Wonderland Burlesque's Let's All Go To The Movies - Summer Edition, Part I : Teen Dreams

Wonderland Burlesque's 

Let's All Go To The Movies

Summer Edition, Part I

Teen Dreams

What can I say? I am in a summer mood.

Today is the first of three Let's All Go To The Movies posts that deal with summer films. In fact, the word is right there in the title! 

This first one? All about teens.

See, Hollywood learned early on that during the summer kids had a lot of time on their hands... so why not entice them to drop a dime at their local cinema palace? 

It's a formula that works and continues to this day. 

So, say 'hello' to summer, and 'hello' to love!

Summer Love

(1958)

Their kind of love keeps time to the beat of their very own music!

The all new story of teenage as told by those Rock Pretty Baby kids - with their souped up rhythm and their mixed-up notions about romance.

Seven new hit tunes.

(This is a sequel to the 1956 film Rock, Pretty Baby.)

(A surprising cast, given the nature of the film. John Saxon - those sexy eyes, those eyebrows, that chin, that mouth - Jill St. John, Rod McKuen - yes, him! - and Fay Wray of King Kong fame! When I think rock star, John Saxon is not a name that comes to mind.)

Those Rock Pretty Baby kids are back!

(Shelley Fabares also makes an appearance as 'Twinkie.')

(By the way, Sal Mineo was in the original film, Rock Pretty Baby, but was too busy to appear in the sequel.)

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The Greengage Summer

(1961)

AKA: The Loss Of Innocence

"A young girl's awakening in a summer of evil!"

(This British drama served as Susannah York's first leading role. Kenneth More recalls that she was a total delight and it remains one of his favorites, calling it as the happiest film set he ever worked on.)

 (The director, Lewis Gilbert, demanded that More go on a strict diet and lose weight in order to be more believable as a romantic lead. Gilbert was never happy with More in the role, as he considered More "too normal."  He would have much preferred Dirk Bogarde. York agreed with Gilbert. She, too felt that Bogarde would have brought "a touch of dark mystery" which More was lacking.) 

(Cary Grant was originally cast as the male lead, but then the film moved to Columbia Pictures, and he was out.)

(Jane Asher also appears in the film)

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Summer Holiday

(1963)

...and the fabulous summer affair.

It's what happens when four boys in a borrowed bus... (with built in bunks and bath!) ... meet four gals with a single mission... men!

It's the craziest four way love affair that ever shook up the folks at home!

(Cliff Richards. Love him, hate him. His is a long, storied career. I adored his late 70's early 80's comeback. This is a British version of an American beach movie. Another sequel, of sorts. The film references an earlier Richard's vehicle, 1961's The Young Ones.)

The 'Young Ones' have gone abroad.

Sixteen song hits! Including - The Next Time, Bachelor Boy

(The musical numbers were choreographed by future director Herbert Ross.)

"From first kiss (in Paris) to last blush (in Greece) it's..."

"Starring the nation's hottest new singer... singing Les Girls, Summer Affair, Bachelor Boy and many more."

"That Hobbs girl is on the loose again!"

(After repeated test recordings, the powers that be decided Laurie Peters wasn't a strong enough singer to carry a song, so all her songs were dubbed by Grazina Frame.)

 

(As a testament to Richard's star power, over 3,000 people showed up for the movie's premiere - so many, that Richards was unable to exit his car and had to miss the premiere altogether. This was the second most popular film in Britain that year, and Richards was voted the most popular British box-office star. The film spun off four #1 British hit songs and a stage musical.)

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Summer Magic

(1963)

"Hayley invites you to join in the fun... love... music... crazy adventures and happiness of..."

(Hayley Mills, Burl Ives, and Dorothy McGuire in a story about an early 1900's Boston widow and her children taking up residence in a small town in Maine - so, no, not a beach movie. The film also includes Una Merkel and Michael J. Pollard - who would go on to become a huge star thanks to Bonnie And Clyde.)

"Hayley's in a whirl!"

"...breezing through her sixteenth summer!"

(This was the fourth film of six that Mills made for Disney - who exploited her image like she was Annette Funicello - and, according to Mills, was the worst of the bunch.) 

That wonderful Hayley!

"A-flitterin' in a romantic whirl of her own!"

(The music is all written by famed Disney songwriter Robert Sherman. Ugly Bug Ball, sung by Burl Ives, proved to be one of the most popular songs of the year. The film also contains Sherman's personal favorite song he ever wrote, On The Front Porch.)

(Based on a novel, the screenplay was written by Sally Benson, the same woman who adapted MGM's Meet Me In St. Louis for Judy Garland.)

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A Swingin' Summer

(1965)

"Spread out the beach towels... grab your gals. It's gonna be..."

"They're lovin', laughin' and livin' it up and for kicks playing chicken on water skis!

(Okay. I am a bit literal. I kept trying to picture how they got a chicken to water ski.)

(This is Raquel Welch's first starring, featured film role. She also makes her singing debut in the film. Linda Evans was originally set to appear in a supporting role, but dropped out.)

"Spread out the beach towels... grab your gals and go-go-go bikini!

(In America, Welch was sixth billed. In Italy, her name appeared above the title and was renamed La Calde Notte/Warm Nights.)

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Endless Summer

(1966)

(This surfer documentary was a huge box office hit and a critical darling. It features a soundtrack filled with surf rock, all provided by The Sandals.) 

(It would spin off two sequels - one in 1994 and one in 2000.)

"A true motion picture about surfing."

"Filmed in Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Tahiti, Hawaii, and California."

(The film's title comes from the idea expressed at both the beginning and end of the film; that if one had enough time and money, it would be possible to follow the summer up and down the world (northern to southern hemisphere and back), making it endless.)

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Last Summer

"Last summer was too beautiful to forget... and too painful to remember."

(Filmed on location at Fire Island and based on Evan Hunters novel of the same name, this coming-of-age film stars Catherine Burns, Barbara Hershey, Bruce Davidson, and Richard Thomas. Burns earned an Academy Award nomination as Best Supporting Actress for her work on the film. The film initially earned an X-rating. Who knew 'John Boy' was in an x-rated film?)

(Sondra Locke was originally offered the role played by Barbara Hershey, but her agent turned it down without telling her about it. Ralph Waite plays Richard Thomas' father in the film, a relationship they would later repeat in the long-running television series The Waltons.)

(During filming, a seagull was accidentally killed when its neck was broken. The incident so shook Barbara Hershey that she changed her surname to Seagull for a couple of years.) 

(All 35mm prints of the film were lost for years. A sole 16 mm version was discovered. The film underwent heavy editing and the original x-rated version has been lost for all time.)

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Summer Of '42

(1971)

"In everyone's life there's a..."

(I always get this one mixed up with The Last Picture Show.)

(This coming-of-age drama takes place off the coast of cape cod. The book, based on the film, became a national runaway bestseller. It was followed up with a sequel, The Class of '44, with actors Grimes, Houser and Conant reprising their original roles.)

(The film was touted as 'based on the bestselling novel,' when, in fact, the film was completed before the book was released.)

(Shot on a budget of $1 million, Warner Bros. had so little faith in the film that, rather than pay Herman Raucher for his screenplay, they offered him 10% of the box office, a deal that ended up, in a big way, in Raucher's favor.)

(Since that time, Warner Bros. has repeatedly attempted to buy back Raucher's 10% of the film and the rights to the story so the can do a remake. Raucher continues to say 'no.')

(During filming, O'Neill was sequestered away from the three young actors in order to ensure that the awkwardness and discomfort experienced in her presence would be genuine.)

(The theme song from the film, The Summer Knows, written by Michel Legrand, with lyrics by Marilyn and Alan Berman, was a huge hit and earned Legrand a Grammy.)

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Summer Lovers

"It's one summer you'll never forget."

(Filmed on location on the island of Santorini, Greece, Summer Lovers stars Peter Gallagher, Daryl Hannah, Valerie Quennessen, Barbara Rush and Carole Cook. Sadly, this was Quennessen final film. She retired from acting shortly after to raise her children and died in a car accident in 1989 at the age of 31.)

(Somehow, the production, under the supervision of an archeologist, was granted unprecedented permission to film at an actual dig; the presumed lost city of Atlantis at Akrotiri.)

(I can attest that the soundtrack album for this film is awesome! Chicago, Tina Turner, Depeche Mode, Heaven 17, etc.)

(Once, David Letterman asked John Waters to give a recent example of bad taste and Waters chose Summer Lovers. He loved the film because it was "about being young, rich, stupid and nude.")

 

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White Water Summer

(1987)

"The strong don't give up. The tough don't give in. And the cool don't give a damn."

"Adventure with an attitude."

(Originally produced as Rites of Summer in 1985, this drama about a camping trip led by Kevin Bacon got a new title upon release in 1987.)

(The commentary which frames the film was recorded two years after the making of the film, shortly before its release. Columbia Pictures released the film theatrically only in the Pacific Northwest region of the US. A wider release was planned, but never came to fruition.)

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And that's all for now...

Tune in next week.

Same time, same channel.

I Know What You Did Last Summer

Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello