urthpainter As I've gotten older, I've begun to realize that the saying, 'not like it used to be' is a fallacy with regard to music and visual media. The truth is there has always been a ton of bad work, it's just that the lens of history whittles out the chaff. What's left? The great, the good, and at times the really really bad. One has to really look for the average to just below average films - generally to fill out some niche of fanaticism regarding an actor or director.Why watch this movie? The Jonny Carson scene is amazing. First, he plays himself, but actually acts and performs - and that youthful look! This scene should be a clinic on how you direct a talk show host. This scene is generally butchered in more recent films.The film stock - my goodness these colors! I will never understand why this saturated film look is lost. The astonishing primary colors and shining eyes of the performers - this movie has a absolute visual glow.Acting is awful. And some of the casting - listening to these shrieking voices will make you scramble for the volume remote just to end the pain. And yet...The numbers (music performances) are pretty good, certainly entertaining - and back to my original point; this isn't a good movie, but it so much better than contemporary bad films. Films that actually bring nothing to the table. Wow, maybe they don't make them like they used to?intentionally over rated 6/10

wes-connors 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

focusakker Hello, dear mortals. Last Resort here To tell about a film that made Carson fans cheer.This movie is called Looking for Love. The audience has a butt, and up it they will shove. Connie Francis is such a beaut. She's sexy, plucky, and glamorous to boot.This movie is a musical, you see. The girls will love it and give it glee. It takes place in a sunny beach. Uh-oh, guys, another security breach!Johnny Carson had a lot of wit. He made one movie, and that was it. So to see more Carson, don't be a bore, Just go watch the Tonight Show on WNBC, Channel 4.

scorseseisgod-1 Connie's third of her four musical comedies for Metro and the only one that doesn't have the word 'boy' in the title. By 1964, Hollywood had pretty much thrown in the towel as far as television was concerned and began openly sleeping with the enemy. Not only is the film crammed with popular personalities of the day (Johnny Carson, Danny Thomas, Jesse White, Joby Baker), and cute (overly-rehearsed) on-set mishaps, the structure, pace and composition are strictly small-screen. It's easy to understand how screenwriter Flippen (wife of Jay C.) would eventually write on such ground-healing 60's pigswill as "The Brady Bunch" and "The New Scooby Doo Movies." What's truly tragic is that these TV-safe anamorphic frames, crowding characters to the center, were lensed by Minnelli mainstay Milton Krasner.Stardom eluded Libby Caruso (Francis) for an entire month, so she decided to get out of the music business and snare a man. Aside from her voice and her Lady Valet, a glorified clothes hanger she invented, Libby's only talent is sniffing out Mr. Right. Enter Jim Hutton, a co-worker into TNT (Tall 'n' Top-Heavy) who lands Libby a spot to tout her creation on the Tonight Show. It's a flop, but her singing connects and for another hour we watch Libby slalom her way around a light powder of familiar supporting players in search of true love.The film was made to cash in on the success of earlier Francis/Hutton vehicles, most notably the enormously entertaining, guiltiest of all guilty pleasures, "Where the Boys Are." As sociologically and cinematically backwards as that film is, it plays like a sophisticated Lubitsch romp compared to this set-bound stiff. We briefly get to visit a neon drenched sixties supermarket only to be shuttered back in the studio after one establishing shot. "Where the Boys Are?" alumni George Hamilton, Yvette Mimieux and the vastly underrated Paula Prentiss appear, adding little more than name recognition to the poster.Connie Francis was a firecracker. She had the neurotic frailty of a young Judy Garland, Ethel Merman's pipes and the comedic traction of a Danny Thomas. Well, two out of three ain't bad. Pert and delightfully ditsy in the light comedy (comedy-lite?) passages and capable of showing her range even in trash like this, she could have been a contender had it not been for that tragic night in a Howard Johnson's motel room.Director Don Weis has come through in the past, but this time he's simply punching Metro's time-clock. Impress me once, good for you. Disappoint me after an imposing start and I'll probably still keep giving you the benefit of the doubt in hopes of a return to form. Who do you think brought me to junk like this?