Love in a Goldfish Bowl

I am a great fan of the beach movie genre, i know they are corny and dated, but that's their charm. They are a great snapshot of 60's America. However, this isnt a Beach Movie as it came out two years before the first one, but its like the bluepront of genre before it got started. Tommy Sands plays the Frankie Avalon character and Toby Micheals plays Annette. Fabian plays the bad guy as he would in subsequent films. I kept expecting a cheezy surf number to come on, with Dick Dale and Donna Loren, but I guess thats before their time in the movies and isnt the point here. Edward Andrews and John McGiver play the father and school teacher elements and well cast they are too. It was a pleasant suprise to find this online, as I thought I had seen all the films of this genre, but it just goes to show you have to keep looking. Watching the once, but not something you would want to watch again. Recommended.

I saw this film way back when it first came out and the only thing I remembered about it was that Tommy Sands dyed his hair blond for this production. Seeing it now I think it was clear that they wanted both him and Fabian to have a distinct look. Tommy's hair was as black as Fabian and they could have been related. Since Jan Sterling was playing Tommy's mother it was Sands who got to become a blond like her.

The other thing I learned that the title song which is sung by Sands over the opening credits was written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David one of their early numbers. The song Love In A Goldfish Bowl is hardly counted as one of their masterworks, pleasant though it is.

With the Code still firmly in place the film is an innocuous teen comedy about a boy and girl with parent issues who run away from school in Colorado and live at the boy's mother beach house in Balboa over spring break. The boy being Sands and the girl being Toby Michaels. You might best remember Toby Michaels whose career wasn't long as the ill fated trading post owner's daughter in Sergeant Rutledge. Her father is a rather well meaning but pompous US Senator played by Edward Andrews as only Andrews can play it.

Tommy's mother is Jan Sterling a jet setting socialite who probably didn't halt partying even having Tommy. He's a free spirit like his mother.

Things go all right until a sailing accident brings in the Coast Guard and a handsome sailor played by Fabian. After that all kinds of complications set in.

Love In A Goldfish Bowl was no strain on any of the performers. I'm only guessing about Tommy Sands's blond hair. Someone ought to ask him about it.

Seeking a peaceful Easter vacation without parents, handsome blond Tommy Sands (as Gordon Slide) and likewise cute light-haired Toby Michaels (as Blythe Holloway) decide to spend their break at Mr. Sands' empty Balboa beach house. The two college students are not lovers; they are, and appear intent on remaining, platonic. After moving in, Ms. Michaels sends out signals she may be available for intimacy, but Sands doesn't seem interested. Following a boating mishap, Sands and Michaels are rescued by the Coast Guard. Leading the group, handsome Hampton Bays, LI clam-digger Fabian (as Guiseppi "Seppi" La Barba) is attracted to Michaels. The two begin dating, which leads Sands to question his feelings for Michaels...

Whatever made Sands bleach his hair for this one erred. If the goal was differentiate Sands from Fabian, it wasn't needed; young viewers of the time would certainly know Tommy Sands from Fabian. If anything, they made Sands look like a blond Frankie Avalon. Sands sings the title song (by Burt Bacharach and Hal David) and Fabian is credited with singing the chorally-sung "You're Only Young Once"; both were at the end of their hit record careers, and neither song made the national charts. Adults Jan Sterling (as Sandra Slide) and Edward Andrews (as Clyde Holloway) are adept as the parents who just don't understand. Elizabeth MacRae (as Jackie) is an older floozy who amusingly tries to get Sands aroused.

***** Love in a Goldfish Bowl (7/12/61) Jack Sher ~ Tommy Sands, Fabian, Toby Michaels, Jan Sterling

This film begins with two college friends named "Gordon Slide" (Tommy Sands) and "Blythe Holloway" (Toby Michaels) deciding to spend the upcoming Easter weekend together at a beach house rather than going back to their respective homes. The problem is that, because Gordon is male and Blythe is female, the college dean "Dr. Frowley" (John McGiver) is concerned about them spending so much time together. Additionally, he also considers Gordon to be a bad influence on Blythe as she is so innocent and naïve. As far as Gordon and Blythe are concerned, neither of them has a romantic interest in the other and as far as they are concerned, their relationship is strictly platonic. They are best friends, but not lovers. In any case, having deceived Blythe's widowed father "Senator Clyde Holloway" (Edward Andrews) and Gordon's divorced mother "Sandra Slide" (Jan Sterling) concerning their secret plan, they then head off for a quite weekend on the beach. Unfortunately, things don't go nearly as planned, due to a boating accident at sea which results in a Coast Guard vessel having to rescue them before they drown. And it's during this time that Blythe meets a young sailor named "Giuseppe La Barba" (Fabian) which results in an immediate attraction between the two. Gordon, on the other hand, is suspicious of Giuseppe's intentions and begins to react in an overly protective manner. Likewise, a stray dog they adopted named "Gaugin" (Tiger) also reacts in a hostile manner to him as well. Be that as it may, as the romantic relationship between Giuseppe and Blythe increases, Gordon starts to develop feelings of jealousy--and that's when things really become complicated for all concerned. Now, rather than reveal any more, I will just say that this was a slightly dull comedy which never really seemed to kick into high gear at any point. It just wasn't as funny as it could have been. Likewise, the relationship between Gordon and Blythe--which was the entire point of the film--could have also used a bit more humor as well. That being said, while I don't consider this to be a bad movie by any means, it wasn't nearly as good as it could have been and I have rated it accordingly. Average.

A talky, frenetic teen comedy in Technicolor that passes the time pleasantly enough. The picture of Eisenhower on the wall of Edward Andrews' office and one of the character's reminiscences about Fiorello la Guardia indicate just how long ago this all was.

In addition to former bad girl Jan Sterling as the hero's mother who "took up surfboarding at 39" and "read Scott Fitzgerald once and nothing else since" and Majel Barrett - later famous as Nurse Chappell in 'Star Trek' are two future bad girls: Susan Silo who later played The Riddler's devoted moll Mousey. And Elizabeth MacRae, as the party girl who was greeted with only slightly more enthusiasm thirteen years later as Meredith, the woman who picks up Gene Hackman at the wiretappers' convention in 'The Conversation'.