I'll Take Sweden (1965)

User Rating:

5.1/10   

Director:

Frederick De Cordova

Writers:

Nat Perrin (writer)
Nat Perrin (story) ...

Release Date:

18 June 1965 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Plot:

Single father Bob Holcomb, dissatisfied with his daughter JoJo's choice of partner, seizes an unexpected...

Plot Keywords:

Beautiful Woman | Morality | Independent Film

Cast

Bob Hope	...	Bob Holcomb
Tuesday Weld	...	JoJo Holcomb
Frankie Avalon	...	Kenny Klinger
Dina Merrill	...	Karin Granstedt
Jeremy Slate	...	Erik Carlson
Rosemarie Frankland	...	Marti
Walter Sande	...	Bjork
John Qualen	...	Olaf
Peter Bourne	...	Ingemar
Fay DeWitt	...	Hilda
Alice Frost	...	Greta
Roy Roberts	...	Ship's Captain
Maudie Prickett	...	Spinster
Beverly Powers	...	Electra (as Beverly Hills)
Siv Marta Aberg	...	Inger

Runtime:

USA:97 min (Turner library print)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:S | Sweden:Btl

Filming Locations:

Big Bear Lake, California, USA

Company:

Edward Small Productions

Goofs:

Errors in geography: All of the boats at the dock have California registrations even though the scene is supposed to be in Sweden.

Quotes:

[Upon seeing Erik's Volkswagen]
Holcomb: Maybe we had better put the car in our luggage.

Soundtrack:

Tell Me, Tell Me

Silly.... but fun

As far as comedies that deal with young people's attitudes towards sex go; "I'll Take Sweden", dumb as it may be, has loads more charm than the largely gross comedies that are dished up to audiences today.

Bob Hope, (with badly died dark hair) ever the professional, copes well with the sometimes unfunny lines given to him. There's super elegant Dina Merrill; Frankie Avalon brimming with youthful ebullience and Tuesday Weld, simultaneously demure and sexy, as always.

Despite the often ridiculous depiction of the social mores of the time, somehow the movie remains immensely watchable largely because of the cast, who all had careers of some interest. From this fun but undoubted mediocrity, Hope's movies went downhill steadily and embarrassingly. Merrill went into television with unspectacular results. Avalon didn't quite survive the beach movies which made him so popular at the time. Weld had the good sense to break the mold into which the system had cast her, moving on to many fine performances, if not quite becoming the star that at the time would have seemed she was destined to become.

For those interested in the actors involved, there's something to enjoy in this innocuous yet not obnoxious 95 minutes.