Where the Boys Are
1960 US
Dir:Henry Levin
Stars:Dolores Hart, George Hamilton, Paula Prentiss,
Yvette Mimieux
Left:Connie Francis, Center:Yvette Mimieux, Right:Paula Prentiss
Although I don't know how accurately adolescent lives of this period is reflected in this movie (I was born
in Japan in the year when this movie was just made), I can surely say it looks, if no specific reason, really authentic.
To tell the truth, usually I don't like to watch this type of movies which handle the theme concerning the spring
time of one's life. Because I can easily predict in this kind of pictures in what way and direction the story will
proceed, and I think these movies can be classified approximately into four patterns as follows. The first pattern
is the one praising youth with maximum admiration. The second one is the opposite to the first; i.e. the one exposing
and criticizing the vice of youth tactfully drawing on such kind of emotionally-ridden resource materials as sex,
drug and violence. The third one is such a one that some juvenile delinquents go to beach solely for surfing and
hunting girls (or boys). The last one is a one with counter-culture connotation. Although I can't deny the aspect
that "Where the Boys Are" contains some elements of those patterns especially considering the story that
four girls played by Dolores Hart, Paula Prentiss, Connie Francis and Yvette Mimieux go to beach for hunting boys
and some of them gets some bad consequences for it, this picture never goes far in any direction and seems to succeed
in adroitly refraining from accumulating unnecessarily excessive emotional charge and retaining quite a balance.
When I saw this picture for the first time, I didn't think it was a good movie because it looked another example
of all those beach surfing movies even though there wasn't any scene of surfing in it. But, after watching it several
times, I gradually came to notice this film was a really good one because of the remarkable balance it had. Besides,
this picture has several funny scenes that could give to the audience some idea of conviviality ordinary healthy
boys and girls usually have and even the most cynical grown-ups used to have, such as bespectacled musician Frank
Gorshin losing his thick eye-glasses and falling into a water tank displayed amidst a restaurant and swimming around
in the tank in front of many customers of the restaurant with making his eyes round as the moon. Finally, I would
like to add this; that is, the four girls in this movie are all charming. Especially I'm quite impressed with Dolores
Hart's resplendent eyes, and I thought she could have been a big star hadn't she decided to become a nun. In addition,
the theme song sung by Connie Francis is absolutely fabulous.
