The Birds and the Bees

A much better remake than it has a right to be. The improvements over the original includes a much better musical score, the advent of color.and the addition of the 2 leads Mitzi Gaynor and George Gobel. Hank Fonda and Barbara Stanwyck are physically well matched so it is hard to swallow her character not being attracted to his character. For the remake because Mitzi and George are so mismatched physically, and there seems to be chemistry between the two principals the romance works. The screen play trims some of the fat off the supporting characters Fred Clark always shines with the brunt of the story focused on the main leads. The casting of George Gobel using his television alter ego as an innocent over an obvious ploy by what should be another fortune hunter is delicious for me. The supporting cast rounds out a formula musical comedy. I look forward to a DVD copy of this movie.

Birds and the Bees beats the Lady Eve for the simple reason that Henry Fonda isn't funny. The man can't do comedy to save his life. George Gobel is a hoot. Viewers would do well to stop comparing the two movies and accept it on its own terms. The scene between Gobel and Niven where they discuss a subject then clap their hands over each others mouths before the other can reveal anything is classic. David Niven was never funnier. Gobel wrote the book on playing bumbling ineptness, something Fonda couldn't approach. For me, it was Fonda who was miscast in the original movie. Anyway, give it a view and don't try comparing it to anything. You'll have a good time with it.

Although folks these days sometimes complain about Hollywood's love of remakes, remaking films is certainly not a new thing. In fact, in the 1930s, films were sometimes remake as few as 2-4 years after the initial movie! In many of these cases, we're talking about B-movies and obscure productions...but occasionally they remake big films...films that were just great originally and had no reason to be remade at all.

A great example of a film that was originally great but got remade anyway is "The Lady Eve". Preston Sturgis wrote and directed it and the movie starred Barbara Stanwyck, Henry Fonda and Charles Coburn...and it was a classic in every possible way. Yet, oddly, someone thought it needed a remake...which they got to 15 year later.

In pretty much every way, the remake is inferior. While Mitzi Gaynor was fine, she wasn't exactly Barbara Stanwyck. But much worse....instead of a nice-guy actor like Henry Fonda, someone thought that bumbling, nerdy George Gobel would be great in the lead...something that simply defies common sense. How nerdy is George? Well, he's an ichthyologist (he studies snakes) and seems more like Harry Langdon than Henry Fonda! He's just all wrong...especially since the film finds Gaynor's character falling in love with him for no clear reason. Even worse is casting David Niven in the supporting role. While he was a wonderful actor and great in leading roles, here he simply isn't at all in the same league as Charles Coburn...not even close.

The bottom line is that "The Birds and the Bees" is harmless entertainment...but hardly any sane people would consider it a classic. "The Lady Eve", on the other hand, is a magical film that you simply must see.

The Birds and the Bees is a remake of The Lady Eve, Preston Sturge's screwball comedy starring Barbara Stanwyck and Henry Fonda. It's incredibly similar to the original, so much so that I struggle to understand why they bothered remaking it at all. Audiences who liked the original wouldn't want to mess with perfection, and audiences who didn't like it wouldn't want to give it another chance. I belong to the latter category, and the only reason I sat through this movie is because I love David Niven so much.

David Niven and Mitzi Gaynor are a father-daughter con-team who usually swindle their victims out of money through cheating at cards. Their next target is the bumbling, fumbling fool, George Gobel. But what happens when Mitzi starts to fall in love with him? A more important question is, perhaps, what is the world coming to when David Niven gets third billing in a Mitzi Gaynor movie?

I detested the original; it's an absolute insult to Barbara Stanwyck's talent that it's one of her most famous films. Mitzi adds nothing to the role in the remake. Half the time she's trying to imitate Marilyn Monroe, and the other half she's trying to act like a teenaged Shirley Temple. Gobel gives his best Tommy Smothers impression-or Tommy Smothers got his inspiration from Gobel. I never thought I'd long for Henry Fonda's wooden delivery and bored, slightly frustrated attitude, but Gobel drove me to it. I can't imagine anyone falling in love with him, but I suppose the movies are full of suspensions of disbelief. There's really no reason to watch this remake. Not even if you love David Niven.

Unless you are a big George Gobel fan I'm not sure you'll like The Birds And The Bees. Especially after you've seen the Preston Sturges classic The Lady Eve which this is a remake of. I wonder how Preston Sturges felt about Gobel taking over a part that was created by Henry Fonda.

One thing though, while Mitzi Gaynor got an opportunity to sing and dance a pair of numbers, one of them a duet with Gobel she sure lacks the spark that Barbara Stanwyck brought to the part of the female card shark. Glad they put those numbers in for her, giving her a chance to do what she does best.

David Niven is third billed and takes over the part of Gaynor's father which Charles Coburn played in the original. Due to his star status his part is built up somewhat. They gave him a touch of gray in his hair and Niven looked older than 46 years at the time. Three years later Niven and Gaynor would be playing husband and wife in Happy Anniversary.

Try as I might I can't conceive that Gaynor would waste her time with Gobel unless it was the millions that he had. See The Lady Eve before you see this one and judge for yourself.