Where the Boys Are (1960)

Directed by Henry Levin. Starring Dolores Hart, Paula Prentiss, Yvette Mimieux, Connie Francis, George Hamilton, Jim Hutton, Barbara Nichols, Frank Gorshin, Rory Harrity.

Four college girls find romance in Fort Lauderdale during Spring Break in this wistful comedy from the Glendon Swarthout book. Courtship rituals and other elements instantly date the thing—the Riddler as a beatnik espousing the virtues of “dialectic jazz”, anyone?—but there’s more going on here than you might expect. Some of the dialogue actually rings true, and it plumbs darker depths than the fluff this kind of coming-of-age premise typically produces, leading to a harrowing (and avoidable) experience for the group’s “fun time gal” (Mimeieux). As the member of the quartet with the least interesting path, pop vocalist Connie Francis makes her film acting debut and sings the title tune. Chill Wills appears in one scene as the police captain of the vacation hot spot. Loosely remade twenty-four years later as Where the Boys Are ‘84.

64/100