Ask Any Girl (1959)

Good concept, poorly executed.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

This is one my favourite early Shirley Mc Claine films which didn't really tap her enormous acting talents, but gave the viewer a pleasant look at her comic talent. David Niven is the star of this film and is wonderful as the uptight, sexually oblivious brother of Shirley's love interest, who is of course a complete womanizer and twit. This movie also explores the different personalities of woman and how men react to them and vise versa. Rod Taylor also makes a good and memorable cameoin the role of Shirley's boyfriend. The soundtrack is nothing special but is forgotten in the wake of the zany events of this film. I definitely recommend this movie to all lovers of predictable and sweet romantic comedies.

New York is a magnet for a lot of people that are trying to make it in the Big Apple. The 1950s saw a lot of young Americans that wanted to find their way in the world, as was the case of Meg Wheeler, who comes to the city with the idea that success is just a step away. The city was teeming with white collar jobs in all kinds of fields.Little prepares Meg for her arrival at the old Pennsilvania Station. As soon as she goes to ask directions, her luggage disappears! In spite of that rude welcome, Meg gets over that initial bad experience and settles in an all women hotel where she makes friends who come to her rescue providing a wardrobe so she can be presentable for her job interviews.It's not hard for her to find a receptionist job in a sweater manufacturer's shop. The boss knowing Meg has a fine feminine figure wants her to display some of the things he is selling. Meg has her share of men that want to take advantage of her, notably, Ross Tayford, who sees an easy prey, but who is in for a big surprise! Meg who has fallen for Evan Doughton, realizes that in comparison with his older brother, Miles, he is not the man for her. Meg and Miles develop a mutual attraction that proves Meg's heart was conquered by the more mature Miles.The film is made more enjoyable by the presence of a disarming Shirley MacLaine who was fairly new to the cinema, yet, she showed she had a tremendous appeal in everything she played. David Niven is seen as Miles, the older man who falls head over heels with the beautiful Meg. Gig Young and Rod Taylor appear as Meg's pursuers and both are charming. Jim Backus also contributes to the film's success as Meg's boss.Charles Walters directed with sure hand and created a fun film that is entertaining and fun to watch.

This is the film where I first fell under the spell of the quirky heroines SHIRLEY MacLAINE seemed to embody in her early screen roles--and continued to play long after the charm had worn off.But here she's refreshingly innocent, naive, quirky, good-natured and easy to like. In fact, she has to carry the film even though she's playing opposite such pros as David NIVEN (rather stuffy here), GIG YOUNG (casual, relaxed performance), and ROD TAYLOR (always good in light romantic comedies).But it's MacLaine's show all the way as a girl who stumbles into a job at a market research firm run by two brothers, opposite types, one of whom (Niven) decides to shape her into the kind of woman his brother should fall in love with. Naturally, his little scheme backfires and he ends up falling in love with his creation. If you detect a touch of "My Fair Lady" here, you're right.Passes the time quickly in an era where most films did exactly that, lasting no more than an hour and a half.

I forget how damned cute Shirley MacLaine used to be! I saw her in The Trouble with Harry, and loved her, and she is great in this one too! David Niven is wonderfully droll, and the sentimentality of the movie is fun too. Funny, how accepted sexual harassment was in the late fifties...Different world today!