Looking for Love

Connie Francis was an amazing singer and a very charming, charismatic and pretty lady. She's always entertaining and watchable. It is a shame they didn't get her a decent script. Except for the title song, they didn't even bother getting her some good songs to sing! MGM did give her a stunning wardrobe.

The rest of the cast is very pretty. All of her costars from Where the Boys Are have a one minute cameo with nothing to do but be gorgeous.

There are much worse ways to spend 90 minutes.

I think this is a Great movie! Most of this cast was also in the movie Where The Boys ARe & their chemisty together is nothing less than great! I LOVE Jim Hutton & think (as always) that he is wonderful! A fun movie......

O.K. I'll be honest. I wasn't expecting much when I decided to watch "Looking for Love" on Turner Classic Movies' "not on video" festival last July. After all, Maltin gave the film a BOMB rating and "Rose Marie" was a grand disappointment. But TCM was on a solid streak with three great films in a row; "Penelope", "The Money Trap" and "Your Cheatin Heart". So I decided to give it a chance.

I'm sure glad I did! "Looking for Love" is not a great film, but it has energy and charm and a wonderful lead performance by Connie Francis. You just can't help smiling as I did lot during the regretably brief running time (81 minutes). Surely, they could have added another 10 minutes of songs!

The plot is unimportant; it's merely an excuse to hang some truly inventive musical numbers and sight gags (which needs to be seen in Panavision to truly appreciate; TCM letterboxed the print). I hope that MGM will release the film on video and DVD as a "Vintage Classic" or "MGM Musical" so that an audience can appreciate this. This won't appeal to those looking for acting. But if you're looking for a good time, you could do a lot worse than this. It's no masterpiece, but it's infectious and charming. and you will be smiling a lot.

*** out of 4 stars

After a great opening credits sequence, our story begins. Attractive telephone operator Connie Francis (as Libby Caruso) wants to make it big in show business, get married and have babies. With her figure and singing voice, this shouldn't take too long. To prevent clothing from wrinkling overnight, Ms. Francis invents the "Lady Valet" which garners her an appearance on "The Tonight Show" starring Johnny Carson. He thinks her invention looks like a "blind date for a Martian," and invites Francis to sing. She's another Caruso, but goes unnoticed by tall Jim Hutton (as Paul Davis)...

"Looking for Love" finds Francis in good voice, and improved as a comedy star. She's not paired well with Mr. Hutton, which was the story's point, but still… Best friend Susan Oliver (as Jan McNair) and bass player Joby Baker (as Cuz Rickover) round out a romantic quartet. The title track reached #34 on the "Cash Box" pop chart and the soundtrack LP sold moderately during The Beatles' "A Hard Day's Night" onslaught. MGM and Francis continued the formula for one more film, with decreasing returns. They really should have been producing a TV variety series, with singing and skits.

**** Looking for Love (8/5/64) Don Weis ~ Connie Francis, Jim Hutton, Susan Oliver, Joby Baker

Then again, it's not that great either. Connie Francis stars as a girl whose main desire in life is to get married and have kids, thus setting feminism back 10,000 years. She becomes infatuated with Jim Hutton, who likes tall women with big breasts. Hutton shows no interest, until Connie sings a sultry song. Then he decides there may be something to short women with big breasts. Joby Baker and Susan Oliver complete the quartet of who-is-going-to-end-up-with-whom. Numerous "guest stars" appear, including Danny Thomas, George Hamilton, and Johnny Carson, all playing themselves. Carson used to diss this film on his show; in actuality, he should have dissed his performance, since he is terrible in this (I say this as a big Carson fan). Connie sings a boatload of songs. I've always enjoyed her singing, so a few of these were at least tolerable.