verdict: Doesn't seem to understand that a woman can be an athlete and a "girl" at the same time. **1/2.

LOOKING FOR LOVE

Connie Francis sings and swings!

LOOKING FOR LOVE (1964). Director: Don Weis.

Libby Caruso (Connie Francis) isn't making it as a singer, so she decides she'll become a housewife instead -- all she needs is the right man. She sets her cap for a standoffish fellow named Paul (Jim Hutton), but he's more interested in her invention, a "lady valet." This somehow gets Libby on the Tonight show where she wows everyone with her singing and winds up with a spectacular career. On the verge of going off on a grand tour, Libby has one last chance to get Paul to marry her ... Looking for Love is utterly ridiculous but quite entertaining, bolstered by a fine lead performance by the highly charismatic Francis. Francis proves to be an outstanding singer as well, doing jazz numbers, ballads, and even "Be My Love" with equal aplomb. In spite of this, Francis only did four real movies. Joby Baker plays a friend who is carrying a torch for Libby, and Susan Oliver really scores as her roommate, Jan. The most intriguing cameo is by Joan Marshall (Jean Arliss of Homicidal) who looks gorgeous and is a lot of fun as one of the women interviewed for a spokeswoman job for the Lady Valet. Jay C. Flippen [Carnival Story] is fine as the manufacturer of Libby's invention -- Flippen's wife wrote the screenplay for this --  and there are guest appearances by Danny Thomas and Johnny Carson. Barbara Nichols [The George Raft Story] has a nice bit as another potential spokesperson until she learns that Libby is taking over her spot on the Thomas show. The snappy songs help a lot and Francis is delightful.

Verdict: Amiable nonsense with some great singing. **1/2.

BANNERLINE

BANNERLINE (1951). Director: Don Weis.

Mike Perrivale (Keefe Braselle) is a brash cub reporter who is itching to tackle hard news. After interviewing a dying old professor, Hugo Trimble (Lionel Barrymore), who despairs that the town and the paper has allowed corruption to persist, he gets the idea of a fake front page that will indicate something is about to be done regarding those problems. At first this is intended to be one fake paper to please the dying man, but Perrivale and old-timer Josh (Lewis Stone) decide to put it in every paper for real. This brings Perrivale into conflict with the town's head crook Scarbine (J. Carrol Naish).

Bannerline holds the attention but its premise makes little sense. Why would any newspaperman think it's okay, under any circumstances, to print fake headlines in a paper that's supposed to record the truth? Why would Perrivale throw away his career when he's on the verge of getting married?The story doesn't work but at least there's some good acting. Barrymore could have acted his role in his sleep but he's fine, and Braselle makes an appealing leading man. Sally Forrest is his pretty girlfriend and Spring Byington her mother. [She offers her cheek to Perrivle for a kiss, but he kisses the old gal on the mouth instead. She says to her daughter: "You've got something here!"] Naish is as solid as ever.The best performance comes from Elisabeth Risdon as Barrymore's wise and devoted wife of many years.

Verdict: Pleasant cast; mediocre story. **.

A SLIGHT CASE OF LARCENY

A SLIGHT CASE OF LARCENY (1953). Director: Don Weis.

Two old Army buddies -- one of whom (Eddie Bracken) is married with children, the other (Mickey Rooney) single and with ambitions -- hook up to run a gas station that does good business for a while. Then a big competitor opens a competing station right across the highway and nearly drives them out of business. Rooney comes up with the idea of tapping into the pipeline running below the station and stealing gas, which helps them drive out the competition. The word "slight" was invented for movies like this -- the pic could be retitled A Slight Case of Comedy -- and there's very few laughs in Jerry Davis' screenplay. Both Bracken and Roony are good -- as is Elaine Stewart as the sexy gal Rooney falls for -- but the only thing this really has going for it is Rooney's pure, unfiltered charm and enthusiasm. There's a cute scene when Rooney is sounding off pretentiously and in high-falutin' terms to Bracken's little boy. Not much to this time-waster.

Verdict: Too slight to be memorable aside from Rooney. **.