People are voting emotionally.

Great movie! If you want to be entertained and have a few good laughs, see this movie. The music is also very good,

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

Amazing worth wacthing. So good. Biased but well made with many good points.

Being a a six year old boy who has a limited attention span, who also gets distracted easily with a dash of restlessness can result in natural recipe for disaster in a controlled space ,mainly a movie theater.. My older sister Donna was a huge fan of actress Ann-Margeret who was the up and coming talent of that time coupled with Bobby Rydell recording artist and heart throb of the top 40 circuit was the hook as Donna gave me the third degree by telling me to be quiet plus the list of DON'TS. Don't kick the person's chair in front of you. Don't pull your sisters braids. Don't interrupt us by going to the concession stands for candy or drinks. Don't yell out or make annoying sounds during the film and just don't touch anything! Off to the Franklin Square Cinema for an afternoon of watching an adult picture.The movie grabbed my attention right from the get go with the opening choreographed and brilliantly edited Telephone sketch entitled (Going steady) About the lovely red headed KIm MacAfee (Ann-Margaret) and Hugo Peabody (Bobby Rydell)high school boy friend. Kim won a contest to say goodbye to Conrad Birdie (Jesse Pearson)the hottest Rock and Roll star in the U.S.A.who is drafted in this man's army.Putting this contest together is Songwriter/ biochemist Albert Peterson played Dick Van Dyke and his patient girlfriend Rosie DeLeon (Janet Leigh).This contest was suggested to Ed Sullivan by Peterson. Not only will Kim represent all the young hopeful screaming teens but Conrad will perform the Song One Last Kiss written by Peterson on the ever popular Ed Sullivan Show seen by the whole country on Sunday night with that part of the show live from Sweet Apple,Ohio. At the conclusion Conrad will give a big wet kiss to the vivacious Kim under heavy objections from her father the wise cracking Harry MacAfee (Paul Lynde) and his Wife Doris (Mary LaRoche)who end up housing Peterson, Rosie and Conrad Birdie complete with jumpsuits and his motorcycle which is a great addition to the Macafee's living room. Also crashing the MacAfee Houshold if that wasn't enough,is the Mink stole clad, dour, meddling and extremely overbearing Mother Peterson played to perfection by Maureen Stapleton who throws constant guilt at her Son and Rosie plus attempted suicides for good measure like putting her head in the kitchen stove.The musical numbers just superb. The MacAfee's tolerate the mayhem because Harry is awestruck with the thought of appearing on the Ed Sullivan Show which manifests into the heavenly dream sketch as Harry and Family break into comical song.I loved all the musical numbers so much so my sister bought the soundtrack. The What's The Matter With Kids routine was another of my favorites as Paul Lynde puts his imprint all over this movie. The Camera seems to love Dick Van Dyke and Ann-Margeret as for the most part their stars shine throughout. Janet Leigh in that black wig din't seem to bother me but her agility and dance routine with the fez gang is something I'll never forget. The afternoon sped by and before I knew it Ann was singing Bye Bye Bird-hee and waved bye bye. All the "DON'TS" didn't come into play as this movie captured my imagination. Thank G-d we didn't go see Come Blow Your Horn. Great family entertainment. I only wished I'd seen the Original Broadway cast production but some things are kept unseen. I only wonder what the film would be like if Elvis Presley was in the role of Conrad?

The original Kim McAfee on Broadway was a typical small town girl, not a big-breasted pin-up. As charismatic as Ann-Margret was in this, her presence is a major distraction and by having her belt the newly written title song over both the opening and closing credits shows where the focus will be. She's certainly soft, and sells "How Lovely to Be a Woman" very well, changing from teen glam to jeans, sweat shirt and baseball cap, and for this, she can be forgiven the excesses given to her by the film's producers. She certainly gives her all, singing tenderly with Bobby Rydell the film's major love song "One Boy", and it isn't her fault that she was shapelier than most teens of the era. Like Marilyn in "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes", this changes the mood of the film and results in a different "Bye Bye Birdie" than what was seen on stage.The stars on Broadway were Dick Van Dyke and Chita Rivera, and while Van Dyke returns for this, his film debut, Rivera has been replaced by the non-Latina Janet Leigh. Unlike Rita Moreno, who was an extremely appropriate recast for the film version of "West Side Story", Leigh's obvious American looks sneak through the short black wig, even if the character of Rose is obviously American born. Still, Leigh puts forth her best effort, appearing only a little embarrassed at times for taking over a part she knew deep inside she wasn't quite right for and should be praised for her bravery in possible public backlash. Rivera would prove her screen mettle only once, as Shirley MacLaine's sidekick in "Sweet Charity", and even if producers felt she didn't have the box office appeal for this film, Ms. Moreno would have fit the part better.Van Dyke, however, is outstanding, but this is barely even close to what he had done on stage. Yes, he is the songwriter and rock star agent for Conrad Birdie (Jesse Pearson) and takes Sweet Apple Ohio by storm by getting him to kiss Kim before he goes off to the army, with the Ed Sullivan Show present to record it for posterity. Kim's parents are aghast by the invading of their home by Birdie and company, none more than Harry McAfee (Paul Lynde) who isn't happy until he finds out that his hero ("Ed, I Love You!") will be recording his daughter being kissed on National Television. In the Broadway versions, Van Dyke sings his big number, "Put on a Happy Face", to a group of teens at the train station to cheer them up over Birdie's drafting. But here, it's changed to a duet between Van Dyke and Leigh's happy conscience as she sits there in a grumpy mood watching. Disney might as well have produced this by the presence of some silly animation. Still, this is one of the great standards of Broadway, so it is great to hear in any shape or form. More successful is Birdie's "Honestly Sincere" in which all the women of the town (and a few young men) pass out at the swiveling of his hips. After years of fame on Broadway, Maureen Stapleton was now famous enough on screen to garner the role of Van Dyke's harpy mother, clad in mink coat and rubbers covering sensible shoes. The stage version was much more comical than what is written here, Stapleton directed to overplay the bossy condescension towards Leigh and as a result, her character is much more characterature than flesh and blood. She's really hard to take, especially when she pushes her way between Lynde and his wife as they sit alone in the school auditorium.Everything comes together for two late musical sequences, "Gotta Lot of Living to Do!" and Leigh's "Shriner Ballet" in which her grave miscasting is all of a sudden forgiven. Columbia obviously had no faith in the success of the original Broadway version, adding in a Russian ballet that is somehow speeded up thanks to medication in the conductor's milk, resulting in a silly sequence that slows down the action and really serves no purpose than to add tension if Birdie will have time to sing his final song and get to kiss Kim.What is more heartbreaking about this movie is the fact that it was directed by George Sidney, responsible for many of MGM's great musicals of their golden era. But Van Dyke and Lynde, both then becoming very famous thanks to their television appearances, save the day, Van Dyke's rubber face and legs prominent yet never hiding his handsome looks, and Lynde's cynical line delivery perfect for his big show-stopper, "Kids" ("What's wrong with Sammy Kaye?") and of course his declaration of affection towards the undisputed king of the variety show, Ed Sullivan, who is amusing in his few scenes in this film, as he was in the first big nun musical, "The Singing Nun", several years later.

OK, in the spirit of full disclosure, I am an old guy. In fact this movie was being filmed during my senior year in high school, and released near the time I graduated. But somehow I had never seen it, until now. It has great memories for a number of reasons. First, as a teen I was infatuated with Janet Leigh. She was so pretty and with a nice figure, to me it couldn't get any better. I have seen her in a number of dramatic roles, including Psycho, but never in a comedic role, as here, and she does great.Second, as I went into young adulthood I discovered Ann-Margaret, and to me she was about as nice and beautiful as they get. She is only 4 years older than I am, she was 21 during filming of this movie and she lights up the screen in every scene she is in. Plus a darned good singer.And third, Bobby Rydell. His songs were very popular during the 1960s and seeing him play the role of Ann-Margaret's character was total fun and nostalgic. I can still hear him singing "Dream Lover."The title character of this movie is Jesse Pearson as singer Conrad Birdie, mostly a parody of Elvis Presley, drafted to go into the military, and young girls swoon when he sings. But he also sounded a lot like Bobby Darin in some songs.But the story is just an excuse to sing a few songs and to showcase the talents of the main cast, which also included the likes of Paul Lynde and Ed Sullivan playing himself. The story includes having Kim (Ann- Margaret) and Hugo (Bobby Rydell) realize their love for each other, as well as Albert (Van Dyke) and his secretary Rosie (Leigh).Just a fun, silly movie from the 1960s, with fun, silly songs.

What is most interesting about this film is the cast. Dick Van Dyke is in top form. As for the women, Ann Margaret and Janet Leigh are both in stunning beauty here. Paul Lynde is cast here in the hit Broadway role that helped establish him in the national spot light. Ole stone face Ed Sullivan even mugs a few camera shots in.The story is a bit of a mess but in a way this is the Grease of the 1960's. Some of the sets even look like sets used in the 1970 Disco film. One of the scenes in the apartment bedroom with Leigh and Margaret reminds me very much of a scene in Grease too. The main differences between the 2 musicals are the music and script.While Grease introduced a disco beat to musicals, Bye Bye Birdie introduces very little music that is new to anybody. Grease focus on the love story of the lead characters. Birdie wanders between 2 or three love stories and sometimes wanders totally off into nonsense.Still, I like looking at pretty women and by golly the main ones in this one definitely qualify. Van Dykes physical comedy is a bit stretched here. For some reason this movie tries to take advantage of a public that has gone Elvis crazy and is into going Beatle crazy and tries to make Conrad Birdie into another Elvis. On that count, it falls woefully short which is why the music is so ordinary.