Troy Donahue and mother Claudette Colbert move so that she can assist Dean Jagger and his daughter, but we never see her do anything, in this film adaptation of Mildred Savage's novel, Parrish. Instead it centers on Troy's character, Parrish McLean, who of course attracts the opposite sex very easily. Viewers going into this, knowing nothing, expecting another film like "A Summer Place" with Troy and Sandra Dee, will on the whole be disappointed. It does have Connie Stevens in the first 45 minutes literally throwing herself at him, and I still can't decide if the unintentionally-funny dialogue was so bad, it was good or if it was so bad, it was embarrassing. Delmer Daves who adapted "A Summer Place" wrote this as well, and he holds nothing back. I knew Karl Malden, who here is a tobacco tycoon and a rival to Dean Jagger, was a great actor and that he had some lungs, but Karl really outdid himself here. Nobody and nothing is subtle in this family saga working in the tobacco industry. And, while, its over-the-top treatment may be good to a degree, in order to deliver the entertainment, it gets a bit too much and quite a few times, I kept thinking 'Delmer, you're killing me.' Parrish tries to learn the tobacco industry, and while the topic may appeal to a certain few, other viewers will be wondering when will this end. The dynamics of the characters and dramatics of the story moves the viewer along up to the first hour and a half, but it tends to drag by the end. If you want another beach movie, like "A Summer Place," this is far from it. But enjoy it for what it is, if you can, a soap-opera tale with Troy romancing three girls, while working in the tobacco fields.
Review of Parrish
