The 1950s was certainly the decade for re-makes. Some like "Magnificent Obsession", "Imitation of Life" and "An Affair To Remember" were huge hits. Others were refurbished as musicals with only modest-at-most commercial success. Along with this one, I remember "My Sister Eileen", "Silk Stockings" and "L'il Abner".
Actually, although classed as a "musical re-make", the songs here are neither memorable nor many. Stubby Kaye figures in the first on the bus, after which he disappears completely from the action. The only other number worth mentioning is a fairly amusing little routine between Allyson and an immobile scarecrow, which would have been ten times funnier had the scarecrow come to life. This omission is symptomatic of the film as a whole. No imagination, no liveliness, no vitality, no pizazz. Even such memorable bits of business from the original as the attempt to thumb a ride are watered down here way past the level of blandness.
Were it not for the engaging personalities of its two stars, the movie would be a total write-off. Only the domestic altercation in the motel (ending with the delightfully harassed Walter Baldwin's exit line, "I told you they were married!") comes within shouting distance of matching the zest of the original.
Actually, although classed as a "musical re-make", the songs here are neither memorable nor many. Stubby Kaye figures in the first on the bus, after which he disappears completely from the action. The only other number worth mentioning is a fairly amusing little routine between Allyson and an immobile scarecrow, which would have been ten times funnier had the scarecrow come to life. This omission is symptomatic of the film as a whole. No imagination, no liveliness, no vitality, no pizazz. Even such memorable bits of business from the original as the attempt to thumb a ride are watered down here way past the level of blandness.
Were it not for the engaging personalities of its two stars, the movie would be a total write-off. Only the domestic altercation in the motel (ending with the delightfully harassed Walter Baldwin's exit line, "I told you they were married!") comes within shouting distance of matching the zest of the original.