How to Pick Up Girls!

I remember this movie fondly from 1978, and watched it whenever it came on TV, usually late-night through the early '80s, then it disappeared. Fred McCarren plays a small town guy that moves to New York City, and stays with his swinging friend (Desi Araz Jr.) It's loosely based on the author of the paperback "How To Pick Up Girls", which was advertised in major magazines like Playboy & Penthouse in the late '70s & early '80s. It captures the singles scene in New York in true '70s New York style. There is also a scene where Donald (Fred McCarren) is partying with a model/girlfriend of his boss (Deborah Raffin) at Studio 54! I always liked this movie, but hadn't seen it since the early '80s. I was lucky & found a VHS tape of it on the internet. It's a movie that will have lots of appeal for lovers of '70s nostalgia.

Fred McCarren has moved to New York City and friend Desi Arnaz. Jr.'s influence has gotten him a job. Desi is a player and has a way with the girls, but not Fred. He is the quiet type, who befriends Bess Armstrong, another tenant in the apartment building. Fred goes to work for photographer Richard Dawson, who plays his role to perfection. But when Fred breaks a rule by dating a model, Deborah Raffin, he is promptly fired. In his quest for girls and how to fight his own loneliness, he conducts an experiment on how to get women to talk to him. Asking them intimate questions on what they like in men while being taped, women open to him, and his world and attitude changes. He begins to write a book based on his results. But will this become a bestseller or a bust? I couldn't get over how genuinely funny this film was. The scenes between Fred and Bess were so natural you feel like you're just - watching people. This was so real, so good. I can't get over that movies like this were made and then discarded. Polly Bergen and Abe Vigoda make brief appearances in this forgotten little gem. This is a winner that sadly will never see the light of day, and only I know the secret of how to...

What a movie this is! This love-starved geek from Nebraska decides one day to visit his (shall we say not love-starved) friend in New York. This friend (Desi Jr.) shows him around and after awhile, this guy decides to write a book on how to pick up bimbos (oh, I mean girls!) Well, this guy, being the geek he is, makes a few mistakes along the way, one of them being sleeping with the model girlfriend of his boss, Richard Dawson. I guess all I can say is that this is typical late 70s fluff not to be taken seriously.

What I'd like to know is why Richard, at the height of his popularity as host of "Family Feud," would bother to do this? Not that I'm complaining; he plays a typical fashion model photographer with that certain Richard Dawson flare that made him so popular in the first place.

This film begins with a shy young man by the name of "Fred McCarren" (Donald Becker) flying all the way from Nebraska to move in with his good friend "Robby Harrington" (Desi Arnaz Jr.) who lives in New York City. Although he hasn't seen his friend in a long time, Fred is amazed at how successful he is in dating attractive women. Naturally, being somewhat clumsy when it comes to the dating scene, Fred finally gets around to asking Robby for some advice which yields immediate results. Unfortunately, the woman he chooses also happens to be dating his boss--who fires him after finding out. So, with a little encouragement from an attractive neighbor named "Sally Claybrook" (Bess Armstrong), Fred decides to write a book detailing his methods for picking up women. What he isn't prepared for, however, is the rejection he receives from all of the major publishers in the city. Now, rather than reveal any more, I will just say that I vaguely remembered watching this movie when it first came out on television and, having now seen it more recently, I can honestly say that it was neither better nor worse than I remember it to be. I say this because, although this film is billed as a comedy, there really wasn't that much humor here at all. It does, however, have some decent acting with both Donald Becker and Bess Armstrong performing quite well together. That being said, while I certainly don't think this was a great movie by any means, it passed the time will enough and I have rated it accordingly. Average.