Speaking of Sandra Dee…

We love Sandra Dee movies but I surely will not miss watching another Tammy movie. Tammy and the Doctor (the third and last Tammy movie) finds Grandpaw is still in jail doing time and preaching to the other prisoners. Pete and Tom are nowhere to be found. Mrs. Call Tammy’s elderly rich friend needs a heart operation. And who is the operating physician but MacDonald Carey in his pre-Dr.Tom Horton (1965-1993) role from Days of Our Lives fame. For Tammy’s next crush, enter the tall and lanky kind of looks like his father Peter Fonda. Instead of bully college students there are bully nurses that just don’t get the innocent and wise Tammy. Thank goodness Tammy has nurse-Millie (Alice Pearce – Gladys Kravitz the nosey neighbor from the 1960’s television series Bewitched) to help try to explain the way of hospital life to her. Again it is fun to see actors such as: Margaret Lindsay, Adam West, Mitzi Hoag, and Joan Marshall.
I am sure it is roles like the Tammy roll for Sandra that led to the iconic song from the 1978 hit musical Grease: ‘Look At Me, I’m Sandra Dee’

Tammy Tell Me True

Sandra Dee the new Tammy still at the big house waiting for Pete to finish his schooling. And Pete…well Pete didn’t answer Tammy’s letters, never returned her phone calls just left her wondering what an ‘unlearned shanty boat girl’ would do next. Never one to sit back and feel sorry for herself Tammy hitchhikes back to the shanty boat.
Mulling her situation over with Captain Joe(Cecil Kellaway) it’s decided he will tow the shanty boat down river for Tammy to do the only thing she can do to better herself…attend college.
Seminole College fits the bill; however those college bullies don’t miss a beat in making fun of her early 1800’s speech. Thank goodness hunky Professor Tom (John Gavin) is there to help her through her tribulations in his public speaking class with the wise words ‘you are different, be true to yourself’.
Tammy sets right the lives of: Mrs. Call (Beulah Bondi) her employer, and Miss Jenks (Virginia Grey) the Dean of women and there is that ‘funny feeling she gets in her innards’ whenever John Gavin looks her way. Introducing a new Tammy Song, ‘Tammy Tell me True’ Tammy comes to the conclusion: she never really loved Pete as she receives the kiss from Gavin that she has been puckering up for throughout the movie.

Happy Birthday Sandra Dee

 

April 23, 1944

I embarked on a Sandra Dee phase after seeing Grease, and not really understanding one of the insulting quips they made about her.  Somewhat reluctant, I started with Come September, because at least I liked Rock Hudson and it wouldn’t be a waste of two hours if this Sandra Dee girl didn’t deliver.  Thankfully, it also just happened to include Bobby Darin, Sandra’s future husband, and while I wasn’t an instant fan, the chemistry on screen was worth it. It was said that Bobby, slightly conceited was all but determined to marry Sandra. She, however, was slightly offended after he told her he liked some of her films. The impertinence! For the worlds reigning Teen Queen at the time, that must have been quite the shot to the ego.

She did however, eventually come around, and they made some cutesy rom-coms together. We like If a Man Answers and That Funny Feeling.

As the marriage didn’t last, Sandra would still go on record as saying he was the love of her life.

You can check out info and Sandra Vid here if you’re unfamiliar with her story, and while i’m still waiting for a sophisticated biography for both Sandra and Bobby to be written, you can count on their great films together to give you the gist of just how much chemistry was there. Enjoy!