Vento caldo

Connie Stevens in her hayday with her old nose and delightful presence.A charmer as Lucy the bad girl with the heart of gold. Diane Mc Bain stunningly beautiful and a gifted actress at her best. Claudette Colbert utterly elegant,charming and a great performance as the single Mother. Dean Jagger strong but sensitive in his portrayal. Karl Malden the epitome of an actor doing his craft. Troy Donahue was so-so.Not a good actor but looking good at this point in time.Warren Beatty would have been perfect in this role as Parrish. Max Steiner the musical genius of this film.The music was captivating and gave the story that extra specialness.The film score was four stars here.

I recall a review of this one in which the cinematographer, Harry Stradling, Sr., was given high marks for his very classy showcasing of the young Diane McBain's ravishingly blonde beauty. She gave a riveting performance in this one, amidst some rather high-powered competition from the likes of Karl Malden, Dean Jagger, Claudette Colbert, and Connie Stevens getting some well-earned sympathy as a poor young thing besotted with her yearning for pretty-boy Troy Donahue. Miss McBain's filmography is a sorry testament to how Hollywood could take an extraordinarily attractive young actress, possessed of some genuine talent, and misuse and disuse her until everyone within the industry eventually believed that she had nothing worthwhile to offer.

The story was quite a mish-mash and I remember being quite upset that the lovely Miss Colbert had come out of retirement to play a role that reinforced the old cliche that "It's a man's world and you women better kowtow or else!" I wanted her to give that greedy old brute, mercilessly enacted by Karl Malden, and his bullying sons some kind of a comeuppance, which certainly shouldn't have been beyond the screenwriters, whose contrivances were about as convoluted as one could get away with before the revolutions in social mores, just a few years away when this was filmed, overwhelmed us.

But it's a guilty pleasure nevertheless. Delmer Daves really knew how to maneuver the elements to give audiences back then a good measure of mindless satisfaction. It's worth a not-too-demanding look-see.

The first time I saw the movie 'Parrish' was when it was released in theaters back in the early sixties. I have never forgotten it. The score by Max Steiner is wonderful. Seeing screen legend Claudette Colbert on screen again after coming out of retirement was a sight for sore eyes. Parrish's three girl-friends: Diane McBain, Connie Stevens and Sharon Hugueny are all stunning. America's finest character actor, Karl Malden, is his usual marvelous self. Once again director/writer Delmer Daves gives his audience two hours of fine entertainment. Finally, the supporting cast is filled with familiar faces who have become famous and it's fun identifying them.

Last weekend I wanted to watch a film from my teen years... something that would take me back to those years of wonderment and yearning. I looked through my collection, spotted "Parrish" and knew I had found what I was looking forward. The story of a young man and his mother who move to Connecticut and involve themselves in tobacco farming, meeting a ruthless man and his family and a kind man and his spoiled daughter, it was a feast of young actors and respected mature stars. There wasn't a teen girl of those days and I dare say a few boys whose hearts didn't beat faster at the sight of Troy Donahue. His acting was pouty and wooden but there were those slim, handsome, blond looks, often wearing a red jacket that made teens break their clinches and sit up and pay attention. Whether he was romancing Connie Stevens (the first of their three films together) or Diane McBain (she hooked up with Donahue on the tube) or brunette Sharon Hugueny or whether he was emoting with Claudette Colbert (who came out of retirement for "Parrish" and then promptly retired again) or the esteemed Karl Malden and Dean Jagger, Donahue always came out second best in the acting department. This was Donahue's second of four straight films with director Delmer Daves and the older man certainly learned how to showcase the young blond hunk. The film has a bright and shiny look, plenty of melodrama and a gorgeous Max Steiner score. Get yourself some popcorn, put your feet up on the table and sit back and enjoy "Parrish."

There is an extreme close-up of Diane McBain fairly early in the picture, when she runs into Troy on the lawn of the manor house. It is still one of the most beautiful close-ups I have seen, ever. It never fails to take my breath away, even when I know its coming.

McBain was equally beautiful in "Claudelle English". Of the three women, McBain, Connie Stevens and Sharon Hugeny, it is Connie who takes the acting honors. She was even better in her follow up, "Susan Slade".

How strange that McBain's career would end with weird films like "Thunder Alley" and "Mini-Skirt Mob". By then her acting was excellent and there is a powerful scene in "Mini" when she describes a snake eating a mouse. But her looks had become shockingly hard.

Connie became more and more beautiful, but too Vegas and cartoon-like to play real people.