La tête à l'envers

I love this film. Jane Fonda is darling and irresistible and Tony Perkins is adorable. It is so blatantly 50's style sexist but great fun. Great supporting cast including "My Favorite Martian" guy and "Billy Jack". I just love Jane Fonda in this as well as in "Cat Ballou". She is sexy and oh so American girl cute. Unfortunately, it is not out on DVD yet, just VHS so I can't get it from netflix. I'm a sucker for Doris Day/ Rock Hudson movies and this is in that genre. In this movie, living in a trailer is celebrated and marriage is the goal for every girl, just like in a Jane Austen story. Warning: extremely sexy shower scene :), a far cry from the one in Psycho!

Basketball players flock to "Custer College" and its team. Located somewhere in sunny California, the university is known for scholastics and athletics. After drooling over a portrait of popular All-American player Anthony Perkins (as Ray Blent), pretty young Jane Fonda (as June Ryder) enrolls as a home economics major. Looking to make Mr. Perkins her husband, Ms. Fonda decides to join activities which show off her comely legs. Of course, this puts her on the court in a short skirt. Fonda also takes the same classes as Perkins – modern ethics with Ray Walston (as Leo Sullivan) and chemistry with Marc Connelly (as Charles Osman). Cupid's arrow lands safely and Perkins proposes. Their future happiness is threatened due to lack of money – then Perkins is offered $4,000 to throw a game...

This was an odd assignment for director Joshua Logan at the time, but he makes it an enjoyable collegiate comedy about ethics – with sexual overtures. Chiefly responsible for the passing grade are costars Perkins and Fonda. This was his last role as a "teen idol" as the next released "Psycho" (1960) changed Perkins' image forever. Here, he is innocent and genuine. In her very first performance, Fonda is obviously beginning her "sex kitten" phase. She is lovely and arousing. The supporting cast is full of interesting names and faces. "Tall Story" is best when making itself fun – Fonda on her bicycle, seeing Van Williams naked, colliding with Perkins on the basketball court – Highlights are the love scenes, Fonda' sexy babysitting seduction and the couple trying out Tom Laughlin's shower for size.

****** Tall Story (4/6/60) Joshua Logan ~ Anthony Perkins, Jane Fonda, Ray Walston, Marc Connelly

...and Jane Fonda starring in her film debut. This was directed by Josh Logan and very well I may add-the entire production is top notch. Perkins is lanky, adorable and comes across as a typical but naive young adult. Fonda is just gorgeous due to both youth and flattering photography, and we get to see her wearing more conservative 60's fashion as a college co-ed.

Where this movie fails horribly is the silly plot line (get ready) Fonda's character majors in Home Economics and is only attending college to "find a husband" - cue my surprised Pikachu face. She sets her sights on Perkins, the star basketball player who is bribed to "throw" the big game. Of course, everything ties up neatly in the end and if you just roll with the silly plot line, it's a fairly enjoyable little romp, not unlike some of the silly Doris Day/Rock Hudson type of films of the era.

This movie featured several familiar talented supporting actors such as Elizabeth Patterson, Jaws Mayor Murray Hamilton as the coach, and an unrecognizable Tom Laughlin as a fellow student.

But the standout for me was Ray Walston, whom I never cared for on MY FAVORITE MARTIAN. It was great to see him in a "normal" role and as a first year prof with goatee and glasses, just stood out as the best supporting actor in the film. The character's wife was played by Anne Jackson who, along with Ralston, was an Actor Studio member. She was beautiful and did the most she could with a small part.

I was pleasantly surprised to find this playing one morning on TCM. I didn't know anything about the film before, so I was completely unprepared for what turned out to be a truly delightful comedy. At first I thought the movie was serious, then it started turning sillier and sillier. Anthony Perkins and Jane Fonda do a great job. This was a perfect vehicle for Fonda to launch her acting career. And I must admit I agree with her - she does have quite beautiful legs, and I feel fortunate that we are treated to seeing them in her cute little cheerleader outfit.

This movie is entertaining and I recommend viewing it on a lazy afternoon one day, it is much better than watching re-runs of Gilligans Island.

I noted that in this comedy about a college basketball star lanky Anthony Perkins sure looks the part. But if you watch closely there are no real shots of him actually playing basketball. I suspect that Perkins in real life was no athlete though the story focuses on him potentially missing a big game.

A big game it is indeed with no less than a team of Soviet All-stars touring the USA and playing many colleges. Perkins missing the game would certainly affect the odds.

So when money is dumped on him from a mysterious source to throw the game this throws Perkins in an ethical quandary. And because he's got Ray Walston his professor who is his ethics professor the whole thing becomes a mess as Perkins deliberately flunks Walston's class to miss the big game.

Although Perkins and a young Jane Fonda as the coed looking to snare Tony for a husband, the real star of this show is Walston. When he flunks Perkins and then refuses to give him a makeup exam to make him eligible he's got everyone hating him including his wife Anne Jackson and next door neighbor and colleague Marc Connelly.

In 1959 Tall Story ran on Broadway for 108 performances. Authored by the legendary team of Howard Lindsay and Russell Crouse, only Connelly and Robert Wright as the college president repeat their Broadway roles in the film.

Some mention has to be given to Murray Hamilton as the frantic basketball coach who has the idea that the university exists to give his basketball team a home. What could possibly give him that idea in the America of 1960 let alone today?

The stars do well and the supporting cast is fine. But this film is a must for fans of Ray Walston.