Films revolving around three-girls-about-town are sure bets for campy dialogue, wild costumes, and overblown theme songs: "Three Coins in the Fountain." "Come Fly with Me." "The Pleasure Seekers." "Valley of the Dolls." 1960's "Where the Boys Are" cleverly disguises itself as a harmless beach-blanket romp (and tosses in a fourth girl, Connie Francis, so she can belt out that overblown theme song), but fear not: the theme of this "kids" picture is the same as those aforementioned trash classics: Sex. As is de rigeur for films of this ilk, each character represents a singular, one-dimensional purpose: Good Girl (Dolores Hart), Bad Girl (Yvette Mimieux) and Goofy Girl (Paula Prentiss). Connie's character is a sort of a cross between Dolores' and Paula's, and though she adds a nicely ethnic, urban flair to the proceedings, she's really just a glorified guest star. (Dig her crazy beatnik number, dad.) The wafer-thin plot revolves around the gals vacationing in Ft. Lauderdale on spring break, all the while plotting marriage while the guys are scheming for sex. Given its time period, the film actually fires off a few eyebrow-raising salvos on pre-marital sex and a woman's desire for it; but, of course, the Good Girl still waits, and the Bad Girl pays for her wanton ways. In the end, "Where the Boys Are" isn't quite as enjoyable as, say, "The Pleasure Seekers" because it simply isn't trashy enough, but it IS a fun, fluffy look at sex and the single girl, circa 1960. Plus, there's the always-welcome cameo presence of the divine Barbara Nichols, who made a career out of playing lovably daffy, brassy showgirl types.
Review of Where the Boys Are
