Other reviewers have noted that this film is a revised remake of the 1941 movie, ""It Started with Eve." That film had a young man, who found a hatcheck girl to sub for his fiancé, called to the deathbed of his dad. Deanna Durbin played the girl, and was an aspiring singer, so she sang a couple of songs in the film.
"I'd Rather Be Rich," reverses roles and details somewhat. Sandra Dee plays Cynthia Dulaine who is called to the West Coast bedside of her dying grandfather, Philip Dulaine. Maurice Chevalier plays Philip, who asks to meet Cynthia's fiancé before he dies. Warren Palmer, played by Andy Williams, is the fiancé who can't get a flight out of Boston because it's socked in by fog. Enter Robert Goulet as Paul Benton, a chemical engineer from Cleveland, who scales the wall of the Dulaine estate in a suit and tie. He's been trying to get an appointment with Cynthia's grandfather about a new paint he has invented. Paul wants to convince Philip to test his paint on a rocket his firm will send into space.
Cynthia and the estate guards nab Benton, and she convinces him to sub as her fiancé for which she will get him an appointment with her grandfather's project head for the paint deal. So, both males who play the fiancé in this film are prominent singers in real life. Goulet also has a considerable film career, but Williams hasn't much of a career in film. In the movie, Williams is the singer and he sings a few tunes. Goulet doesn't sing at all – except for a couple of lines on a recording before Andy's character turns it off. Goulet sang in a number of Broadway productions, including "Camelot" in 1960 with Richard Burton and Julie Andrews. He won a Tony award in 1968 for his performance in "Happy Time."
Both films were made by Universal. The 1941 movie had accomplished actors in Durbin, Charles Laughton, Robert Cummings and others. This movie also has accomplished actors, but also leans heavily on the music side. Maurice Chevalier had a long and prominent career as an actor and singer. And, a nice touch in this film is the addition of Hermione Gingold as his nurse. She shared supporting actor honors with Chevalier in the 1958 blockbuster film, Gigi; and Gingold won the Oscar as best supporting actress for that year.
In this film, Chevalier is 76 years old and still a little sprightly. Charles Ruggles, a long-time supporting actor, plays Doctor Crandall. He was 78 in 1964.
For all the clever promotion and the introduction and closing epilogue with this film, it just doesn't have the energy and natural comedy of the original movie. Too much seems forced or flat here. Still, it earns six stars, mostly for its diversified cast of fine performers over decades of cinema.
"I'd Rather Be Rich," reverses roles and details somewhat. Sandra Dee plays Cynthia Dulaine who is called to the West Coast bedside of her dying grandfather, Philip Dulaine. Maurice Chevalier plays Philip, who asks to meet Cynthia's fiancé before he dies. Warren Palmer, played by Andy Williams, is the fiancé who can't get a flight out of Boston because it's socked in by fog. Enter Robert Goulet as Paul Benton, a chemical engineer from Cleveland, who scales the wall of the Dulaine estate in a suit and tie. He's been trying to get an appointment with Cynthia's grandfather about a new paint he has invented. Paul wants to convince Philip to test his paint on a rocket his firm will send into space.
Cynthia and the estate guards nab Benton, and she convinces him to sub as her fiancé for which she will get him an appointment with her grandfather's project head for the paint deal. So, both males who play the fiancé in this film are prominent singers in real life. Goulet also has a considerable film career, but Williams hasn't much of a career in film. In the movie, Williams is the singer and he sings a few tunes. Goulet doesn't sing at all – except for a couple of lines on a recording before Andy's character turns it off. Goulet sang in a number of Broadway productions, including "Camelot" in 1960 with Richard Burton and Julie Andrews. He won a Tony award in 1968 for his performance in "Happy Time."
Both films were made by Universal. The 1941 movie had accomplished actors in Durbin, Charles Laughton, Robert Cummings and others. This movie also has accomplished actors, but also leans heavily on the music side. Maurice Chevalier had a long and prominent career as an actor and singer. And, a nice touch in this film is the addition of Hermione Gingold as his nurse. She shared supporting actor honors with Chevalier in the 1958 blockbuster film, Gigi; and Gingold won the Oscar as best supporting actress for that year.
In this film, Chevalier is 76 years old and still a little sprightly. Charles Ruggles, a long-time supporting actor, plays Doctor Crandall. He was 78 in 1964.
For all the clever promotion and the introduction and closing epilogue with this film, it just doesn't have the energy and natural comedy of the original movie. Too much seems forced or flat here. Still, it earns six stars, mostly for its diversified cast of fine performers over decades of cinema.