YOUNG FONDA REMEMBERED..........."TAMMY AND THE DOCTOR"

Tammy And The Doctor (1963)     I didn't know whether I should sub-title this post "Everybody Had To Start Somewhere"......or maybe "Look Who It Is...Hey, Back In The Day".......

               Instead of eulogizing the Peter Fonda of "Easy Rider" and "Ulee's Gold", it seemed only natural for this blog to pick out Peter's first big screen appearance.......(given my undying obsession for 1960's cheeseball movies......)

               And glossy Hollywood 60's baubles don't come any cheesier than this one........with a game, exuberant Sandra Dee yammering away as deep-from-the-backwoods babe Tammy Tyree. a role first created by Debbie Reynolds.......

               From her non-stop hillbilly babble, you'd think Tammy was raised by wolves who managed to teach her English, but little else......(or possibly 16th century pirates, since she refers to doctors as 'leeches'....)

                Sweeping into a Los Angeles hospital to help care for her elderly guardian (Beulah Bondi), Tammy soon catches the eye (and the heart) of soft spoken cardiac intern Dr. Cheswick....(the slim, tall, 23 year old Peter Fonda).........but first, Fonda has to stake his claim before Tammy's overwhelmed by a horny psychiatric intern.....(the sort-of-young Adam West, only a few years away from "Batman")

                In truth, there's not much to say about Fonda here.......he's stuck in the most worthless role you could have in a 60's romance.....the Boyfriend part in a movie that's strictly a vehicle for the female star. (It's John Gavin beefcake territory.....who in fact performed the same utilitarian function in Dee's previous Tammy outing, "Tammy Tell Me True".....)

               Peter spends his limited screen time appearing mildly uncomfortable.....(and who wouldn't be?)......anyone hoping for a glimmer or hint of the guy who would turn Hollywood upside down with "Easy Rider" will come away disappointed....

               But even in pre-packaged Technicolor spam like this film, BQ plucked out some priceless time capsule moments.......

               .........including: the look of pure shock 'n awe among hospital nurses when Tammy shows them her big bag 'o WEED!!  (The nurses breathe a sigh of relief (or maybe disappointment?) when Tammy explains the weed is ginseng.......

                The most striking moment for BQ, by far.........The God-fearin', Bible-lovin' Tammy shames and humiliates those same nurses for bullying and mocking her at every opportunity.......

                 My, how times have changed.......since today's God-fearin' Bible-lovin' folk, the Evangelicals, now adore and embrace Donald Trump, the cruelest bully in America........

                 In 1963, however, bullies get put in their place......and young Peter Fonda, looking almost as virginal as Sandra Dee, hardly knows what to do when Sandra-Tammy puckers up for a kiss like she's givin' 'em out for a buck at the Iowa State Fair......

                 For nostalgic time-travelers like me who love stopping in to a more innocent era.....
2 & 1/2 stars (**1/2)......an early easy romp for the future Easy Rider.....