In cerca d'amore

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......

O.K. I'll be honest. I wasn't expecting much when I decided to watch "Looking for Love" on Turner Classic Movies' "not on video" festival last July. After all, Maltin gave the film a BOMB rating and "Rose Marie" was a grand disappointment. But TCM was on a solid streak with three great films in a row; "Penelope", "The Money Trap" and "Your Cheatin Heart". So I decided to give it a chance.

I'm sure glad I did! "Looking for Love" is not a great film, but it has energy and charm and a wonderful lead performance by Connie Francis. You just can't help smiling as I did lot during the regretably brief running time (81 minutes). Surely, they could have added another 10 minutes of songs!

The plot is unimportant; it's merely an excuse to hang some truly inventive musical numbers and sight gags (which needs to be seen in Panavision to truly appreciate; TCM letterboxed the print). I hope that MGM will release the film on video and DVD as a "Vintage Classic" or "MGM Musical" so that an audience can appreciate this. This won't appeal to those looking for acting. But if you're looking for a good time, you could do a lot worse than this. It's no masterpiece, but it's infectious and charming. and you will be smiling a lot.

*** out of 4 stars

After a month in Hollywood, Libby Caruso (Connie Francis) abandons her singing aspirations to go look for a husband. She is taken with Paul Davis (Jim Hutton) at first sight. He works with her roommate Jan McNair (Susan Oliver) and they hate each other. Libby has a great unusual idea and Paul puts her on The Tonight Show.

The premise is dated, but it is interesting for that reason. Connie Francis may be a great singer, but I don't see her as a rom-com gal. She powers through her comedy work, but it only makes it less funny. One of the other interesting premise is the use of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. It's fun to see this version of Johnny. Connie Francis does some good singing and that's it.

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.

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.