I can not believe that he was not nominated and won the Oscsar for Best Supporting Actor for this performance. His banjo scene is one of the classics of the modern cinema, as well as the scene in which he tries to pick up Stephanie Powers. He exceeds the screen acting abilities of Tracy, Olivier, Brando, DeNiro, Hoffman and Mr. Ed.
Yeah, he was playing the same comedy relief role as Jim Hutton in Where the Boys are, and I hated both of them -- not necessarily the actors but those characters. I'm just a few years shy of the target audience for those movies, and I can't imagine how anyone in any period would think that stuff was funny. Both movies present some serious episodes but then undercut them with that junk. In that respect, I thought Palm Springs Weekend was far weaker than its predecessor (even with Frank Gorshin and his goke bottle glasses and "dialectic jazz").
Movie girl: I liked both films for the music - Where the Boys Are. I was little when the song came out (and the film) but collect 50's and 60's rock, so watched these 2 films for the music. The humor was not for me either. Even with the extra touches.