High Time (film)
| High Time | |
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Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Blake Edwards |
| Produced by | Charles Brackett |
| Screenplay by | |
| Story by | Garson Kanin |
| Starring | |
| Music by | Henry Mancini |
| Cinematography | Ellsworth Fredericks |
| Edited by | Robert L. Simpson |
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Production
company |
Bing Crosby Productions
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| Distributed by | 20th Century Fox |
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Release date
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Running time
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103 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $2,815,000 |
| Box office | $2.5 million (US/ Canada) |
High Time is a 1960 American comedy film directed by Blake Edwards and starring Bing Crosby, Fabian, Tuesday Weld, and Nicole Maurey. The film is told from the perspective of a middle-aged man who enters the world of a new generation of postwar youth.
In the years since its release, High Time has come to be viewed as a comedic study of the slowly emerging generation gap between the music and mores of an older generation and postwar youth, as well as an inadvertent time capsule of American adolescents and lifestyles in 1960.
Wealthy restaurateur Harvey Howard (Bing Crosby), a self-made man, widower and owner of "Harvey Howard Smokehouses", decides to go back to college at the age of 51 and earn a bachelor's degree. He faces opposition from his grown snobbish children, as well as a generation gap between himself and his much-younger fellow students. The first day in school he finds that just convincing older students, faculty and the admin personnel is a humorous task. He enrolls and receives freshman rooming, and is up front about his determination to be "just another freshman". Being assigned a quad rooming arrangement, this sets the standard for the upcoming years. Dealing with the student press, the dorm adviser and making that first toast with sauerkraut juice to seal their bond to complete their four years together.
The President's welcoming speech sets the tone for the effort facing the freshman class. Harvey has to convince the Physical Ed coach that he has what it takes to compete by doing ten plus one pull ups to the cheers of his fellow younger frosh, only to collapse on his face upon finishing his set. Another frosh challenge is the bonfire that must exceed the height of the prior years. Harvey meets the French professor, Helen Gauthier when removing a supporting wooden chair from her porch. The bonfire's total height comes up a foot short, Harvey climbs to the summit and deposits his three-foot chair, a very brave and daunting achievement. Having two brilliant roommates and jock Gil Sparrow (Fabian), the academic rigors are always fuel for comedy and camaraderie. Science Professor Thayer, is haphazard, and suffers numerous comedic moments, chemicals that take on a life of their own, pairs of wires that should never be brought near each other during a storm, zap, and improving one's skating skills except on thin ice.
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Wikipedia