Sex Kittens go to College (1960)

(On Cable TV, June 2020) Don’t get your hopes up, filmgoers: Not only is Sex Kittens go to College’s title better than the film itself, it’s also better than anything you could expect from an early-1960s sex comedy. It’s a dumb film about a smart girl, meaning that Hollywood’s flawed conception of intellectualism is also in full deficient display. There’s evidence of cheap lazy filmmaking everywhere: the production values are so low that the film feels like a TV show; a robot and a computer are used as magical devices; insistent sound effects and music highlight just how little is left to subtlety; and a grimacing monkey is obviously the cherry on top of that disappointing sundae. The only highlight here is Mamie von Doren, who plays the brainy blonde-with-a-stripper-past than anchors the film—she’s not that good (she feels like the Monroe duplicate that she was known for), but she’s better than most of the other actors, and has a vivaciousness missing from the rest of the cast. While the title of Sex Kittens go to College and the promise of a cute innocent early-1960s sex comedy may entice you, keep your expectations as low as you can manage them—there’s a lot less to this film that can be suggested.