Dear Brigitte (1965)

Director:

Henry Koster

Writers:

John Haase (novel)
Hal Kanter (writer)

Release Date:

8 January 1965 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Plot:

Professor Leaf, an absent-minded poet with a prejudice against the sciences, is forced to face the fact...

Plot Keywords:

Professor | Puppy | Chamber Music | Foundation | Young Boy

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

James Stewart	...	Professor Robert Leaf
Fabian	...	Kenneth 'Kenny' Taylor
Glynis Johns	...	Vina Leaf
Cindy Carol	...	Pandora 'Panny' Leaf
Bill Mumy	...	Erasmus 'Ras' Leaf
John Williams	...	Peregrine Upjohn
Jack Kruschen	...	Doctor Volker
Charles Robinson	...	George
Howard Freeman	...	Dean Sawyer
Jane Wald	...	Terry, George's Wife
Alice Pearce	...	Unemployment Office Clerk
Jesse White	...	Cliff Argyle the Bookie
Gene O'Donnell	...	Police Lt. Rink
Orville Sherman	...	Von Schlogg
Maida Severn	...	Miss Eva, Ras' Teacher

Also Known As:

Dear Brigitte... (USA) (alternative spelling)

Runtime:

100 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System) | Stereo

Certification:

Finland:S | Sweden:Btl | USA:Not Rated

Filming Locations:

Paris, France

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

This movie was going to be called ERASMUS WITH FRECKLES, after the book on which it was based. But Brigitte Bardot only agreed to appear on the condition that her name did not appear in the credits or any of the promotional materials. The only way the producers could capitalize on Americans' fascination with Bardot was by changing the title to alert the audience that she was in the movie.

Movie Connections:

References Tom Jones (1963)

Fussy, annoying family comedy; ersatz Disney without the car chase...

John Haase's novel "Erasmus With Freckles" gets a woebegone Hollywood makeover and, while it may look promising at the outset, it turns out to be one of the weakest films James Stewart ever starred in. Young Billy Mumy, a mathematical genius, spends all of his spare time writing juvenile love letters to French film actress Brigitte Bardot (though it isn't mentioned just how many of her pictures he has actually been allowed to see). Eventually, dad Stewart gets Mumy an audience with the siren (whose brief appearance is the only bright spot here). Movies about unconventional family broods have to include more than just hectic, noisy silliness to keep our attention; this adaptation doesn't even try for a sense of eccentricity in the content of character, nor does it expand on the central child's personality. It's meant to be heart-warming, non-threatening fun, yet it borders dangerously on bland, with nary a single funny scene. *1/2 from ****