Tonight's Movie: Come Fly With Me (1963) - A Warner Archive DVD Review

COME FLY WITH ME (1963) is an entertaining early '60s romantic comedy which is available on DVD from the Warner Archive.

I first enjoyed this film back in 2009, and it was great fun returning to it thanks to the Warner Archive.

The movie will be enjoyed by anyone who loves movies about the "glamour days" of flying, with meticulously dressed stewardesses serving caviar to the first class passengers.

COME FLY WITH ME is a diverting "rom com" following the adventures of three stewardesses: Donna (Dolores Hart), who aspires to marry money and is dazzled at the prospect of romance with an aristocrat (Karl Boehm); warmhearted Bergie (Lois Nettleton), who's romanced by a widower (Karl Malden); and Carol (Pamela Tiffin), the ditzy yet smart-as-a-fox stewardess who stuns copilot Ray (Hugh O'Brian) into falling in love with her.

This viewing cemented my opinion from the first time around that when Nettleton and Malden or Tiffin and O'Brian are onscreen, the movie is terrific fun. Nettleton and Malden are sweet and sympathetic, with Nettleton receiving a nice surprise when she learns that Malden is financially better off than she'd assumed. Tiffin is a comic gem in this, and O'Brian does a great job as her "straight man," who's continually exasperated by her yet keeps coming back for more.

Boehm (of the SISSI films) unfortunately plays a sleazy jewel smuggler who's using Donna, and since we know this from the beginning of the film, it casts a pall on their romantic scenes. I love Dolores Hart, who was so lovely and intelligent in WHERE THE BOYS ARE (1960), but her character isn't especially appealing in this, only agreeing to date Boehm when she learns he's ostensibly wealthy; she might also be just a bit dumb not realizing how she's being used, but stranger things have happened. (There's some real irony that Hart considers Tiffin's character to be a goofball, when it's actually Hart who's duped in matters of the heart.) The Hart-Boehm storyline simply isn't fun compared to the other two couples.

Incidentally, this was Hart's final movie release before she entered a convent, where she serves to this day, over half a century later.

Despite my dissatisfaction with Hart's storyline, overall this film is a lot of fun; I was very glad to revisit it, and I recommend it.

COME FLY WITH ME was directed by Henry Levin. It runs 109 minutes.

The Warner Archive DVD is a crisp widescreen print showing off the photography of Oswald Morris. The DVD includes the trailer.

Thanks to the Warner Archive for providing a review copy of this DVD. Warner Archive releases are MOD (manufactured on demand) and may be ordered from the Warner Archive Collection Store at Amazon or from any online retailers where DVDs and Blu-rays are sold.