L'abominable invité

With this film, the British have forfeited the right to EVER criticize American culture. Where to begin,Where to begin...the plot is indecipherable. One suspects that the script was dropped before binding and a windstorm scattered the unnumbered pages. The result is a surreal series of vignettes that float detachedly with no connection to each other.

The Johnny Ray send-ups are amusing, particularly Buchanan's version of "Cry". Having seen several Buchanan early films, including a takeoff of Twain's "Connecticut Yankee...", I know that he was capable of much better, but the film is/was impossible.

Another aspect deserving of mention is the set design. Could English homes and interiors have really been so ugly and banal? The wallpaper! The furnishings! Oh, the humanity! There is the payoff of "Miss Marple" (Hickson) as a barmaid, and Diana Dors breasts deserve an Oscar for best supporting something or other.Sometimes a film can be so bad that one must watch it to the end, as one would slow down for a car crash. If there's an award for FilmKitsch, we have a winner.

A far cry from the films that its director would make in the years immediately after this entry, it is however still okay stuff to watch, with some really amusing scenes in the mix. There are some sweeping bits of photography too, the type typical of J. Lee Thompson's later films, but generally the technical side here is ordinary, and the musical numbers come off as rather flat. The story is overly silly, with little in the way of humour and charm, and the plot does not stretch very well to the one and a half hour length. It is really not too irritating to view though - it is just quite ordinary of its type - and fans of Carry On may be interested to give it a go, with supporting roles for Charles Hawtrey, Joan Sims and Hattie Jacques. Hawtrey's "I dig him!" is particularly amusing to watch.

I noticed one reviewer compared this movie to the later American film "Bye, Bye Birdie"...and that is a pretty astute observation. Both films have a lot of similarities, though "Birdie" is much more of a musical, though there's plenty of singing and teenage hi-jinx in both.

When the film begins, the American crooner Bobby Denver (not to be confused with the "Gilligan's Island" actor) arrives in Britain...and the women there are losing their minds for him! Shortly after his arrival and the mobs of women attack him, he is tricked into going to Wimbledon (just outside London) to stay with the Bentley family. As for the Bentley's, the father is the world's biggest square, his wife is sadly neglected and their three daughters are screwy! Now, you add Denver to the household and chaos naturally ensues. But something else happens...and that you'll need to see for yourself.

According to imdb, Bobby Denver is a character inspired by American singer Johnnie Ray. While he's pretty much forgotten today (partly because he went deaf while still quite young), apparently when he visited the UK and Australia, it was like Beatle-mania and Elvis--with screaming women following him everywhere!

So is it any good? Well, yes...but I should point out that the film is NOT subtle in any way! In other words, the humor is pretty broad and low-brow. As for me, I didn't mind this and a few of the jokes were cute--such as Denver's propensity to cry and make people cry as well as how the women of the Bentley household got over their infatuation with Bobby. I also enjoyed seeing Diana Dors in the movie. There really was no reason for her to be in the film, but she was nice to look at here. But remember....the film is certainly not subtle in the least and may annoy you with its characters who seem, much of the time, like caricatures. I can see why some reviewers hated it...but I didn't mind the silliness.

There's the Rank gong. and they even mention Arthur Rank in the first few minutes! in spherical Eastman color. Stars Jack Buchanan as John Bentley. and this was one of the last things he did... because he died just a couple years after making this. In the story, Jerry Wayne is Bobby Denver, the crying crooner. although on imdb, he was only in eleven films, and doesn't even have a photo. but it's Diana Dors month on TCM, so she's in here as Pearl. the running gag here is that the daughters are all wiring daddy for money, when their own no-good husbands run into trouble. so singer Denver and the daughters all converge at the family home, and Buchanan's acting is over the top, which is probably just what the director was going for. a fast talking, fast moving, caper, almost cartoon-ish pace. and, of course, it's from a show, so the talking and singing just go on and on. and on. Let's do the hokey pokey polka! This one is energetic and fun. Long as #$$$ though. should have been so much shorter. Diana Dors appears at the cast party about halfway through. Directed by oscar-nominated Lee Thompson. looks like his biggest films were Navaronne and Cape Fear.

This film is about an American singer named Bobby Denver, who is known as the "Crying Crooner" (a la Johnnie Ray), who stays with a stockbroker's family by mistake when he comes to England. The stockbroker, played by Jack Buchanan, has three very pretty daughters with the youngest Gwen (played by Janette Scott) madly in love with him so much she wants to marry him. Eventually, the stodgy stockbroker deals with his wife and daughter as well as his maid Linda (played by Joan Sims, who keeps fainting every time Bobby sings) being so infatuated. This is a comedy with music, and it also has the sexy Diana Dors in it, as well as a cameo by Norman Wisdom. Yes, its not brilliant or even laugh out loud funny, but all these years later it does have some charm. Recommended for lovers of British comedy at the time, it has enough fun moments to recommend, if not greatly praise.