Musical Monday: Out of Sight (1966)

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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 600. To celebrate and share this musical love, here is my weekly feature about musicals.

This week’s musical:
Out of Sight (1966) – Musical #847

Studio:
Universal Pictures

Director:
Lennie Weinrib

Starring:
Jonathan Daly, Karen Jensen, Robert Pine, Carolyne Barry (billed as Carole Shelyne), Wende Wagner, Maggie Thrett, Deanna Lund, Norman Grabowski, John Lawrence, Jimmy Murphy, Richard Dawnson (uncredited)
Themselves: Gary Lewis and the Playboys, The Turtles, Freddie and The Dreamers, Dobie Gray, The Knickerbockers, The Astronauts

Plot:
Villainous Big D (Lawrence) has a plan to get rid of teenagers and their rock n’ roll music. Beach partier Sandra (Jensen) overhears the plot, and the only thing she can think of to do is enlist the help of top secret agent John Stamp. However, she taps the wrong person for the job, and gets his butler, Homer (Daly), to help instead.

Trivia:
• Original working title was “Thunder Blunder,” as a James Bond/spy spoof to “Thunderball.” Harry Saltzman and Cubby Broccoli filed a complaint that the title was to their film, “Thunderball,” and the title was changed, according to the American Film Institute (AFI).
• An early news announcement said Chad Stuart (of Chad & Jeremy) and The Grass Root were to appear in the film, but the did not make it into the final product, according to the AFI.
• The only film appearance made by The Turtles
• The first beach movie to incorporate a spy spoof, according to historian Tom Lisanti.
• The finale concert was filmed on the same set as the variety show “Shindig,” according to historian Tom Lisanti.
• The cars in the film were designed and created by George Barris, according to historian Tom Lisanti.
• First screenplay written by actor Larry Hovis
• First credited role of Jonathan Daly
• First feature film of Carolyne Barry, Karen Jensen,
• Brother and sister Robert Pine and Maggie Thrett both appear in this film.
• A sequel was planned, “Out of Mind: Homer Oglethorp Faces Dr. Funnybook,” but it never came to fruition, according to the AFI.

Highlights:
• The musical guest appearances, especially Freddie and the Dreamers
• Random uncredited appearance by Richard Dawson
• When the movie ended

Freddie and the Dreamers

Notable Songs:
• “Funny Over You” performed by Freddie and the Dreamers
• “Malibu Run” performed by Gary Lewis and the Playboys
• “She’ll Come Back” performed by The Turtles
• “It’s Not Unusual” performed by The Knickerbockers
• “A Love Like You” performed by Freddie and the Dreamers
• “Out of Sight (On the Floor)” performed by Dobie Gray

Dobie Gray

My review:
It’s possible that this is the worst movie I’ve ever seen in my life.

With a copy and paste plot from other beach movie films, annoying characters and a forgettable cast, OUT OF SIGHT (1966) is truly awful. The only thing that saves the film is its musical guests.

In the film, the villainous Big D (Lawrence) has a plan to get rid of teenagers and their rock n’ roll music. Beach partier Sandra (Jensen) overhears the plot, and the only thing she can think of to do is enlist the help of top secret agent John Stamp. However, she taps the wrong person for the job, and gets his butler, Homer (Daly), to help instead.

The film feels like a cut and paste of the beach movies produced by American International Pictures (AIP) and starring Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello – except without the fun star power of those films. It even begins with cars driving to the beach set to music and teens dancing on the beach. Then we mix a spy spoof film with a beach party movie and everything gets truly ridiculous. A mistaken butler who wants to be a spy?! Oh brother.

While the AIP beach movies are goofy, they are at least a good time. OUT OF SIGHT is much worse and truly awful. It also didn’t help that I didn’t know a soul performing in this film, outside of the bands, Robert Pine and Norman Grabowski.

In the beach films, Erik Von Zipper, played by Harvey Lembeck, can be annoying in the AIP beach films, but these villains took the cake as far as being annoying. One of them is played by Norman Grabowski. Seeing Grabowski in movies is always a bit depressing, because he always plays the same, brainless and stupid characters.

Jonathan Daly is the main character, Homer, the butler who wants to be a spy. He’s so bumbling and annoying, that the character reminds me Arthur Lake’s Dagwood character in the Blondie and Dagwood films.

The female leads, played by Karen Jensen and Carolyn Barry, are forgettable and don’t do much
The real reason this movie is even slightly worth seeing is the musical acts. I frankly sought this out because I wanted to see Freddie and the Dreamers in one of their films. Admittedly, for me, their performance was my favorite part of the film. They are so terribly underrated.

It was also great fun to see The Turtles in their only film appearance. I enjoyed being introduced to Dobie Gray, who I wasn’t familiar with prior to this film. I do wish there was more of Gary Lewis and the Playboys who we only saw at the start of the film. I also wish that Chad Stuart of Chad & Jeremy appeared in the film, as originally planned.

Strangely, Freddie and the Dreamers and Dobie Gray all perform on the set of “Shindig.”

While the musical performances were a highlight, this film was truly terrible and a trial to get through. Good luck if you choose to watch it.

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