How to Be Very, Very Popular (1955)

Director:

Nunnally Johnson

Writers:

Edward Hope (novel)
Nunnally Johnson (writer)

Release Date:

6 January 1956 (Belgium)

Genre:

Comedy

Plot:

2 girls on the lam hide out in a college fraternity.

Plot Keywords:

College | Commencement | Burlesque Theater | Criminally Insane | Person In Hiding

Cast

Betty Grable	...	Stormy Tornado
Sheree North	...	Curly Flagg
Robert Cummings	...	Fillmore 'Wedge' Wedgewood
Charles Coburn	...	Dr. Tweed
Tommy Noonan	...	Eddie Jones
Orson Bean	...	Toby Marshall
Fred Clark	...	B.J. Marshall
Charlotte Austin	...	Midge
Alice Pearce	...	Miss 'Syl' Sylvester
Rhys Williams	...	Cedric Flagg
Andrew Tombes	...	Sgt. Moon
Noel Toy	...	Cherry Blossom Wang
Emory Parnell	...	Chief of Police
Harry Carter	...	Bus Driver
Jesslyn Fax	...	Music Teacher

Runtime:

89 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.55 : 1

Sound Mix:

4-Track Stereo (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

USA:Approved (PCA #17444) | Finland:S | Portugal:17 | Sweden:15

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

A December 1954 item in Hollywood Reporter's "Rambling Reporter" column indicated that the studio wanted Marilyn Monroe to appear in the film with Jane Russell, her co-star in the studio's highly successful 1953 production _Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953_).

Quotes:

Stormy: You're still a pupil?
Wedgewood: That's right.
Stormy: Well what kind of a for-crying-out-loud kind of school could you be in?
Wedgewood: This one, Bristol College.
Stormy: This is a college?
Wedgewood: Well, of course, what did you think it was?
Stormy: I think you better let me outta here. I had all the college boys I want on Saturday nights thank you... tanked up on the two dollar gin.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Hollywood Screen Tests: Take 2 (1999) (TV)

Soundtrack:

The Whiffenpoof Song

Lackluster comedy with a few bright moments...

Stormy Tornado (Betty Grable) and Curly Flag (Sheree North) are a team of "interpretative dancers" (not "belly dancers" as incorrectly identified by a previous user comment) who witness the murder of Miss Cherry Blossom Wang and are the run from her killer. They pool their money to get on a bus and wind up in College City, still dressed in their stage costumes. They wind up in an all-boys college dorm and the film ensues with a series of not very funny events because of their situation, their lack of dress and Curly being accidentally hypnotized. This is one of Sheree North's first "big" roles (she was offered the part that Marilyn Monroe turned down, and at the time was viewed by Fox as their new "blonde" to replace their unwilling star Marilyn Monroe, who wanted more substantial roles). She delivers a very wooden performance. Betty Grable, on the other hand, made this her last film for Fox. While she delivers a typical sassy performance, she can not float the rest of the cast which is struggling with a really poorly written script. Orson Bean couldn't act his way out of a bag in this film. Tommy Noonan (Eddie) and Robert Cummings (Wedgewood) also deliver a zinger or two, but the film is really uneventful. A film only for die-hard fans of Grable or North.