20th Century Fox had success launching Elvis Presley and Pat Boone as film stars, though less so with Tommy Sands, but they gave it another red hot go with Fabian, who was briefly a hot sensation amongst teens.
He is given a lot of support - the producer was Jerry Wald (who liked to make movies with young contract stars), the director was Don Siegel, the source novel and co writer was Fred Gipson (who also wrote Old Yeller), his co stars include Carole Lynley coming off Blue Denim and Stuart Whitman, a growing name at the time. There's also Arthur O'Connell who often played paterfamilias to teen idols around this time, and an excellent line up of character actors: Royal Dano, Claude Akins, Edgar Buchanan.
Fabian seems to consciously ape Elvis a lot in this one - the Southern drawl, playing a "yes ma'm" type. It's a good role for him - a bored young teen on a farm who wants to go off hunting with his younger brother and rascally friend Stuart Whitman. The movie is actually Whitman's more than Fabian's - he's the Hound Dog Man, and the story is about his character's search for responsibility.
I get the feeling Fox were inspired by the success of Love Me Tender where Elvis was introduced supporting an older contract star Richard Egan. That's not like this though - that was a big Western with brothers betraying brothers, and shoot outs. This is more slice of life, coming of age. It's not heavy with plot - a little hunting, some singing, Claude Akins pops around periodically to snarl at Whitman. Lynley pants over Whitman as does Akins' wife. There's a comic doctor, a dog, a barn dance.
It's actually a sweet film - well made, with great production values (in colour, CinemaScope), and a very strong cast. It's closer to Old Yeller than Love Me Tender.
Fabian is extremely well protected - he has a little romance with Dodie Stevens but the scenes are only short. He works well with Whitman and the kid who plays his younger brother, as well as O'Connell. The most touching moment is at the end where Fabian tells O'Connell he admires him for standing up to Claude Akins.
Carole Lynley feels a bit too young for Whitman but that does suit the film - she's determined to marry this guy, she's in over her head, and it feels real. When he proposes at the end you can't help going "she's signed up for a life of cheating".
Fabian was famously not a particularly good singer. Every time he sings, Don Siegel arranges it so the song is interrupted - a dog barks, or Fabian walks off in a jealous sulk seeing Stevens flirt with another guy. Actually some of the tunes are good, notably the title track and 'This Friendly World'.
You can see in hindsight why the film wasn't a success. I would have greenlit this, but Fabian didn't really take off as a singer with the popularity of Elvis or even Pat Boone. It's a charm piece - but adding some heavy duty plot would have thrown it off. I think it needed more star power - Whitman is good but was a character actor and leading man rather than star. I feel this role needed to be played by Sands or Boone or Elvis - another singer.
No comments:
Post a Comment