This is the third version of the Gershwin Brothers popular musical Girl Crazy done for the big screen. Many forget and should and early version with Wheeler&Woolsey. Then there's the classic one Mickey and Judy did in the 40s. Now we have a third version starring Connie Francis and Harve Presnell with all generations of acts to accommodate everyone's taste.You will accommodate when you get Herman's Hermits, Sam the Sham and the Pharoahs, Liberace, and Louis Armstrong in addition to Connie and Harve singing the Gershwin classics. Material for the guest artists is generously interpolated while the main songs that George and Ira wrote are retained for the leads.Once again rich Danny Churchill is sent out west for a bit of discipline and he runs into cowgirl Ginger Gray. Such character players as Frank Faylen, Stanley Adams, Fred Clark, Russell Collins are all here. So is Sue Ane Langdon, Harve's golddigging former girlfriend who finds much deeper pockets to mine in the end. She's worth watching for herself alone.Nice to see Girl Crazy done again this time as When The Boys Meet The Girls. Maybe we'll get another version yet.

Just watched this cheezy-corny musical comedy on DVD disc. Made in the mid-'60s when the British Invasion was taking hold of Rock-'n'-Roll, When the Boys Meet the Girls took advantage of that by booking Herman's Hermits who not only perform one of their hit songs but also one of the George-Ira Gershwin tunes, "Bidin' My Time". Based on George and Ira's Broadway success-"Girl Crazy"-which had previously been a Mickey Rooney-Judy Garland movie, this wasn't too bad a remake with Connie Francis playing the Judy part and Harve Presnell the Mickey one. They make a fine duo when singing "But Not for Me" or "I Got Rhythm" the latter with a chorus of dancers. We also get Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs, and-for, I guess, the more middle-aged audience stumbling into this-Louis Armstrong and Liberace! Quite an uneven mix but if one's game, it's quite enjoyable. Also liked Sue Ann Langdon as a sexy blonde wanting to marry Presnell, Fred Clark as a potential buyer, and-since I always like to cite a player from my favorite movie, It's a Wonderful Life, in another one-Frank Faylen as Ms. Francis' father. Also amused at some of the undercranking of chase scenes. So on that note, I say When the Boys Meet the Girls is worth a look. P.S. The drummer in Louis' band is one Danny Barcelona who-in an earlier film performance I watched on a Netflix disc called Louis Armstrong and Friends 1962-the Great Satchmo introed as his Filipino wonder though I just found out he was actually born in Hawaii.

Considering that this was produced by the famously cheapjack and incompetent Sam Katzman, and is one of the 1960s MGM musicals often cited as contributing to the death of the genre, this halfhearted updating of "Girl Crazy" isn't as bad as I'd suspected. Plenty of Gershwin and a surprising amount of the never-good original book are left intact (though Herman's Hermits insist on singing "I'm biding my time/ 'Cause that's the kind of guy I AM," ruining the rhyme), and some amusingly incongruous guest stars -- Liberace, Louis Armstrong -- are thrown in. Heaven knows Connie Francis can't act, but she does fine by "But Not for Me" and "Embraceable You," and opposite her, Harve Presnell is strong-voiced, virile, and more at ease with acting than most tenors. There's a typical mid-'60s supporting cast featuring Fred Clark, Joby Baker, and Sue Ann Langdon (a good comedienne, but not here). Of course it's over-lit and underwritten and cheap-looking, but there's one honest production number for "I Got Rhythm," and the painted backdrops and fast-motion photography contribute some fun cheesiness. An amiable time-waster.

Harmless time-waster about the appealing Connie Francis and her father who open a new night club, which gives Sue Ane Langdon, Liberace and others an excuse to show off their musical talents.