77% (2) Too Late Blues 103 min, Not Rated, [Drama] [John Cassavetes] [01 Nov 1961]Ratings & Reviews: IMDb Reviews: 69%, Rotten Tomatoes: 86%, External Reviews
Actors: Bobby Darin, Everett Chambers, Nick Dennis, Stella Stevens
Writer: Richard Carr, John Cassavetes
External Links: Wikipedia Rotten Tomatoes IMDb Language: English Country: USA
Plot: Ghost is an idealogical musician who would rather play his blues in the park to the birds than compromise himself. However, when he meets and falls in love with beautiful singer, Jess Polanski, she comes between him and his band members, and he leaves his dreams behind in search of fame.
Rotten Tomatoes: Ghost (Bobby Darin) is a struggling piano player and composer for a small jazz band. The band plays several under attended gigs before coming across an aspiring female singer, Jess (Stella Stevens). Ghost and Jess make beautiful music together on and off the stage until and act of cowardice drives Jess away. He blows a recording deal over his obsession of the girl. Ghost looks in all the old musical haunts before he finds Jess, who by now has become a tawdry tramp. This is the first Hollywood film directed by John Cassavetes. Screenplay is by Cassavetes and Richard Carr.
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76% (2) Hell Is for Heroes 90 min, Approved, [Drama, War] [Don Siegel] [26 Jun 1962]Ratings & Reviews: IMDb Reviews: 70%, Rotten Tomatoes: 83%, External Reviews
Actors: Bobby Darin, Fess Parker, Harry Guardino, Steve McQueen
Writer: Robert Pirosh (screenplay), Richard Carr (screenplay), Robert Pirosh (story)
External Links: Wikipedia Rotten Tomatoes IMDb Language: English, Polish, German Country: USA
Plot: World War II drama where the action centers around a single maneuver by a squad of GIs in retaliation against the force of the German Siegfried line. Reese joins a group of weary GIs unexpectedly ordered back into the line when on their way to a rest area. While most of the men withdraw from their positions facing a German pillbox at the far side of a mine-field, half a dozen men are left to protect a wide front. By various ruses, they manage to convince the Germans that a large force is still holding the position. Then Reese leads two of the men in an unauthorized and unsuccessful attack on the pillbox, in which the other two are killed; and when the main platoon returns, he is threatened with court-martial. Rather that face the disgrace, and in an attempt to show he was right, he makes a one-man attack on the pillbox.
Rotten Tomatoes: Don Siegel's only war film and unfortunately his only teaming with Steve McQueen, an actor whose rebellious persona jibed well with the director's vision, it puts the star in the familiar role of antihero. His character, Reese, is an embittered G.I. who has just been sent back to join his war-weary unit holding down a position opposite a pillbox on the Siegfried Line in Belgium. Recently demoted back to private from staff sergeant for drinking, he chafes under all authority, and is a pariah to fellow grunts, despite their awareness of his extraordinary courage in battle. A natural leader, he persuades his sergeant (Harry Guardino) to implement a plan he's formulated to keep the Germans at bay by making them believe that the small outfit is larger than it is. While this is temporarily effective, Reese knows that it's only a matter of time before the enemy discovers the truth, and takes it on his own authority to lead an attack on the well-defended pillbox, although his unit has been assigned only to hold their ground.
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75% (2) Come September 112 min, Approved, [Comedy, Romance] [Robert Mulligan] [09 Aug 1961]Ratings & Reviews: IMDb Reviews: 71%, Rotten Tomatoes: 80%, External Reviews
Awards: Won 1 Golden Globe. Another 1 win & 1 nomination.
Actors: Bobby Darin, Gina Lollobrigida, Rock Hudson, Sandra Dee
Writer: Stanley Shapiro (screenplay), Maurice Richlin (screenplay), Stanley Roberts (story), Robert Russell (story)
External Links: Wikipedia Rotten Tomatoes IMDb Language: English, Italian Country: USA
Plot: Wealthy industrialist Robert Talbot arrives early for his annual vacation at his luxurious Italian villa to find three problems lying in wait for him. Firstly, his long-time girlfriend Lisa Fellini has given up waiting for him to pop the question and has decided to marry another man. Secondly, the major domo of his villa, Maurice Clavell, has turned the estate into a posh hotel to make some easy money while the boss isn't around. And, finally, the current guests of the "hotel" are a group of young American girls trying to fend off a gang of oversexed boys, led by Tony, who are 'laying siege' at the outer walls of the villa. Talbot, to his own surprise, finds himself becoming an overprotective chaperone.
Rotten Tomatoes: In this romantic comedy, the caretaker of an Italian villa is very surprised to see its owner, a rich Yankee businessman, arrive two months early. This is a major problem because when the American isn't visiting, the caretaker uses the villa as a hotel and pockets the profits. While he is there, the Yankee gets interested in a voluptuous guest. Meanwhile newlyweds continue their honeymoon.
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37% (2) State Fair 118 min, [Musical, Romance] [José Ferrer] [09 Mar 1962]Ratings & Reviews: IMDb Reviews: 60%, Rotten Tomatoes: 14%, External Reviews
Awards: 1 win & 2 nominations.
Actors: Ann-Margret, Bobby Darin, Pamela Tiffin, Pat Boone
Writer: Richard L. Breen (screenplay), Oscar Hammerstein II (adaptation), Sonya Levien (adaptation), Paul Green (adaptation), Philip Stong (novel)
External Links: Wikipedia Rotten Tomatoes IMDb Language: English, Italian, Spanish, French Country: USA
Plot: Texan farmers the Frake family head for the Texas State Fair in Dallas. The parents are focused on winning the competitions for livestock and cooking. However, their restless daughter Margy and her brother Wayne meet attractive new love interests.
Rotten Tomatoes: This is the third time around for the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical. The action takes place in urban Texas instead of the traditional setting in rural Iowa. This film version contains five extra songs written exclusively by Richard Rodgers. Box office results were adequate at best, and movie going public deemed this version the least interesting of the three. The youth audience was lured by the casting of Ann-Margaret, Pat Boone and Bobby Darin. Alice Faye returned to the big screen after a sixteen year absence as Melissa Frake. Tom Ewell plays her husband, Abel. The plot finds a family traveling to Dallas for the Texas State Fair. Singing commences on the ferris wheel, the merry-go-round and in other locales. The only real action is the anticipation of a drag race between Wayne (Pat Boone) and the carrot topped, malevolent motorhead Red (Edward "Tap" Canutt).
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71% (1) Pressure Point 91 min, Not Rated, [Drama] [Hubert Cornfield, Stanley Kramer] [11 Jul 1963]Ratings & Reviews: IMDb Reviews: 71%, External Reviews
Actors: Bobby Darin, Carl Benton Reid, Peter Falk, Sidney Poitier
Writer: Hubert Cornfield (screenplay), S. Lee Pogostin (screenplay), Robert M. Lindner (story "The Fifty-Minute Hour")
External Links: Rotten Tomatoes IMDb Language: English Country: USA
Plot: An African-American prison psychiatrist (Sidney Poitier) finds the boundaries of his professionalism sorely tested when he must counsel a disturbed inmate (Bobby Darin) with bigoted Nazi tendencies.
Rotten Tomatoes: Unable to get through to a particularly hostile patient, psychiatrist Peter Falk goes to gray-haired senior shrink Sidney Poitier for advice. This prompts Poitier to recall his experiences during World War II. While working on behalf of the government, Poitier was assigned the case of psycho Nazi sympathizer Bobby Darin. A complex flashback structure reveals the various influences that led to Darin's warped state of mind and to his life of crime. Poitier perceives that Darin is potentially dangerous, and insists that he needs further treatment. The government sees things differently, and allows Darin, who on the surface shows signs of recovery, to leave the hospital. The horrible results of this decision serve to convince Poitier to follow his own gut feelings no matter what his fellow "experts" might advise, and to continue probing even the most recalcitrant or deceptively "cured" of patients. Essentially a conformist psychological melodrama, Pressure Point truly comes to life whenever Bobby Darin is on the screen. His performance was outstanding, far better than his Oscar-nominated turn in 1963's Captain Newman MD. Unfortunately, the critics were aligned against Darin, possibly because of the singer/actor's well-publicized arrogance; Judith Crist went so far as to compare Darin to Dr. Samuel Johnson's walking dog, quipping that the most remarkable aspect of Darin's performance was not that he did it well, but that he did it at all.
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70% (1) If a Man Answers 102 min, [Comedy, Romance] [Henry Levin] [10 Oct 1962]Ratings & Reviews: IMDb Reviews: 70%, External Reviews
Awards: Nominated for 2 Golden Globes. Another 1 nomination.
Actors: Bobby Darin, John Lund, Micheline Presle, Sandra Dee
Writer: Richard Morris (screenplay by), Winifred Wolfe (from the novel by)
External Links: Wikipedia Rotten Tomatoes IMDb Language: English, French Country: USA
Plot: Rich socialite, Sandra Dee meets and marries photographer Bobby Darin and attempts to "train" him to be the perfect husband. Look for a very young Stephanie Powers as the devious friend .
Rotten Tomatoes: This lightweight, nearly zero-gravity comedy by director Henry Levin relies on a novel by a male writer and a script by another man to come up with a nearly offensive story (in these more enlightened times) about how a woman can lie, manipulate, and generally deceive her husband, all in the "art" of hanging on to him. Sandra Dee is Chantal, married to Eugene (Bobby Darin, Dee's real-life husband), but first comes the story of how she hooked him. Next, comes the story of how he is trained to be a perfect husband, and then the final installment is unveiled. She uses a variety of tricks to keep him wondering whether or not he can trust her. For example, Chantal's mother calls her and "if a man answers" she hangs up, leaving the unhappy husband to think his wife has a clandestine lover. The premise that a woman's only role in life is to get and hold a husband has thankfully undergone a few revisions since 1962.
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68% (1) That Funny Feeling 93 min, [Comedy, Romance] [Richard Thorpe] [25 Aug 1965]Ratings & Reviews: IMDb Reviews: 68%, External Reviews
Actors: Bobby Darin, Donald O'Connor, Nita Talbot, Sandra Dee
Writer: David R. Schwartz (screenplay), Norman Barasch (story), Carroll Moore (story)
External Links: Wikipedia Rotten Tomatoes IMDb Language: English Country: USA
Plot: Joan Howell, a young and pretty maid-for-hire, meets and begins dating wealthy New York City businessman Tom Milford. Embarrassed about bringing him back to her tiny apartment that she shares with her roommate Audrey, Joan brings Tom over to a fancy apartment that she cleans on a daily basis not knowing that it's his place. Tom plays along with the charade despite not knowing who Joan really is, while she tries to tidy up Tom's place not knowing who he really is.
Rotten Tomatoes: A young woman working as a maid falls in love with a handsome publisher, not realizing that he is also one of her employers. This romantic comedy charts the many confusions that result before the lovers learn the truth, especially when the maid pretends the publisher's apartment is her own.
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