OK, so Henry Levin's "If a Man Answers" has a dated depiction of relations between men and women. But there was a scene early in the movie that informs us of a continuing problem: parents' excessive insistence that their children get married or do whatever. Does the older generation not realize that sometimes the younger one needs to take the time to figure out where it wants to go? There's a reason why large numbers of millennials are still single. Sandra Dee's earlier movie "A Summer Place" also looked at tension between the generations: she and Troy Donahue are in love, but their cold, spiteful, bigoted parents won't hear of it.Like most of Sandra Dee's movies, this one is real eye candy. Enjoyable eye candy, I should say. The movie even goes so far as to mention sex education (much like how "A Summer Place" used the word sex). It's a safe bet that anyone who scorns it would praise it if it starred the overrated Doris Day. Dee - anorexic for much of her young adulthood due to her treatment by the studio execs - finally got the respect that she deserved when the Castro Theater in San Francisco hosted a retrospective of her movies, and she attended as guest of honor.

"If a Man Answers" is a nice comedy-romance that stars two of the most promising new actors from the late 1950s. Sandra Dee and Bobby Darrin had each won a Golden Globe as the most promising newcomer to film. She for her role as Evelyn Leslie in "Until They Sail" of 1957, and he for his role as Tony in "Come September" of 1961. Dee also was in the latter film, and the couple was married by then. This is one of three films they made together while married (1960-67).This film has a very good plot and script. Darin and Dee play newlyweds, Eugene and Chantal. Micheline Presle and John Lund are very good and funny as her parents, John and Germaine Stacy. Cesar Romero is very funny in his short supporting role as Eugene's father, Adam Wright, who poses as Robert Swan, a fictitious love interest of Chantal (and of her mother in days gone by). The plot has a unique aspect, but to tell more would give it away. It's hilarious. Darin sings two songs with the title and credits of this film.This is a film that most people should enjoy for the plot, the characters and the acting. Darin's songs add some flavor and a touch of nostalgia.Darin will be remembered much longer for his great musical talent. He composed music, wrote songs and had a voice that made him one of the great male singers of the 20th century. But for his early death in 1973, Darin likely would have given us many more hit songs and memorable tunes. Can anyone hear "Mack the Knife" being sung and not picture Darrin singing the song that topped the charts in 1959? It continues to be played and heard in movie soundtracks, on radio, and in other venues well into the 21st century. Among his other hit songs were, "Beyond the Sea," "Splish Splash," "Dream Lover," "Let's Fall in Love," and "One for My Baby." Darin and Dee's marriage may have been ideal at the start, but it ended in 1967. Darin died at age 37 after open-heart surgery on Dec. 20, 1973. He had severe rheumatic fever as a child, and wasn't expected to live beyond his teens. Only late in his life and after his death did much of his background become public. Not even he had known that the woman whom he thought was his older sister, Nina, was actually his mother; and that Polly, whom he thought was his mother was really his grandmother. He learned the truth from Nina just five years before he died. Darin was born Walden Robert Cassotto, May 14, 1936, in East Harlem, New York City. His name was that of his mother and maternal grandparents. Nina became pregnant with him in the summer of 1935 when she was 17. Out of wedlock births in those days were very scandalous, and the family wouldn't consider an illegal abortion. So, they moved a few blocks and Polly passed Bobby off as her new son and brother of her teenage daughter Nina. Bobby's maternal grandfather was a gangster who died of pneumonia in prison a year before Darin's birth. Even after Nina told Bobby the truth about their relationship in 1968, she never revealed to him or anyone else who Darin's biological father was. While the family was poor, they were all close. Bobby's health suffered as a child, but he had a great singing voice, and he taught himself to play several instruments Sandra Dee had come from a marriage that ended when she was five. She was born Alexandra Zuck in Bayonne, New Jersey in 1942. She was abused by her stepfather and was anorexic most of her life. She was driven by her mother who wanted her to become an actress. She was a model at age four and then an actress in TV commercials. She moved to Hollywood in 1957 and made her first film that year. She became well known and liked in her ingénue roles. Her movie career began waning after her marriage to Darin, and when they separated she became a recluse and alcoholic. She died of kidney disease on Feb. 20, 2005, at age 62. Darin and Dee had one son, Dodd (born in 1961), who wrote a book in 1994 about his parents, "Dream Lovers: The Magnificent Shattered Lives of Bobby Darin and Sandra Dee." He also worked on films about his parents and Bobby's music. Kevin Spacey played Darin and Kate Bosworth played Dee in a 2004 biopic, "Beyond the Sea." Before that, PBS aired a 90-minute documentary in 1998, "Bobby Darin: Beyond the Song," and the A&E Biography series ran a 2001 episode, "Bobby Darin: I Want to Be a Legend." Darin had a popular TV show in 1973, "The Bobby Darin Show."While both of these young stars of the mid-20th century had troubled childhoods and tragic ends, they made good marks on society and American culture. We would be missing something had they not been born.

I can't decide which is more noteworthy about this film – how incredibly sexist it is, how incredibly provincial it is or how its two stars are so clearly inferior versions of other performers.If A Man Answers is a romantic comedy about Chantal Stacy (Sandra Dee), the young daughter of a French mother and Boston father, and her eventual marriage to Eugene Wright (Bobby Darin), a New York City photographer who gives up his bachelor ways for his cute and spunky bride. Chantal starts out as the sort of hot-and-cold girl who dates lots of guys but never lets any of them get past first base. Her parents move to New York City, and even though she's theoretically a grown woman, Chantal tags along. In the city, she meets Eugene and latches onto him as "The One" for her. They're married in short order and the rest of the story focuses on Chantal's efforts to make Eugene into a better husband. First, she follows her mother's advice and literally tries to train Eugene like puppy. Then, following more of her mother's advice, she invents a lover to try and make Eugene jealous. But the comments of her passive-aggressive girlfriend Tina (Stephanie Powers) and the imaginary lover showing up in the flesh at her door send Chantal's plans quite awry.Even for its era, this is a remarkably sexist movie. Not in a "women are stupid and can't do anything themselves" way, but in a "women's entire existence revolves around their men" way. The story proposes that there are only two phases to a woman's life… 1. Land a husband.2. Make him happy.The idea the husband has anything of value to contribute to the marriage or has to take any responsibility for it is never even suggested. Eugene, frankly, acts like a complete ass at times, yet his bad behavior is accepted as perfectly normal for a married man. If you ever want to see what pre-feminist concepts of female empowerment were like, watch If A Man Answers. Both Chantal and her mother are portrayed as the ones who are really in charge of their families, but all their actions are subservient to the needs of their husbands. In a certain sense, they're more like social secretaries than wives. This film is also relentless in promoting marriage as the only appropriate and fulfilling destiny for a woman. The possibility a woman could find anything of value is a life without marriage is not just ignored, it's deliberately undermined.This movie also reminds us how much bigger the world used to be. Chantal having a French mother is treated like the most amazing thing in the world, as though someone from a foreign country marrying an American is something that only happened once a century or so. And Chantal's mother Germaine (Micheline Presle) is portrayed as this wise guru on all things romantic. You know the old movie clichés about all American Indians being more in touch with the land or all Asians being good at karate? That's how this movie treats Germaine, like she's an alien from a more advanced culture who fell in love with one of the Earth natives and uses her sophisticated insight to bring joy and love to her family. She's like a cross between Cupid and Kaine from the TV show Kung Fu.Finally, you can't watch If A Man Answers without noticing that its two lead performers are really knock offs of much bigger movie stars. Sandra Dee is obviously a copy of Doris Day. She's not a cheap copy, but she's definitely bargain priced. Bobby Darin, however, is what you would get if you took Dean Martin, sucked out most of his charm, talent and attractiveness and then shrunk him by about a foot. In fact, when Cesar Romero shows up in the story, he's not only more charming in every way but you can't help but observe that he could pick up Bobby Darin and use him as a toothpick. Darin may have been a very good singer and showman, but he's got no business starring in a motion picture. And while Dee is nice and all that in her own right, if you've ever seen a Doris Day movie you can't help but notice that Dee is a measurably less wonderful imitation.If you can get past its, at times, jaw-dropping sexism and the fact that Bobby Darin is no good at all, If A Man Answers is a fairly pleasant relic from a bygone age. If you liked Doris Day's films, you'll enjoy this as the sincerest form of flattery.

This is nothing but a "feel good" movie, and sometimes those are the very best kind to watch. I saw this movie years and years ago but haven't forgotton it. Why haven't they released it for home viewing yet? I want it on DVD...but I'd take it on VHS. I JUST WANT IT!!!!