Raquelle had recommended this film to me before, but I had never got the chance to see it. She also informed me it was airing on TCM in late April and the dahling
Kate sent me a copy of it!
It was stinkin' brilliant! Seriously! Parts of it had me literally laughing out loud, as I sat alone making a Cary Grant finger puppet at 1am. ;-D
Sandra Dee was so utterly perfect! I really don't understand why so many people don't think she was talented. She is completely hilarious.
And George Hamilton, well, he was being, um, George Hamilton. Arrogant, annoying, AND completely insufferable. But, since that was exactly what his character was supposed to be, it sorta worked. Haha!
And there was Celeste Holm being perfectly wonderful. I seriously don't think she ever ages. EVER.
And Dwayne Hickman. I don't even know. I still haven't decided if he is, in real life, a clueless dork-- or if that's just the character he played IN EVERY SINGLE MOVIE HE WAS EVER IN! And believe me, I have seen A LOT of Dwayne Hickman movies. I don't go out of my way to watch his movies, he just randomly pops up in pretty much every other movie I watch from the late 50's-60's. I don't know if that says something about the QUALITY of the films I watch.....
Anyway, it's pretty hard NOT to like Dwayne and he plays the clueless dork perfectly as usual.
And there's Bill Bixby. My ten year-old brother's idol. For him, it's: Bob Hope, Frank Sinatra, Bobby Darin, Dean Martin, and Bill Bixby. My brother can tell you where and when he was born, how many wives he had-- and when and where they were born-- and random other extremely creepy facts at the blink of an eye.
And there's another guy, but I completely can't remember his name, so he is REALLY immaterial and unnecessary. ;-D
Anyway, this movie was just amazing. at around 95min it was WAAAY too short! It was one of those movie you don't want to end!
I think my favorite scene is when Sandra Dee gets home very late from rehearsal and Dwayne has been waiting to talk to her on her porch all night, and just as she's coming up the steps he comes out of the shadows (and Sandy doesn't realize who he is at first) and she starts screaming for Bill (her next-door neighbor) he comes running out and tackles Dwayne and starts karate chopping him. And Sandy's mother, Celeste comes running out of her house with a plunger and starts hitting Dwayne AND Bill on the heads and everyone is screaming. And I just started laughing hysterically.
It's just small parts like this (which doesn't sound at all funny, after I tried to explain it! ;-D) that make the film so hilarious.
I mean even the "serious" parts are hysterical. Later in the film Sandy and Celeste are having a serious-- a VERY SERIOUS-- discussion and in the background you can faintly hear and see Dwayne, Bill, and the other guy fighting in the back yard, Bill still karate chopping poor, clueless Dwayne.
Anyway, I would definitely recommend this movie to anyone, it was really, literally, brilliant!
Thanks for the recommend, Raquelle and the copy, Kate!