Follow the Boys | |
---|---|
Directed by | Richard Thorpe |
Written by | David T. Chantler David D. Osborne |
Based on | story by Lawrence Bachmann |
Produced by | Lawrence Bachmann |
Starring | Paula Prentiss Connie Francis Janis Paige |
Cinematography | Ted Scaife |
Edited by | John Victor-Smith |
Music by | Ron Goodwin Alexander Courage |
Production company | MGM |
Distributed by | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer |
Release date |
|
Running time | 95 min. |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Follow the Boys is a 1963 American comedy film directed by Richard Thorpe [1] and starring Connie Francis, Paula Prentiss, and Janis Paige, [1] released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Shot on location on the French and Italian Riviera, Follow the Boys was MGM's second film vehicle for top recording artist Francis following Where the Boys Are (1960). While Francis' role in the earlier film had been somewhat secondary, she had a distinctly central role in Follow the Boys playing Bonnie Pulaski, a newlywed traveling the Riviera.
Bonnie visits various ports-of-call in hopes of a rendezvous with her sailor husband (Roger Perry), who is summoned to active duty from their honeymoon. Missing the original point and time of rendezvous in the port of Nice by a few minutes, Bonnie follows the ship to Italy in a somewhat rickety and battered pink 2 CV accompanied by veteran navy wife Janis Paige and two other officers' girlfriends, played by Francis' Where the Boys Are co-star Paula Prentiss and by Dany Robin, who are likewise intent on romantic reunions. Happy endings for each of the ladies are delayed by a series of romantic and comedic misunderstandings.
Paige's husband is played by Ron Randell, with Richard Long and Russ Tamblyn as the respective love interests for Robin and Prentiss.
The movie followed the success of MGM's Where the Boys Are, which was about four women seeking romance in Fort Lauderdale during spring break. It starred Connie Francis and Paula Prentiss, who would be in Follow the Boys.
MGM producer-writer Lawrence Bachman had a vacation home in the south of France. While staying there, he met several Navy wives who lived in Villefranche and spent a lot of their time following their husbands from port to port. This gave him the idea for the movie. [2]
In April 1962 MGM announced the leads would be Connie Francis and Bobby Vee. [3]
In May the cast was to be Francis, Paula Prentiss, Russ Tamblyn and Tom Tully with Richard Thorpe to direct. [4] Jim Hutton was also to star. [5] Ron Randell was cast off the back of his success in MGM's King of Kings. [6] In the end Hutton or Vee did not appear in the final movie.
The film was shot in the south of France and at London's Elstree Studios in August 1962. At the same time, MGM were also making a similar "three girls" romantic comedy featuring a star from Where the Boys Are, Come Fly With Me. [7] [8]
The Los Angeles Times called it "the least rowdy service comedy I've ever seen." [9] Bosley Crowther of The New York Times said it "lacks sufficient foreground substance to make it anything more than a limp show." [10]
Russell Irving Tamblyn, also known as Rusty Tamblyn, is an American film and television actor and dancer.
Paula Prentiss is an American actress. She is best known for her film roles in Where the Boys Are (1960), What's New Pussycat? (1965), Catch-22 (1970), The Parallax View (1974), and The Stepford Wives (1975).
Where the Boys Are is a 1960 American CinemaScope comedy film directed by Henry Levin and starring Connie Francis, Dolores Hart, Paula Prentiss, George Hamilton, Yvette Mimieux, Jim Hutton, and Frank Gorshin. It was written by George Wells based on the 1960 novel of the same name by Glendon Swarthout. The screenplay concerns four female college students who spend spring break in Fort Lauderdale. The title song "Where the Boys Are" was sung by Connie Francis, who also co-starred in a supporting role.
Dana James Hutton, known as Jim Hutton, was an American actor in film and television best remembered for his role as Ellery Queen in the 1970s TV series of the same name, and his screen partnership with Paula Prentiss in four films, starting with Where the Boys Are. He is the father of actor Timothy Hutton.
Man's Favorite Sport? is a 1964 American screwball comedy film starring Rock Hudson and Paula Prentiss and directed and produced by Howard Hawks. Hawks intended the film to be an homage to his own 1938 screwball classic Bringing Up Baby with Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant, and unsuccessfully tried to get the original stars to reprise their roles.
Duchess of Idaho is a musical romantic comedy produced in 1950 by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Directed by Robert Z. Leonard, it was the fourth film pairing Esther Williams and Van Johnson. It was filmed at the MGM Studios lot and exteriors shot in Sun Valley, Idaho.
Dany Robin was a French actress of the 1950s and the 1960s.
Come Fly with Me is a 1963 British comedy film about three beautiful international air hostesses looking for romance and excitement. The film has dramatic or soap opera elements to it, and was a vehicle for glamorizing the Jet Age and the prestige, adventure and romance that came with being an air hostess. It is based on Bernard Glemser's 1960 chick-lit novel Girl on a Wing, which was published again in 1969 under the title The Fly Girls.
The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm is a 1962 American fantasy film directed by Henry Levin and George Pal. The latter was the producer and also in charge of the stop motion animation. The film was one of the highest-grossing films of 1962. It won one Oscar and was nominated for three additional Academy Awards. Several prominent actors—including Laurence Harvey, Karlheinz Böhm, Jim Backus, Barbara Eden, and Buddy Hackett—are in the film.
Please Don't Eat the Daisies is a 1960 Metrocolor comedy film in CinemaScope starring Doris Day and David Niven, made by Euterpe Inc., and distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The movie was directed by Charles Walters and produced by Joe Pasternak, with Martin Melcher as associate producer.
Henry Levin began as a stage actor and director but was most notable as an American film director of over fifty feature films. His best known credits were Jolson Sings Again (1949), Journey to the Center of the Earth (1959) and Where the Boys Are (1960).
Sol C. Siegel was an American film producer. Two of the numerous films he produced, A Letter to Three Wives (1949) and Three Coins in the Fountain (1954), were nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture.
Albert Zugsmith was an American film producer, film director and screenwriter who specialized in low-budget exploitation films through the 1950s and 1960s.
"Follow the Boys" is a 1963 romantic ballad written to serve as the theme song for the 1963 comedy film of the same name: the song was introduced in the film by its top billed star: Connie Francis, for whom "Follow the Boys" was a Top 20 hit single.
Looking for Love is a 1964 romantic musical-comedy film starring popular singer Connie Francis.
Bachelor in Paradise is a 1961 American Metrocolor romantic comedy film starring Bob Hope and Lana Turner. Directed by Jack Arnold, it was written by Valentine Davies and Hal Kanter, based on a story by Vera Caspary.
When the Boys Meet the Girls is a 1965 American musical film directed by Alvin Ganzer and starring Connie Francis and Harve Presnell based on the musical Girl Crazy and a remake of MGM's 1943 film Girl Crazy.
Beyond Mombasa is a 1956 British-American Technicolor adventure film directed by George Marshall and starring Cornel Wilde, Donna Reed and Leo Genn. It was set in Kenya and shot on location there and at the Elstree Studios near London. The film's sets were designed by the art director Elliot Scott.
Your Cheatin' Heart is a 1964 American fictionalized biographical-musical directed by Gene Nelson and starring George Hamilton as country singer Hank Williams. It co-stars Susan Oliver and Red Buttons.
Womanhunt is a 1962 American drama film directed by Maury Dexter and written by Russ Bender and Edward J. Lakso. The film stars Steven Piccaro, Lisa Lu, Berry Kroeger, Bob Okazaki, Ann Carroll, Tom Daly and Ivan Bonar. The film was released on June 3, 1962, by 20th Century Fox.