1h 43min | Comedy, Musical | 16 September 1960 | Color, WS
Director: Blake Edwards
Stars: Bing Crosby, Fabian, Tuesday Weld, Richard Beymer, Yvonne Craig.
Miriam Nelson ... choreographer
Watched online, good print.
2 songs in the Soundtracks; same on AFI. I didn't try to count, but I remember a Christmas carol sung onscreen.
71st of 76 films for BC (b. '03). I've watched 52 BC films in this quest; some may have been cameos.
I suppose it was extremely unusual in '60 to have a 50-something college student. It's probably not so common now either. I was 37 when I first dipped my toe back in college, and 44 when I finished, and I felt plenty old. I had a TA (grad student) who was older than I during my upper division year; don't remember if he finished or not. I had 2 younger study partners that year; I would have been 39-40, they were maybe early 30's.
The extra weirdness in this film is not only that BC wants to live in the dorm, but he gets involved in EC activities. I think it was soph year that he pledged a fraternity and withstood rigorous cleaning chores.
Not sure if the ending was meant to signal that everything preceding was a silly fantasy. But we had GI's going to school after WW2, the Korean conflict, and definitely after Vietnam. But 51 is pushing it. BC had already married his 2nd wife in '57, and had at least 1 child by her, so he didn't make this film to demonstrate is continued vitality.
IMDb trivia: "Under the working title "Big Daddy", this film was originally planned as a vehicle for Gary Cooper. When Cooper's terminal illness prevented his appearing, Bing Crosby was brought in and the script revised to suit his talents."
Bing Crosby Prod., distr. Fox, dir. Edwards; 6
