Siete tutte adorabili

I saw this one at a theater in Westwood, California during its initial release and hadn't remembered much about it except for the lilting title song performed by the Hi-Lo's (the very best of the male singing quartets of that era) and the lively "Balboa" dance number with a flotilla of dancers splashing through the water's edge on a partially flooded soundstage setting.

Turner Classic Movies showed it earlier today and, oh my!, what a tremendous waste of the various talents involved. Almost everyone in the cast, except for Cliff Robertson, whom I've always found to be close to terminally bland, is criminally underused. The Newport/Balboa Island setting for most of the action isn't capitalized on, except for the title sequence. The production numbers are almost all sub-par, not coming close to the norm in Jane Powell's M-G-M extravaganzas. The treatment of Mexican nationals and American Indians is typical of 1950s all-white heedlessness. And the script is about as silly as they come by any standard, with Jane's final choice of her three suitors (cued by that "Pink Cloud Feeling") being the fadeout disappointment.

Gower Champion's ability to get a troupe of talented dancers into showing some real razzle-dazzle is best showcased in the "Balboa" number and Nelson Riddle's arrangements almost redeem the surprisingly lackluster songs by the usually reliable Ralph Martin and Hugh Blane (who weren't responsible for the listenable title song). All in all, if RKO Radio Pictures weren't already moribund, this one was sure to provide the final nail in its coffin.

This movie features mostly people not known for their singing or their dancing... singing and dancing. The story is pretty weak and the musical numbers and dances are uninspired to put it mildly. Some of the principals were fortunate enough to be in much better films than this; how they ended up here I don't know but it's just a lame effort. The sets and color are nice enough and there are some interesting period touches for the 1950's, but overall, it's not a movie you'll finish watching (if you DO finish it) and want to see it ever again.

There were quite a few low budget musicals made during the '50s that were mostly insignificant but very watchable because they made no pretense at being "great." "The Girl Most Likely" is one of the more likable. There's some wonderfully exuberant choreography by Gower Champion and the score contains a few songs that any musical would be proud to own. This was a musical remake (as so many of this type were) of Garson Kanin's "Tom, Dick and Harry."

This is one of the last 50s style musical comedies and the final film to present Jane Powell as a singing star. She is supported by Keith Andes, who can truly sing, and comedy by Tommy Noonan and Kaye Ballard. Cliff Robertson's singing is dubbed by Hal Derwin. The songs are only serviceable, even though they are written by Hugh Martin and Ralph Blane, who gave us "Meet Me in St. Louis" and "Best Foot Forward". The best musical number, however, is the title tune, actually written by Nelson Riddle, with a vocal by the Hi-Los. Riddle's arrangements, which never seem to date, keep the music interesting. As for the plot, there isn't much of one. As for the comedy, both Noonan and Ballard were better served elsewhere. The choreography, however, is spectacular; this is Gower Champion's first attempt to stage dances for performers other than himself and wife Marge. From here, Champion went to Broadway and became a legend.

This role was so beneath Powell. You can see why she left Hollywood two years later. She is almost 30 years old here and still being given the part of the young innocent being courted for marriage. I have no problem with the premise but the storyline and direction is totally amateur hour. This is really at the beginning of movies taking a turn for the worse as the studio system collapses. The one interesting thing about this film from a sociological perspective is you can really see the beginning of the sexual revolution as there is a scene here where there are teams of couples on the beach wrapped around each other (you will see a lot more of this in the next five-year period with all of the beach party movies).