It’s no secret that the Hollywood Comet loves musicals.
In 2010, I revealed I had seen 400 movie musicals over the course of eight years. Now that number is over 500. To celebrate and share this musical love, here is my weekly feature about musicals.

This week’s musical:
Looking For Love (1964) – Musical #152

Studio:
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

Director:
Don Weis

Starring:
Connie Francis, Jim Hutton, Susan Oliver, Joby Baker, Barbara Nichols, Charles Lane, Jesse White, Chris Noel (uncredited), Madge Blake (uncredited)
Themselves: George Hamilton, Johnny Carson, Yvette Mimieux, Paula Prentiss, Danny Thomas

Plot:
Libby Caruso (Francis) has unsuccessfully tried to make it as a singer. Since she hasn’t made it, she decides to get a job so she can find a husband, get married and have babies. To help get ready in the morning, Libby invents the “Lady Valet” to hang clothes on. She meets Jim Davis (Hutton), who she falls in love with and he sees profit in the Lady Valet. While Jim tries to market the item, Libby mistakes his attention for love.

Trivia:
-A Lady Valet was sold at Macy’s due to this film, according to an Aug. 28, 1964, advertisement in The Des Moines Registry.
-Several of the cameos all starred with Connie Francis in Where the Boys Are
-The first cameo for Johnny Carson.

Highlights:
-Connie Francis singing to the camera during the credits
-Cameos of George Hamilton, Johnny Carson, Yvette Mimieux, Paula Prentiss, Danny Thomas

Notable Songs:
-“Looking for Love” performed by Connie Francis
-“I Can’t Believe that You’re in Love With Me” performed by Connie Francis and Danny Thomas
-“Let’s Have a Party” performed by Connie Francis
-“Whoever You Are, I Love You” performed by Connie Francis

My review:
I hadn’t seen this movie since I was in high school (while I was also sick) and I didn’t remember loving it. I think I expected something different ending and wanted Connie Francis to end up with someone else.

Revisiting it now, I had a lot of fun watching it. It’s fun, very colorful, has lovely costumes by Don Loper and has some laugh-out-loud moments. My favorite part is the cameos with Paula Prentiss, George Hamilton and Yvette Mimeux, who all co-starred with Connie Francis and Jim Hutton in “Where the Boys Are.”

Connie Francis is funny and adorable and I love Susan Oliver in this as well. I feel like Susan Oliver is so often forgotten so I love to see her in films.

The only thing that bothered me was that Francis and Oliver run into (literally) Joby Baker, who works at the grocery store. They never met him before and suddenly they are great friends, inviting him to their house party and he knows all of Francis’s music. When Jim Hutton enters the girl’s home for a party, he and Joby Baker start chatting and Joby knows all sorts of things about Connie and Susan after just meeting them recently. Perhaps he got to the party really early? I’m most likely thinking too much into this.

Anyone, this is fun, light film that brightened my spirits. It was a nice film to end 2017 on.

Check out the Comet Over Hollywood Facebook page, follow on Twitter at @HollywoodComet or e-mail at cometoverhollywood@gmail.com