Amour toujours

After a great opening credits sequence, our story begins. Attractive telephone operator Connie Francis (as Libby Caruso) wants to make it big in show business, get married and have babies. With her figure and singing voice, this shouldn't take too long. To prevent clothing from wrinkling overnight, Ms. Francis invents the "Lady Valet" which garners her an appearance on "The Tonight Show" starring Johnny Carson. He thinks her invention looks like a "blind date for a Martian," and invites Francis to sing. She's another Caruso, but goes unnoticed by tall Jim Hutton (as Paul Davis)...

"Looking for Love" finds Francis in good voice, and improved as a comedy star. She's not paired well with Mr. Hutton, which was the story's point, but still… Best friend Susan Oliver (as Jan McNair) and bass player Joby Baker (as Cuz Rickover) round out a romantic quartet. The title track reached #34 on the "Cash Box" pop chart and the soundtrack LP sold moderately during The Beatles' "A Hard Day's Night" onslaught. MGM and Francis continued the formula for one more film, with decreasing returns. They really should have been producing a TV variety series, with singing and skits.

**** Looking for Love (8/5/64) Don Weis ~ Connie Francis, Jim Hutton, Susan Oliver, Joby Baker

I think this is a Great movie! Most of this cast was also in the movie Where The Boys ARe & their chemisty together is nothing less than great! I LOVE Jim Hutton & think (as always) that he is wonderful! A fun movie......

This film plays like a cross between a 40s MGM musical and a 60s sitcom, combining the worst of both worlds. And, not being a Francis fan, even the many musical interludes don't pacify me. Seeing that the director and scriptwriter were from TV, I shouldn't be surprised at the result. I guess MGM didn't think poor Connie deserved first-rate attention. But, then again, Elvis suffered the same fate.

Connie's character is an idiot, and Jim Hutton's a jack#@@. We are supposed to believe that "Libby" pines after "Paul," a man who blatantly shows a hatred towards women? There is no chemistry between either of the two couples, in any combination.

Paula Prentiss must have established a friendship with Francis after making "Where the Boys Are" four years earlier; otherwise, why would she have agreed to a 30 second cameo, during which she speaks one short sentence, and is promptly bopped on the head?

And, please, the Lady Valet? Perhaps the writer didn't realize that such a "contraption," in some form or another, has existed for hundreds of years. One doubts the lame version presented in the film could ever secure its creator a slot on The Tonight Show (but it is great to see Johnny).

The movie does display a reasonable budget, as many of the sets have a more- than-sitcom feel. I wonder how many times they had to shoot that grocery store scene? However, notice that after the girls become rich, and live in a HUGE mansion, they still share a bedroom? (It's not surprising that scriptwriter Flippen did some work on "The Brady Bunch.")

If you plan on sampling one of the four 60s Francis flicks, stick with the first, "Where the Boys Are."

Another movie that seems like play like an Elvis movie, sans Elvis, this time featuring the effervescent Connie Francis. Oddly enough, despite the dumb script and sort of weird presentation of the star as a second banana, one gets a vague hint than in an alternate universe Connie Francis could've been a dramatic actress. She manages to project desperation in a few scenes in a sort of scary way.

This movie is also a curiosity for the fake late show TV appearances -- Johnny Carson and Danny Thomas -- in the era when Jay Leno appears in every third movie that comes out, hard to remember the beginnings of crossover promotion.

The plot is a typical romantic cross, and it didn't shock me too much to find the screenwriter, Ruth Brooks Flippen, was a writer on both the Gidget movies and the TV show, (as well as a few other notables, e.g. Bewitched) sequeing later to the Odd Couple. It made me want to learn a bit more about her.

If you already like Connie Francis, this will be a delight, and if you're interested in the mating habits of your parents (at least superficially), there are worse ways of spending an hour and a half.

Then again, it's not that great either. Connie Francis stars as a girl whose main desire in life is to get married and have kids, thus setting feminism back 10,000 years. She becomes infatuated with Jim Hutton, who likes tall women with big breasts. Hutton shows no interest, until Connie sings a sultry song. Then he decides there may be something to short women with big breasts. Joby Baker and Susan Oliver complete the quartet of who-is-going-to-end-up-with-whom. Numerous "guest stars" appear, including Danny Thomas, George Hamilton, and Johnny Carson, all playing themselves. Carson used to diss this film on his show; in actuality, he should have dissed his performance, since he is terrible in this (I say this as a big Carson fan). Connie sings a boatload of songs. I've always enjoyed her singing, so a few of these were at least tolerable.