This film has been described as being charming, and it is to a point. There is also a welcome (if unintentional) quaintness to it, considering that it was shot between June and October 1963, before Beatlemania and the assassination of President Kennedy. By the time of the film's release, those social and political events had changed the world markedly.
Although the friendship between the girls starts out fresh and interesting, it progressively becomes silly and tiresome, with much energy waisted on contrived vignettes that don't lead anywhere. Their dynamic serves as a template for later and better girl-buddy pictures like "Where Angels Go, Trouble Follows" and "The Trouble With Angels"
While on the subject of waisted, the then red-hot Peter Sellers seems painfully underutilized here. Ditto for the wonderfully ditsy Paula Prentiss. I couldn't help but wonder if his presence here was dictated only because he 'owed' someone a picture. The one glowing exception is the fantastic concert segment which is hysterically funny in its droll subtlety and its send-up of avant garde artistic expression. His other potentially funny scenes, especially those with Prentis, come off like jokes without punch lines. The remaining adult cast, featuring Angela Lansbury among others, is good in its own competent way.
One great unexpected joy of the film was its many scenes of a beautiful and mostly vacant New York City. Having never lived there and seldom visited, this viewer still was very taken by the evocative cityscapes which wonderfully saturate this film. For me, this is where the real charm of the film comes through.
Although the friendship between the girls starts out fresh and interesting, it progressively becomes silly and tiresome, with much energy waisted on contrived vignettes that don't lead anywhere. Their dynamic serves as a template for later and better girl-buddy pictures like "Where Angels Go, Trouble Follows" and "The Trouble With Angels"
While on the subject of waisted, the then red-hot Peter Sellers seems painfully underutilized here. Ditto for the wonderfully ditsy Paula Prentiss. I couldn't help but wonder if his presence here was dictated only because he 'owed' someone a picture. The one glowing exception is the fantastic concert segment which is hysterically funny in its droll subtlety and its send-up of avant garde artistic expression. His other potentially funny scenes, especially those with Prentis, come off like jokes without punch lines. The remaining adult cast, featuring Angela Lansbury among others, is good in its own competent way.
One great unexpected joy of the film was its many scenes of a beautiful and mostly vacant New York City. Having never lived there and seldom visited, this viewer still was very taken by the evocative cityscapes which wonderfully saturate this film. For me, this is where the real charm of the film comes through.