“SCHOOLGIRL CRUSHED”

By Raymond Benson

George Roy Hill’s 1964 comedy, The World of Henry Orient, is based on a novel by Nora Johnson that fictionalizes her own experiences as a schoolgirl in New York City when she and a friend allegedly had crushes on pianist Oscar Levant. She and her father, Nunnally Johnson, adapted the book to screenplay.

It’s the story of two mid-teens, competently played by newcomers Merrie Spaeth (“Gil”) and Tippy Walker (“Val”), who attend a private girls school in the city. Gil’s parents are divorced and she lives with her mother and another divorcee in a nice Upper East Side apartment. Val’s parents are still married, but unhappily, and they’re constantly traveling the world for her father’s (Tom Bosley) business. This leaves Gil and Val to indulge in precocious imaginary “adventures” around the city.

Val develops an infatuation on eccentric womanizing concert pianist Henry Orient (Peter Sellers) and the pair stalk him around town as he has first an affair with a married woman (the delightful Paula Prentiss) and later Val’s own snobbish mother (Angela Lansbury). Orient spots the two girls several times, leading him to have paranoid fantasies that they are spies working for the cuckolded husbands. In short, the youngsters’ shenanigans end up running the naughty man out of town.

The movie is really an odd little coming-of-age tale concerning children from dysfunctional or broken homes. It works well enough (it was positively received upon release), but it’s hardly a “Peter Sellers movie,” as the publicity campaign promises. Sellers, who receives top billing, is barely a supporting player in the story, although he is indeed very funny. His antics with Paula Prentiss—a highly underrated comic actress who shines in her brief moments—are enjoyable, and the crazy Carnegie Hall concert in which he performs his latest avant-garde composition is hilarious—worth the price of admission.

Mostly the film focuses on the two girls, who, for their debut performances, aren’t bad at all, but don’t quite have the screen charisma to elevate the film to intended heights (Spaeth never acted again; Walker went on to do some television and a couple of other films before retiring from show business in 1972).

The film might be a delight for anyone who knows New York City. As the picture was made on location, it’s a virtual tour guide for the sights, mainly Central Park and the Upper East Side. Elmer Bernstein’s lively score is memorable—especially the catchy main title theme and Orient’s wacky P.D.Q. Bach-like “symphony” (that includes a fog horn).

Kino Lorber’s DVD release comes with no supplements other than trailers for other releases by the company. The video image is fine.

Probably little-seen today, The World of Henry Orient is an interesting time capsule from its era, most significant for being one of three 1964 pictures in which Peter Sellers starred. He was, arguably, at his peak.

CLICK HERE TO ORDER FROM AMAZON