When the Boys Meet the Girls (1965), set in the Swinging Sixties, is a very loose reworking of the George and Ira Gershwin musical Girl Crazy, which was previously filmed in 1932 with Bert Wheeler and Robert Woolsey and in 1942 with Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland.

In this version, Harve Presnell plays a handsome playboy who tries to save a failing Nevada ranch by turning it into a retreat for people getting quickie divorces in Las Vegas. Connie Francis co-stars as Presnell's love interest, and happens to be the daughter of the ranch owner. Presnell and Francis, both of whom were nominated for Golden Laurel awards as the year's Best Musical Performers, duet on "I Got Rhythm" and "But Not For Me." Other Gershwin songs retained in the score include "Embraceable You" and "Treat Me Rough."

Since the renewed resort has a nightclub, the film allows for musical performances from an eclectic gathering of guest stars that includes Louis Armstrong, performing "Throw It Out of Your Mind"; Liberace, performing "Aruba Liberace"; Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs doing "Monkey See, Monkey Do"; and Herman's Hermits, making their film debut with "Listen People" and the Gershwin tune "Bidin' My Time." (The group would return to MGM the following year to film their own vehicle, Hold On! ) Francis also belts out "Mail Call" and "When the Boys Meet the Girls."

Producer: Sam Katzman
Director: Alvin Ganzer
Screenplay: Robert E. Kent, from play by Guy Bolton (uncredited) and Jack McGowan (uncredited)
Art Direction: George W. Davis, Eddie Imazu
Cinematography: Paul C. Vogel
Editing: Ben Lewis
Original Music: Fred Karger
Non-Original Music: George Gershwin (with lyrics by Ira Gershwin)
Cast: Connie Francis (Ginger), Harve Presnell (Danny), Peter Noone (Herman), Louis Armstrong (Himself), Liberace (Himself), Domingo Samudio (Sam the Sham).
C-102m.

By Roger Fristoe