The Birds and the Bees *** (1956, George Gobel, Mitzi Gaynor, David Niven) – Classic Movie Review 7921

Director Norman Taurog’s 1956 The Birds and the Bees is a Technicolor and VistaVision remake of the 1942 black and white gem The Lady Eve, this time with George Gobel, Mitzi Gaynor and David Niven starring. Plotwise a close remake of the original, it is screwball comedy film with songs, written by Harry Warren (music) and Mack David (lyrics).

Sidney Sheldon provides a mild though jolly enough rewrite of Preston Sturges’s classic The Lady Eve about the rich clot, George ‘Hotsy’ Hamilton II (George Gobel), who is fleeced by a father (David Niven) and daughter (Mitzi Gaynor) team of card tricksters on a luxury cruise, then falls for the girl who has tricked him.

The classic romantic screwball farce does not work as well with TV comic Gobel (in his film début), Gaynor (who nevertheless is appealing as Jean Harris) and Niven (who is good as Colonel Patrick Henry Harris, in the old Charles Coburn part). Reginald Gardiner plays the Colonel’s partner-in-crime Gerald and Fred Clark plays George’s domineering father Horace Hamilton.

The Birds and the Bees may not be a match for The Lady Eve, but nobody could complain about the lovely cast or the star quality of its contributions and it is pretty darned amusing most of the time.

Also in the cast are Harry Bellaver, Hans Conried, Margery Maude, Clinton Sundberg, Milton Frome, Rex Evans, King Donovan, Mary Treen and Charles Lane.

The songs are ‘(The Same Thing Happens with) The Birds and The Bees’, performed by George Gobel and Mitzi Gaynor, and ‘La Parisienne’, sung by Mitzi Gaynor

Sturges received a co-writer credit for the film, though he did not participate.

The Birds and the Bees is directed by Norman Taurog, runs 94 minutes, is made by Gomalco Productions and Paramount Pictures, released by Paramount, is written by Sidney Sheldon and Preston Sturges, based on the
story by Monckton Hoffe, is shot in Technicolor by Daniel L Fapp, is produced by Paul Jones, is scored by Walter Scharf and is designed by 
Roland Anderson and Hal Pereira.

The costumes are designed by Edith Head, who also designed the costumes for The Lady Eve. Paul Jones produced both films.

The Birds and the Bees was planned as a vehicle for Gobel. In 1956, Gobel had the highest rated TV show on NBC, running since 1954, but had not appeared in a film. Niven must have been fed up with his third billing in the year of his hit Around the World in 80 Days.

© Derek Winnert 2018 Classic Movie Review 7921

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