6/10
When the Boys Meet the Girls was a pretty entertaining update of the Gershwins' "Girl Crazy"
26 May 2014
Just watched this cheezy-corny musical comedy on DVD disc. Made in the mid-'60s when the British Invasion was taking hold of Rock-'n'-Roll, When the Boys Meet the Girls took advantage of that by booking Herman's Hermits who not only perform one of their hit songs but also one of the George-Ira Gershwin tunes, "Bidin' My Time". Based on George and Ira's Broadway success-"Girl Crazy"-which had previously been a Mickey Rooney-Judy Garland movie, this wasn't too bad a remake with Connie Francis playing the Judy part and Harve Presnell the Mickey one. They make a fine duo when singing "But Not for Me" or "I Got Rhythm" the latter with a chorus of dancers. We also get Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs, and-for, I guess, the more middle-aged audience stumbling into this-Louis Armstrong and Liberace! Quite an uneven mix but if one's game, it's quite enjoyable. Also liked Sue Ann Langdon as a sexy blonde wanting to marry Presnell, Fred Clark as a potential buyer, and-since I always like to cite a player from my favorite movie, It's a Wonderful Life, in another one-Frank Faylen as Ms. Francis' father. Also amused at some of the undercranking of chase scenes. So on that note, I say When the Boys Meet the Girls is worth a look. P.S. The drummer in Louis' band is one Danny Barcelona who-in an earlier film performance I watched on a Netflix disc called Louis Armstrong and Friends 1962-the Great Satchmo introed as his Filipino wonder though I just found out he was actually born in Hawaii.
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