Confidentially Connie (1953)

User Rating:

5.7/10   

Director:

Edward Buzzell

Writers:

Max Shulman (screenplay)
Max Shulman (story)

Release Date:

13 March 1953 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Family

Tagline:

She knew her way around men!

Plot:

Texas cattleman Opie Bedloe (Louis Cahhern) comes to Main to vist his son Joe (Van Johnson), a college instructor...

Plot Keywords:

Campus | Screwball | Beautiful Woman

Cast

Van Johnson	...	Joe Bedloe
Janet Leigh	...	Connie Bedloe
Louis Calhern	...	Opie Bedloe
Walter Slezak	...	Emil Spangenberg, Butcher
Gene Lockhart	...	Dean Edward E. Magruder
Hayden Rorke	...	Professor Simmons
Robert Burton	...	Dr. Willis Shoop
Marilyn Erskine	...	Phyllis Archibald
Kathleen Lockhart	...	Mrs. Martha Magruder
Arthur Space	...	Prof. Archie Archibald
Barbara Ruick	...	Barbara
June Whitley Taylor	...	Betty Simmons (as June Whitley)
Dick Sands	...	Moska

Runtime:

74 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

Finland:S | USA:Approved (PCA #16095) | Sweden:Btl

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Where's the Beef?

This is very possibly the worst movie I ever watched. But my wife and I sat through it, remarking later that it was as riveting as a slow-motion train wreck. This movie is so bad, we wondered how it was ever put on film. From initial premise to final scene, everything about this movie is the pits.

The premise of the movie is that the faculty at a small Maine college (symbolizing small colleges, in general) is so underpaid that putting red meat of any kind on the table is an extreme luxury, and a real budget-buster. On the other hand, they have money to eat plenty of fish and pay for loads of vitamins. The economics of this film also permit sacrificing cigarettes in order to eat lamb chops. In 1950 how much did cigarettes cost - 20 cents a pack? Whew, that seems like a lot of foregone smoking!

The meddlesome parent of a newlywed couple is hardly an original idea for comedy, but here it never generates a smile. The young couple are portrayed by Janet Leigh and Van Johnson. After his initial appearance, Van Johnson portrays his character as Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, in the deepest of tragedies. Meanwhile, Louis Calhern, Johnson's "Pop" up from Texas, is hamming it up as a wealthy cattleman. Janet Leigh, somewhere in between, seems to think she is June Cleaver before giving birth to Wally. The director never seems to have any of them pulling in the same direction at the same time, consequently the boat just goes 'round and 'round and eventually capsizes.

The preoccupation with meat makes for one of the most bizarre plots ever made into a picture by a Hollywood studio. It was so freaky that I admit to never paying attention to whether the lines, themselves, if delivered by other actors under the direction of another director might have been funny. Let me think... NAAAAH, No Way! But, if you are a movie junkie and want to see a historically bad film - and I don't mean cheesy, like some B sci-fi flick - check this one out. You'll be puzzled hours after you watched it - "Just what hit me?"