The Tammy movies are a series of four light-hearted American films about a naive 17-year-old girl from Mississippi, produced by Universal between 1957 and 1967 and based on the character created in Cid Ricketts Sumner's 1948 book Tammy out of Time. The main character of the films is Tambrey "Tammy" Tyree, portrayed as a kind, sweet and polite country girl looking for romantic love. Some elements common to each film are: Tammy falling in love; Tammy singing about being in love; Tammy being hurt by sophisticated city folk; city folk learning something from Tammy; Tammy "puckering up" and then comparing the kiss with her first kiss; Tammy praying to God and talking to her grandmother; Tammy quoting from the Bible; and Tammy relating the wisdom of her grandfather, a lay preacher and moonshiner. Tammy's speech is stereotypical of dialects of the ruralDeep South. Although Tammy is very unworldly and has little formal education, she possesses considerable natural intelligence and determination, which help to bring about happy endings to each of her tales. The films formed the basis of a later television series, simply called Tammy.
Film synopsis
''Tammy and the Bachelor'' (1957)
Peter Brent is rescued by young Tammy and her grandfather when his plane crashes in a swamp, and brought to their houseboat, the Ellen B. When Pete is well enough, he returns home to his fiancée. However, Tammy's grandfather gets caught for moonshining and goes to jail, so he sends Tammy to stay with Pete. Tammy's home cooking, enthusiasm, and sunny personality change Pete and his family. The cast includes Debbie Reynolds as Tammy, Leslie Nielsen as Peter Brent, Walter Brennan as Tammy's grandfather, Mr. Dinwitty, and Fay Wray as Peter's mother, Mrs. Brent.
Tammy leaves the river in Mississippi to attend college, where she develops a relationship with Tom Freeman. Sandra Dee replaces Debbie Reynolds in this and the third Tammy movie. This film introduces both a new theme song, "Tammy Tell Me True", and the character of Mrs. Annie Call, played by Beulah Bondi. Mrs. Call ultimately moves in with Tammy in the Ellen B. and serves as the catalyst for the events in the next film, Tammy and the Doctor.
''Tammy and the Doctor'' (1963)
Mrs. Call has a heart condition that acts up, requiring her to get surgery in Los Angeles, so Tammy tags along. Since there are no guest quarters in the hospital, Tammy gets a job there as a nurse's assistant. Peter Fonda plays Tammy's love interest, Dr. Mark Cheswick, and Adam West has a small part as Dr. Eric Hassler. This is the final entry in the canonic film series, and Sandra Dee's last appearance as Tammy.
''Tammy and the Millionaire'' (1967)
This is actually a re-edit of four half-hour episodes of the 1965 Tammy TV series. In this film, Tammy's last name is Tarleton, and she is played by Debbie Watson.
