PALM SPRINGS WEEKEND

Owen Orr, Dorothy Green, Stephanie Powers, Troy Donahue

PALM SPRINGS WEEKEND  (1963). Director: Norman Taurog. 

The members of a college basketball team hightail it by bus to Palm Springs for Easter vacation, unaware that their dyspeptic Coach Campbell (Jack Weston) is along for the ride. A gaggle of gals are also on vacation and before you can say "Where the Boys Are" -- an earlier film that clearly was the inspiration for this one -- the sexes are intertwining in both comedic and light dramatic fashion. Naturally some of these young couples will think they're in love -- after a weekend!

Eric (Conrad) and Jim (Donahue) speak frankly

Of the lead "youngsters" -- none of whom are that young -- Robert Conrad (of The Wild, Wild West) offers the best performance as spoiled rich kid Eric Dean, a Palm Springs resident whose neglectful unseen daddy is off on one of his frequent honeymoons. Eric sets his sights on perky Gayle Lewis (Connie Stevens) who claims to be from Hawaii even though she isn't. She gets caught between Eric and hunky Texan and Hollywood stuntman "Stretch" (Ty Hardin of Wall of Noise). Meanwhile nice boy Jim Munroe (Troy Donahue) is smitten with record shop clerk Bunny Dixon (Stephanie Powers), who is the daughter of the Chief of Police (Andrew Duggan). Biff Roberts, played by typical college student Jerry Van Dyke, is at first put off by the tomboyish Amanda (Zeme North), but once Gayle helps her with her make up ... ! 

Jerry Van Dyke, Zeme North, Troy Donahue

The comedy has to do with such things as the pool turning into a bubble bath due to the accidental introduction of detergent, as well as the antics of Boom Boom (Billy Mumy of Twilight Zone's "It's a Good Life"), the adorable little monster who belongs to the hotel's proprietor, Naomi Yates (a spirited Carole Cook). The dramatic scenes have to do with a fight sequence when some lowlifes invade a party, and Eric taking after Stretch in his car and causing an accident after the latter has prevented Eric from sexually assaulting Gayle. 

In love after two days: Stephanie Powers with Donahue

Troy Donahue had to make this picture whether he wanted to or not, and was so zonked on drugs and alcohol during filming that it's a wonder he gives any kind of performance, although he gets by. In some shots you can already see the effect this is having on his looks, a certain puffiness, although the attractive sensitivity of his features is unaffected. Zeme North had appeared on Broadway in Take Me Along but had limited film and TV credits, retiring in the late sixties, which is too bad as she's quite appealing in this picture. As usual, little Billy Mumy nearly steals the movie. A small role is played by Owen Orr, AKA Greg Benedict, who was Donahue's college roommate and best friend. 

Verdict: Amiable if forgettable teen movie with hardly any teenagers in sight! **1/2. 

WALL OF NOISE

Ty Hardin and Suzanne Pleshette

WALL OF NOISE (1963). Director: Richard Wilson.

Horse trainer Joel Tarrant (Ty Hardin) goes to work for Matt Rubio (Ralph Meeker) who wants to get involved in racing. Angered when Joel's girlfriend, Ann (Dorothy Provine), whom he treated like crap, goes off with his friend and jockey, Bud (Jimmy Murphy), Joel takes up with Rubio's sophisticated and neglected wife, Laura (Suzanne Pleshette). Will their horse win the big race? Will Joel wind up with Ann or Laura? Is there any way that anyone could possibly care? Wall of Noise is an incredibly dull picture that is bolstered strictly by the talents of its supporting case, especially Meeker [Jeopardy], Murphy, Simon Oakland, Murray Matheson, and George Petrie. Hardin [Berserk] is only adequate, one of these lesser-talented hunks who plays everything in a key of anger because it's easier to do than real emoting -- he is always grimacing as if he's smelling something bad -- and Pleshette offers one of her rare lousy performances. The dialogue is often cliched and terrible, but it isn't helped by its delivery: Hardin and Pleshette [A Rage to Live] set off  as much passionate sparks as a wet firecracker. Even the racing scenes are dull, and after awhile you're just impatiently waiting until this bomb is over. Richard Wilson also directed the equally awful Raw Wind in Eden, which at least had a better title.

Verdict: Not enough noise to drown out this stinker, but the horses are nice. *1/2.

AS YOUNG AS WE ARE

AS YOUNG AS WE ARE (1958). Director: Bernard Girard.

Kim Hutchins (Pippa Scott) gets a teaching position in a small town and becomes friends and roomies with another teacher, Joyce (Majel Barrett). One afternoon a handsome trucker named Hank (Robert Harland) stops to fix their car, and Kim accepts a date with him. She believes Hank is around her own age, but to her horror Hank shows up in her classroom! Kim wants to cut if off with him before the whole town starts talking, but it may not be as simple as it seems ... As Young As We Are is an interesting picture, and its bolstered by the acting, with Scott [Mr. Lucky], Barrett and Harland all taking top bows. Ellen Corby and Ross Elliott are also in the cast -- as a landlady and Kim's old boyfriend, respectively -- and Ty Hardin [Berserk] makes his mark as another student who is as hunky as he is rude and unruly. This was Robert Harland's first picture, and it's a surprise that this good-looking, sensitive and sexy actor didn't have a much bigger career, although he did much television work in the years after this picture's release; he gives an excellent performance in this as well. The pleasant theme song is sung well by Andy Russell [Copacabana].

Verdict: A nice, well-acted movie from Paramount. ***.

THE CHAPMAN REPORT

THE CHAPMAN REPORT (1962). Director: George Cukor.

"The one thing we must remember: we must be sensible."

"Why?" 

Researcher Dr. Chapman (Andrew Duggan) and his assistant Paul (Efrem Zimbalist Jr.), interview several women about their sex lives. These include Sarah (Shelley Winters), a married woman who is having an affair with a theater director named Fred (played by who else but Ray Danton); Naomi (Claire Bloom), whose nymphomaniacal activities doomed their marriage; Teresa (Glynis Johns), who is happily married but requires one fling with a really hot man (Ty Hardin of Berserk); and Kathleen (Jane Fonda), a widow whose late husband complained of her frigidity. In an unlikely development Paul finds himself drawn into a romantic relationship with Kathleen. While the movie is obviously inspired by the Kinsey report (and a trashy potboiler by Irving Wallace), the types in this movie are no different from women in countless other movies and the really eyebrow-raising stuff in Kinsey's report is avoided. So what we're left with is a reasonably entertaining soap opera with some fine acting. Zimbalist is no better than he ever is, Duggan has nearly a bit part, but the ladies offer something more. Bloom gives an affecting performance as a lonely, semi-alcoholic woman who is gang-raped in one chilling sequence. Winters is excellent as the wife with an unattractive husband (Harold J. Stone) who needs passion in her life with a handsome partner. Johns is okay in a sequence that is played primarily for laughs (John Dehner is her unsuspecting husband). Jane Fonda, always more talented than her father, gives another wonderful performance. Chad Everett shows up briefly as a hunky water man who appears at Naomi's house, and Corey Allen [The Big Caper] is very effective as the slimy musician, Wash Dillon, who casts a sick spell over Naomi. Perhaps the best performance comes from Henry Daniell [The Four Skulls of Jonathan Drake], a psychologist who fears that Chapman may be setting things in motion without the appropriate follow-up.

Verdict: Laughably unscientific but entertaining. ***.