SimonJack
"Two Weeks with Love" is a delightful coming of age comedy musical, with a couple of young actresses who could really sing and dance. In the mid- 20th century, and the 50 or so years of earlier society that the movies often showed, coming of age was a well defined rite of passage – for both boys and girls. But young ladies seemed to be more aware of it – or it meant more to them. For the last half century or so, the focus just seems to be on teen years, with passage morphed in there somewhere and not clearly defined. So, society isn't as cognizant of this particular time anymore and we no longer see coming of age films. But, this one is a dandy, and the coming of age is "the issue" around which the plot unfolds. Jane Powell plays Patti Robinson, the female who is coming of age, and Carleton Carpenter plays Billy Finlay, the male who is coming of age. Besides these two characters, this film is loaded with young talented singers and dancers, and with a cast of wonderful performances, young and old. Ricardo Montalban, though a very good actor overall and in this role, just seemed a curious choice to play the male lead, Demi Armendez. He was 41 when the film was made, and even makeup can't quite make him look too much younger.Right behind Patti, who is 17 in this movie, is her sis, Melba, played by Debbie Reynolds. She is 15. She and Patti are in a one-way romantic triangle with Finlay. Melba pines for Billy, who pines for Patti, who pines for someone else, so long as it's not Billy. Both female singers play their younger roles especially well. Believe it or not, Powell and Reynolds have the same birthday – April 1, three years apart. Powell was 21 when the film was made, and plays a 17-year- old. Reynolds was 18, and plays a 15-year-old. They carry it off very nicely and believably. The two starlets became close friends for life, and made two more musical comedies together. They played sisters again in the 1954 movie, "Athena," and were paired as friends in the smash hit, "Hit the Deck" with Tony Martin and others. As of my writing this review, both actresses are still alive. Both had long careers in film and on television. Powell's soprano singing roles faded by the end of the 50s, and Reynolds' singing roles ended with the 60s. Both would sing in some of their TV appearances later, and Reynolds especially had a much more full acting career, mostly in comedy. Powell's biggest hit beside her pairings with Reynolds was "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers" in 1954. Reynolds had major hits with "Singin' in the Rain" in 1957, "The Unsinkable Molly Brown" in 1964, and "The Singing Nun" in 1967. She had her own TV variety show in 1969-70. "Two Weeks with Love" is a fun, warm and funny movie that the whole family will enjoy. Reynolds is especially good in her role, and the supporting players all are very good. It's a hilarious two-week vacation for the Robinson family at Kissameee in the Catskills. Here are two samples of very funny situations in the film. The Robinson's are in the resort dining room which is full with guests, when the suave Demi Armendez (Montalban) arrives in the doorway. We never learn who it is, but an older woman on his arm may be his mother or an aunt or who knows what. The woman is wearing a black dress with white trim on the top. Demi is wearing a loud sport coat -- loud especially for that time. It's a three-color broad striped coat in red, orange and tan. The table conversations all stop and everyone looks at the couple. "What are they staring at?" Montalban says to the woman. She replies, "My new dress." Later, Patti thinks she has missed her chance with Demi and she's sitting alone at the drugstore counter. She has ordered a strawberry soda. "I guess there's nothing left for me to do but become a missionary," she says. The old-timer druggist sets her soda down and says, "Well, you wouldn't want to do that on an empty stomach."
diannecf
A beautiful, innocent show -- well sort of. The turn-of-the-century generation was not naive about sex, they just had a better way of making it subtle.Has nobody guessed? This is the movie which was updated to become, I kid you not, Dirty Dancing. The father-daughter tenderness, the girl who loves to dance and who takes over at the Catskill resort entertainment when the jealous leading lady has a problem, the coming of age of a woman on vacation with the cooperation of an entertainer -- "Mr. Robinson, your child is no longer a child." The parents' yielding to the breakdown of social barriers. It's all there.
