What's a Nice Girl Like You...?

The biggest reason to watch "What's a Nice Girl Like You...?" is the nice performance by Brenda Vaccaro as a smart-mouthed and sassy lady from the Bronx. She's fun to watch and makes an otherwise mediocre film well worth seeing.

The story begins with a couple goons trying to kidnap Shirley (Vaccaro). She is shocked....after all, who would want to kidnap a single working girl who isn't rich nor famous. Well, the spunky lady manages to crash the kidnsappers' vehicle that she was in...and they are killed and she manages to escape. Soon she shows up at Lt. Burton's office (Jack Warden) to report the attempted abduction. At first, the Lieutenant seems a bit incredulous but soon sees that yes, indeed, this unlikely lady was abducted, briefly, by some notorious hoods. Why? What would they want with her? See the film and find out yourself.

I loved Vaccaro in the film...she was great. I was a bit less thrilled by the plot--it seemed like it should either be funnier or more serious. But this is not a huge problem and the good far outweighs the bad.

By the way, it's interesting to see Robert Ito playing a morgue attendant in one brief scene, as soon after this he'd star as Quincy's assistant...in the city coroner's office!

Poor Brenda Vaccarro is really in trouble as an office worker mistaken for the sought after Carlotta in this comedy/drama which showcases a capable cast including Roddy McDowall and Vincent Price (in an untypical low brow turn) as hoods and Jack Warden as the police detective who tries to help Brenda out of this mess. Joanne Worley as Brenda's confidante and Michael Learned as a thug also appear, as does Edmond O'Brien towards the end. A spunky performance from Vaccarro and all around likeable characters help this movie hold its interest until the satisfying conclusion. This was made as an ABC Movie of the Week.

1971's "What's a Nice Girl Like You...?" was an ABC TV movie boasting an impressive cast for an ill conceived outline that proves to be neither comedy nor drama, just improbably drawn out and deadly dull. Brenda Vaccaro headlines as Bronx working girl Shirley Campbel, enduring a whirlwind week in which she is kidnapped, threatened at gunpoint, and even yelled at by a myriad bunch of hired goons just because of her resemblance to a wealthy heiress who later is revealed to be deceased. Jack Warden is her unlikely love interest, a put upon police lieutenant concerned about their age gap while putting himself in harm's way. Things should take a turn for the better at the midway mark, with Roddy McDowall as would be actor Albert Soames and Vincent Price as extortion mastermind William Spevin, but even their efforts aren't enough to raise one's hopes, let alone those of the old man (Edmond O'Brien) whose promised cash payout to see his long lost daughter once more is the ultimate goal. With so many corpses left in her wake, an over the top Brenda Vaccaro almost singlehandedly sinks this attempt at a starring vehicle in the wake of her recent Oscar nomination for "Midnight Cowboy," a little bit of her goes a long way with those repeated shouts to "drop dead!" It wouldn't be any surprise if this tanked in the ratings, one of the very few instances of Vincent Price doing an actual TV movie rather than another of his numerous guest shots on popular series.