Joe Pasternak made his career producing colourful escapist entertainments with an eye on youth: over the years he worked with Deanna Durbin, June Allyson, Peter Lawford, etc - then as rock and roll took the US by storm he showed that he had what it took to make something of the next generation with this cheerful clean teen flick, which adapts the MGM gloss to the boomers. As Danny Peary pointed out, what makes it special is its the stories of four girls who go looking for love during Spring Break - make it about four boys and it becomes sordid (though American Pie which had a similar plot was kind of sweet).
Very strong cast for this sort of thing: Dolores Hart and Yvette Mimieux had been around for a bit, but Pasternak gets marks for discovering Paula Prentiss and teaming her with Jim Hutton (a wonderful duo they made three more films together though none as successful); he also successfully risked Connie Francis in a lead role. George Hamilton is fun as the male lead; ditto Frank Gorshin and Barbara Nichols. Sean Flynn, Errol's son, has a very small role.
Dolores Hart is strong, sexy and sensible as the head girl, kind of like the "Carrie from Sex in the City character - believing that sex should be discussed and women should have the right to sex before marriage... just not necessarily willing to go through with it herself. (This has extra poignancy because Hart went on to become a nun.) She is good friend (she's the one who stays on with Mimieux at the end), still up for romance with Hamilton, but loyal and supportive. It's no wonder Hamilton falls for her. He's well cast too, and is comfortable as the rich preppy dream boat who genuinely likes Hart (as he says, he tells plenty of women he loves them but rarely does he like them).
Mimieux is very believable as the naive thing who misinterprets what Hart says and gets in over her head on spring break. She sleeps around, hoping to nab a husband, but can't handle it - and, in a shocking for its time sequence, gets raped and tries to kill herself. Full on! This movie had numerous knock offs but none of them got this heavy - and perhaps not coincidentally none of them did as well at the box office. I think producers went 'great, colour, young stars, pretty locations... that's what people liked'. Well, yeah, they did but they also liked the fact this movie didn't cop out - I mean, it's very clear that Mimieux has sex, and is raped and wants to kill herself - that is serious stuff, and really makes this movie stand out amongst the glossy beach party movies of the time.
Paula Prentiss is hilarious as the gawky Tuggle. Modern viewers will probably not like the fact that Prentiss says she doesn't want to finish school, she just wants to get married - but cut those few lines out and its a performance with remarkable freshness. I love her with Jim Hutton (who is marvellous) and totally believed them to be one of those couples who instantly click and when they're together it's like they've been happily married for twenty years. She and Hutton were teamed together three more times, neither as successfully although The Honeymoon Machine is fun.
Connie Francis is sweet and not required to do too much except be likeable and sing. I enjoyed her little romance with snobby, short sighted Frank Gorshin. And she and the boys all have tremendous camaraderie - there's a real sense of making friends and being keen to have a good time.
The popularity of this movie ushered in a series of comedies set in exotic locations centered around a bunch of young women looking in love - Follow the Boys, Come Fly with Me, The Pleasure Seekers - but none of them worked as well. None of them ever got as luck with the casting, and none had the serious undertones and sexual freshness which makes this so good.
Very strong cast for this sort of thing: Dolores Hart and Yvette Mimieux had been around for a bit, but Pasternak gets marks for discovering Paula Prentiss and teaming her with Jim Hutton (a wonderful duo they made three more films together though none as successful); he also successfully risked Connie Francis in a lead role. George Hamilton is fun as the male lead; ditto Frank Gorshin and Barbara Nichols. Sean Flynn, Errol's son, has a very small role.
Dolores Hart is strong, sexy and sensible as the head girl, kind of like the "Carrie from Sex in the City character - believing that sex should be discussed and women should have the right to sex before marriage... just not necessarily willing to go through with it herself. (This has extra poignancy because Hart went on to become a nun.) She is good friend (she's the one who stays on with Mimieux at the end), still up for romance with Hamilton, but loyal and supportive. It's no wonder Hamilton falls for her. He's well cast too, and is comfortable as the rich preppy dream boat who genuinely likes Hart (as he says, he tells plenty of women he loves them but rarely does he like them).
Mimieux is very believable as the naive thing who misinterprets what Hart says and gets in over her head on spring break. She sleeps around, hoping to nab a husband, but can't handle it - and, in a shocking for its time sequence, gets raped and tries to kill herself. Full on! This movie had numerous knock offs but none of them got this heavy - and perhaps not coincidentally none of them did as well at the box office. I think producers went 'great, colour, young stars, pretty locations... that's what people liked'. Well, yeah, they did but they also liked the fact this movie didn't cop out - I mean, it's very clear that Mimieux has sex, and is raped and wants to kill herself - that is serious stuff, and really makes this movie stand out amongst the glossy beach party movies of the time.
Paula Prentiss is hilarious as the gawky Tuggle. Modern viewers will probably not like the fact that Prentiss says she doesn't want to finish school, she just wants to get married - but cut those few lines out and its a performance with remarkable freshness. I love her with Jim Hutton (who is marvellous) and totally believed them to be one of those couples who instantly click and when they're together it's like they've been happily married for twenty years. She and Hutton were teamed together three more times, neither as successfully although The Honeymoon Machine is fun.
Connie Francis is sweet and not required to do too much except be likeable and sing. I enjoyed her little romance with snobby, short sighted Frank Gorshin. And she and the boys all have tremendous camaraderie - there's a real sense of making friends and being keen to have a good time.
The popularity of this movie ushered in a series of comedies set in exotic locations centered around a bunch of young women looking in love - Follow the Boys, Come Fly with Me, The Pleasure Seekers - but none of them worked as well. None of them ever got as luck with the casting, and none had the serious undertones and sexual freshness which makes this so good.
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