El canalla

Peculiar, occasionally charming, often irritating comedic drama has five fun-loving bachelors--who live together in a converted nightclub in the Hollywood Hills--having money and girl troubles; newcomer Leo Mack (played by British recording singer Frankie Vaughan) stirs up more trouble when he arrives, but his smug self-confidence and dirty ambition may put him ahead of his roommates. The initial focus of the plot seems to be on drive-in waitress Juliet Prowse, whose low tones, stony stare and unplaceable accent makes her seem like a pod person. However, Prowse is put aside once Vaughan appears, and indeed she's lost in the shuffle until near the end (when her character's latest predicament isn't even solved!). Based on Garson Kanin's play, this sitcom-serious plot is full of joshing and wisecracks, but the main theme of a slimy worm infiltrating a group of nice guys and using everyone like a step-ladder is more interesting than the filmmakers give it credit for. Vaughan is appropriately loathsome, but this was surely not the right vehicle for a singer-turned-acting hopeful; he's all too convincing steals jobs and girls from the other nudniks, and his gregarious falseness is grotesque. The other fellas (including Bing Crosby's son Gary) are a loyal, fun bunch, but the Hollywood scenario isn't utilized to its fullest advantage, and Martha Hyer is deadly as a writer for a show-biz rag (she's the type of proper, boring girl with the stiff hairdo who stands by her principles). A curious project, and with an interesting central set, but the hurried ending makes little sense. ** from ****

Frankie Vaughan plays an ambitious social climber intent on clawing his way up the Hollywood ladder to stardom. Instead of enjoying the journey, Vaughan's character of Leo Mack is focused entirely on his desired destination, meaning that he steps on or over the people he meets along the way. The character of Leo Mack draws people in and tends to confuse them into believing talent is present where it actually is not. This becomes apparent in the singing scenes, which, for the purposes of the film, are bizarre enough to make for fairly hard-to-stop-looking-at viewing. Thus a character with ruthless ambition who manipulates everyone and every event he can to go his way, with an absence of actual talent.