1965 was the high-water mark of Frankie Avalon's film career - AIP gave him the title role in Sergeant Deadhead and he supported Bob Hope in this comedy which teams him with Tuesday Weld.
This film has a lot going for it and should be better than it is. The central idea is strong - Hope dislikes Avalon, the boyfriend of daughter Weld, so he goes over to Sweden - only to discover he dislikes Weld's new Swedish boyfriend even more.
You can have a lot of fun with that, even if Hope's persona doesn't exactly mesh with being a father figure - you could use that to your advantage, have him play one of his cowardly con men who is now responsible for this wild child. But they don't give Hope a fixed character (I was never sure how cocky or sleazy he was supposed to be... he's a bit sleazy with Dina Merrill).
More frustratingly they don't give Weld a character either. She starts off as a semi kook but during the Swedish section she doesn't cut loose - we want her to send up an American abroad, but she just becomes more conventional.
The film becomes all about Hope trying to stop Weld having sex which is just dull. Stopping her from marrying a deadshit is relatable, but sex just feels boring. And with Weld being all down with no sex before marriage at the end... that's just dull. And it doesn't feel true. I know there were censorship concerns but I feel these could have been avoided if it was all about marriage rather than sex and Hope was trying to stop marriage not sex.
I also wish there had been more satire of Sweden. Very little is done with it - the film was clearly not shot in Sweden and doesn't feel Swedish. Couldn't they have gotten any Swedish actors?
A disappointment. Weld is pretty at least, Hope has a few gags and Avalon is animated.
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