The Affairs of Dobie Gillis

I have never seen the TV show "The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis", so you should keep this in mind when you read this review. I haven't a whole lot of preconceptions about the movie but I also wasn't particularly interested in the concept to actually watch the show the 106,284 times it was shown years ago on Nickelodeon and other cable channels. Why I actually decided to watch this when it came on Turner Classic Movies is beyond me--though I am glad that I did.

While it is undeniable that this movie is complete fluff, it is nevertheless enjoyable fluff. There's lots of singing and dancing and romancing and comedy--a formula very similar to the Doris Day/Gordon MacRae films BY THE LIGHT OF THE SILVERY MOON and ON MOONLIGHT BAY (though these two Warner Brothers films were set in an earlier time period). It's all very light and very likable--even if it turns out that Dobie is a dirty little cheater (see the film to find out what I am talking about).

Of particular interest, by the way, is the earnest and likable style of Bobby Van. It's too bad that he came to Hollywood near the end of the musical craze and that his life was so tragically shortened. He was talented and all I'd previously seen him in were insipid 1970s game shows.

This comedy/musical is a rather silly but quite entertaining college romance. The dialogue and situations is extremely dated, having come out in the early '50s, but if you enjoy films from that period you'll probably like this one. Some of the situations made me laugh out loud which is more than I can say for many films of today. The characters from this film were later used in the television series The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis.

I caught this film in the pre-dawn hours of an insomniac night recently, and found it reasonably diverting, although certainly no cinematic treasure. It does, however, contain genuine buried treasure for anyone interested in dance history, especially fans of Bob Fosse. The future Triple Crown of entertainment winner (Tony, Emmy, and Oscar in the same year) has a dance solo in this little movie which is positively searing, absolutely mind-bending in its virtuosity...and that's as seen in 2006. In its original release that sequence must have snapped the jaws of any member of the audience who'd ever taken a dance class. The man was simply fantastic, making Bobby Van, a decent hoofer himself, look like a club-footed spaz. I'd watch the storyless antics of Van's Gillis again just to see that number. By the way, I have read the original Dobie Gillis novel by Max Shulman, and it is very funny, as well as substantially earthier than any film or TV version of the story. If you see it in the library, give it a try.

Being based on short stories that are still of much great enjoyment now and having people as talented as Debbie Reynolds, Bob Fosse, Hans Conreid and Bobby Van, 'The Affairs of Dobie Gillis' had all the makings of being good-natured fun and being very difficult to dislike.

'The Affairs of Dobie Gillis' is not necessarily a great film by all means, with a very thin, often meandering and at times non-existent story that feels like several comic situations/stories cobbled together and not much else. While most of the film is very entertaining and achieves what it set out to do very well indeed, there is always going to be the criticisms that some of the situations are unbelievably silly and that it's dated, so suspension of disbelief is needed.

Fosse doesn't look so comfortable in his role in the acting department and his personality doesn't shine as much as when he is dancing.

However, 'The Affairs of Dobie Gillis' is very nicely designed and quaintly photographed. The music fits very well and is more than listenable on its own as well, the standout song being the heart-melting "All I Do is Dream of You". When it comes to the choreography and dancing, Fosse in particular scintillates in a routine that brims with energy, clever choreographic flourishes and extraordinary dance technique.

Regarding the script, it is here very light and bubbly, never trying to do more or be more complicated than needed. A good deal of it is silly too, but has such a good nature and has its heart in the right place that it is hard to be too hard on it. The film moves quickly and never feels dull, because the energy of the cast and the pleasant atmosphere moves things along so well.

Despite having mixed feelings on Fosse (loved the dancing, didn't look at ease in the acting), the rest of the acting fares well. Van is at his most likeably earnest, while Reynolds is spunky and charming and Barbara Ruick is suitably peppy. In support, an amusing Hans Conreid, firm Charles Lane and tyrannical Hanley Stafford stand out in particular. The direction is more than competent throughout, having the right lightness of touch.

On the whole, not a great film but an enjoyably good-natured and easily watchable one. 7/10 Bethany Cox

Previous to watching this film my frame of reference for Dobie Gillis was the television series that starred Dwayne Hickman in the early Sixties. So I was curious somewhat to see The Affairs Of Dobie Gillis from where the television series sprung.

Other than Dobie you will not find a single character that came from TV show. And instead of high school the girl crazy Dobie who simply views his time at college as a romp with the opposite sex finds himself attracted to THE girl in the person of Debbie Reynolds.

Life throws many roadblocks at the young couple, her parents, his teachers, but they do overcome of course.

Bobby Van plays Dobie Gillis and he gets a few numbers to show off his singing and more important his dancing. Playing his best friend at the very start of his distinguished career is Bob Fosse and the two are quite the team. Fosse and Van came at the end of the musical cycle, but Fosse went on to Broadway as the most distinguished choreographer of his time. Barbara Ruick is also in the cast and she did way too few films, her best known being Carousel playing Carrie Pipperidge.

The Affairs Of Dobie Gillis is a mildly entertaining film that probably is best known as it turned out, a TV Pilot.