Tammy and the Doctor

As a young teen, I watched all of the " Tammy " movies that came on TV. It did not matter if the part was being played by Sandra Dee or Debbie Reynolds. I just couldn't wait to see what Tammy had to say next or how she was going to say it, to see the reaction on other faces and how they take it. I could really relate to this movie being from Alabama. I understood some of the sayings from her grandfather that the people in the movie didn't. I dreamed of being on a river boat having the adventures that Tammy had and I would sit with Tammy and listen to her stories. Sandra Dee is captivating, a wonderful actress, plays a loving friend role and is just so funny especially when she is trying to be so serious. I think everyone should see it, especially those in the medical profession.

Tammy And The Doctor was the big screen debut of Peter Fonda and back in his Easy Rider rebel days he referred to it as Tammy And The Schmuckface. I wonder know in his late 70s how Peter Fonda feels about the film?

It was the last of the big screen Tammy films, she would go on to a short lived television series with Debbie Watson. Sandra Dee plays Tammy Tyree of the Mississippi Delta a southern fried version of the little miss fixit roles that Deanna Durbin also did for Universal Studios back in the day.

In this film Beulah Bondi the rich old lady to whom Tammy has become attached is taken ill. Specialist Macdonald Carey is in from Los Angeles and he recommends that Bondi have open heart surgery which he will perform. Like every other man of all generations Carey gets taken with her and thinks she will be an asset in giving Bondi a proper attitude toward the surgery.

So Tammy gets taken on at the big LA hospital and as she always does her naivete but also her strong common sense wins over everyone around her eventually. Nurse Alice Pearce becomes her best friend. But her real conquest is young doctor Peter Fonda who is a protégé of Carey's.

Seeing her going off with Peter Fonda also makes me wonder what happened to Leslie Nielsen and John Gavin in the previous two Tammy films. Or if there were more Tammy films how many of the male sex she would have endeared herself to.

One does wonder how Peter Fonda views the film today. For me it's pleasant easy to take entertainment. Tammy does kind of grow on you.

In the final movie in the Tammy trilogy Sandra Dee once again stars and calamities ensue. Tammy's houseboatmate Mrs. Call falls ill and needs an operation. Tammy tags along and gets a job at the hospital to be close by and keep Mrs. Call's spirits up. But of course due to Tammy's naive nature trouble follows wherever she goes and it's a wonder no one dies due to some of the mishaps. This time Tammy falls for a doctor played by Peter Fonda. Bonus points for spotting Adam West as a doctor!

I am also a teenager and have deeply enjoyed this movie. Being from Mississippi Myself, I feel akin to her in her many plights, with dealing with folks that find many southerners to be very "funny peculiar"!! Anyway I know one thing i really enjoyed the Tammy in love song, it was so romantic how he was right there listening. Oh, I just really love this movie!!!!! I really like how Tammy takes God with her where ever she goes and that she isn't afraid to talk about him. Man, I kinda wish they still made movies like this, but with more African-Americans. Movies like this were just so innocent and didn't need all the hype and jive they need now.

I love the Tammy films, but one problem with them is continuity. In the first film, "Tammy and the Bachelor", it looks absolutely certain that she was about to marry her love (Leslie Nielsen). But in the second film he was gone and apparently lost interest in this delightful young woman. And, by the end of "Tammy Tell Me True", she was head over heels in love with a gorgeous and sweet professor (John Gavin)....and yet when "Tammy and the Doctor" begins he's gone! This is much more a problem for me than having Debbie Reynolds play Tammy in the first film and Sandra Dee in the next two.

This movie picks up after the second film. Tammy's good friend and companion, Annie (Beulah Bondi), is ill and needs to get surgery. However, she is awfully close to Tammy and Tammy wants to accompany her to the hospital. The hospital isn't about to let Tammy stay there and they come up with a compromise...to let her work at the hospital in order to be close to Annie.

So is it any good? Well, yes. But it isn't nearly as heart-warming and sweet as the previous two films. Much of it, in my opinion, is due to this film emphasizing comedy more than romance. Plus, I still kept worrying about her two previous boyfriends! Overall, a good film but not quite up to the very high standards set by the previous two movies.

By the way, Imdb mentions that this was Beulah Bondi's last film. This is not such as sad thing, as she lived another 17 years and made several notable television appearances during this period.