The Affairs of Dobie Gillis

Directed by Don Weis (1953) **

The movie title The Affairs of Dobie Gillis is untruthful; there’s only one affair in this MGM musical and it’s love at first sight, between freshman collegiates Dobie Gillis (Bobby Van) and Pansy Hammer (Debbie Reynolds). They want to be together; the world tries to keep them apart.

Based on the short stories of (and written for the screen by) satirist Max Shulman, Affairs is a genial bit of fluff, agreeable but with most of Shulman’s sharp acerbic wit bleached out. It’s Shulman put through the MGM musical ringer. I would love to know more about the production of this obscure product (there’s not much info to be had). I’m betting the screenplay Shulman submitted bore little resemblance to what’s on the screen; it’s annoyingly “cute”. The movie is also low budget for a musical, and was uncharacteristically shot in B&W, adding to the perception that MGM had little faith or hope for this film.

Amiable Bobby Van plays work-phobic Dobie, entering Grainbelt University, where students are admonished to “Learn, learn, learn, work, work, work”. He’s soon paired with roommate Charlie (Bob Fosse) and they’re soon paired with Pansy and Lorna (Barbara Ruick). Apart from Pansy’s new-found (and dangerous) fascination with chemistry, none of the students seem concerned with an education, despite the tyrannical implorings of Pansy’s father (Hanley Stafford). A perfect day is to cut class, have picnics and sing love songs. (None of the songs employed in the film seem to have been written for it but are instead old songs MGM had in their inventory. The repeated “All I Do Is Dream of You” dates back to 1934.) A subplot having to do with the saving of the college magazine is an attempt to create a sense of urgency for the story, but it’s too lightweight for anyone to care about.

The actors aren’t at fault for the anemic script. Tall, lanky Bobby Van’s likable and a vibrant dancer (more than one viewer has remarked on his style’s resemblance to a young Ray Bolger). Debbie Reynolds is her usual perky self and Hans Conreid as an English professor drips sarcastic drolleries. An underused Bob Fosse (his first film appearance) only has one moment to shine, during the song “You Can’t Do Wrong Doin’ Right”, but when he does, his moves explode off the screen, making everyone around him look amateurish. It was clear he was destined for far better things.

To see the ways in which The Affairs could have been great, one need only look at the original short stories and the later The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis television show, in which Shulman’s subversive and smart wit was allowed to flourish. The non-musical comedy show, running from 1959 to 1963, allowed breathing room for the characters, granting them more nuance and, surprisingly, allowing Shulman’s anarchic leanings to run free. His high school teachers, unlike the sweet Alice Landers from the concurrent Leave it to Beaver, are either already jaded (William Schallert’s Professor Leander Pomfritt is a hoot) or about to become so, admitting they wished they were in another profession (gas station attendant, one teacher dreamily mentions to himself).

The show, unlike MGM’s concoction, acknowledged and incorporated the burgeoning counterculture, with hipsters and bebop-loving beatniks, particularly in the likable character of Maynard G. Krebs (Bob Denver). Raw lust and avarice for money at the cost of everything else is exemplified by Thalia Menninger (Tuesday Weld); class snobbery by Chatsworth Osborne (Steve Franken) and Milton Armitage (Warren Beatty). “You’re just nasty”, claims Milton’s mother, repeatedly. In short, the TV series is in every way funnier, more insightful and more transgressive than MGM’s earlier sugary musical attempt.

A few bits of trivia: Actress Barbara Ruick was later married to composer John Williams, who went on to write music for Debbie Reynolds’ daughter, Carrie, in Star Wars. Character Kathleen Freeman also appeared in the (sad) 1988 made-for-TV movie, Bring Me the Head of Dobie Gillis. Be warned that all the ’70s and later Dobie projects are atrocious. Max Shulman was fired from the production of the first one, setting the tone for the rest. The DC comic book series wasn’t much funnier, but at least featured delicious art by veteran Bob Oksner.

—Michael R. Neno, 2021 January 11