Palm Springs Weekend (1963)

User Rating:

5.9/10   

Director:

Norman Taurog

Writer:

Earl Hamner Jr. (writer)

Release Date:

5 November 1963 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Tagline:

IT'S WHERE THE BOYS ARE AND THE GIRLS ARE...that swingin' vacation weekend when American youth descends on America's swankiest playground!

Plot:

Set in Palm Springs during a long, fun-filled weekend where several Los Angeles college students flock to spring break...

Plot Keywords:

College | Palms | Spring Break | Basketball | Police

Cast

Troy Donahue	...	Jim Munroe
Connie Stevens	...	Gayle Lewis - Jane Hoover
Ty Hardin	...	Doug 'Stretch' Fortune
Stefanie Powers	...	Bunny Dixon
Robert Conrad	...	Eric Dean
Andrew Duggan	...	Police Chief Dixon
Jack Weston	...	Coach Fred Campbell
Carole Cook	...	Naomi Yates
Jerry Van Dyke	...	Biff Roberts
Zeme North	...	Amanda North
Bill Mumy	...	'Boom Boom' Yates
Dorothy Green	...	Cora Dixon
Robert Gothie	...	Gabby
Greg Benedict	...	Hap
Gary Kincaid	...	Fred

Runtime:

100 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Certification:

Finland:S | USA:Unrated

Filming Locations:

Palm Springs, California, USA

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

During the scene where the motel swimming pool fills up with soap bubbles, a lot of the set crew people and actors became physically sick from the fumes caused by the bubbles popping, forcing the set to be temporarily closed down.

Goofs:

Audio/visual unsynchronized: Eric Dean drives a big cushy Thunderbird with a V-8 engine with automatic. When he's peeling rubber it sounds more like a 4 cylinder Austin Healy.

Quotes:

[Eric dials his home phone number from a payphone rest stop]
Henry Blanchard: [into the phone] Hello?
Eric Dean: [into the phone] Oh, hello Mr. Blanchard. Is my father in?
Henry Blanchard: He's not here. Your father and the "new" Mrs. Dean, number six, left from Reno two days ago on their sunny honeymoon to Acapulco, Mexico.
Eric Dean: [groans] He went and did it again, huh? He didn't say if he was planning to stop in Palm Springs for a couple of days?
Henry Blanchard: No, he didn't mention it.
Eric Dean: He does know that I'm staying here and where to locate me?
Henry Blanchard: Yes, yes, I told him twice as you requested.
Eric Dean: Well, if he calls give him a message. Just tell him that, "Eric sends his regards".
Henry Blanchard: Sure, I'll give him the message.
[...]

Movie Connections:

Referenced in True Romance (1993)

Soundtrack:

Live Young

Wonderful, free-wheeling, nostalgic fun that remains timeless

The nice thing about Palm Springs Weekend is that the film makers did not waste the audiences' and their time with bad language and obscene material like today's film makers do. The plot may not be that original or Oscar material, but then again, not every film is meant to be or should be. However, it is wonderful, free-wheeling, nostalgic fun.

I'm a college student and I saw this film for the first time when I was eighteen years old, and it was probably the first teen flick I could watch from beginning to end without having to change channels because of inappropriate content. The film centers around a group of college students and their antics when they converge on a Palm Springs Hotel for spring break.

The story has its funny moments, like whenever the kids have run-ins with the local police or when Jerry Van Dyke tries to get people to check out his love machine. Watch out for Bill Mumy in the swimming pool scene. You'll laugh like crazy!

The one to see is a young Robert Conrad (why can't there be more young actors like him today?), who's got a big part in this film, even though Troy Donahue got star-billing. This is the perfect film to watch if you're looking for something that's sweet, innocent, and timeless no matter how corrupt and cynical the world has gotten.