The Affairs of Dobie Gillis (1953)

Grainbelt University has one attraction for Dobie Gillis - women, especially Pansy Hammer. Pansy's father, even though and maybe because she says she's in dreamville, does not share her ... See full summary »

Director:

Don Weis

Writers:

Max Shulman (screenplay), Max Shulman (story)

Stars:

Debbie Reynolds, Bobby Van, Barbara Ruick

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Debbie Reynolds	...	Pansy Hammer
Bobby Van	...	Dobie Gillis
Barbara Ruick	...	Lorna Ellingboe
Bob Fosse	...	Charlie Trask
Hanley Stafford	...	George Hammer
Lurene Tuttle	...	Mrs. Eleanor Hammer
Hans Conried	...	Professor Amos Pomfritt
Charles Lane	...	Chemistry Professor Obispo
Archer MacDonald	...	Harry Dorcas
Kathleen Freeman	...	'Happy Stella' Kowalski
Almira Sessions	...	Aunt Naomi

Storyline

Grainbelt University has one attraction for Dobie Gillis - women, especially Pansy Hammer. Pansy's father, even though and maybe because she says she's in dreamville, does not share her affection for Dobie. An English essay which almost revolutionizes English instruction, and Dobie's role in a chemistry lab explosion convinces Mr. Hammer he is right. Pansy is sent off broken-hearted to an Eastern school, but with the help of Happy Stella Kolawski's all-girl band, several hundred students and an enraged police force, Dobie secures Pansy's return to Grainbelt.

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Plot Keywords:

college | character name in title

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Taglines:

IT'S M-G-M's LOVE-HAPPY, YOUTHFUL MUSICAL! (original print ad - all caps)

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Genres:

Comedy | Musical

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

14 August 1953 (USA)

Also Known As:

Casanova Junior

Filming Locations:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios - 10202 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

72 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This modest (by MGM standards) black-and-white musical failed to be noted by a contemporary New York Times review. In addition, this was the only monochrome song-and-dance picture in which Debbie Reynolds and Bob Fosse appeared.

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Connections

Referenced in NewsRadio: Jail (1998)

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Soundtracks

"I'm Thru with Love"
(uncredited)
Music by Matty Malneck and Fud Livingston
Lyrics by Gus Kahn
Performed by Bobby Van

User Reviews

He has one affair and it ain't much...

College freshman Dobie Gillis (Bobby Van, exercising more befuddled expressions and quirky dance movements than even Ray Bolger) falls for a perky, studious innocent (Debbie Reynolds) on his first day of enrollment; he also makes a buddy in Bob Fosse, who apparently trolls for curvier dames. MGM musical with the usual stuffed-shirt parents and teachers who never have any fun (as if they'd outgrown it completely). The kids are crazy-cool, treating life with abandon and dancing jitterbug-style in coffeehouses which probably looked very flashy in 1953. They are required to do some classwork, but this college campus is the fictional type wherein something is always comically exploding in the chemistry lab. If the leads weren't so talented this might make your teeth ache, but--for the first two-thirds of an hour--it isn't bad and the infrequent songs are quite good. Fosse, who seems stuck in an ugly white pullover with a stripe around the waist, talks amusingly (and probably unintentionally) like one of the Bowery Boys, yet his small muscular frame and early-receding hairline are boyishly charming; Reynolds can't get a proper grip on her character due to the writing, but she's a very good sport. ** from ****