Movie review - "A Private's Affair" (1959) **

 I didn't realise Mardi Gras went so well that 20th Century Fox decided to do another three-boys film about chaps in the army. This is set up to be a musical - the three men are enlisted to appear in a show - and would've seemed a natural for Pat Boone, Elvis, Fabian, Tommy Sands. But instead they've got Sal Mineo, Gary Crosby and Barry Coe. The women are Christine Carere, Barbara Eden and Terry Moore. Raoul Walsh directed.

The plot has politician Jessie Royce Landis marry Coe under anasthetic so she can adopt a Dutch girl for surgery. WTF.  This is the core issue. That's not a bad story if Landis is a genuine romantic threat - but they don't play that. Terry Moore could've played this. Or Barbara Eden. Play out a lovel triangle.

Do proper songs. Cast singers.

Not rocket science.

Fun to see Mineo in this. Coe isn't bad. 

Why did they make it? 

Movie review - "Ensign Pulver" (1964) **

 Joshua Logan sooked a lot about the film version of Mister Roberts but got a chance to make his own version, this sequel without Roberts who died in the original. He assembled some promising names but stuffed up with Robert Walker Jnr in the lead, a gawky Jim Hutton type who isn't up to Jack Lemmon. Burl Ives seems too fat and old and not scary for a captain.

The story is dumb. Burl Ives bullies, Walker wants to be a doctor (boring), Tommy Sands' child dies so he goes a little mad, there's an interlude on an island with Millie Perkins as a nurse, Ives and Walker are on a raft. The story misses Mister Roberts but it's also not good. I did like Ives realising he's not fit for command, that's a bit different.

It's interesting to see people like Jack Nicholson, Larry Hagman and James Coco as sailors.  Walter Matthau is strong as the doctor. Pretty photography.

But the film was just annoying. Walker too. 

Movie review - "None But the Brave" (1965) ***

 Frank Sinatra's one movie as director is surprisingly gutsy - anti war, very sympathetic to the Japanese, long scenes of Japanese chatting. Some Japanese are stuck on an island - Americans crash. They fight then form a bond then fight. There's a lot of camraderie and men on opposite sides making eyes at each other.

Sinatra is in it but the biggest role goes to Clint Walker who is bland and solid. Tommy Sands is terrible - he made a choice to use a silly voice and it sinks his performance. The Japanese actors are strong. Nicely shot.

I don't think Sinatra was Charles Laughton but this impressed me. 

Movie review - "The James Dean Story" (1957) **1/2

 A curio. An early work from Robert Altman, a documentary about the recently deceased James Dean. Because it's Altman it is visually interesting. It benefits from lots of contemporary footage - chats with people who knew Dean, stills, clips from premieres of his films.

They didn't get the best talent to talk - people who vaguely knew him at his home down and college, some kind-of ex girlfriends.

You can tell it's made by people of talent. They got Sandy Stern to write it, so the narration (with Martin Gabel's bombastic tones) has a poetic quality.

Interesting. I mean, Dean comes across as a pretentious wanker, to me at any rate, but interesting movie.

Movie review - "The Parent Trap" (1961) ***

Listening to Tommy Sands and Annette Funicello warble away at the title track I couldn't help wondering what Funicello thought when Disney pushed Hayley Mills so strongly. "What am I, Walt? Chopped liver?"

Probably not, everyone says she was super nice.

And Mills was a better actor. Her accent is slightly jarring but she's fun as the twins who realise they're twins and swap. Talk about cruel parents-  not introducing themselves to their own children, not letting them know they had a sibling - but those were the times. And it makes for better drama.

The script is quite well structured once you get past the cruelty - Maureen O'Hara is uptown, Brian Keith more rugged, so the girls grew up differently. They meet at camp, clash, then become friends, realise they're sisters, plot to get parents back together, there's a villainous child hating woman after Keith's money (I actually wound up having sympathy for her).

The sexual/familial politics are dodgy by today's standards but it works dramatically. Brian Keith plays the comedy straight, effectively - O'Hara does her hoity toity bit but is appropriate (though you don't feel the remarriage will last). The pacing is deliberate but effective. More could have been done with the grandparents.

The Cinema of Fabian

In a recent interview for the Pure Cinema Podcast (https://purecinemapodcast.libsyn.com/new-beverly-calendar-july-2019-with-quentin-tarantino), Quentin Tarantino talked at length about his influences for the Rick Dalton character in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019). Among such names as Ty Hardin, George Maharis, and Edd Byrnes was the pop star turned actor Fabian, whose talent was admired by the director ("he was very personable"), leading to Tarantino scheduling three Fabian movies at his New Beverly Cinema in July 2019.

Fabian is still probably best known for his (relatively) brief heyday as a pop star - specifically the year 1959 when he had three top ten hits - "Turn Me Loose", "Tiger" and "Hound Dog Man". Yet he also had a career as a motion leading man that spanned over a decade. It's one that is worth revisiting.

Early Career

Fabiano Anthony Forte was born in Philadelphia in 1943. His launch into showbusiness was  something out of a Ruby Keeler musical: in 1957 his policeman father had a heart attack at home; Fabian was waiting by the ambulance when spotted by record producer Bob Marcucci. Marcucci was on the hunt for a good looking teen who could be the next Elvis Presley and asked the fourteen year old if he was interested in a singing career. Fabian, wanting to help his family financially, agreed to give it a shot.

Fabian wasn't a natural singer, but he worked hard, looked good and could at least put over a song. Marcucci gave him singing lessons and new clothes, made him lose the crew cut and get an Elvis-style pompadour, and shorted his name to "Fabian". After a few false starts the teenager started appearing at Dick Clark record hops, lip syncing to songs. Girls went wild, Clark put him on American Bandstand and a star was born.

Right from the start Fabian was something of a joke within the industry - his name, inexperience and limited singing ability were all much mocked (for example on the comedy album 2000 Years With Carl Reiner and Mel Brooks there's a interview with the teen idol "Fabiola"). But the baby boomer teens who formed the bulk of his audience didn't care - Elvis was in the army and they needed a new idol. By 1959 Fabian was earning $250,000 a year and Hollywood came calling.

20th Century Fox

Fabian (or, rather, his managers) elected to go with 20th Century Fox, who had a decent teen idol track record: they made the highly successful debut features of Elvia Presley (Love Me Tender) and Pat Boone (Bernandine), albeit also the flop first film of Tommy Sands (Sing Boy Sing).

It was a smart decision - Fox gave Fabian a top producer (Jerry Wald), skilled director (Don Siegel), colour and CinemaScope, plus a decent budget  and source material - Hound Dog Man (1959), based on the novel by Fred Gipson who had written Old Yeller. His co stars included two Fox contract players: Carol Lynley coming off Blue Denim (1959) and Stuart Whitman, an emerging name. There was also Arthur O'Connell who played paterfamilias to pretty much all the teen idols on screen around this time, and an excellent line up of character actors including Royal Dano, Claude Akins and Edgar Buchanan. While Fabian was top billed he really had a supporting role - the protagonist was Blackie Scantling, the "Hound Dog Man", played by Whitman.  This was in line with Love Me Tender where Elvis made his debut supporting a more experienced actor, Richard Egan. 

 The film is set in 1912 Texas and revolves around shiftless Blackie going on a hunting trip over the weekend with young friend Clint (Fabian). It doesn't have the heavy plot of Love Me Tender  - that was a serious Western with brothers betraying brothers, shoot outs, Civil War and so on. Hound Dog Man is a more slice-of-life, coming-of-age piece - 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, and a very strong cast.   

Fabian seems to consciously ape Elvis a lot in his debut, playing a yes ma'm type complete with Southern drawl. It's an ideal role for him - a bored young teen on a farm, - occasionally sulky, but a decent kid underneath it all - and he is extremely well protected. Every time he sings, however,  Don Siegel arranges it so the song is interrupted - a dog barks, or Fabian walks off in anger, or something, I'm not joking - this happens four times. Actually some of the tunes are good, notably the title track and 'This Friendly World'.

The film was not a box office success. Maybe it was too "plot lite". Maybe it needed more star power than Whitman - Robert Mitchum was attached to play Blackie in the early 50s and he would have been ideal; an elder singer, like say Pat Boone or Ricky Nelson, could also have worked. Fox didn't lose faith in Fabian, however, and decided instead to shift him to support roles, where he would be teamed with an older star of a different generation.  This was a common device at the time (eg John Wayne and Ricky Nelson in Rio Bravo (1959)), the logic being the film would then appeal to two demographics.

Fabian's second film was High Time (1960), directed by Blake Edwards, starring Bing Crosby as a restaurant magnate who decides to go back to college, where his fellow students include Fabian, Richard Beymer and Tuesday Weld. The film is set over four years giving it a surprisingly wistful time-moves-on quality; there are bright colours and some funny jokes though it is badly hurt by the performance of Nicole Maurey as Crosby's love interest. Fabian has a decent role as a jock who struggles at college and winds up with Weld at the end.

Far more enjoyable was North to Alaska (1960), a comedy "northern" set during the Klondike Gold Rush with John Wayne.  It's the sort of movie that could have gone disastrously wrong - battle of the sex comedies with Wayne often had an abusive vibe about them (eg McLintock (1963)); female star Capucine was the producer's mistress, a model who had only made one film before; and filming started without a completed script. But it completely works - it's charming and sweet, director Henry Hathaway keeps the pace fast, and Capucine turned out to be one of the best co-stars Wayne ever had. Fabian has a great little role as the younger brother of Wayne's partner (Stewart Granger!) who tries to seduce Capucine; he sings a song and joins in on a few comic brawls. His performance won him the "Uncrossed Heart" award for least Promising Actor of 1960 in Harvard Lampoon's Annual Movie awards - a completely unfair accolade but typical of the snarkiness with which Fabian was treated at the time. High Time was reasonably popular but North to Alaska turned into a big hit and affirmed Fox's commitment to Fabian; in November 1960 they signed a new contract with the singer, to last for seven years, with an option to make two films a year.

Fox had a lively TV division and assigned Fabian to star in an episode of the anthology series Bus Stop (based on the 1956 Marilyn Monroe film) - "A Lion Walks Among Us", directed by Robert Altman. Fabian plays a drifter who rocks into a small town and soon makes waves: hitting on the middle aged drunken lady who gives him a lift, robbing and killing a grocer, singing without permission at a tavern, starting a brawl and pulling out a switchblade. He's hauled into prison and is arrested but remains cocky, keeps singing to himself a lot and actually gets freed at the trial... whereupon he propositions a blonde groupie, kills his lawyer, then is killed in a murder-suicide by the drunken lady. It's excellent television, superbly directed by Altman, with Fabian giving his best performance.

Unfortunately the episode screened at a time when America was undergoing one of its periodical moral panics about the influence of television violence on children. Part of the problem apparently was Fabian's presence - he's handsome, young, sings a few songs, is shown to be attractive, speaks a lot of groovy early 60s slang, and gets away with it (for the most part). This perceived glamourisation of violence was very confronting for some: Jack Gould of the New York Time wrote not one, not two but three separate columns decrying the episode; several sponsors withdrew their support from the series and and a number of stations would not run it. The episode was criticised in congress, leading to Bus Stop being axed and and the president of ABC being fired.

To be fair, the show was intense, not really suitable for young kids, but it is worthy adult drama. Apparently Fox wanted to turn it into a feature but Fabian refused to shoot the necessary extra scenes - it's a shame, because then this would be better known, and his fine work more widely seen.

The blow back didn't seem to hurt Fabian personally - indeed, he decided to quit singing, buy himself out of his contract with Marcucci, and focus entirely on acting. When Fox's management underwent major restructuring in the wake of the Cleopatra (1963) debacle, numerous people lost their jobs but Fabian held on to his contract.  One possible fall out - Fabian veered away from villainous roles for the next decade. He played anti-heroes, yes, but not out-and-out villains, which I feel in hindsight was a mistake.

Fox loaned him to the producers of Breakfast at Tiffany's who put him in a teen comedy at Paramount: Love in a Goldfish Bowl (1962). Fabian played a coast guard who comes between two platonic friends - newcomer Toby Michaels and fellow pop star Tommy Sands, whose black hair was dyed blonde so he would look different from Fabian. The film has problems of movies of its time - for instance, Fabian basically tries to sexually assault Michaels - but also its pleasures (the cinematography and tunes - Burt Bacharach and Hal David did the title track). It's very possible to do a gay reading of this film, with Sands displaying zero sexual interest in Michaels or any woman throughout the film. Or maybe that's too limiting: because when Fabian puts the hard word on Michaels she is very coy and not keen at all, despite flirting heavily with him until then. So maybe it's more accurate to describe this movie as being about two people with low sex drives who find each other. Sands has the showier role but lacked the chops to pull it off (he's not a believable intellectual). Fabian is far more comfortable in a more straightforward part.

Fabian was one of many Fox contract players who appeared in The Longest Day (1962). He played a US Ranger who stormed Normandy alongside other teen idols like Tommy Sands, Paul Anka, Robert Wagner and George Segal. Okay maybe Segal wasn't a teen idol but the others were - it's like a late 50s pop supergroup put into a war movie. The film was a blockbuster - the most commercially successful movie Fabian appeared in, although his role was brief.

He was one of several names in  Irwin Allen's Jules Verne adaptation Five Weeks in a Balloon (1962). The studio had previously made a terrific film based on Verne, Journey to the Centre of the Earth (1959) with Pat Boone, but Five Weeks is not in that class. It has bright colours and solid actors (Cedric Hardwicke, Barbara Eden) but too many of them seem miscast, such as Red Buttons trying to channel Clark Gable. Fabian has relatively little to do though he sings a song - the title track, which did not become a hit. The film was a box office disappointment that helped kill off the Jules Verne cycle.

Fox teamed Fabian with another old star, James Stewart in Mr Hobbs Takes a Vacation (1962), a sweet comedy about Mr Hobbs (Stewart) and his family, well, taking a vacation. Fabian's role is not big but he has a lovely scene - Hobbs pays Fabian to dance with his lonely awkward daughter but Fabian has so much fun he refuses the cash. The film, written by Nunnally Johnson and directed by Henry Koster, and was popular, leading to two more comedies from the same team - Take Her She's Mine (1963) and Dear Brigitte (1965).

Fabian was meant to be in Take Her She's Mine alongside Stewart and Sandra Dee but doesn't appear in the final film - presumably because he was meant to play Dee's boyfriend and Fox head Daryl F. Zanuck eventually decided to make that character French. He is in Dear Brigitte (1965) playing the boyfriend of Stewart's daughter (Cindy Carol); it's not a very good movie and flopped at the box office, though Fabian has some decent moments trying to exploit a child genius at the race track -the film would have been better had they done more with this storyline.

In between these films Fabian was borrowed by Columbia Pictures for a surf movie, Ride the Wild Surf (1964). Production on this was difficult - original director Art Napoleon was fired and replaced by Don Taylor; Fabian's original co-stars Jan and Dean (fellow pop artists) got the sack when a good friend of theirs kidnapped Frank Sinatra Jnr and were replaced by Tab Hunter and Pete Brown. The resulting film is, however, one of the best beach movies of the 60s - it actually makes an attempt to understand surf culture, has decent female roles, and features some spectacular surf footage. Fabian has a solid part, accessing his pseudo-Elvis schtick playing a surfer with a chip on his shoulder. He is charming with Shelley Fabares, although yet again there's a scene where he uses rough handling on her - this was very common in 60s cinema.

Fox announced Fabian for several projects which did not happen - adaptations of the novels Beardless Warriors and A Summer World as well as a Western, Custer's Last Stand. He made no more films for the studio after Dear Brigitte but it had been a good  run.

In 1965 he appeared in an adaptation of Agatha Christie's Ten Little Indians for producer Harry Alan Towers, playing a singer who is the first guest killed. He was also appearing regularly as a guest star on episodes of TV shows such as Wagon Train and The Virginian, always doing professional work - though never under a director as good as Robert Altman and they never came up to the standard of A Lion Walks Amongst Us.

AIP

Samuel Z Arkoff, one of the vice presidents in American International Pictures, wrote in his memoirs that he wanted Fabian to co star alongside Annette Funicello in Beach Party (1963) but was prevented by Fabian's contract with Fox. Even if the story is accurate - Arkoff was notorious for bending the truth  - it was probably lucky for AIP they got Frankie Avalon instead: the amiable actor-singer had a broader, more cartoon-style persona that fitted those movies better.

AIP were still keen on Fabian however and signed him to a seven picture contract in November 1965. By then the studio had made six beach party films and the formula was waning so they took key members of the team - notably Avalon, Funicello, and director William Asher - and put them in a stock car racing movie, Fireball 500 (1966)... co starring Fabian. The film awkwardly straddles the broad surrealistic musical comedy of the Beach Party movies with AIP's more serious works of the late 60s - it has a claymation title sequence, Avalon does a double take at the camera and characters break out into song, but it has more adult themes (characters have sex, people die, 50% of Julie Parrish’s dialogue is sexual innuendo). Fabian brings his pseudo-Elvis snarling to this one and it works well - he was a believable race car driver, angry but good underneath. Funicello winds up with Fabian at the end rather than Frankie, which after all those beach party movies she made with Avalon feels like cheating.

The film was produced by Burt Topper who  put Fabian in another stock car racing film for AIP, Thunder Alley (1967).  It co-stars Funicello and Diane McBain under the direction of later cult favourite Richard Rush (Getting Straight, The Stuntman). Thunder Alley is far more cohesive and successful film than Fireball 500 - a solid drama with a thumping soundtrack (some of which Tarantino appropriated for Deathproof) and Annette Funicello is really good - but then it's a strong role, perhaps her best ever for AIP. Fabian is also strong - cocky, arrogant, but haunted and basically decent; it's one of his best parts.

In between these two movies AIP sent Fabian to Italy to replace Frankie Avalon in Dr Goldfoot and the Girl Bombs (1966), a sequel to Dr Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine (1965) starring Vincent Price. Girl Bombs, directed by Mario Bava of all people, is a nutty comedy that was mashed up between two different styles of films - a Goldfoot sequel (Price reprised his role) and vehicle for the Italian comedy duo Franco and Ciccio. There are two main versions of the film - one for America (with more Vincent Price) one for Italy (with more Franco and Ciccio). Fabian is an amiable straight man but it's a terrible movie, considered among Price's and Bava's worst.

Fabian's third racing film for AIP was very different from the others. The Wild Racers (1968) was shot on location in six different countries throughout Europe. Producer Roger Corman supervised a tight crew who would go from race to race shooting footage (a method he had used earlier on The Young Racers (1963)). It's a very arty avant garde film, directed by Dan Haller - shots rarely go longer than ten seconds, most dialogue is voice over. Fabian is very good as the cocky race driver who is meant to help his more senior partner win but can't help winning himself. That's the gist of the plot - plus a romance with a stunningly beautiful Mimsy Farmer. There are plenty of scenes of cars zipping around, groovy music and credits, great production values and consistently interesting techniques - Nestor Almendros did the cinematography. There's not a lot of drama going on and only Fabian gets a full fleshed character - the way the movie is made causes you to feel distance from it. Still, it's worth seeking out if you're interested in a race car movie that is very "late 60s funky". It's Tarantino's favourite race car movie.

Fabian's fifth film for AIP was a surprisingly conventional drug drama, Maryjane (1968) where he  plays a teacher who uncovers a marijuana racket at his high school. It's bewildering to think that AIP made this the year after The Trip (1967)... but then Sam Arkoff and Jim Nicholson were concerned about the former movie being too pro drug so maybe they churned this out to cover their bases. Maury Dexter's handling is generally quite lively and there is some decent enough acting but this is just silly, with gangs of kids puffing weed and driving off cliffs, like in Reefer Madness (1936). It's a little odd seeing Fabian play a teacher; he's alright, but it's a shame this wasn't made a few years earlier when he could have played the charismatic bad student.

The Devil's Eight (1968), produced and directed by Topper, was an AIP rip off of The Dirty Dozen where agent Chris George recruits a bunch of convicts to take on moonshiner Ralph Meeker. Fabian's role is surprisingly small for someone second billed - he plays a convict with a drinking problem, and he's fine, but his part is not as good as Ross Hagen, who plays a former moonshine driver whose ex is Meeker's mistress. Maybe Fabian didn't seem Southern enough, or they only used him in the movie under suffrance. The film was the first credit script credit for John Milius and Willard Hyuck and was based on a story by Larry Gordon - all would become major players in Hollywood in the 70s but none of them used Fabian again. Neither did other collaborators who went on to bigger things, such as Mario Bava and Richard Rush.

Fabian took time out from AIP to play a Depression era gangster, John Ashley, in a film for Crown International - Little Laura and Big John - a low budget knock off of Bonnie and Clyde (1967). Fabian gives a decent performance as does co star Karen Black but the film, shot in 1968 was not seen until 1973. 

Fabian's seventh and final  movie for AIP was Bullet for a Pretty Boy (1970) another Depression-era biopic of a gangster, in this case Pretty Boy Floyd. It was mostly directed by legendary schlockmeister Larry Buchanan, given his biggest budget ever, with Maury Dexter coming in to shoot some additional scenes. Fabian gives another accomplished performance as a gee-it-isn't-his-fault-kid-forced-to-crime. His physical attractiveness is exploited heavily in the movie - surprisingly few films did this considering Fabian became a pop star mostly by being good looking. Here he's got Jocelyn Lane and Astrid Warner throwing themselves at him, as well as a brothel madam. The film itself is competent rather than inspired - it could have done with more passion - but isn't bad.

Later Career

Without a contract to a studio, Fabian found himself in considerably less demand for feature film work in the 1970s. He made a few career missteps this decade - he posed nude for Playgirl and regretted it, was involved in a car accident.  He had the lead in some low budget features that few people saw - Soul Hustler (1973), directed by Burt Topper, where Fabian plays a drifted who becomes a Christian rock star; and Disco Fever (1978), disco-splotatoin effort with Casey Kasem.

Fabian returned to singing and hit the nostalgia circuit, notably in places like Las Vegas; he was well received and still remains in demand for this in 2019, sometimes teaming up with fellow idols like Avalon and Bobby Rydell. On a personal front, he had two unsuccessful marriages but struck gold with the third, marrying magazine editor Andrea Patrick in 1998. A son from his first marriage, Christian, wrote the film Albino Alligator (1996).

Fabian continued to act through the 70s, 80s and 90s, mostly guest shots on TV shows - Fantasy Island, The Love Boat, and so on. Perhaps his best performance from this period was the George Peppard TV movie Crisis in Mid Air (1979) where Fabian plays an airport worker who kills taxi drivers. He was a cop in the zombie film Kiss Daddy Goodbye (1981), Joe Dante gave him a small role in Runaway Daughters (1994) and he had a cameo as himself in Up Close and Personal (1996).

He wasn't forgotten as a cultural touchstone. The leads in Laverne and Shirley were obsessed with Fabian, as was the Nicolas Cage character in Peggy Sue Got Married (1986). "Turn Me Loose" was used in Ralph Bakshi's American Pop (1981) and Fabian provided the inspiration for the character of Cesare (Peter Gallagher) in The Idolmaker (1980) a thinly disguised account of the rise of Bob Marcucci directed by Taylor Hackford (Fabian sued the filmmakers and won an out of court settlement.)

Conclusion

What to make of the cinematic career of Fabian Forte? He was no Elvis Presley, or even Pat Boone, but he certainly did better as an actor than, say, Tommy Sands or Bobby Rydell. His career was more analogous with his fellow Philadelphian Frankie Avalon. He was mainly called upon to play basically nice young men, sometimes with a chip on his shoulder. When offered a meaty role he usually rose to the occasion - Hound Dog Man, A Lion Walks Among Us, Thunder Alley - when he had to support he did it effectively s - North to Alaska, Mr Hobbs Takes a Vacation. He wasn't a great actor but he was good one, and should be better remembered.

Movie review - "Babes in Toyland" (1961) ** (re-viewing)

The idea of this film always intrigued me - I think I had a story version of it in a book of Disney stories or something and was attracted to the bright bold primary colours of its design. That remains striking - it's set in a fairytale never never land where everything is white, pink, blue, green, whatever. It has a little fairytale magic too.

But it's very juvenile. Annoyingly so. No one acts like a real person - everyone's in a pantomime. Annette Funicello is chirpy, Tommy Sands is bouncy, the villagers dance, the kids are noisy. The baddies have more human emotion but not much - the head baddy (Ray Bolder) twirls his moustache, the dudes based on Laurel and Hardy (Gene Sheldon, Henry Calvin) bumble.

Compare it to say The Wizard of Oz (which is surely what Disney had in mind) - Dorothy is very believable, she wants to leave, and her friends are very relatable - cowardly lion and so on.

It's only towards the end when Annette finds the toy maker (Ed Wynn), a wizard style figure, and his assistant played by Tommy Kirk the piece really comes alive - because Wynn and Kirk are more warm, relatable people. Wynn has flaws (he's pompous and jealous) and Kirk was always a very good "ordinary boy".

Kirk should have played Sands' role - he was simply more engaging. And I think Disney realised his mistake because he went on to put Kirk with Funicello in a number of films.

There's wonky story stuff - Funicello thinks Sands has abandoned her at the beginning but then he reveals it's all cool within 20 minutes and the film brings in these kids to get lost to kick off a whole new story. Really they should have just had Funicello get lost (run away or something) and Sands go looking for her. There's not enough threat or danger.

I liked the talking trees, and the soldiers at the end, and the opening dance number in the town.

Movie review - "Sing Boy Sing" (1958) **

20th Century Fox had a lot of success with movies starring Elvis Presley and Pat Boone so it's no surprise that they snapped up the remake rights to The Singing Idol, a TV play starring Tommy Sands. It wasn't a big hit but this isn't a bad drama about singing idol Sands feeling a pull towards his religious up brining.

The film makes some mistakes. It was in CinemaScope but not colour, which I feel was an odd decision. Apart from financial reasons maybe they figured that black and white suited the heavier drama of this (as opposed to something like say April Love) - but why do CinemaScope?

Even more importantly, the film holds off Sands visiting his dying grandfather until one hour into the film. That's meant to be the guts of the plot and they delay it. Instead they bring in this plot where Sands strikes up a friendship with a yokel delivery boy played by Nick Adams; and O'Brien gets testy about Adams and Sands and Adams hang out.

Why did they do this? Did they want to build up a part for Adams? If so why not cast Adams in the the role of O'Brien's off sider who is kind of a moral conscience figure? Instead we get all this screen time with Adams, who has nothing to do with the central theme; we have to sit through a big monologue where Adams has been arrested and talks about how hard life is. Why not make Adams Sands' brother at least? Have some reason for Sands to stick by him? From what I saw, Adams was basically using Sands (which actually would've been a lot more interesting dramatically) - there's no reason Sands should stick by him. It's a waste of screen time.

There's not enough romance either. There's a girl he knows from childhood but we don't really met her until an hour in. The role was sketchy in the TV play - she just sits and listens - but unfortunately it's not improved here, when it should have been.

And there's not enough granddad. The Jazz Singer starts off with the conflict straight away - we see the cantor and the kid, then the kid starts singing and he and the cantor have a big fight and the kid takes off. Why didn't they do that here? The grandfather here isn't much of a character - we never see him raising Sands or dealing with him before he's sick. He just turns up in bed. This was an issue in the TV play but it didn't matter that much with a 50 minute running time. It matters at feature length.

The film lacks star power. The girl, Lili Gentle, is okay but a bit minor league (in her defence she doesn't have much of a role to play). Edmond O'Brien sweats his way through his role as a manager - he's not that much better than Fred Clark but I guess O'Brien was coming off an Oscar win at the time.

Tommy Sands however is good - he can sing, he's got presence and can act. It's not his fault the film flopped though he was probably blamed for it. The fault is Claude Binyon, who wrote the script, and Henry Ephron, who directed it. And whoever idea it was to build up the Nick Adams part

TV review - "Kraft Theatre - The Singing Idol" (1957) ***

A stand alone one hour episode of an anthology drama series that rocketed Tommy Sands to fame. He plays a pop idol who is a little like Elvis Presley (side burns, a southern accent, controlling manager) but also a lot like the singer in The Jazz Singer (dad is a preacher who wants Sands to go back to God).

It's not bad drama - we meet Sands at the height of his fame, he hears his father is dying, he goes home, dad asks him to do God's work and dies, he reconnects with his childhood sweetheart.

Some roles are meh - the sweetheart (who just kind of sits and listens to Sands monologue and gets offended when he tries to kiss her) and the all-wise all-tolerant... assistant I think it is, some middle aged dude who seems to be the conscience of the piece.

Better value are the characters of Sands' pop star, and also manager, played by Fred Clark in an unsympathetic role. Clark's character is mean and ruthless but is given a strong point of view - he's put a lot of work into Sands' career, he grew up with religion and hates it. I really liked the ending where Sands agrees to go along with Clark but the execs are warned (not Clark, oddly) that Sands one day will stand up for himself. It's a lot more believable.

Sands acquits himself quite well - not a great actor, but not bad. It's a fantastic part and he can sing. Some decent scenes and Paul Bogart directs well. Sands sings "Teenage Crush" which became a hit song.

This was filmed as Sing Boy Sing.

Movie review - "The Longest Day" (1962) ***

Very long and far too often it falls into self importance with characters sitting around going "this is the most important thing that ever happened ever" (eg Rod Steiger's scene). The Canadians are once again pretty much entirely ignored, although they are mentioned once or twice.

But the use of real locations helps it as does the fact it's performed in German and French as well as English. While it was still filmed like a 50s/60s war movie - with the standard actors gripping their stomach and collapsing when shot, and bland dialogue - you get to see the real beaches, and countryside. The black and white photography was a good decision.

The all-star cast (even though at the time only John Wayne and Robert Mitchum could have been said to be box office draws) helps us follow the action, the music is rousing. It does go for long and I was surprised how large Richard Beymer's part is - he indicates all over the shop, giving a real "I am playing a GI performance" but it's part of the movie's charm.

The most memorable scenes for me: the German officer spotting the massive Allied Armada coming out of the fog, all those pop stars playing US Rangers (Fabian, Paul Anka, Tommy Sands... along with Robert Wagner and George Segal), Jeffrey Hunter being killed on Omaha, Sal Mineo being killed because of the click thing, Kenneth More with his bulldog and beard on the beach, random people like Mark Damon, Tom Tryon, Stuart Whitman and Steve Forrest hanging around in the side of frame, Aussie John Meillion as an admiral (Ron Randell is in it apparently but I must have blinked and missed them), Richard Todd defending a bridge, Red Buttons going deaf.

Sean Connery is pretty embarrassing as an Irish soldier and I wasn't wild about the French stuff - I had trouble telling the characters apart - in part because I didn't recognise the actors as well, but I didn't have that problem with the Germans. Peter Lawford underwhelmed me too in a terrific role (Lord Lovat). And some times the depiction of the action was hokey - not to mention long.

Still, a worthwhile movie with some excellent moments. Daryl F Zanuck made a lot of other better movies, but it's still pretty good.

Movie review - "Mardi Gras" (1958) **1/2

Pat Boone's first two movies were straight up star vehicles - this is more of an ensemble piece in the vein of On the Town, with Pat sharing the load with an interesting bunch: Tommy Sands, Christine Carere, Sheree North, Dick Sergeant, Barrie Chase, Gary Crosby and others.  Pat does carry the main plot but the others get their own little story - and also the songs are distributed among the support cast: North and Sands in particular get their own numbers.

Boone, Crosby and Sands are military cadets who visit New Orleans in Mardi Gras and get up to hijinks. The main plot also borrows from Roman Holiday and The Fleet's In: Boone wins a date with Hollywood star Carare, but she absconds to enjoy life as a normal person. She meets up with Boone, who doesn't recognise her, she pretends to be normal, and they fall in love.

That's an irritatingly implausible story. Boone's best friends Sands and Crosby are obsessed with Carare - yet Boone doesn't recognise her? And she is able to walk around incognito? Also Carare isn't believable for one second as a star who is big in Hollywood - she has this stunned bug-eyed look as if she's frightened of the camera and struggles to get out her lines. She also can't convey a character - she seems like this girl toying with old Pat, like a robot constructed like a china doll. On the plus side, she does have a nice figure. The logic of her romance with Pat Boone and her performance are the biggest problems with this movie.

The subplots are easier to swallow - Crosby romances Sheree North (Carare's assistant), Sands falls for a studious glasses wearing Barrie Chase who turns out to be a stripper, Sergeant goes off with Jennifer West. There are some bright songs and the film has a fun sense of camraderie amongst young people mucking around and having a good time. Director Edmund Goulding stages one song number with Sands, Crosby and Boone taking off their clothes and singing together naked in a shower - make of that what you will.

Crosby - who, like most of the lead cast was under long term contract to Fox at the time - imitates his dad a lot, who he does looks like - admittedly a blonder chunkier version. Sands isn't bad in a support role - he's a bit sleazy, but it suits his character and bounces off well against squeaky clean Boone. Boone remains stiff, struggles with Carare, and works well with his male co stars.

There is a hilariously shameless plug from Jerry Wald where a producer character announces he's brought the film rights to The Best of Everything, which Wald had done. There are also some cameos from Fox stars Jeffrey Hunter and Robert Wagner.

Movie review - "Love in a Goldfish Bowl" (1961) **

Paramount's attempt to jump on the clean teen bandwagon did not result in one of the classics of the era (it's no Gidget, no Beach Party) but is bright enough. Tommy Sands (distracting dyed blonde) and Toby Michaels are two platonic best friends from college who decide to spend the Easter break together at Sands' mother's beach pad, playing house together (because it's 1961 this means she agrees to do all the cooking).

Michaels' character is a little sweetheart; Sands' character is an intellectual, pompous individual who seems very old fashioned in his view of the sexes (expecting Michaels to cook and clean) - and has nil sexual interest in Michaels... at least until Fabian rocks up, as a member of the coast guard. And even then he's more protective in a fatherly way most off the time.

Very possible to do a gay reading of this film, particularly when Fabian brings over a floozy for Sands and he displays no interest in her either. Or maybe that's too limiting: because when Fabian puts the hard word on Michaels she is very coy and not keen at all, despite flirting heavily throughout the movie until then. So maybe it's more accurate to describe this movie as being about two people with low sex drives who find each other; at the end they do kiss, but when they're together at the very end they are chatting away as per normal.

There are some unexpected surprises here: a catchy theme song sung by Sands (written by the team of David and Bacharach), poignancy in the last act where parents Edward Andrews and Jan Sterling realise they've been neglecting their kids. Of the three leads, Michaels (billed as "the new kid" but didn't have much of a career) and Fabian come off best; Sands has the showier role but lacked the chops to pull it off (he's not a believable intellectual). Fabian was still inexperienced but is more comfortable in a straightforward part: all American (Italian-American, rather) coast guard. (He sings a song too.) There's strong veteran support from Andrews, Sterling and John McGiver.

Movie review – “Babes in Toyland” (1961) **

With a few key exceptions, notably Mary Poppins, Disney’s live action musicals don’t have the highest reputation, but this is colourful stuff for kids, with bright production design and costume and inoffensive songs. It’s definitely only for kids, though - Walt Disney once said that the quickest way to go broke making children’s films was to make them just for children; he may have been thinking of this movie, which wasn’t that popular despite its generous budget.

Tommy Sands and Annette Funicello (billed just as “Annette”) are the leads; Funicello later said this was her favourite Disney film, because she had a chance to dance in it. There are some veterans such as Ray Bolger and Ed Wynn, plus the regular Disney juveniles, Tommy Kirk (funny as in a small role, a bumbling assistant) and Kevin Corcoran. The finale with the toy soldiers and a shrunken Sands is reminiscent of The Incredible Shrinking Man.

Book review – “Love in a Goldfish Bowl” (1961) by Jack Sher

A novelisation of Columbia’s entry into the teen pic genre – it really works because it can get inside the head of the lead character Gordon, and is limited by the acting abilities of Tommy Sands. This is decent enough teen fiction – two platonic friends, both with neglectful parents, go for a holiday together, and jealousy rears its head when she strikes up a romance with a local coast guard. The character of Gordon does admittedly read a little gay at times – notably his lack of interest in any other female – but his uniting with Blythe does work.

Book review – “A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes” by Annette Funicello

Sweet memoir from the woman who was America’s sweetheart for a long period of time. Funicello comes across exactly like you’d imagine – a bit shy, hard working, naïve, from a strong loving if strict family, nice to fans. She’s no dummy, though – recognising part of her appeal came from having a big chest (Though she points out she didn’t develop until after The Mickey Mouse Club and there were other girls on the show with bigger ones).

But the extent of Funicello’s success took her by surprise – takes her by surprise still. She was the break out star of The Mickey Mouse Club, despite being the last mouse-keteer. She headlined her own serial and had a semi-hit record and was the only mouseketeer kept on by Disney after the original series ended. Perhaps this was because she was the only one personally selected by Disney, thus meaning he had a personal stake in her success. But she did have a genuine, non-threatening girl next door quality. She also had a twinkle in the eye, which all stars need.

Full of interesting tidbits. I had no idea Disney planned on making a sequel to the Wizard of Oz and actually shot a few scenes, some of which were shown on the Disney program, but it never went ahead. (Surely it would have been better than Return to Oz). 

There’s also a charming vignette about Funicello travelling on one of those all-star late 50s rock caravans (like other one Buddy Holly died in) – being forced to do homework by a tutor, making out with Duane Eddy, romancing Paul Anka (mum sat in the bathroom so they could have quality time).

Some darker stuff too – well, dark-ish: at one stage Annette asked Disney if she could see a shrink to help conquer her shyness but he advised against it for fear it would ruin her appeal )which Disney thought was partly based on her shyness) – and Annette wondered how her life would have turned out had Disney not done that.

There’s other stuff in this vein - Nancy Sinatra giving her the evil eye when Annette co-starred with Tommy Sands, a knife-wielding fan had to be turned away at the Disney gates and another maniac threatened to kill her when she decide to get married. She married her agent, an older guy, but they drifted apart – Annette was very much a homebody (she comes most alive in the book when talking about being a parent), whereas her husband was social. She considered herself a dancer more than anything else – yet says she only got to show off her stuff in one film, Babes in Toyland, one of her faves (she seems to forget Pajama Party, which also gave her a chance to shine – she also seems to forget that she made this as well as How to Stuff a Wild Bikini without Avalon, and that she did in fact show her navel in a few of the beach party movies.)

She talks with affection of Frankie Avalon, Fabian, Sands and Paul Anka – but barely mentions Tommy Kirk despite co-starring with him more than any of the others. She displays a great deal of postivity in the face of her MS. Reading this its easy to see why, for all her tinny singing voice and sameness of her roles (basically impatient-girlfriend-of-hero) she retains such affection with the public.