Where the Boys Are (1960)

Four very different college girls drive to Fort Lauderdale, Florida for spring break and seek out various adventures and romance for themselves.

Director:

Henry Levin

Writers:

George Wells (screen play), Glendon Swarthout (novel)

Stars:

Dolores Hart, George Hamilton, Yvette Mimieux

2 nominations.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Dolores Hart	...	Merritt Andrews
George Hamilton	...	Ryder Smith
Yvette Mimieux	...	Melanie Tolman
Jim Hutton	...	TV Thompson
Barbara Nichols	...	Lola Fandango
Paula Prentiss	...	Tuggle Carpenter
Chill Wills	...	Police Captain
Frank Gorshin	...	Basil
Rory Harrity	...	Franklin
Ted Berger	...	Stout Man on Beach
John Brennan	...	Dill
Connie Francis	...	Angie

Storyline

Merritt, Melanie, Tuggle and Angie are four Midwestern college co-eds who travel to Fort Lauderdale, Florida for their spring vacation and we follow the episodic series of adventures and romance they all get into with some college guys they meet.

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Plot Keywords:

spring break | florida | vacation | beach | based on novel | 

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Taglines:

When 20,000 GIRLS meet 20,000 BOYS SOMETHING'S bound to happen!

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Official Sites:

Warner Bros. WB Shop / Warner Archive

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

28 December 1960 (USA)

Also Known As:

Bastam Dois para Amar

Filming Locations:

Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Euterpe

Technical Specs

Runtime:

99 min

Sound Mix:

4-Track Stereo (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Film debut of Paula Prentiss and Connie Francis.

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Goofs

While Merritt is at the controls of Ryder's family yacht, only one throttle is forward on what is obviously a twin-engine boat. That would have made for considerable control difficulties trying to run the boat in that way.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Narrator: For fifty weeks of the year, Fort Lauderdale, Florida is a small corner of tropical heaven, basking contentedly in the warm sun. During the other two weeks, as colleges all over the country disgorge their students for Easter vacation, a change comes over the scene. The students swarm to these peaceful shores in droves, twenty thousand strong. They turn night into day, and a small corner of heaven into a sizeable chunk of bedlam. The boys come to soak up the sun, and a few carloads ...

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Crazy Credits

"and introducing Connie Francis"

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Connections

Spoofed in Where the Boys Aren't (1989)

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Soundtracks

Where the Boys Are
Words by Howard Greenfield
Music by Neil Sedaka
Performed by Connie Francis (uncredited)
Courtesy of Nevins - Kirshner

User Reviews

Double Standards Bedevil Coeds in Groundbreaking Spring Break Flick

Forty-five years have elapsed since its original release, but it is amazing how this 1960 film introduced a particular genre that continues to be produced today granted in a far more explicit manner - the spring-break, beach-party movie where attractive teens go through a sun-drenched mating ritual and somehow love triumphs over carnal knowledge. Back then, the concept didn't seem quite as jaded as it does now, and consequently there is an entertaining naiveté about the timeworn story of four co-eds from a snowy Midwestern college who journey to Ft. Lauderdale for spring break to meet boys.

The plot is based on the then-accepted notion that girls in college are only marking time waiting for husbands to come along, but the journey to that goal depends on the girl. The four in question are Merritt, a smart blonde who is not living up to her academic potential as she questions the moral code around premarital sex; Melanie, so deeply insecure she mistakes sex for love with a less-than-honorable Ivy Leaguer; Tuggle, a tall brunette who zeroes in on an even taller, eccentric hitchhiker; and Angie, the supposedly plain one who gets used to being ignored by men.

Directed in a perfunctory fashion by Henry Levin, this is not the type of movie where you are terribly impressed with the performances, but I have to say the acting is certainly miles above subsequent beach-party movies. Elvis' former leading lady Dolores Hart plays Merritt credibly even as she is being seduced by a youthful George Hamilton wanly playing Ryder, a well-to-do Ivy Leaguer with a conveniently located yacht. As the most troubled of the girls, Yvette Mimieux (always loved her name) accurately captures the constantly forlorn, little-girl-lost state of Melanie, a teen-aged Blanche du Bois in the making.

So pert and charming as Angie, Connie Francis actually seems miscast as a plain-Jane, especially when she sings "Turn on the Sunshine" with a stage polish completely out of character. The standout is Paula Prentiss who portrays Tuggle with her unique personality in full bloom and partnered the first of several times with Jim Hutton as the comically obnoxious TV. She is an under-appreciated comedienne with a loopy charm and vibrantly twangy voice all her own - it's a shame her career never really took off the way it deserved to.

I think the film does make a valid, sometimes even perceptive attempt to address the confusion that Eisenhower-era girls had over sex and love. Girls were expected to function under a double-standard where the only way to attract boys was to have something to offer but at the price of their reputations. This point is hammered home when the tone shifts in the last portion to melodrama. At the same time, the film is filled with predictable comic scenes, including a contrived mêlée in an underwater tank with the zaftig and nasal Barbara Nichols as Esther Williams-wannabe Lola Fandango.

Prentiss offers her services and remembrances to the alternate audio commentary track on the DVD, which also comes with a looking-back featurette which includes interviews with Prentiss and Francis. Who knew this film would launch a hundred imitations? The minute you hear Francis sing the title tune, it is hard for a baby boomer not to get nostalgic. If you have an interest in understanding the mid-century moral code enforced upon the youth of America, especially girls, I can think of worse films to see.