Tuesday Weld plays Bob Hope's virginal teenage daughter, but she looks a little seasoned for the part. She's seriously hung up on high school dropout Frankie Avalon, so Hope takes advantage of an open position within his company to move to Sweden, where Weld temporarily forgets Avalon after meeting cultured Jeremy Slate, who is really a Swedish playboy. Flatly-directed comedy with a few funny lines finally buried under a desperate final reel which has Hope busting into various hotel rooms, trying to stop his daughter from doing the deed. Sex comedy without sex, but with a lot of dancing around the subject. Glossy and silly (and clearly filmed entirely in California), the picture would actually be somewhat forgivable if only screenwriter Nat Perrin had provided Hope with some witty repartee. Instead, Perrin and director Frederick De Cordova concentrate on situational farce--burlesque routines--while the supporting cast goes down with the ship. ** from ****

How to sum up this turkey? Pastel capri pants, the twist, bouffant hair, chewing gum pop music with lyrics like "I'll take Sweden -- ya, ya, ya." California: real locations. Sweden: back projections. Well, maybe that gets the general idea across but we're still left with the plot.It's best described as a clash between cultures. Two, in fact. One is generational. Bob Hope is a morally upright well-to-do executive (or something) whose daughter, the toothsome and toothy Tuesday Weld, is anxious for marriage or at least a taste of the thrills that go with it. Hope sweeps her up with him and they fly to Sweden to escape the plans of Frankie Avalon, a broke biker who wants to settle down with her. Rather than marriage to a kid who sings song like that, her quaint honour should turn to dust, and into ashes all his lust.The other conflict is cultural in the anthropological sense. At the time, pre-marital intercourse was accepted as normal in Sweden, while America was still in the grip of the virginity mystique. Jeremy Slate is the handsome young host of Hope and his daughter in Sweden. Slate wants Weld to give it up before marriage. She's torn -- between two choices, that is. I won't give away the ending and deprive you your gasp of surprise.I -- I'm stumped in an attempt to rationalize the movie's popularity. It isn't that movie like this can't be done as effective comedies. "Take Her, She's Mine," had Jimmy Stewart and Sandra Dee in a similar embarrassment and it was slyly funny. It's that the jokes here, on which the entire enterprise depends, are so unfunny.One example, then I quit. Slate picks up Hope and Weld when they arrive in Sweden but there isn't room enough for all of them plus their luggage in the Volkswagon beetle, so Hope has to stand up with his torso sticking out of the sun roof. A school bus pulls alongside and a little boy squirts Hope with a water pistol. Hope rolls his eyes and remarks, "Don't they have rest stops on that bus?" The end.

Wise-cracking widower Bob Hope (as Robert "Bob" Holcomb) arrives home to discover his pretty blonde daughter Tuesday Weld (as JoJo Holcomb) is engaged to pseudo-rock 'n' roll singer Frankie Avalon (as Kenny Klinger). Mr. Avalon has dropped put of college, rides a motorcycle, lives in a small trailer, and takes Ms. Weld out to strip clubs. Hope is horrified. In order to get Weld away from Avalon, he accepts a job transfer to Stockholm. There, Hope discovers a Swedish custom regarding pre-marital sex...We are told, in order to determine how well they are "suited for each other," Swedes have sex before getting married. This insures a low divorce rate. Hope romances attractive Dina Merrill (as Karin Granstedt Martoni) and Weld prepares to lose her virginity during a two week vacation with playboy Jeremy Slate (as Erik Carlson). Hope declares, "Nobody's gonna chalk up any mileage on JoJo without getting a driver's license first!" To make Weld change her mind, Hope contacts Avalon in America...Avalon returns to the storyline and gives the film a final burst of energy. The highlight is his performance of "I'll Take Sweden, Ya Ya Ya!" In brief blue swim trunks, Avalon gyrates around a boatyard, attracting Rosemarie Frankland in a white bikini. The beauty queen with obvious assets moved from Hope (one of the comedian's many alleged companions) to Grass Roots singer Warren Entner. Avalon was no longer selling rock 'n' roll records, but he is funnier and more appealing than all others, herein.****** I'll Take Sweden (6/2/65) Frederick de Cordova ~ Bob Hope, Frankie Avalon, Tuesday Weld, Dina Merrill

I haven't been able to watch more than a couple of minutes of this gem, but I will for one reason and one reason alone. Mr. Joel Coen (or was it Ethan), from such hits as Crimewave (writer, 1985) and The Evil Dead (assistant editor, 1983), said he (they) liked it. That's all it takes for me to look at a film with a new perspective and appreciation. I would highly recommend you do the same. Also, I heard Mr. Jiminy Glick reference the film when Conan was his guest. I like that. That suits me just fine. I wouldn't watch a film only because Jiminy drops the name, but it certainly doesn't hurt the cause. And one last note, do yourself a favor and watch Mr. Preston Sturges' tale of a wanderer, harried for days on end, entitled "Sullivan's Travels" (1941). You shall find both everlasting salvation and unending ecstasy.