When the Boys Meet the Girls

This was made in the mid-60's when Elvis movies were still a big thing, 'teenagers movies' were an uneasy mixture of chubby beach bunnies chastely doing the frug on a Hollywood beach, but movie producers were about 5 years behind real life and felt moved to toss in some oldies but goodies for the older folks - 'insurance'. Meaning people like my aunt, a big Elvis fan (and I was no huge fan, he was passe as soon as the Beatles, etc. came along) would go see Mr. Harve Presnell, Miss Connie Francis, and...omg...Liberace! (It's almost like the Ed Sullivan Show here as far as casting!) . There is a tiresome old vaudeville act with a boxer for grandpa! oy! ... Herman's Hermits do a couple numbers. (Mr. Peter Noone, was JUST here at the NYS fair performing for the hundredth year in a row (beeyotch don't age) and he is THE big attraction in this for the youngsters out there, a bone thrown out for 'the teenagers'. (oh, and groovy Sam the Sham and the Pharoahs, for all the parents to point and laugh at.) .... Movies were slow to change in the 60's. One foot in the 50's, fear of those damm hippies and those new-fangled Englishmen bands. So you got odd mixtures of 50's frump and morals, and a token of the 60's freedom - but only a token! Little white gloves. A nightclub act with a song by a woman, 'Treat Me Rough', applauded approvingly by the audience...LOTS of warbling of old standards by Connie Francis...Liberace hamming it up in a gold glittering number; , Harve Presnell (with a nylon toupee) , and busty Miss Connie Francis were the BIG stars in these things. And tired old dogface Fred Clark, who has been in one billion movies and tv shows! - he looks the same age forever, never ever changing a single bit! ....kind of fun to watch, a real curiosity, not seen often.

Considering that this was produced by the famously cheapjack and incompetent Sam Katzman, and is one of the 1960s MGM musicals often cited as contributing to the death of the genre, this halfhearted updating of "Girl Crazy" isn't as bad as I'd suspected. Plenty of Gershwin and a surprising amount of the never-good original book are left intact (though Herman's Hermits insist on singing "I'm biding my time/ 'Cause that's the kind of guy I AM," ruining the rhyme), and some amusingly incongruous guest stars -- Liberace, Louis Armstrong -- are thrown in. Heaven knows Connie Francis can't act, but she does fine by "But Not for Me" and "Embraceable You," and opposite her, Harve Presnell is strong-voiced, virile, and more at ease with acting than most tenors. There's a typical mid-'60s supporting cast featuring Fred Clark, Joby Baker, and Sue Ann Langdon (a good comedienne, but not here). Of course it's over-lit and underwritten and cheap-looking, but there's one honest production number for "I Got Rhythm," and the painted backdrops and fast-motion photography contribute some fun cheesiness. An amiable time-waster.

I could not help but think this film reminded me very much of one of the many successful Elvis Presley films in which there was always a bevy of beautiful girls that Elvis would be serenading and/or a love interest who could also sing and dance, as well as some elderly parents and/or business associates who disliked this new hip culture of singing and swinging hipsters.

Connie Francis has the voice of a songbird and when you add a few 1960's top ten pop charts sung by The Herman's Hermits and lead singer Peter Noone you add a certain required quality to the film such that it is worth watching, even if it is a knock off of the many Elvis Presley films.

Yes, there is a plot in which.a then thirty two (32) year old actor Harve Presnell who plays Danny Churchill is trying hard to pass as a younger twenty (20) year old drop out college architecture student who convinces.the pretty. Ginger Gray postal worker (Connie Francis) to build a brand new hotel resort to save her fathers ranch from getting into the hands of the gangsters who.hold the gambling debts of her father. It's not clear to me how they actually build this luxurious hotel and it gets filled to capacity all within a month or so, but heh, that's show business for you.

I give the film a respectable 6 out of 10 IMDb rating.

This is the third version of the Gershwin Brothers popular musical Girl Crazy done for the big screen. Many forget and should and early version with Wheeler&Woolsey. Then there's the classic one Mickey and Judy did in the 40s. Now we have a third version starring Connie Francis and Harve Presnell with all generations of acts to accommodate everyone's taste.

You will accommodate when you get Herman's Hermits, Sam the Sham and the Pharoahs, Liberace, and Louis Armstrong in addition to Connie and Harve singing the Gershwin classics. Material for the guest artists is generously interpolated while the main songs that George and Ira wrote are retained for the leads.

Once again rich Danny Churchill is sent out west for a bit of discipline and he runs into cowgirl Ginger Gray. Such character players as Frank Faylen, Stanley Adams, Fred Clark, Russell Collins are all here. So is Sue Ane Langdon, Harve's golddigging former girlfriend who finds much deeper pockets to mine in the end. She's worth watching for herself alone.

Nice to see Girl Crazy done again this time as When The Boys Meet The Girls. Maybe we'll get another version yet.

This is the third film version of the Gershwins' Broadway hit, "Girl Crazy". The songs "Embraceable You", "Bidin' My Time", "But Not for Me", "Treat Me Rough", and "I Got Rhythm" have been retained from the original score. Added to this are specialty numbers written by or for Connie Francis, Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs, Herman's Hermits, Louis Armstrong, and Liberace. The idea of Louis and Liberace in the same movie is enough for a viewing. The screenplay merely suggests the original libretto. Connie Francis and Harve Presnell are acceptable musical comedy leads. The most interesting aspect of the film for comedy buffs is the stand-up specialty by the comedy team of Davis and Reese. They do an interview with a boxer routine which is reminiscent of, but not a copy of, the fighter routines done by Martin and Lewis and Allen and Rossi. Davis has some spark as a comedian, but Reese is an interchangeable straight man. He's not Bud Abbott, George Burns, Dean Martin, or even Duke Mitchell! This is one of the very few screen appearances of Liberace, and he is hysterical. I wonder if he knew he was that funny! Louis Armstrong is as welcome as ever and Joby Baker is wasted in his comic side-kick role. The film is an interesting mix of trying to integrate 30s musical comedy with rock 'n roll. It really doesn't work, but I give the film makers A for effort.