Starring
Dolores Hart
George Hamilton
Yvette Mimeaux
Paula Prentiss
Connie Francis
Frank Gorshin
Jim Hutton
Chill Wills
Barbara Nichols
George Hamilton
Yvette Mimeaux
Paula Prentiss
Connie Francis
Frank Gorshin
Jim Hutton
Chill Wills
Barbara Nichols
In 2003 Turner Classic Films had a poll where fans could vote for films they would like to see on DVD. The top five vote getters would be the films that would get a DVD release. Surprisingly, Where the Boys Are is one of the five films that voters preferred along with Days of Wine and Roses, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, The Postman Always Rings Twice, and The Wind and the Lion. It's a testament to how well this film has held up for the past forty-three years, not an easy task considering the film’s subject matter.
The basic premise is this: Four college girls escape the freezing north during spring break and head to Ft. Lauderdale because as the title says, that's where the boys are. Not much to make a film about I suppose, but stories have hit the big screen with a lot less plot than that going for them. What Where The Boys Are does have is a witty ahead of its time script by screenwriter George Wells (based on a novel by Glendon Swarthout), a cast of attractive relatively new stars assembled by producer Joe Pasternak some nice Florida Scenery and Connie Francis singing the heck out of a couple of songs.
The cast is headed by Dolores Hart as Merritt Andrews. Although having a high I.Q., Merritt is having trouble in college because she has a tendency to say what's on her mind, and sometimes what's on her mind must have sent a shiver down the spine of many parents way back in 1960. Meredith dares to suggest to some stodgy old professor that premarital sex (playing house is how she puts it I think) might not only be OK but should almost be prerequisite for marring. I don’t have to tell you that an opinion like that was pretty daring stuff in the ancient time. Her stance in the class room lets us know right away that Merritt is not only a bit more complex than we expect, but that she may actually have some though processes going on which automatically puts this film a hundred miles ahead of any others in this genre . Dolores Hart is exceptio
The basic premise is this: Four college girls escape the freezing north during spring break and head to Ft. Lauderdale because as the title says, that's where the boys are. Not much to make a film about I suppose, but stories have hit the big screen with a lot less plot than that going for them. What Where The Boys Are does have is a witty ahead of its time script by screenwriter George Wells (based on a novel by Glendon Swarthout), a cast of attractive relatively new stars assembled by producer Joe Pasternak some nice Florida Scenery and Connie Francis singing the heck out of a couple of songs.
The cast is headed by Dolores Hart as Merritt Andrews. Although having a high I.Q., Merritt is having trouble in college because she has a tendency to say what's on her mind, and sometimes what's on her mind must have sent a shiver down the spine of many parents way back in 1960. Meredith dares to suggest to some stodgy old professor that premarital sex (playing house is how she puts it I think) might not only be OK but should almost be prerequisite for marring. I don’t have to tell you that an opinion like that was pretty daring stuff in the ancient time. Her stance in the class room lets us know right away that Merritt is not only a bit more complex than we expect, but that she may actually have some though processes going on which automatically puts this film a hundred miles ahead of any others in this genre . Dolores Hart is exceptio
nal as Merritt, and because of this she is the center of our attention from the beginning of the film to the end. Ms. Hart shines in this film and its kind of a shame that we never got a chance to see her full potential as an actress. It seemed she decided to enter the convent. From Wikipedia:Using the stage name of 'Dolores Hart', in 1956 she was signed to play a supporting role as the love interest to Elvis Presley in the 1957 release Loving You. After this appearance, Hart was in frequent demand, and she made two more films before playing with Presley again in 1958's King Creole. She has denied ever having had an 'intimate' relationship with Presley off-screen. Hart then debuted on Broadway, winning a 1959 Theatre World Award as well as a Tony Award nomination for Best Featured Actress for her role in The Pleasure of His Company.In 1960, Hart starred in Where the Boys Are, a teenage comedy about college students on spring break which developed a near cult-like following. In the film, Hart plays a co-ed who struggles to define herself when confronted with her newly-discovered sexuality and popularity with the opposite sex. She went on to star in four more films, her last opposite Hugh O'Brian in 1963's Come Fly with Me. At this point she had made up her mind to leave the film industry, and after breaking off her engagement to Los Angeles businessman Don Robinson, the twenty-five-year old actress became a Roman Catholic nun at the Benedictine Abbey of Regina Laudis in Bethlehem, Connecticut, ultimately becoming the Prioress of the Convent. She chants in Latin eight times a day.
Pay close attention to her performance as Merritt as I did and you'll understand what we may have missed. She is the glue that holds the film together.
Paula Prentiss makes her big screen debut as Tuggle and shows quite a flair for comedy. She's the one who has vowed to be a "good girl". In other words, without a wedding ring on her hand there will be no hanky panky. The parents of the sixties probably loved her for it.
Yvette Mimeaux plays naive freshman Melanie. She ends up taking Merritt's ideas in class about sex and putting them into action. In 1960's morals, we know she's headed for trouble and was probably the poster girl for parents to point out the evils that would befall you for indulging in a little bit of bedroom parlor games. It used to be that I didn’t really care for the character of Melanie or Mimeaux’s over wrought performance in the role. But looking at the film now, it’s a bit better than I gave it credit for and perhaps I was judging it more by today’s standards instead of 60’s standards. I still think that Melanie’s side plot does slow the film down and kind of saps the energy out of the film at times.Connie Francis is a revelation as girl hockey player, Angie. We are never given her exact views on sex so you can paint her in a neutral corner. For some reason (I guess because she's a hockey player)she has trouble getting a guy. I seriously doubt someone who looks like her would have that kind of a problem, but Francis plays the role in a ditsy kind of way. She's adorable, and we love her. Add to this the fact that the girl can sing up a storm and you'll replay the opening titles several times just to hear that heart throbbing voice. Angie is one gal just about anybody would like to have hanging around just for laughs. Her most memorable scene here takes place in a diner as she and Merritt try to eat on the cheap.
Jim Hutton plays TV Thompson, a hitchhiker that the girls pick up on their way to Fort Lauderdale. He has this rather odd thing going with hats. He hooks up with Tuggle, and their on screen chemistry blends together like peaches and cream. It’s very telling that Hutton and Prentiss went on to make several more films together. Their moments together on screen are a hoot.
George Hamilton plays Merritt's love interest Ryder. Ryder is a millionaire who goes to Princeton, rides around in his grandfather's yacht and has eyes for Merritt. Hamilton is playing the usual George Hamilton type of role, but for this film it's perfect as Ryder Smith would probably be just like George or vice versa. His scenes with Merritt are very cleverly written. He attempts to find a way to seduce her, but knows she is way too intelligent to fall for the standard pick-up lines. And just like Tuggle and TV, Ryder and Merritt also have good chemistry.
Frank Gorshin plays a nearly blind jazz musician named Basil, whom Angie seems to end up with by default. It works because they both seem to have a whacked out comedy sense. Unfortunately, all poor Melanie can end up with is a couple of wicked evil guys who want her as their own private sex toy. John Brennan as Dill and Rory Harrity as Franklin manage to be sleazy enough to do what they have to do, than you can forget them both which apparently most people did as evidenced by their lack of screen credits after this film. Also on hand are a delightful Barbra Nichols as the sea nymph with great lungs and Chill Wills shows up as a police captain with a couple of brief but funny scenes.
Where this film excels is in the performances and chemistry of its young cast and whether it was by design or accident there is no mistaking the Camaraderie the entire cast shares. Where it sometimes falters, or at least will in the eyes of those who may view it for the first time, is in some of it's very out dated premises about relationships between men and women. Despite the fact that they are all college women, Where the Boys Are would still have us believe that the only thing these women are interested in is finding the right guy who will wrap a ring around their finger. Even Merritt, who is outspoken early in the film, ends up seeming to want nothing more than to get Ryder and his millions down the aisle. Then again, in 1960 there may have been millions of women who would have loved to get hitched to Ryder and his millions.
But the fact that this film also falls back on the premise that if you hop in the hay with a guy before marriage, you'll suffer severe penalties for it. This is hammered home by the presence of Melanie. Because she makes the "mistake" of doing what nice girls shouldn't, she automatically is punished for it. One would have thought that as forward thinking as the screenplay writer seemed to have been in the early part of the film, he would have taken a chance on going in a different direction with that story line. But again, that was then and this is now and it’s easy to criticize something that took place 47 years ago.
My advice is to try to overlook the parts of the film that may now seem dated. Instead, enjoy the witty dialog, the on screen chemistry of the stars, the Florida scenery, and listen to Connie Francis belt out Where The Boys Are a few times. Heck, that alone is enough for me to give this film a B.
Jim Hutton plays TV Thompson, a hitchhiker that the girls pick up on their way to Fort Lauderdale. He has this rather odd thing going with hats. He hooks up with Tuggle, and their on screen chemistry blends together like peaches and cream. It’s very telling that Hutton and Prentiss went on to make several more films together. Their moments together on screen are a hoot.
George Hamilton plays Merritt's love interest Ryder. Ryder is a millionaire who goes to Princeton, rides around in his grandfather's yacht and has eyes for Merritt. Hamilton is playing the usual George Hamilton type of role, but for this film it's perfect as Ryder Smith would probably be just like George or vice versa. His scenes with Merritt are very cleverly written. He attempts to find a way to seduce her, but knows she is way too intelligent to fall for the standard pick-up lines. And just like Tuggle and TV, Ryder and Merritt also have good chemistry.
Frank Gorshin plays a nearly blind jazz musician named Basil, whom Angie seems to end up with by default. It works because they both seem to have a whacked out comedy sense. Unfortunately, all poor Melanie can end up with is a couple of wicked evil guys who want her as their own private sex toy. John Brennan as Dill and Rory Harrity as Franklin manage to be sleazy enough to do what they have to do, than you can forget them both which apparently most people did as evidenced by their lack of screen credits after this film. Also on hand are a delightful Barbra Nichols as the sea nymph with great lungs and Chill Wills shows up as a police captain with a couple of brief but funny scenes.
Where this film excels is in the performances and chemistry of its young cast and whether it was by design or accident there is no mistaking the Camaraderie the entire cast shares. Where it sometimes falters, or at least will in the eyes of those who may view it for the first time, is in some of it's very out dated premises about relationships between men and women. Despite the fact that they are all college women, Where the Boys Are would still have us believe that the only thing these women are interested in is finding the right guy who will wrap a ring around their finger. Even Merritt, who is outspoken early in the film, ends up seeming to want nothing more than to get Ryder and his millions down the aisle. Then again, in 1960 there may have been millions of women who would have loved to get hitched to Ryder and his millions.But the fact that this film also falls back on the premise that if you hop in the hay with a guy before marriage, you'll suffer severe penalties for it. This is hammered home by the presence of Melanie. Because she makes the "mistake" of doing what nice girls shouldn't, she automatically is punished for it. One would have thought that as forward thinking as the screenplay writer seemed to have been in the early part of the film, he would have taken a chance on going in a different direction with that story line. But again, that was then and this is now and it’s easy to criticize something that took place 47 years ago.
My advice is to try to overlook the parts of the film that may now seem dated. Instead, enjoy the witty dialog, the on screen chemistry of the stars, the Florida scenery, and listen to Connie Francis belt out Where The Boys Are a few times. Heck, that alone is enough for me to give this film a B.
0 comments:
Post a Comment