HOT SUMMER

Frank Schobel

HOT SUMMER (aka Heisser Sommer/1968). Director: Joachim Hasler.

If you've ever wondered -- and who hasn't? -- what an AIP Beach Party movie would look like if it was made in East Germany, look no further. In Hot Summer a group of gals and guys go off on separate vacations and are initially dismayed when they run into each other, but then those pesky hormones kick in. The gals are annoyed that the boys, who play various jokes on them, are so immature, so it takes awhile for romance to come into play. Then a triangle situation develops with Brit (Regine Albrecht) coming between hunky friends Kai (Frank Schobel) and Wolf (Hanns-Michael Schmidt). The way they carry on in such jealous fashion you would think they were in committed relationships or marriages instead of mere summer flings! The movie features many, many song numbers, most of which are awful, although Kai warbles one nice ballad, and his number "I Found the One" is also pleasant. The choreography is terrible. With his matinee idol looks Frank Schobel gets most of the male close ups while the majority of the female close ups go not to Albrecht so much as Chris Doerk as Stupsi, a loud young lady with a big face and mouth and very large teeth, cast in the Connie Francis role of the gal who doesn't land the guy. (Interestingly enough, pop star Doerk and Schobel were married when this picture was made, although they divorced in 1974). Any attempts at feminist enlightenment are sort of washed away by the scene when some white mice, let loose by the boys, have the girls jumping up on their beds and screaming! Despite this coming from a Communist country, its sensibilities aren't much different from American musicals of the sixties.

Verdict: If you've seen one East German teen movie you've probably seen them all. **. 

THE PARTY CRASHERS

Bobby Driscoll

THE PARTY CRASHERS (1958). Director: Bernard Girard.

Teenager Barbara (Connie Stevens) is torn between two boys: her nice, quiet steady Josh (Bobby Driscoll) and the sexy bad boy Twig (Mark Damon of Black Sabbath). Twig enjoys crashing parties and causing trouble, and his home life sucks, as his father (Walter Brooke of Conquest of Space) is a drunk and his mother (Doris Dowling) is always going off to "the movies" dressed to the nines. Everything comes to a head when Josh grudgingly agrees to crash a party at a motel lodge because Barbara insists she'll go with someone else, probably Twig, if he doesn't take her. The teens discover that grown-ups can be just as drunk and nasty as anyone. The Party Crashers is an interesting picture with good performances from the leads, as well as Brooke and Dowling. Frances Farmer [Son of Fury] is cast as Josh's sympathetic mother and Denver Pyle as his father, and Onslow Stevens and Cathy Lewis [The Devil at 4 O'Clock] play Barbara's parents; all are effective. Even with some more character development this low-budget Paramount flick might never have been an East of Eden, but it's not as trashy and dumb as some other "Juvenile delinquent" pictures of the era. Bobby Driscoll was a former child star who won a special Oscar and died tragically at age 31. This was the last film for him and Farmer, although both did TV work afterward. Bernard Girard also directed As Young As We Are and The Mad Room.

Verdict: B movie simmers but never quite comes to a boil. **1/2.

DRAGSTRIP RIOT

Gary Clarke and Fay Wray

DRAGSTRIP RIOT (1958). Director: David Bradley.

Rick Martin (Gary Clarke) was once in trouble with the law and his mother (Fay Wray!) and grandfather (Ted Wedderspoon) are forever afraid he'll do something stupid. Rick innocently ignites the ire of Bart Thorson (Bob Turnbull) because the latter covets the former's girlfriend, Janet (Yvonne Lime of I Was a Teenage Werewolf). To get even with Rick, Bart falls in with a motorcycle gang of toughs who also have a grudge against Rick, leading to a dangerous game of chicken involving two cars and an onrushing train; a death dive off a cliff; and a free-for-all rumble on the beach where the true bad guys are finally routed. None of this is as exciting as it sounds due to a slow pace -- even a race is kind of dull. Affecting a Jean Harlow  "platinum blond" hair color, Clarke makes a sensitive enough hero; Wray, light-years from King Kong, is fine as his mother; and there are more than acceptable performances from Turnbull, Lime, John Garwood as Silva, leader of the gang, and others. Connie Stevens [Hawaiian Eye] plays Marge, one of Janet's pals, who gets in a "cat fight" with Silva's brunette moll at one point; and Steve Inhat is cast as "Dutch," another biker, but is given little to do; he was also in Date Bait with Clarke. Connie also sings a song and there's another musical number as well. In one unintentionally hilarious scene, Rick looks around the beach for Janet as if she's nowhere in sight when a subsequent shot shows her not only just a few yards away but screaming her head off! It's equally humorous that the rumble, which supposedly takes place in an isolated spot, turns out to be happening right near the kids' hot spot, "Mom's."

Verdict: Slightly more entertaining than watching paint dry. *1/2.

ROCK ROCK ROCK!

Tuesday Weld and Teddy Randazzo

ROCK ROCK ROCK! (1956). Director: Will Price.

When high-schooler Dori (Tuesday Weld) discovers she has competition for the charms of handsome Tommy (Teddy Randazzo) in the form of sexpot Gloria (Jacqueline Kerr), she determines that she simply must have a strapless evening gown for the prom. But how to get the money? She opens her own "bank" and charges 1% interest but is so stupid she doesn't realize that 1% of $100 is one dollar and not a hundred! Her intellectual shortcomings are the least of her problems as every time she opens her mouth to sing, it is Connie Francis' voice that comes out. At least Randazzo, who has a pleasant voice, isn't dubbed and he does a nice job with "Give Me One More Chance" and "Thanks to You." Randazzo [Hey Let's Twist] is appealing but only did two pictures, focusing instead on a recording career. Although she was cast in Dobie Gillis, Weld [Pretty Poison] shows no particular promise as a comedienne. Alan Freed puts on his Rock 'n' Roll show with guest-stars Tommy, Chuck Berry, the Flamingos, 14-year-old Frankie Lyman, Elvis-like Johnny Brant, and a weird little girl named Baby whose singing is flat and terrible. Randazzo and Kerr give the best performances. This movie bridges the gap between swing music and rock, which was only just emerging as "rock 'n' roll."

Verdict: Life was much simpler then -- or was it? **.

DATE BAIT

Marla Ryan and Gary Clarke

DATE BAIT (1960). Director: O'Dale Ireland.

Sue (Marla Ryan) is in love with Danny (Gary Clarke), a boy of whom her parents disapprove, even though he certainly seems nice enough. A nasty character named Brad (Dick Gering) thinks of Sue as his personal property, and sics his older brother Nico, a drug dealer, against Danny. This doesn't stop Sue and Danny from eloping, and their wedding night scene is rather well-played. Gary Clarke appeared in Missile to the Moon and other movies, and Steve Inhat, in a smaller role, was mostly a busy television actor. Marla Ryan was also known as Marlo-with-an-O Ryan but she had few credits, whatever the spelling. This super-cheap melodrama doesn't have much to recommend it, although some of the acting isn't terrible, and Clarke and Ryan prove competent and reasonably appealing. O'Dale Ireland also directed High School Ceasar.

Verdict: Save it for a rainy Sunday and then watch something else. *1/2.