Fièvre sur la ville

This is the kind of film where the title says all. Michael Parks who was attempting to be a 60s version of James Dean is back from Uncle Sam's Navy and looking to settle down. Jobs like mortician and vacuum cleaner salesman don't quite work out, but he's got a pair of women in tow.

Janet Margolin is the daughter of a friend of Parks's mom and she's a sweet innocent thing. But his former girlfriend Ann-Margret has up and married money rather than wait for Parks. Still her older husband is away all the time and Ann-Margret has an itch that needs scratching which Parks is only happy to oblige.

The main reason to see Bus Riley's Back In Town is for Ann-Margret. She really sizzles in the part of the sex hungry man trap. Despite some less than stellar reviews, folks plunked down their money to see her.

She's still worth seeing.

This modest but cute film shows Kim Darby (Gussie) to be perhaps the most underrated actress ever. Every eye movement, every facial expression is a treasure. Her performance is simply brilliant. Why didn't she ever get more good roles? She is so natural, so believable, and has that special quality so many formula actors cannot access: the ability to make you remember and feel the real person inside yourself.

Also, Janet Margolin (Judy) gives a subtle and appropriately underplayed performance, at the same time showing her serene natural beauty at its best. What a pity she died so young!

What this film is really about is family; characters like Gussie & Judy. The role that Ann Margret plays is just a foil, and even the cover of the video shows that entirely too much attention has been focussed on her, detracting from the real value of the film.

I really love this movie -I saw it after Parks' series 'Then Came Bronson' which started when I was just seven years old. I honestly don't know how I remember the show.

I have done some research on 'Bus Riley...' and found that the movie was significantly changed by Universal; I don't know whether it was done during shooting or after the bulk of shooting was complete but a great deal of the original story was cut with new scenes filmed to 'push' Ann Margret as a Universal Studios talent. (William) Inge's original script had Judy (Janet Margolin, an absolutely lovely woman) as Bus' girlfriend. He came back to a job at the garage -with James Doohan playing a larger role and was not satisfied, unfulfilled and fell into the relationship with Ann Margret. Michael Parks, Janet Margolin and James Doohan had diminished roles as a result of the forced changes to the movie.

I cannot substantiate this version of events but have seen enough references to it to lend credence to the story -I believe it is why the AM character seems to make no sense at times.

Now, having said that, I still love this movie. I find Michael Parks to be an actor of rare talent and I believe he may have been blacklisted for being difficult to work with. I do think he is a better actor than James Dean, whom he was frequently compared to.

It's amazing that Ann-Margret had any friends left in Hollywood after she was put in the forefront of "State Fair", then the producers of "Bye Bye Birdie" geared that film around her then in this film, she was given top-billing and the story was re-structured to bring out her character more than was intended or necessary! It's not to say that she didn't do a good job on these movies, it's just that more than a few people involved got their feathers ruffled along the way and she seems to be none the worse for wear from it herself! Here, it was the author of the piece (William Inge) who tried to disassociate himself from the film when the producers decided to steer the production her way. The story is supposed to be about the title character (Parks) and the events that befall him when he comes home from a three year stint in the U.S. Navy. He has trouble finding his way and interacts with various locals and family members as he searches for purpose and the security of a bright future. Standing in the way of this is old flame Margret who, when he shipped out after a break up with her, married a wealthy older man. Parks and Margret have a great push-pull, moth-to-a-flame chemistry with Parks desperately trying to avoid what he knows will be his undoing. Fans of Margret will be doing backflips when watching this film as she purrs and slithers around in her Jean Louis dresses and tosses her lionesse mane of red hair. Her character makes little or no sense half the time (partly because it has been unduly featured as a starring part when it is actually just a plot device), but her followers won't care when she's writhing around and whispering romantic dialogue in lighting that would make Lucille Ball jealous. Parks can't quite shake the James Dean label entirely and the way he acts and looks sometimes, maybe he wasn't even trying, but he does give a thoughtful, often empathetic performance. The whole film is dotted with great character actors giving little doses of themselves. Sometimes, they get short shrift or their scenes don't add up to much, but their presence is enjoyable nonetheless. Brando gets one of her better roles as Parks' worried mother. The lovely Farmer plays his tarty, blonde sister while Darby does a fantastic job as his adoring younger sister. Her performance provides the film with a great deal of heart and realism. Other enjoyable work is done by Somers (she did something before "Match Game"?!) as a fussy boarder, Martin as a slovenly neighbor, Dexter as a slick salesman, Pearce as a dotty housewife and Griffies as a cantankerous mortician. Less showy, but just as good is Margolin as Darby's troubled friend. If the parts don't all add up to a brilliant whole, at least the film is pretty to look at and mostly entertaining. The characters are interesting enough to hold the viewers attention for the bulk of the time. Amusingly, the one hot pub in town (purportedly a straight bar) plays only Petula Clark songs until Margret slips a nickel in the juke box for one of her slinky come-ons. There's also a rather forward (for its time) scene of an older man attempting to make Parks his live-in "buddy". It would be interesting to see how the film played with Inge's perspective kept intact. As is, it's still a more than passable piece of entertainment.

Unless you love small-town soap opera or are a big fan of Ann-Margret, the only reason to recommend this film is to see Michael Parks emulate James Dean. Perhaps Parks isn't quite as intense or as fidgety as Dean, but the facial expressions, mannerisms, stance, etc. are all spot-on for this Dean fan. I had never really noticed Parks in anything before seeing this, and I haven't seen someone play James Dean this well since James Franco in the TNT "James Dean" (2001) biopic.

Kim Darby, somehow looking older than she did in "Star Trek" or "True Grit" plays a high school version of Barbara Bel Geddes' Midge from "Vertigo."