Je länger, je lieber

I was surprised to see that the play on which this is based is from 1959 and not 1939; it has so much of the flavor of 30s college flicks. Just imagine it with a cast from a quarter-century earlier and it makes for a more comfortable fit. Who would you cast in the principal roles? The contemporary young 30s actors to play Tall Naive Guys could be say, Henry Fonda, Jimmy Stewart, even musical comedy hoofers such as Ray Bolger or Buddy Ebsen for a different flavor. For the go-getter girl June (who needn't be tall) the possibilities are broader. Ginger Rogers? Early Betty Grable or Lucille Ball? Toby Wing? One could amass quite a list of potential Junes...

Let me confess that I didn't get to see this all the way through, but from what I saw I found it rather weird to find all these young people existing in a 1960 world devoid of young peoples' music, i.e. rock 'n' roll, doo-wop etc. When the couples are out spooning under the moon they're even singing "Cuddle Up A Little Closer, Lovey Mine", published in 1908 (the same year the director, Joshua Logan, was born). Granted this song had been revived to considerable success in the 40s during wartime and was still popular in the 50s, but it just didn't seem credible to me.

However, once one accepts that "Tall Story" is set in a time and place all its own it's a perfectly enjoyable trifle. Perkins is likably boyish, callow and gawky, and a trifle awkward to be convincing as an athlete, but one can swallow that with the rest of it-- remember, Willing Suspension of Disbelief. So we can buy Fonda's character being so besotted with the guy and pulling every string to land him. She of course is a thorough charmer, which is fun to watch from the perspective of the present day, looking back on her life and career.

This is a quite watchable piece of filmmaking, and a definite curiosity. Just put your brain in neutral and let it roll by.