Why Didn't William Castle Just Use Tippy Walker And Merrie Spaeth In "I Saw What You Did???????????????????????"

                                   Darlings, it was only 1965, and they were the right ages, and after their previous year's triumph in "The World Of  Henry Orient......."

                                     But I am getting ahead of myself.  "The World Of Henry Orient" was a 1964 film adapted by Nunnally Johnson, from his daughter Nora's novel of the same title.  Tippy and Merrie play Valerie Boyd and  Marian Gilbert.  Both attend a posh Manhattan private girls school, and are outsiders; Marian, most likely because she is a scholarship kid, being raised by a single mother.  Though how they afforded NYC's Upper East Side, even in  1964, was beyond me.  Valerie comes from  a wealthy, but negligent, family, so  she is starved  for attention.  She and Marian bond,  and are absorbed with the doings of this rather mediocre concert pianist named Henry Orient,  played by Peter Sellers.

                                       Cute, teenage nonsense.

                                       I have no doubt Castle saw 'Orient,' because the girls he cast so much resemble both Walker and Spaeth.  They were Andi Garrett, as Libby Mannering,  and Sara Lane,  as Kit  Austin.  The  quartet never went anywhere after their respective film appearances; though Tippy now  lives in Connecticut,  and is an artist, while  Merrie  has  been a Republican party worker  for  years; I just hope she was not part of  the Trump Era.

                                           Before getting back to the movie at hand,  I should notify all Theater Queens who may not know, that 'Orient' was the source for a 1967 musical, entitled "Henry, Sweet Henry," that made Musical Theater Legends out of Neva Small as Marian Gilbert, and Alice Playten,  as Lillian Kafrtiz.  Robin  Wilson, new to  Broadway,  and with a  strong, but not especially distinctive, voice,  played Valerie Boyd,  and went nowhere.

                                             (Nunnally Johnson once again adapted his daughter Nora's novel for the musical stage, with Music  and  Lyrics by Bob Merrill.  The  adults  included Don Ameche, Carol Bruce,  and Louise Lasser.)

                                             Neither did Andi and Sara, though they did bits here and there. In  the  film  under discussion, they almost caricature 1965 teens, which is why I felt the naturalness of Walker and Spaeth might have been  better.   But maybe this was what Willliam Castle was  going  for, because it is impossible to take this film seriously.

                                                The premise is  SO  simple.  The girls are home  at Libby's house, babysitting for  younger sister, Tess.  They start playing  a game where they make random calls, saying  the  titular line into the phone, then hanging up.  However....they stumble upon John Ireland, as Steve  Marak, who, even  before  the  girls call,  has problems.

                                                   Castle  reverses the shower scene in  "Psycho," by having a  naked man murder a clothed woman.  What is shown  of  Ireland is not the least bit hot.  Then, there is his next door  neighbor, Amy Nelson, played by Joan Crawford, who,  I am telling you, livens things up.

                                                       Joan plays a woman  desperate for a  man, and she wants Steve.  No matter how he treats her,  even murders her, Joan stands by her man.  She had  to have  been desperate for a part, to do this, but she is such a hoot, one cannot help admiring  her.  And she did this after quitting "Hush....Hush, Sweet Charlotte."

                                                           The film is so contrived, this is all one needs to know.  Even William  Castle, I  bet, could not keep a straight face.

                                                               This was one of  the most  perfectly suited  films for  "Svengoolie," darlings!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!