The Affairs of Dobie Gillis (1953)

Though the film may be titled The Affairs of Dobie Gillis, Dobie -- that is, Bobby Van -- takes second billing to Debbie Reynolds. The scene is a Midwestern university, where freshman Dobie Gillis and his pal Charlie Trask (Bob Fosse) court cute coeds Pansy Hammer (Debbie Reynolds) and Lorna Ellingboe (Barbara Ruick). Pansy's wealthy father (Hanley Stafford) can't stand Dobie and does everything in his power to keep them apart. Along the way, Dobie and Pansy manage to blow up the chemistry lab, while Dobie's officious English professor Pomfritt (Hans Conried) is misled to believe that the feckless Gillis is a literary genius. With Bobby Van, Debbie Reynolds, Bob Fosse, and Barbara Ruick in the cast, The Affairs of Dobie Gillis simply has to have a few musical numbers in its repertoire -- and it does. The film was based on the novel by Max Shulman, which subsequently served as the basis for the popular TV series of the late '50s-early '60s. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi