I'll Take Sweden

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I'll Take Sweden
I'll Take Sweden.jpg
Movie poster
Directed by Frederick de Cordova
Screenplay by Nat Perrin
Story byNat Perrin
Bob Fisher
Arthur Marx
Produced by Edward Small
Starring
Cinematography Daniel L. Fapp
Edited by Grant Whytock
Music by
Production
company
Edward Small Productions
Distributed by United Artists
Release date
  • June 18, 1965 (1965-06-18)(USA)
Running time
97 min.
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Box office$1.5 million [1]

I'll Take Sweden is a 1965 American comedy film. It was directed by Frederick de Cordova, and stars Bob Hope, Frankie Avalon, and Tuesday Weld.

Contents

Plot

Single father Bob Holcomb, a widower, is unhappy with the guitar-playing boy Kenny his daughter JoJo chooses as a husband-to-be. An executive with an oil company, Bob accepts a transfer to the firm's Stockholm branch and he takes JoJo along, hoping it will distract her.

Sweden turns out to be far more liberal sexually than the United States. Bob, having met an attractive interior designer, Karin, decides to take her away for a romantic weekend at a mountain resort.

JoJo has accepted an offer to go to a jazz festival from Erik, who is Bob's new assistant. Originally seen as a respectable suitor, Erik turns out to be a playboy and a cad. A girl thought to be his cousin, Marti, is actually a former girlfriend.

Bob invites Kenny to Sweden in an attempt to get Kenny and JoJo together. Kenny is invited by Erik to have dinner with Marti and also to the festival.

Bob sends Erik to Saudi Arabia but he does not go, sending his subordinate. He also tells JoJo he is going away for work but he really goes with Karin to a resort, but stops at the festival on the way.

Kenny takes Marti to the festival. JoJo spies her father in the restaurant at the festival while talking to him on the phone. He is still claiming to be working while she is supposed to be home alone. After originally telling Erik she wanted to go home, she tells him she now wants to go to the same resort her father is heading to.

Marti tells Kenny she is not really Erik's cousin and both admit they are in love with their former partners. They also decide to go to the mountain resort. At the resort where the three couples continue to awkwardly encounter one another. Kenny finally has his fill of Erik, knocking him out with his guitar.

On a voyage home, the ship's captain performs a double wedding ceremony that turns out to be invalid due to a navigation error. so it needs to be done again.

Cast

ActorRole
Bob Hope Bob Holcomb
Tuesday Weld JoJo Holcomb
Frankie Avalon Kenny Klinger
Dina Merrill Karin Granstedt
Jeremy Slate Erik Carlson
Rosemarie Frankland Marti
John Qualen Olaf

Production notes

Development

The film was announced in April 1964 with Hope and Weld attached from the beginning. [2]

In July Frederick de Cordova was announced as director. [3]

The movie was advertised as being Hope's 50th but even he disputed that. [4]

Filming

Filming started August 1964. The parts of the movie that were supposed to be in Sweden were shot at Big Bear Lake and Lake Arrowhead, California. [5] [6]

Director Frederick De Cordova saw Luci Baines Johnson, daughter of President Lyndon B. Johnson, dance the Watusi at a White House barbecue. He offered her a role in the film but she declined on the grounds she had to go to school. [7] Billie Dove visited the set and Bob Hope offered her a role too but the former star declined. [8]

Critical reception

Howard Thompson of The New York Times loathed the film: "The picture is an altogether asinine little romp . . . Nothing can save this tattered, old-fashioned dip." [9] At least one exhibitor had his complaints published: "Bob Hope is no good in this picture. No plot. Corny. No good for a double feature." [10]

Variety called it "a brisk and tuneful comedy." [11] Other reviews were mixed. [12] Filmink felt the film ad "a superb idea for a comedy, but it was not exploited properly... Instead, we get a cringey “silent majority” style late period Hope movie, which never feels as though it takes place in Sweden. Avalon’s performance is utterly fine, completely professional – it’s not his fault that the film isn’t good." [13]

Hope was so impressed with Avalon's work, he signed Avalon to appear on his television show. [14]

See also

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References

  1. ↑ Anticipated rentals accruing distributors in North America. See "Top Grossers of 1965", Variety , 5 January 1966 p 36
  2. ↑ Hopper, Hedda (2 July 1965). "Bob Hope to Star in 'T'll Take Sweden': He'll Play Tuesday's Father; 'Touch of Sun' to Move Here". Los Angeles Times. p. D11.
  3. ↑ "Bob Hope comedy". The Christian Science Monitor. 8 July 1964. p. 4.
  4. ↑ Alpert, Don (20 June 1965). "Hope's Heard the One About the...". Los Angeles Times. p. b7.
  5. ↑ I'll Take Sweden (1965) – Trivia – IMDb
  6. ↑ I'll Take Sweden (1965) – Filming locations
  7. ↑ Winzola McLendon (15 August 1964). "Luci Offered Film Role". The Washington Post and Times-Herald . p. C11.
  8. ↑ "Former Silent Film Beauty Visits Hope Set". Los Angeles Times. 3 October 1964. p. B3.
  9. ↑ Thompson, Howard (12 August 1965). "Bob Hope in Sweden". The New York Times.
  10. ↑ https://www.yumpu.com/en/document/read/27565510/boxoffice-october041965 Boxoffice, October 4, 1965, p. 154.
  11. ↑ "I'll Take Sweden". Variety film reviews. 29 May 1965. p. 205.
  12. ↑ Philip Kopper (1 July 1965). "Van Dyke Amusing in Faltering Comedy: Road to Sweden Leads Hope Astray". The Washington Post and Times-Herald. p. D25.
  13. ↑ Vagg, Stephen (28 December 2024). "The movie stardom of Frankie Avalon". Filmink. Retrieved 28 December 2024.
  14. ↑ Hopper, Hedda (10 September 1964). "Skelton Hailed as Pied Piper of Fun: London Paper Asks Why His Show Hasn't Played Britain". Los Angeles Times. p. C12.
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