''Star Spangled Girl'' is a 1971 American romantic comedy film directed by

Jerry Paris William Gerald Paris (July 25, 1925 – March 31, 1986) was an American actor and director best known for playing Jerry Helper, the dentist and next-door neighbor of Rob and Laura Petrie, on ''The Dick Van Dyke Show'', and for directing the majo ...

and based on the 1966

Neil Simon Marvin Neil Simon (July 4, 1927 – August 26, 2018) was an American playwright, screenwriter and author. He wrote more than 30 plays and nearly the same number of movie screenplays, mostly film adaptations of his plays. He received three ...

play '' The Star-Spangled Girl''. It stars

Sandy Duncan Sandra Kay Duncan (born February 20, 1946) is an American actress, comedian, dancer and singer. She is known for her performances in the Broadway revival of ''Peter Pan'', the sitcom '' The Hogan Family'', and the Disney films '' The Million D ...

, Tony Roberts, Todd Susman, and Elizabeth Allen.

Plot

In a

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

neighborhood, Andy Hobart does everything he can to keep his struggling, two-man, radical

underground newspaper The terms underground press or clandestine press refer to periodicals and publications that are produced without official approval, illegally or against the wishes of a dominant (governmental, religious, or institutional) group. In specific rece ...

, the ''Nitty Gritty'', going; he steals food from the supermarket and other people's laundry from the dry cleaners, and holds off their creditors, especially their landlady, Mrs. MacKaninee, and their printer, Mr. Karlson. To appease Mrs. MacKaninee, he accompanies her motorcycling, waterskiing, and surfing. He lives with talented, but nerdy Norman Cornell, who writes the entire newspaper. One day, a perky, talkative Southern girl moves into the bungalow across from them. Amy Cooper has come to the big city to train for the

Olympics The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a variety of competit ...

with the best swimming coach in the country. Norman falls instantly in love with her (or rather with the way she smells) and neglects his writing, causing Andy untold headaches. Norman drives Amy to distraction with his misguided, over-the-top attempts to win her affection. When he unintentionally gets her fired from her day job, Andy hires her as a secretary, just to keep Norman happy (and writing). Then something unexpected happens. Despite despising everything Andy stands for, the conservative Amy discovers (to her great disgust) that she is physically attracted to him and likes the way he smells, which is rather awkward, since she is scheduled to marry another swimmer in a few weeks. When she informs Andy, he is uncertain how to react. She gets him to kiss her to see how it feels, at which point Norman walks in. Amy decides to go back to Florida because Andy is not interested in her. Norman quits over what he considers a betrayal, but quickly changes his mind and goes back to work, cured of Amy. Meanwhile, Andy discovers to his horror that the smell of Amy permeates the room even after she is gone. He chases after her and gets her to come back.

Cast

as Amy Cooper * Tony Roberts as Andy Hobart * Todd Susman as Norman Cornell * Elizabeth Allen as Mrs. MacKaninee * Artie Lewis as Mr. Karlson * Allen Jung as Laundryman * Helen Kleeb as YWCA Receptionist * Harry Northup as Cowboy on Bus * Gordon Bosserman as Karlson's Boy * Jim Conners as Karlson's Boy * Peter Hobbs as Man in Car

Cast notes

Britt Ekland Britt Ekland (born Britt-Marie Eklund; 6 October 1942) is a Swedish actress. She appeared in numerous films in her heyday throughout the 1960s and 1970s, including roles in ''The Double Man (1967 film), The Double Man'' (1967), ''The Night They ...

, Ali MacGraw,

Cybill Shepherd Cybill Lynne Shepherd (born February 18, 1950) is an American actress, singer and former model. Her film debut and breakthrough role came as Jacy Farrow in Peter Bogdanovich's coming-of-age drama '' The Last Picture Show'' (1971) alongside Jef ...

and

Goldie Hawn Goldie Jeanne Hawn (born November 21, 1945) is an American actress, producer, dancer, and singer. She achieved stardom and acclaim for playing lighthearted comedic roles in film and television. In a career spanning six decades, she has received ...

were offered the leading role, but turned it down.

Marlo Thomas Margaret Julia "Marlo" Thomas (born November 21, 1937) is an American actress, producer, author, and social activist. She is best known for starring on the sitcom ''That Girl'' (1966–1971) and her Children's television series, children's franc ...

was considered for the lead, as was

Joey Heatherton Davenie Johanna "Joey" Heatherton (born September 14, 1944) is an American actress, dancer, and singer. A sex symbol of the 1960s and 1970s, she is best known for her many television appearances during that time. Heatherton was a frequent variet ...

. Sandy Duncan hired a professional trainer to help improve her swimming while auditioning for the part of Amy.

Production

Elizabeth Allen shot her scenes in 5 days. The theme song of the film is "

Girl A girl is a young female human, usually a child or an adolescent. While the term ''girl'' has other meanings, including ''young woman'',Dictionary.com, "Girl"'' Retrieved January 2, 2008. '' daughter'' or '' girlfriend'' regardless of age ...

", sung by Davy Jones of

The Monkees The Monkees were an American pop rock band formed in Los Angeles in the mid-1960s. The band consisted of Micky Dolenz, Davy Jones (musician), Davy Jones, Michael Nesmith, and Peter Tork. Spurred by the success of ''The Monkees (TV series), Th ...

. A different single version of the song was heard on the TV show ''

The Brady Bunch ''The Brady Bunch'' is an American sitcom created by Sherwood Schwartz that aired five seasons from September 26, 1969, to March 8, 1974, on ABC. The series revolves around a large blended family of six children, with three boys and three gir ...

''; that episode, "Getting Davy Jones", was originally broadcast December 10, 1971, shortly before the film's release. The opening lyrics are changed for the movie version: "Girl, look what you've done to me, me and my whole world" (single version) becomes "Girl, you have a way with you, you could change my world" (movie version). Jones sang a '90's "

Grunge Grunge (sometimes referred to as the Seattle sound) is an alternative rock Music genre, genre and subculture that emerged during the in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington, particularly in Seattle and Music of Olympia, Washington, O ...

" version of the song during a cameo appearance in '' The Brady Bunch Movie''. ''Star Spangled Girl'' was a box-office flop.

Reception

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' reviewer A. H. Weler wrote, "Time and Hollywood have not done wonders for his exuberant but still essentially lightweight comedy....The uninspired adaptation of Simon's antic is a basically contrived affair that may get a share of chuckles but not many hearty laughs."

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert ( ; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American Film criticism, film critic, film historian, journalist, essayist, screenwriter and author. He wrote for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. Eber ...

, however, gave it three stars (out of four), stating, "It pays the slightest possible attention to the story line, and revels in breakneck dialog, and somewhere along the way you begin to like the artificiality of it all."

References

External links

* * * {{Jerry Paris 1971 films 1971 romantic comedy films American films based on plays American romantic comedy films 1970s English-language films Films about journalists Films based on works by Neil Simon Films directed by Jerry Paris Films scored by Charles Fox Films set in the 1960s Films set in San Francisco Paramount Pictures films 1970s American films English-language romantic comedy films