A beach party style movie – teenagers, lots of dancing and romance, music - although it's set at a lake rather than the beach: three college friends hope to get work at a resort over the summer – it’s cancelled so they offer to put dances on themselves.
Sam Arkoff once said the secret to AIP’s Beach Party series was to not let the real world in – this one does; the kids worry about money, Quinn O’Hara’s boyfriend won’t take charity from her father. The opening ten minutes are very serious; indeed, a lot of the film has a serious tone. More in line with typical beach party fare is the plot involving Raquel Welch, in her first starring role, as a nerd (i.e. she wears glasses on top of the bikini) who romances James Stacy as a scientific experiment.
It’s not among the top rank of beach party films, but it’s full of some interesting people: Michael Blodgett, later in Beneath the Valley of the Dolls (and even later a successful writer, of Turner and Hooch, among others), has a supporting role; Gerry Lewis does a few numbers and speaks some dialogue (you can hear his dad in his voice); The Righteous Brothers performs a rocking number. Quinn O’Hara is sweet and I enjoyed Welch, even if she’s not very convincing (and not very feminist, giving up her books at the end to go go dance - but it’s just so fun to see her.)
NB some trivia: the director of this film later died in a crash; lead James Stacy later lost a leg in an accident and went to gaol for molesting a girl.
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