In the late '50s and early '60s, Sandra Dee became the perfect perky teenager in films crafted to spotlight her beauty and precious spunk. Her stardom was immense and she became America's iconic young lady. Unfortunately, the era of her movies languished in repetitive one-dimensional scripts and a sugary image which would make it impossible for her to maintain an A-list career and crossover to the new, permissive Hollywood in force by 1970. Among her charms, keen comic instincts.
1. "Gidget" (1959)
Sandra Dee was the screen's original Gidget, the budding teenage girl who struggles to be considered an equal by older, *wiser* teenage boys. She also yearns through her first love, sighing and setting her sights on the elusive Moondoggie (James Darren). Scarcely two years after entering motion pictures, Dee is a mesmerizing presence, as Gidget smiles and plots her insertion and advancement though a gang of California surfers in the prototypical beach party flick.
2. "The Reluctant Debutante" (1958)
Erudite parents, Rex Harrison and Kay Kendall, introduce their 17-year-old American-born daughter to London society in a pleasant clash of culture and generation gaps. Under the direction of Vincente Minnelli, Sandra Dee, in her second film and first comedy, steals the show from the seasoned veterans around her, including Angela Lansbury. She's already performing full throttle, on par with her grand predecessor, Doris Day, whose shadow Dee was obviously patterned into as her roles matured.3. "Come September" (1961)
Here's Sandra Dee in her 13th movie (in four years), third-billed behind Rock Hudson and Gina Lollobrigida, but that doesn't diminish her shine, as leader of the pack of American girls on summer vacation at an Italian villa, where she falls in love with Bobby Darin. Off camera, the two actors resembled their script: a fast romance and marriage in December, 1960, when Dee was 18 or 16, reports vary. (Highly recommended companion: Kevin Spacey and Kate Bosworth as the couple in "Beyond the Sea.")4. "Tammy and the Doctor" (1963)
Inheriting a role originated by no-less perky Debbie Reynolds, Sandra Dee appeared in the series' first sequel, "Tammy Tell Me True" (1961), but "Tammy and the Doctor" is generally considered the better of her two country gal vehicles and more comedic, as Miss Dee and the M.D. (Peter Fonda in his debut) take each other's temperatures.5. "That Funny Feeling" (1965)
Sandra's final outing with Bobby Darin (following 1962's "If a Man Answers") is cute and bland, with Universal retreading concepts from Day and Hudson's fine "Pillow Talk" (1959) and "Lover Come Back" (1961). The remaining Dee comedies are similarly successful, with the exception of James Garner's spy spoof, "A Man Could Get Killed" (1965), they reside in an increasingly formulaic world ("Take Her, She's Mine" (1963), "Doctor, You've Got to Be Kidding" (1967), "Rosie!" (1967), et al).