Tickle Me: Bel Ami 2000 oder Wie verfuhrt man einen Playboy? (1966)

German Poster

Bel Ami 2000 oder Wie verfuhrt man einen Playboy? (aka How to Seduce a Playboy) is an Austrian/Italian co-production comedy in German, directed by Michael Pfleghar.

Here is the synopsis of the film from the U.S. pressbook:

Editor Sokker (Joachim Fuchsberger) of the internationally famous men's magazine, "Bel Ami," summons senior reporter Boy Schock (Renato Salvator) into his office, where a giant computer is spitting out row after row of statistics. Every year, "Bel Ami," selects the perfect playboy of the year, an announcement which is awaited with great excitement. The magazine's Lothario's picture is tacked upon the bedroom walls of millions of young girls, and he becomes the romantic target of countless women from sixteen to sixty. Backed by a highly organized and efficient advertising and publicity campaign, the magazine's playboy stunt has the circulation of the sexy magazine high into the millions.

The computer finally spits out the name of this year's winner: Peter Keller (Peter Alexander), an unassuming, bespectacled young accountant employed by the Globus Company. Emissaries from the magazine immediately grab the young man from his desk and transport him to the "Bel Ami" offices. Keller looks like anything but a sexy playboy and editor Sokker blows his top. The computer must have made a mistake.

But there is no getting out of it now; press photographs and releases already have been mailed out. Boy Schock has an idea: take the mild accountant to Paris and transform him into the public's No. 1 heartbreaker. Schock and Keller leave for Paris immediately when Sokker learns that Vera (Antonella Lualdi), star reporter for the women's magazine, "Bettina," has received a photo of their hero and is determined to expose him as a fraud.

On the night train to Paris, a beautiful young teenager, Lucy (Helga Anders), and her mother (Linda Christian) occupy the same sleeping car as Peter. The harried bookkeeper quickly learns something of the power of feminine wiles as mother and daughter compete for his attention.

Arriving in Paris, Boy Schock shoots a series of pictures and every issue of "Bel Ami" abounds with romantic and sensational stories on the magazine's new super-lover. While the curvacious Vera is attempting to track Peter down, convinced that he is anything but a Casanova, the "Bel Ami" Barrymore falls into the clutches of Ginette (Jocelyn Lane), the Watusi-swinging star of the Paris "Bel Ami" Club.

Fleeing from Vera and Ginette's father, Boy takes Peter to Tokyo where they are overwhelmed by crowds and an official welcoming committee. Peter has been mistaken for the famous U.S. Navy aquanaut, Frank Peppiat, who is scheduled to test a new underwater rocket moored in Tokyo bay.

After a series of hair-raising escapades, Peter, still posing as aquanaut Frank Peppiat, is forced to try out the underwater rocket. The unlikely underwater explorer careens deep into the briny sea and after a wild, super-sonic tour, finally manages to bring the rocket safely to shore at Ostia, near Rome - right in front of the summer villa belonging to a famous film star, Anita Biondo (Scilla Gabel.) Anita, standing invitingly in the romantic moonlight, is too much for the harried Peter. The nymph casts a spell over the helpless Peter and banishes his shyness so completely that he turns into the great lover that "Bel Ami" claimed he was.

In the meantime, Vera has arrived in Rome and learns of sultry Anita's passion for Peter. Any man who can satisfy a woman such as Anita might be a great Cassanova after all, and Vera is determined to find out for herself.

Between the pursuit of Vera and the wiles of Anita, Peter somehow manages to uncover a case of embezzlement. Vera finally gets her man, but loses her story. Boy wires his boss: "The computer was not wrong. Peter Keller is a real "Bel Ami." Vera will verify that statement.

With the above synopsis in mind, I was able to reasonably understand and enjoy the 2010 German DVD release, which has no English options.

The film seems to have a humorous premise and a promising start, but it quickly falls apart. The humor and gags seem to be mostly silly and absurd, at times seeming Jerry-Lewis-like. It has a feel of something that is a cross between a 1960's Jerry Lewis movie and an early 1970's Lando Buzzanca Italian sex comedy. The problem is that it does not resemble the better work of either actor, but instead more resembles their lesser efforts. On a positive note, the location shooting in Vienna, Paris, Tokyo, and Rome makes for nice scenery.

There is some brief, mild nudity at times, but the film might get a PG-13 rating in the U.S. today. None of the skin flashing is courtesy of Jocelyn, though she is sexy enough in bikini-style underwear. She only appears in a roughly 15-minute segment in the middle part of the movie, while Peter is in Paris. Her physical appearance is typical for her in the mid-1960's at first, but then she transitions to a hair style (had to be a wig) in which massive amounts of hair are bunched on the back of her head, with a large, long horse-like tail hanging down. Perhaps that was stylish at that time in Germany, but it looks odd now, even for the groovy 60's. I have no idea whether or not she spoke her own German lines, or whether she was dubbed by someone else, but the voice sounds reasonably close to hers. We get to see Jocelyn do a bit of groovy dancing in a club, but unlike the other females in the scene, we never see full shots of her dancing. That seemed odd.

I don't know why Jocelyn did this film. It's hard to glean much from her performance, other than she looked good, as usual. Unlike most of her other films, however, this film was loaded with females who could almost (almost) rival her in the looks department. It's hard to see how this role could have done anything to further her acting career. If you're a Jocelyn completist, track this one down, otherwise it's probably not worth the effort.

Apparently, while working on the film, Jocelyn posed for some modeling shots for German photographer Lothar Winkler while wearing one of her costumes. Here is a screenshot of Jocelyn in the costume, followed by some of Winkler's shots:

Variety noted in its June 28, 1966 edition that Jocelyn has been cast in "'No Time,' Intercontinental Films." It appears that may have been an early working title of this film. No mention is made of the production until it premiered later in the year, so my best guess is that Jocelyn worked on this film in July, maybe August, of 1966.

Bel Ami 2000 is shown by IMDB as having a West German premiere on November 23, 1966, and Jocelyn was not listed as a participant in a Variety report on the premiere. It was reviewed in the December 7, 1966 edition of Variety based on a November 24 viewing at Zoo Palast in West Berlin (with a running time of 95 minutes).

"Obviously, an abundance (at least by German-Austrian standards) of money and energy went into this production. Director (mostly tv) Michael Pfleghar traveled with his players to such places as Paris, Rome, and Tokyo to create something like a bigscale parody on sex. What he achieved is a thin-plotted gag, which lacks heart.

The plot, in brief, centers on a shy bookkeeper, singled out as 'dream man of the year,' due to the failure of a computer. A sex mag cashes in on that. The question is now who can seduce this involuntary playboy. A lineup of pretty faces aspire; naturally one emerges as the winner.

A presumed highlight occurs when principal player Peter Alexander, has to show himself naked (or nearly so), and is chased through the streets of Rome. Alexander, incidentally, is a multi-sided talent. A comedian-actor-singer-dancer-imitator he might go places if given the right material. He seems to be one of the most underestimated and perhaps neglected talents of the German-language film.

Film has a nice production dress. Colors and settings play a substantial role. Yet with the plot frivolous and the banal humor, it does not promise much in general playoff."

How to Seduce a Playboy had its American premiere in New York on May 14, 1968.

Here is a German program and another German poster, along with some German lobby cards and stills: