I'll admit, this is a movie I would have never thought about watching if it hadn't been on TCM at a time when I just wanted to watch something new. The title makes me think of "The World of Suzie Wong", which I've heard is better than it sounds. It's nothing against Orientals, for I did like "Flower Drum Song" (minus the musical numbers), but Mr. Orient is not even Asian (he's Jewish).



That said, this was a delightful piece of fluff (though it did grow up a little towards the end). I think the original intent of the movie was to be a light comedy, and somewhere along the way, they decided they wanted this movie to have some substance, so they made it more of a coming-of-age story.



I like how they portray Gil (the blonde) as having a much better family life (despite the fact that she comes from a broken home) than Val, whose family is intact, yet her parents hate each other (her mother is an adulteress, who runs around with multiple men, not to mention she's a total b*tch whose mothering nature is nonexistent). As Dr. Phil says, "It's better to be from a broken home than in one."



Gil and Val are both only children, which I thought made them closer, more like sisters. Since 1964 was the start of the sixties as we know them (1963 was still pretty innocent), I was afraid there would be a lesbian theme between the two adolescent girls, so I was relieved when their friendship remainded perfectly innocent and Val had a crush on the totally faux Mr. Orient. However, I didn't like her scrapbook of him being referred to as "The Bible", but I didn't hold it against her, because she was still a child, though she should still know better.



Anyway, after Val's parents came, I wondered what happened to the lady who took care of her (I can't remember her name). She just disappeared and I never saw her again. As I said, I think the producers (or whoever decides these things) decided it was going to be a different kind of movie halfway through filming, so maybe the woman just got lost in the shuffle. I would have thought the woman would have stayed on with Val's father as their maid, but no mention was made of this.



I do think the girls jumping over trashcans was kinda lame, and the scene with Gil and the greasy girl from the school bus who tells her Val is seeing a psychiatrist was totally pointless, because Gil found out about it anyway at dinner the next night. This movie could have definitely benefitted from a little more cutting.



And what was up with Paula Prentiss? Talk about a neutrotic airhead. I think she was leading Mr. Orient on, but then, shame on him, because she was married! I never realized how skinny she was, but her arms looked like sticks, though she far surpasses the prune-faced Angela Lansbury, who, like Jessica Tandy, has always looked old to me.



The cinematography is wonderful, and I disagree with one reviewer's complaints about there being no minorities in this film. Adding minorities wouldn't have added anything. I thought it was cute how the girls wore those little Chinese hats and seemed to be obsessed with anything Chinese (what was up with all the Eastern references?). I didn't really like them praying and bowing down to the idol, even if it was just all in fun.



Though it wasn't made mention in the movie, I think Val's father and Gil's mother will get married, and the girls will really and truly be sisters. I did like how they "aged" them at the end, and what an improvement. I didn't like Gil's high, short ponytails and Val's shaggy do, and I thought how funny it was that Val was always wearing that fur coat. I do wish there could have been some scenes showing them actually in school.



I think the part that made me laugh the most was when the cops go after Paula Prentiss, thinking she is Jayne Mansfield.



When I think back to when I was in the eighth grade, I had a best friend like Val, and so this movie is strikingly realistic in how it portrays the girls, the things they say and think about, and how they go about doing things. Though the movie is more about the girls; Peter Sellers merely serves as the catalyst (providing infrequent comic relief) for the Valerie growing up, because I think when Val finally sees her mother for what she is (when she catches her kissing Mr. Orient), she grows up fast.



At the end, Val was talking about having necked with some guy named George, she thinks. Fourteen is much too young to be kissing boys, at least like that. Holding hands, a quick peck, that's one thing, but making out, absolutely not.



As for the score, I felt like I had heard it somewhere before. "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie" maybe? It really went with the film.



And as I said, the first half of this movie is almost like a separate film from the second half, which doesn't really hurt it (the film grows up just as the girls do) like giving Sellers so little screen time did. If you like him (or what you saw of him) in this, he's really good in "Lolita", too, though I think he has even less screen time in that. But, what you see is good, what with all his multiple personalities.



This little gem is definitely worth a watch or two, perhaps on a rainy Sunday afternoon.