The Affairs of Dobie Gillis (1953)

Director:

Don Weis

Writers:

Max Shulman (screenplay)
Max Shulman (story)

Release Date:

14 August 1953 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Musical

Tagline:

IT'S M-G-M's LOVE-HAPPY, YOUTHFUL MUSICAL! (original print ad - all caps)

Plot:

Grainbelt University has one attraction for Dobie Gillis - women, especially Pansy Hammer. Pansy's father...

Plot Keywords:

College | Character Name In Title

Cast

Debbie Reynolds	...	Pansy Hammer
Bobby Van	...	Dobie Gillis
Barbara Ruick	...	Lorna Ellingboe
Bob Fosse	...	Charlie Trask
Hanley Stafford	...	George Hammer
Lurene Tuttle	...	Mrs. Eleanor Hammer
Hans Conried	...	Prof. Amos Pomfritt
Charles Lane	...	Chemistry Professor Obispo
Archer MacDonald	...	Harry Doreas
Kathleen Freeman	...	'Happy Stella' Kowalski
Almira Sessions	...	Aunt Naomi
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
John Smith	...	Student (as Robert Van Orden)

Runtime:

72 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Colour:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

USA:Approved (PCA #16408)

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

This modest (by MGM standards) black-and-white musical failed to be noted by a contemporary New York Times review. In addition, this was the only monochrome song-and-dance picture in which Debbie Reynolds and Bob Fosse appeared.

Movie Connections:

Followed by Bring Me the Head of Dobie Gillis (1988) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Red River Valley

MGM fantasy land comedy-musical

This is the largely unknown and deservedly forgotten earlier incarnation of Dobie Gillis. Made in 53, pre-beatnik, therefore no Maynard Krebs character. In fact, the film is an unreal mixture of stale college comedy and sudden bursts of singing and dancing. Bobby Van plays Dobie and Debbie R. plays Pansy. Yeesh! Silly names and silly comedy. It does have plenty of familiar faces popping up here and there (Hans Conreid, Kathleen Freeman, Charles Lane, Percy Helton and even Alvy Moore). The story is non-existent; mostly to do with Van, Fosse and Ruick as slacker students only interested in college as a means to score with the opposite sex, but Van quickly goes after energetic student Reynolds and the others unaccountably follow. Throughout the film the leads switch from klutzy slackers to amazingly agile dancers, all part of the MGM fantasy world. Van is okay at times, but otherwise can't keep the blank grin off his face... or commit comic overkill when asked to react to some backfiring shenanigan. Fosse has little personality at all, until he explodes into expert dance work. Ruick and Reynolds are perky. A time-killer at best.