Casanova Junior

I have never seen the TV show "The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis", so you should keep this in mind when you read this review. I haven't a whole lot of preconceptions about the movie but I also wasn't particularly interested in the concept to actually watch the show the 106,284 times it was shown years ago on Nickelodeon and other cable channels. Why I actually decided to watch this when it came on Turner Classic Movies is beyond me--though I am glad that I did.

While it is undeniable that this movie is complete fluff, it is nevertheless enjoyable fluff. There's lots of singing and dancing and romancing and comedy--a formula very similar to the Doris Day/Gordon MacRae films BY THE LIGHT OF THE SILVERY MOON and ON MOONLIGHT BAY (though these two Warner Brothers films were set in an earlier time period). It's all very light and very likable--even if it turns out that Dobie is a dirty little cheater (see the film to find out what I am talking about).

Of particular interest, by the way, is the earnest and likable style of Bobby Van. It's too bad that he came to Hollywood near the end of the musical craze and that his life was so tragically shortened. He was talented and all I'd previously seen him in were insipid 1970s game shows.

What a pleasant surprise for a hardened old cynic like me. Ordinarily I would avoid a title like The Affairs of Dobie Gillis as if it were the plague. But the sheer bounce and charm of Weis's direction along with Van and Reynolds proved completely beguiling. Sure it's dated. The innocence and idealized portrayal of college-age youth belong to a bygone era. Still, Van's easy way with a song and a smile continues to captivate, while even Reynolds' manages an energized side that doesn't annoy (the sight of her pony-tailed wholesomeness crouched demonically over a boiling witch's brew is hilarious). Surely these two were made for each other in some malt-shop heaven. There are so many nice touches, including: Hans Conreid's arrogant professor (his tight-lipped barbs at Dobie are priceless), Kathleen Freeman's gap- toothed Polish band (I'm sorry we didn't hear more), and the utterly delightful song and dance numbers (a whole lot simpler and more spontaneous than MGM's over-produced foot- stompers of the day). Clearly, the studio dribbled out a bare-bones budget to give their younger talent a chance, and the youngsters responded in spades. I'm only sorry that Van didn't get the career his talent deserved-- watching him and Fosse was a treat. All in all, this is a much better movie than it had any right to be, and a fine piece of unexpected pleasure for viewers of any age.

Dobie Gillis shows up on campus having already decided to dedicate his college years to having fun and pursuing women. Pansy Hammer, on the other hand, wants nothing more than to "study, study, study" and "work, work work". Naturally it's love at first sight. It doesn't take long for the two to work out their differences, but it will take the rest of the movie for her father to be convinced!

Having never realized that Dobie Gillis had been made into a movie prior to the television series, I naturally had to watch this movie if only for historical purposes. I was therefore pleasantly surprised to find myself thoroughly entertained by a very good comedy quite capable of standing on its own merits. It's silly but it works, and is filled in quite nicely with several excellent song and dance routines. All of the cast is outstanding, from stars to supporting roles, but it is Bobby Van who steals the show as the happy-go-lucky Dobie Gillis.

I caught this film in the pre-dawn hours of an insomniac night recently, and found it reasonably diverting, although certainly no cinematic treasure. It does, however, contain genuine buried treasure for anyone interested in dance history, especially fans of Bob Fosse. The future Triple Crown of entertainment winner (Tony, Emmy, and Oscar in the same year) has a dance solo in this little movie which is positively searing, absolutely mind-bending in its virtuosity...and that's as seen in 2006. In its original release that sequence must have snapped the jaws of any member of the audience who'd ever taken a dance class. The man was simply fantastic, making Bobby Van, a decent hoofer himself, look like a club-footed spaz. I'd watch the storyless antics of Van's Gillis again just to see that number. By the way, I have read the original Dobie Gillis novel by Max Shulman, and it is very funny, as well as substantially earthier than any film or TV version of the story. If you see it in the library, give it a try.

This comedy/musical is a rather silly but quite entertaining college romance. The dialogue and situations is extremely dated, having come out in the early '50s, but if you enjoy films from that period you'll probably like this one. Some of the situations made me laugh out loud which is more than I can say for many films of today. The characters from this film were later used in the television series The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis.