This starts off great, with Frankie Avalon's rendition of the title tune, and shots of those early 60s aircraft terminals, airhostesses and pilots, plus lush colour photography and European locations (Paris, Vienna). It’s never quite reaches those heights again or becomes as fun as you think it’s going to be, but it’s enjoyable.
It was one of several unofficial follow ups by MGM to Where the Boys Are that involved young women having adventures in exotic locations (Follow the Boys was another one). The star of Boys, Dolores Hart, is back to play head girl here, but instead of Yvette Mimieux, Connie Francis and/or Paula Prentiss (all of whom are missed, actually) her friends are Pamela Tiffin, as the ditz (the Paula Prentiss part), and Lois Nettleton, as the… er, less good looking one (she works in coach). The male co-stars are Karl Boehm (too stiff and bad chemistry with Hart – you long for George Hamilton), Hugh O’Brian (whose Ken Doll looks and smarminess are perfect for the role of pilot) and Karl Malden (not handsome but adds gravitas).
This was Hart’s last film before she left to join a convent. It would be nice to report she gives a good performance but she doesn’t seem particularly interested in what’s going on; she needed to smile more. But her plot – smuggler Boehm uses her for his own nefarious ends – is solid. Tiffin is very pretty and engaging – not as good as she was in One Two Three, but then she lacks a decent plot – she traps O’Brien into matrimony. (I also feel she doesn’t quite have that spark of a star, which is presumably why hers faded after a promising start to her film career).
Nettleton’s plot is a little off – she gets along well with Malden, who turns out to be a widowed millionare, but freaks out a little; he stalks her over Europe, she won’t sleep with him because she’s not that kind of girl, so he proposes. It felt a bit... mercenary, I guess.
The producer was Anatole de Grunwald, who enjoyed greater box office success with another glamorous colourful film set in the world of European airports, The VIPS – but then, that had real stars. So the formula was still potent even in the early 60s (heck, it would probably still work today) but it needs genuine names.
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