Rich Little's Impersonation of Cary Grant

Rich Little ranks as the best impersonator of Hollywood actors and deservedly so....he can not only mimick their voices but their body language and facial expressions, too. Mr. Little was a frequent guest star on evening programs like The Perry Como Show, The Mike Douglas Show, The Tonight Show, The Dean Martin Roasts, etc. throughout the 1970s and 1980s.

In this clip from 1980, Rich Little was performing at a dinner show honoring Frank Sinatra. It aired as a television special called Frank Sinatra - The First 40 Years. He does imitations of Jimmy Stewart and Jack Nicholson and then Cary Grant....only to discover that Cary Grant was in the audience! Check it out! 

If you enjoy this clip, then be sure to see Rich Little's impersonations of Humphrey Bogart and Jack Benny. He also did a marvelous skit on The Lennon Sisters Hour that featured John Wayne, Jimmy Stewart, Kirk Douglas, and Walter Brennan singing around a western campfire. A real hoot! 

From the Archives: Charade ( 1963 )

Mrs. Lambert ( Audrey Hepburn ) just received the news of her husband's death from the French police inspector ( Jacques Marin ) in this scene from Stanley Donen's comedy-thriller Charade ( 1963 ). Marin, a native of Paris, was a popular character actor both in Europe and in America. In 1966, he was reunited with Hepburn in How to Steal a Million...another film set in Paris. 

From the Archives is our latest series of posts where we share photos from the Silverbanks Pictures collection. Some of these may have been sold in the past, and others may still be available for purchase at our eBay store : http://stores.ebay.com/Silverbanks-Pictures

The Annual Great Hollywood Auction - This Sunday!

Every year in August, Silverbanks Pictures ( the modest little business my sister and I operate ) launches the Great Hollywood Auction offering a unique selection of rare candids, publicity photos, and original stills. 

This year we have over 300 photos going up on auction, and we think it is a particularly swell collection. All of the images start at just $9.95 ( and many remain at that price ) so if you never owned a piece of original Hollywood memorabilia, buying photographs is a great place to start. Here is a small selection of what will be going up Sunday evening beginning at 8pm EST. 

If you like these images, check out this link to see all of the rest. Viewing is free! Bidding is free, too ( unless you win, then we expect you to pay ). 

Hitchcock didn't trust Edith Head to make sure all of Grace Kelly's safety pins were in place so he's giving Ms. Kelly a once over before they go back to filming the grand ball finale of To Catch a Thief ( 1955 ).

Did Una really faint, or is she faking it? Carole Lombard and Fred MacMurray are certainly looking concerned in True Confession ( 1937 ).

Maureen Sullivan is enraptured by Greta Garbo, who doesn't "vant to be alone" in this scene from Anna Karenina ( 1935 )

Warren William ( the dashing Perry Mason of film ) posing with a horse and not Della Street for photographer Irving Lippman

Romance was blossoming between Marian and Shane in Shane ( 1953 ) but off the set, Alan Ladd and Jean Arthur were sharing happy hungry looks over salami sandwiches. 

Jane Russell shimmying all that she has to shimmy in Gentleman Prefer Blondes ( 1953 )

Now here's a very rare photo. Ralph Crane was a photographer for many years for LIFE and TIME magazine and this candid of Debbie Reynolds and Fred Astaire he captured in 1960, when these two actors were behind the scenes during the making of The Pleasure of His Company. Crane photos are very hard to come by, and this one actually appeared in the March 21, 1960 issue of LIFE. We have a reserve price set for it, but it's a low reserve so a good deal can be had!

Robert Wise directs Ruth Roman in a scene from Three Secrets ( 1950 ). "Give me a dying look, Ruthie"

Madge Evans looking lovely in a publicity photo for Espionage ( 1937 ). Who would guess she's a spy?

The principal cast of Brooklyn Orchid ( 1942 ). That's William Bendix with Grace Bradley ( Mrs. Hopalong Cassidy, folks ) clasping him. 

Two cuties enjoying the splendid West....this is before they get lost in the woods. Van Johnson and Esther Williams in Thrill of a Romance ( 1945 ).

Paul Muni and Anne Baxter in Angel on My Shoulder ( 1946 ). Anne is wondering why her sweetheart changed so much....she doesn't realize his body was inhabited by the spirit of a dead gangster!

Ooh, look at those dark eyes of Nils Asther, and can you believe that's Walter Huston he is glaring at? Kay Francis looks unimpressed. Storm at Daybreak ( 1933 )

Mildred Natwick is posing as "the witch" in this rare publicity photo from The Enchanted Cottage ( 1945 ).

Kindly Angela Lansbury certainly knew how to play vixens when the part called for it. Here she is with Keenan Wynn and Ethel Barrymore in Kind Lady ( 1951 ).

This is a fabulous photograph from Down to Earth ( 1947 ) taken by that marvelous still photographer Ned Scott. That's Larry Parks and Rita Hayworth standing center stage. 

My favorite Legionnaire...Errol Flynn! Olivia de Havilland is giving him google eyes while he issues orders to the entrapped soldiers and their families in The Charge of the Light Brigade ( 1937 ).

Hollywood's youngest grandmother, in a candid with her daughter. Can you believe Lenore Lombard is only 30 here? Her daughter was expecting a baby at the time. This was taken on the set of Johnny O'Clock ( 1947 ).

During the wrap party for Anastasia, Cary Grant stopped by to wish Ingrid Bergman the best of luck. What a gentleman. Can you guess who that blonde is behind Grant?

George Sanders was such a dashing actor. Here, he is sharing a concerned look with Alan Napier, wondering about the killer roaming loose in Hangover Square ( 1945 ).

Johnny Weissmuller, sans Cheetah, in Savage Mutiny ( 1953 ), one of the many Jungle Jim films Weissmuller made in the 1950s. 

"Hold me, Thrill me, Kiss me"....Robert Taylor is intent on doing all three to Greta Garbo in this publicity photo from MGM's Camille ( 1936 ).

Hard to believe, but that's Helen Hayes tapping toes with an unknown gentleman. This was taken during her Ziegfeld Follies days. 

Silverbanks Pictures holds auctions on eBay every Sunday, Monday, and Thursday night, usually starting around 8-9pm EST. Be sure to check out our other photos if you miss this auction! 

TV/Movie Set : Father Goose ( 1964 )

It is easy to praise the art directors who create visually stunning sets, those that are opulent ( Anastasia, The King and I, The Sound of Music ) or creative and modern ( Top Hat, Grand Hotel, The Thief of Bagdad ).....but the work put into designing a set that perfectly complements the film's story without being noticeable is just as, if not more, difficult to create. 

Alexander Golitzen was a master at creating beautiful but unobtrusive sets. He designed hundreds of sets for westerns, comedies, mysteries, sci-fi classics, and melodramas from the 1940s-1960s, primarily at Universal Studios. We'll be covering this talented man's work in further detail in a future post, but for today we wanted to spotlight the sets in one of the films he worked on - the 1964 comedy Father Goose. 

The Royal Australian Navy base headquarters

Golitzen was assigned to create two sets for this classic Cary Grant film : an island hut designed for use by a WWII plane spotter, and the interior of the command post where Trevor "Frank" Howard was stationed. Working with him on this project was Henry Bumstead, another veteran art director, who actually was still making films as late as 2006. 

Father Goose was probably a very simple assignment for Golitzen and Bumstead, but they managed to design these two sets in such a way that the audience is unaware that there is only two sets. They blend in so well, and look so authentic, that it is easy to just assume that a location scout found these buildings on a deserted island and sent the cast and crew to film them. 

Walter wonders why booze is not among the RAN rations

First, let's take a look at Father Goose's island hut. Cary Grant portrays boozy bum "Walter" who has no interest whatsoever in taking part in the war effort.....that is, until Captain Frank Houghton ( Trevor Howard ) confiscates his boat and his liquor, holding them as ransom until Walter agrees to investigate the whereabouts of their missing spotter ( since Walter knows the islands like no other man in the Pacific ). Once there, he finds the spotter had died at the hands of the Japanese, and he asks to be picked up again by the Navy, but Houghton refuses, wanting Walter to take the place of the spotter instead, since he served such a vital job. 

Catherine considers Walter's eating habits "revolting"....but at least his bed has no bugs

The hut he inherits from the former spotter is stashed with all the supplies you would imagine a spotter would be equipped with : radios, charts, a simple bunk, and loads of canned food. When my sister and I first saw Father Goose ( this was a good fifteen years ago ), it was the "decor" - if you'd call it that - of this hut that really caught our attention....and my imagination. I use to fantasize about being stranded on a Pacific island with just a little shack like that to live in. 

In a rainstorm, Walter's hut lets in a little water....

John McCarthy Jr. and George Milo can take credit for the set decor. Each of these men had hundreds of television and film titles to their credits as well as numerous Oscar nominations. These set designers really did their homework to make Walter's temporary hut-home an authentic looking spotter's pad. To emphasize this: 

After a recent re-watch of Father Goose several years ago, I decided I wanted to purchase a plane spotting chart just like Walter had in his hut. I searched eBay, WWII memorabilia forums, and even auction homes such as Sothebys...and I discovered something interesting: spotters were never issued plane spotting charts! 

Was that a Type 99 dive bomber, or a Type 0 fighter?

During the war, the government distributed enemy identification manuals to spotters, but never charts. McCarthy and Milo had cleverly created these solely for Father Goose to make the audience understand just what a plane spotter's work entails. Walter could have been shown hurriedly flipping through a manual to make an identification but the scene when he spots that Jap plane flying overhead and quickly darts into his hut scouring all of the charts plays out so much better with visual charts.

I wonder what became of those props......

Instead, as the old adage says - Necessity is the mother of Invention! I decided to make my own, duplicating the design that McCarthy and Milo had created for the film. A few days ago Diana and I launched a Kickstarter campaign - The Spotting Chart Project - in order to fund this endeavor, and lo and behold! there are other WWII plane spotting enthusiasts just like us. 

A sample of our newly created Father Goose inspired spotting charts!

We still have 15 days left on the campaign, so if you happen to fancy owning your very own Father Goose inspired plane spotting chart, please check it out ( or better yet, spread the word to your friends! ). 

Click Here to Check out The Spotting Chart Project on Kickstarter!

To see more posts about TV/Movie Sets, click here! 

Cary Grant's Advice to His "Son" Lance Hutton

This installment in our continuing series of vintage movie magazine articles is a fascinating piece from the April 1960 issue of "Movie Life". Author Stephanie Edwards interviewed (?) Cary Grant to ask him what advice he would give his son for his upcoming marriage to Jill St. John. Here is the article in its entirety for your perusal : 

Cary Grant's Advice to His "Son" 

Sixteen years ago, Cary Grant had a son! During his four-year marriage to Woolworth heiress Barbara Hutton, Cary was a "father" for the first - and only - time in his life. The boy was actually Barbara's seven-year-old son from  her former marriage. Though he has now been married three times, Cary has never had another son. 

Today, Cary's stepson has grown up. His name is Lance Reventlow, a name nearly as well-known as his famous stepfather's, for Lance is a millionaire in his own right and a successful sports-car racer. 

"I like to race 'em, and I like to build 'em," Lance explains. "I've got a company, the Reventlow Automobile Corporation, a few good friends are in the business, and I think we can make a go of it."

But things haven't always gone as smoothly for "the world's richest baby." He became the pawn in a series of legal battles between his parents, fabled Barbara Hutton and handsome European playboy Count Kurt von Haugwitz Reventlow. From the age of two, Lance was awarded first to one parent, then another! Finally, he was made a ward of the court and learned to live with headlines - and heartaches. 

But now Lance is happily in love with beautiful starlet Jill St. John and is about to marry - for the first time. His ex-stepfather, Cary Grant, offers some paternal advice - from one man-of-the-world to another! 

•  "The most important thing is to be yourself," Cary emphasizes.
•  " Live - if you can - with a certain amount of grace. This is a thing that very few people do these days."
• "Respect women because they are wiser than men."
• "Do whatever is your inclination at the moment if it doesn't hurt or offend anyone else.
• "Suspect people. You can't rely on them. They either die or disappoint you, or you them."
• "One can't be content with one's sure thing and progress"
• "Deplore your mistakes. Regret them as much as you like. But don't really expect to learn from them."
• "If there is no cream, you might as well learn to like your coffee black."
• "Learn how to be unhappy. If you have never been unhappy you cannot possibly know what happiness is."
• "Have integrity. You can live with a little more respect for the world and for yourself if you do." 

Pausing for breath after what was virtually a ten-point design for living, Cary ran his hand over his silver-flecked hair. Though he is now 55, the greying at his temples is the only visible testimony to his age. A former acrobat, he keeps his 6'1" - 172 pound frame in trim with daily workouts and massages. 

During the period of his marital break-up with Betsy Drake, he tried to whip his thoughts into shape as well. Weekly sessions with a psychiatrist have resulted in a new assessment of the bad luck which dogged him through three marriages. 

"I don't believe in bad luck. People make their own luck. The best way to solve any problem," Cary continued, his brown eyes twinkling, "is to lie down on the floor and forget it. If the problem doesn't solve itself, you can deal with it just as easily next Tuesday."

Is this just Cary's way of saying that too much compulsive speed makes for heartbreak? His first marriage, also to an actress, Virginia Cherrill, was one of the "marry in haste, repent at leisure" variety. 

Jill and Lance, however, have known each other for a year now, and feel that they have a good deal in common, from sports to a love of the arts. 

"I found great difficult in sustaining a conversation with an actress until I met Jill, " says Lance. 

"I like to be with him, " volunteers Jill, "because he's cultured, intelligent, and brilliant. He knows books, art, music - and how to cook!"

Money problems will certainly never plague Lance,  due to a variety of interests he shares with Jill: he has a sense of humor about life - and about himself and the stories that have grown up about him. A thoughtful young man, he has spent a long time thinking out and talking over problems that all young married couples, however glamorous, have to face. With Cary's advice to guide him, Lance has the benefit of many years of experience - and observation - and the long point of view. 

As Cary says, "Jot down your ideas of life, love, sex and morality every two years. At the end of ten years reread your notes. If you have grown as a person, they'll be the most embarrassing bundle of inconsistencies you could ever imagine!"

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One really could not expect Lance Reventlow to listen to his step-father's advice, considering Cary Grant had so many failed marriages of his own, but he must have followed his guidelines faithfully ( or ignored them entirely ) for Lance's marriage to Jill St. John broke up within three years with St. John citing "extreme cruelty" as the reason for divorce. Lance married former Mouseketeer Cheryl Holdridge a year later and that union lasted until his death in an airplane crash in 1972 at the age of 36. 

To find more stories like this, check out the other posts in our series - Movie Magazine Articles. Enjoy! 

Grace Kelly in "To Catch a Thief" ( 1955 )

Alfred Hitchcock had just wrapped production on Rear Window when he plunged into his next film To Catch a Thief. This picture would unite Cary Grant, whom he coaxed away from retirement, and his favorite leading lady, Grace Kelly. Hitchcock had purchased the rights to David Dodge's Cannes caper in 1950 for the meager sum of $15,000 but it was not developed into a script until after he met John Michael Hayes ( Rear Window ), a screenwriter who had a great wit. Hitchcock wanted To Catch a Thief to have a comedic flair that was lighter than pastry.

The film begins with a series of daring night jewel thefts throughout the Riviera. John Robie "The Cat" has struck once again - or so the police are led to believe. The real John Robie, once a famous jewel thief, is blissfully enjoying his retirement at his cliff-side villa outside Monaco. He does not like this new cat burglar imitating his signature style nor having the police breath down his neck with their air of suspicion. And so he sets out to capture this "cat" himself, and what better way then to set a thief to catch a thief. 

With the aid of a Lloyds of London insurance broker ( John Williams ), Robie obtains a list of the most valuable pieces of jewelry insured in Monaco and the names of the fashionable tourists who own the baubles. First name on the list - Jessie and Francine Stevens ( Jessie Royce Landis, Grace Kelly ) a mother and daughter who have nearly $280,000 in jewels insured with the company. 

Robie finagles his way into meeting the American duo through a clever ploy of dropping a 10,000 franc piece down the bodice of a woman's dress while they are all gathered at the roulette table - the "whirling pickpocket" as Mrs. Stevens calls it. This gets her to laughing and leads him to introduce himself as Mr. Burns, a lumber tycoon from Oregon. 

The first time we see "Francie" she is perceived as being a jewel herself, sparkling but cold as a diamond. She and her mother stemmed from the backwoods until oil was discovered on their land; extensive travelling polished her country manners and accent. After years spent away in finishing schools, she has the stance and demeanor of a young princess. Her mother is quite captivated by Mr. Burns charms ( "If I were Francie's age, you'd sound too good to be true!" she declares ) while Francie seems disinterested. She's young, beautiful, and wealthy so she has been chased quite a bit by fortune hunters and is wary of handsome men. Perhaps Robie is too good to be true. 

"I'm sorry I ever sent her to that finishing school, I think they finished her there."

Edith Head designed all of the costumes seen in To Catch a Thief and they rank as some of her finest creations. Alfred Hitchcock had a hand in this design process too and the clothing that Francie wears throughout the film reflect on her different moods. In this scene her gorgeous white and icy blue layered chiffon gown make her regal and quite unattainable. 

Later, when John Robie escorts her to her hotel room, she spontaneously kisses him - and then gently shuts the door in his face. This kiss proved that she was neither as innocent or as frigid as she appeared, merely bored. Francie literally lets her hair down the next day. She appears dressed in sunny yellow and is eager to spend the day with Mr. Robie. After a swim in the rich blue Mediterranean and some verbal sparring with him and a young French woman, she invites Robie on a very informal outing, a picnic, en route to the villa that Mr. Burns is supposedly going to look at to purchase ( "I may even retire here" he says ). It's not a European champagne and cheese affair, but a classic American picnic of fried chicken complete with cold beer. 

It is during their drive from the villa that we see a different side of Francie emerge. Parts of her down-home heritage peep through showing she was not "finished" completely as her mother believed. 

"We're just common people with a bank account" - Francie Stevens

She's a gal with spunk and quite a large dose of womanly wiles, in spite of her demure pink and white summer dress. Francie has her suspicions about Mr. Burns and quickly becomes the hunter. She is eager to pin her "cat" into a corner to see him confess his real identify, that of being John Robie. She excitedly declares how she played Sherlock Holmes to discover all the clues that led to this conclusion. The scenes leading up to this moment are some of the best in the film featuring an exciting and humorous car chase, breathtaking Moyen Corniche location scenery, and extremely witty dialogue filled with double-entendres ( including the famous quote "a leg or a breast?", referring to the chicken, of course ).

Hitchcock loved the duel meaning the title suggested and it is after this scene that we see it come into play, the audience is eager to see Francie catch her thief - John Robie - regardless of whether Robie discovers the real culprit behind the jewel thefts or not. After she falls in love with him- as we, the audience, knew would eventually happen, she aids him in setting a trap for the burglar, leading to the climax at the costume ball, where Francie once again sports a head-turning gown, this time completely decked in gold.  

To Catch a Thief marked the third film that Kelly had made with Alfred Hitchcock and it is undoubtedly her best performance for the master of suspense. Like Lisa Fremont of Rear Window, Kelly portrays Francie Stevens as an extremely elegant young woman with a hint of mischief in her eyes. She isn't a china doll meant for display purposes only. She wants to love and serve a man and be a part of his life, even if it means endangering her own to prove this to him. 

The world premiere of To Catch a Thief took place in Los Angeles on August 3rd, 1955. It was a critical and commercial success upon its release and boosted Cary Grant's career, which eventually led him to postpone his retirement till over a decade later. To Catch a Thief is notable for leading up to the events of Grace Kelly's wedding. During the filming of the car sequence Grace Kelly had gazed out at the coastal countryside and spied a walled-in garden below. "Whose garden is that?" she asked screenwriter John Michael Hayes. He replied, "Prince Grimaldi's". Kelly had desired to tour the garden with her then-boyfriend costume designer Oleg Cassini but between her shooting schedule and the Prince's commitments was unable to arrange a visit. It was not until May 1955, when Grace Kelly returned to Monaco for the Cannes Film Festival showing of The Country Girl, that she was invited to the palace for a photo session and a tour of the garden. This meeting eventually led to the Prince visiting with Kelly's family in Philadelphia for three days and a marriage proposal. On April 18, 1956, Grace Kelly and Prince Ranier were wed and she became Princess Grace of Monaco. 

On a sadder note, the winding road where John Robie and Francie Stevens park for their picnic lunch was the site where Princess Grace had her fatal car crash on September 13, 1982. She suffered a stroke behind the wheel and passed away a day later, at the age of 52, from a brain hemorrhage sustained from the accident. 

This post is our contribution to The Wonderful Grace Kelly Blogathon being hosted by The Wonderful World of Cinema. Click on the links to read more posts on Grace Kelly's career and her films!

Nugget Reviews - 19

If You Knew Susie ( 1948 ) 14k

A show business family retires from the stage in the hopes of opening a restaurant in a small village in New England but find themselves snubbed by the locales for their lack of an illustrious forefather. When they find that a letter from George Washington expressing his debt to their ancestor, the town accepts them - and the billions of dollars that the US government supposedly owes them! Eddie Cantor, Joan Davis, Allyn Joslyn, Bobby Driscoll. RKO Pictures. Directed by Gordon Douglas.

Eddie Cantor rolls his eyes and friskily skips about in this delightful outing with comedienne Joan Davis, riddled with some fine one-liners and plenty of vaudevillian humor. They were such a great team in Show Business it's no wonder they were reunited for another picture. Keep your eyes out for Bobby Driscoll and Margaret Kerry ( as their children ). These two talented youngsters later worked together in Walt Disney's Peter Pan with Driscoll voicing and modelling for Peter and Margaret modelling for Tinkerbell. 

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Artists and Models ( 1955 ) Elct. 

An artist and his roommate try to break into the booming comic book industry after meeting a famous comic illustrator and her creation - "Bat Lady".  Dean Martin, Jerry Lewis, Dorothy Malone, Shirley MacLaine. Paramount Pictures. Directed by Frank Tashlin. 

The Martin and Lewis films rarely featured memorable plots ( or the scripts to enhance them ) but this one seemed particularly lacking in direction...at least for the first hour. Its splendid Technicolor, the peek into the comic industry of the 1950s, and Dino's songs redeem it somewhat, but on the whole it is an embarrassing entry in the comedic duos string of films with about twenty minutes of plot stretched to two hours. Kathleen Freeman, who had small parts in twelve different Jerry Lewis movies, plays a sour landlady. 

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Stowaway ( 1936 ) 14k

When invading armies attack a Chinese village, the young ward of a missionary family gets sent to Shanghai to safety. En route she meets an American playboy who takes to her fondly and becomes a stowaway on his ship. Shirley Temple, Robert Young, Alice Faye, Eugene Palette, Helen Westley. 20th Century Fox. Directed by William A. Seiter. 

Stowaway is not considered one of Shirley's most famous films, but - when compared to her classics Heidi and The Little Princess - I find it much more entertaining, especially since it is set in an exotic location - the Orient. Only the ending of the picture disappoints. Shirley Temple plays her usual oochie-coochie self in this Asian outing, save for a few Chinese proverbs tossed into her repertoire, while Alice Faye is lovely as ever, singing a great song - "Goodnight, Sweetheart". Robert Young was such a clean-cut young man during the 1930s, it is very difficult to believe him to be a wild playboy - especially since his parts with Shirley are so wonderful - however, Young did have problems with alcohol later in life, so perhaps he did enjoy an extra slug or two in his youth. 

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Father Goose ( 1964 ) 18k

An alcoholic island hopper gets blackmailed into accepting a job as a Navy coast watcher. He then - unwillingly - rescues a diplomat's daughter and the seven schoolgirls she is escorting. In spite of their hatred for each other, they try to work together until a rescue plane could come to their aid. Cary Grant, Leslie Caron, Trevor Howard. Universal Pictures. Directed by Ralph Nelson.

Cary Grant takes his ten fine toes and wiggles them in the sand with ease for his role of the boozy beach bum, Walter. Years later, Grant claimed that this part was the most natural for him to play. Cary Grant wanted Audrey Hepburn to play the part of the French diplomat's daughter but she was already committed to My Fair Lady, which ironically, Cary Grant had turned down the lead in ( Henry Higgins ) in favor of this role. Leslie Caron did a great job on her own. Beautiful location filming and a highly entertaining script make this an all-around winning comedy. 

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On an Island with You ( 1948 )  14k 

A Hollywood star finds herself kidnapped by a navy officer and taken to a secluded island for the sole purpose of having one dance. Of course, she falls in love with him after that dance. Who can resist Peter Lawford in dress uniform? Esther Williams, Peter Lawford, Ricardo Montalban, Jimmy Durante, Cyd Charisse. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures. Directed by Richard Thorpe.

After watching an Esther Williams film one can't help but have a lingering smile on the heart, it must be all that Technicolor, water, sand and rumba music. This outing to the "islands" ( filmed at Cypress Gardens, Florida ), has some particularly good hip-swinging music and a great overall look but lacks an engaging script. Even with all the right elements and a great cast, if it ain't got that zing, it ain't got that zing! It's a good Saturday night picture nevertheless.