Looking for Love (1964)

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

After a great opening credits sequence, our story begins. Attractive telephone operator Connie Francis (as Libby Caruso) wants to make it big in show business, get married and have babies. With her figure and singing voice, this shouldn't take too long. To prevent clothing from wrinkling overnight, Ms. Francis invents the "Lady Valet" which garners her an appearance on "The Tonight Show" starring Johnny Carson. He thinks her invention looks like a "blind date for a Martian," and invites Francis to sing. She's another Caruso, but goes unnoticed by tall Jim Hutton (as Paul Davis)..."Looking for Love" finds Francis in good voice, and improved as a comedy star. She's not paired well with Mr. Hutton, which was the story's point, but still… Best friend Susan Oliver (as Jan McNair) and bass player Joby Baker (as Cuz Rickover) round out a romantic quartet. The title track reached #34 on the "Cash Box" pop chart and the soundtrack LP sold moderately during The Beatles' "A Hard Day's Night" onslaught. MGM and Francis continued the formula for one more film, with decreasing returns. They really should have been producing a TV variety series, with singing and skits.**** Looking for Love (8/5/64) Don Weis ~ Connie Francis, Jim Hutton, Susan Oliver, Joby Baker

There were two popular "Connie's" in the 1960's: Warner Bros. had Connie Stevens and would showcase the lovely star in a series of films and across town MGM had Connie Francis and Leo the Lion showcased the songstress in a series of light, fluffy comedies that do no harm but are not so great either: Follow The Boys, When The Boys Meet The Girls and a true classic Where The Boys Are that featured Paula Prentiss, Jim Hutton, Yvette Mimieux and Dolores Hart ( who would leave showbiz to be a cloistered Catholic Nun). Looking For Love reprises the cast of Where The Boys Are- Prentiss , Mimieux, Hamilton who by the time this film was made had become major stars and co starred Connie Francis with Jim Hutton who had been on a lengthy suspension at MGM and did this film as his release valve from a ironclad MGM contract. Funny to see tall Jim Hutton in romantic clinches with the petite Ms. Francis.Note MGM had two other stars under contract George Peppard and Richard Chamberlain, both immensely famous and likely escaped being cast in this film due to their respective standings at MGMDavid Barra

Connie's third of her four musical comedies for Metro and the only one that doesn't have the word 'boy' in the title. By 1964, Hollywood had pretty much thrown in the towel as far as television was concerned and began openly sleeping with the enemy. Not only is the film crammed with popular personalities of the day (Johnny Carson, Danny Thomas, Jesse White, Joby Baker), and cute (overly-rehearsed) on-set mishaps, the structure, pace and composition are strictly small-screen. It's easy to understand how screenwriter Flippen (wife of Jay C.) would eventually write on such ground-healing 60's pigswill as "The Brady Bunch" and "The New Scooby Doo Movies." What's truly tragic is that these TV-safe anamorphic frames, crowding characters to the center, were lensed by Minnelli mainstay Milton Krasner.Stardom eluded Libby Caruso (Francis) for an entire month, so she decided to get out of the music business and snare a man. Aside from her voice and her Lady Valet, a glorified clothes hanger she invented, Libby's only talent is sniffing out Mr. Right. Enter Jim Hutton, a co-worker into TNT (Tall 'n' Top-Heavy) who lands Libby a spot to tout her creation on the Tonight Show. It's a flop, but her singing connects and for another hour we watch Libby slalom her way around a light powder of familiar supporting players in search of true love.The film was made to cash in on the success of earlier Francis/Hutton vehicles, most notably the enormously entertaining, guiltiest of all guilty pleasures, "Where the Boys Are." As sociologically and cinematically backwards as that film is, it plays like a sophisticated Lubitsch romp compared to this set-bound stiff. We briefly get to visit a neon drenched sixties supermarket only to be shuttered back in the studio after one establishing shot. "Where the Boys Are?" alumni George Hamilton, Yvette Mimieux and the vastly underrated Paula Prentiss appear, adding little more than name recognition to the poster.Connie Francis was a firecracker. She had the neurotic frailty of a young Judy Garland, Ethel Merman's pipes and the comedic traction of a Danny Thomas. Well, two out of three ain't bad. Pert and delightfully ditsy in the light comedy (comedy-lite?) passages and capable of showing her range even in trash like this, she could have been a contender had it not been for that tragic night in a Howard Johnson's motel room.Director Don Weis has come through in the past, but this time he's simply punching Metro's time-clock. Impress me once, good for you. Disappoint me after an imposing start and I'll probably still keep giving you the benefit of the doubt in hopes of a return to form. Who do you think brought me to junk like this?

This film plays like a cross between a 40s MGM musical and a 60s sitcom, combining the worst of both worlds. And, not being a Francis fan, even the many musical interludes don't pacify me. Seeing that the director and scriptwriter were from TV, I shouldn't be surprised at the result. I guess MGM didn't think poor Connie deserved first-rate attention. But, then again, Elvis suffered the same fate.Connie's character is an idiot, and Jim Hutton's a jack#@@. We are supposed to believe that "Libby" pines after "Paul," a man who blatantly shows a hatred towards women? There is no chemistry between either of the two couples, in any combination.Paula Prentiss must have established a friendship with Francis after making "Where the Boys Are" four years earlier; otherwise, why would she have agreed to a 30 second cameo, during which she speaks one short sentence, and is promptly bopped on the head?And, please, the Lady Valet? Perhaps the writer didn't realize that such a "contraption," in some form or another, has existed for hundreds of years. One doubts the lame version presented in the film could ever secure its creator a slot on The Tonight Show (but it is great to see Johnny).The movie does display a reasonable budget, as many of the sets have a more- than-sitcom feel. I wonder how many times they had to shoot that grocery store scene? However, notice that after the girls become rich, and live in a HUGE mansion, they still share a bedroom? (It's not surprising that scriptwriter Flippen did some work on "The Brady Bunch.")If you plan on sampling one of the four 60s Francis flicks, stick with the first, "Where the Boys Are."