Pamela Tiffen & Karl Malden in Come Fly with Me (1963)

Obscurity factor: 5

Fly high with the fun girls of Polar Atlantic Airways! These three girls (Pamela Tiffen, Lois Nettleton and Dolores Hart) are foot loose and fancy free on the New York, Paris, Vienna route. They each meet a special someone and each go through turbulence with them in the high flying world of being an airline stewardess. Carol (Tiffen) falls in love with a co-pilot (Hugh O'Brian), Donna (Hart) with an Austrian baron who turns out to be a smuggler and Hilda (Nettleton) with a shy, unassuming millionaire who flies coach (Malden). Will these girls be able to make their romances work when the wheels are on the ground?

This film is beautifully shot in New York and Europe and though the story is stock and soapy (sort of a high flying The Best of Everything without the suicide) the performances are charming and the characters are enjoyable. For those of you who know New York's Kennedy Airport, look for it in its architectural hey day during the opening credits.

This was the first of the films to glamorize the lives of stewardesses in the 1960's. It's somewhat known for that distinction. It's not available on DVD yet, and somewhat hard to find. You can, however, watch the whole film on YouTube. Part one is above, uploaded by heapsoflovenozomi. The poster above is available at MoviePosterShop.com.

Obscurity factor: 5 (known for being a "first", not on DVD, otherwise obscure, available on YouTube)

Peter Ustinov & Maggie Smith in Hot Millions (1968)

Obscurity factor: 6

Marcus Pendleton (Ustinov) has just been granted his freedom from prison, and after completing the warden's tax return, he steps out into the cool English afternoon. The warden gives him a warning that with the growing ubiquity of computers, the crime of embezzlement will all but die out, so he really should go straight. So what does Mr. Pendleton do? He impersonates computer expert Caesar Smith and gets a job in the London office of a major American corporation. Learning the ins and outs of their computer system, he's able to devise a scheme to skim a million pounds off the corporation. Along the way he meets Patty Terwilliger (Smith) - a girl who doesn't do anything particularly well, and demonstrates that with a series of disastrous jobs, including as Caesar's secretary. She and Caesar form a bond.

This film has been on my list to cover for this blog since I started it, but I was never able to watch it. Luckily it came up on TCM on Tuesday morning at 6, so I DVRd it. It's a really delightful film, with some lovely acting by Peter Ustinov and Maggie Smith. Also look for Karl Malden and Bob Newhart in the cast, and listen for a sensational score by Laurie Johnson. It's also notable for including rare footage of the Beatles Apple boutique, which was only open in London for a short time.

Though there's no full length streaming video of this online, you can find it on DVD. I was surprised that Netflix didn't carry it. The trailer is above, uploaded to YouTube by stsgirlie.The poster above is available from MoviePosterShop.com.

Obscurity factor: 6 (on DVD, rarely screened, no available to watch online)