Where the Boys Are
Where the Boys Are is a 1960 American CinemaScope comedy film directed by Henry Levin and starring Connie Francis, Dolores Hart, Paula Prentiss, George Hamilton, Yvette Mimieux, Jim Hutton, and Frank Gorshin. It was written by George Wells based on the 1960 novel of the same name by Glendon Swarthout. The screenplay concerns four female college students who spend spring break in Fort Lauderdale. The title song "Where the Boys Are" was sung by Connie Francis, who played one of the foursome.
This article is about the film. For the song, see Where the Boys Are (Connie Francis song). For the 1980s remake, see Where the Boys Are '84.Where the Boys Are
Where the Boys Are
1960 novel
by Glendon Swarthout
Robert J. Bronner
Score:
George Stoll
Jazz:
Pete Rugolo
Songs:
Neil Sedaka (music)
Howard Greenfield (lyrics)
- December 28, 1960
99 minutes
United States
English
$2 million[1] (equivalent to $16 million in 2023)
Where the Boys Are was one of the first teen films to explore adolescent sexuality and the changing sexual morals and attitudes among American college youth. Aimed at the teen market, it inspired many American college students to head to Fort Lauderdale for their annual spring break.[3] It won Laurel Awards for Best Comedy of the Year and Best Comedy Actress (Paula Prentiss).[4]
Plot[edit]
The film mainly focuses on the "coming of age" of four girl students at a midwestern university during spring vacation. In a class discussion, smart, down-to-earth Merritt Andrews suggests that premarital sex might be something young women should experience. Melanie Tolman, a magnet for young men, loses her virginity on her first date, soon after the young women arrive in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Tuggle Carpenter seeks to be a "baby-making machine", lacking only a man to join her in marriage. The athletic Angie, who is clueless about romance, rounds out the group.
The girls find their attitudes challenged. Merritt, a freshman, meets suave, darkly handsome Ryder Smith, a senior at Brown University, and realizes she is not ready for sex. Melanie discovers that Franklin, a boy from Yale University whom she thought loved her, was only using her for sex. Tuggle quickly fixes her attention on goofy "TV" Thompson, a junior at Michigan State University, but becomes disillusioned when he becomes infatuated with performer Lola Fandango, a "mermaid" swimmer/dancer in a local nightclub. Angie stumbles into a relationship with eccentric jazz musician Basil.
The relationship angst of Merritt, Tuggle, and Angie evaporates when they discover Melanie is distraught after going to meet Franklin at a motel and instead finding there another of the "Yalies", Dill, who raped her. Franklin had moved on to another girl, but told Dill that Melanie was "easy" and set up the ambush. Melanie, her dress torn, walks into traffic. Just as her friends arrive, she is sideswiped by a car and is rushed to the hospital.
Ultimately, the girls resolve to act more maturely and responsibly. After hearing about Melanie, "TV" returns to Tuggle. Angie ends up with Basil, especially after he loses his glasses and needs her help. Melanie recovers in the hospital, with Merritt looking after her. Merritt promises Ryder she will continue their long-distance relationship. He then drives them back to college.
Music[edit]
The kind of cool modern jazz (or west coast jazz) popularized by such acts as Dave Brubeck, Gerry Mulligan, and Chico Hamilton, then in the vanguard of the college music market, features in a number of scenes with Basil. Called "dialectic jazz" in the film, the original compositions were by Pete Rugolo.[21]
MGM had bolstered the film's success potential by giving a large role to Connie Francis, the top American female recording star and a member of the MGM Records roster. Francis had solicited the services of Neil Sedaka and Howard Greenfield, who had written hit songs for her, to write original material for her to perform on the film's soundtrack including a "Where the Boys Are" title song. Sedaka and Greenfield wrote two potential title songs for the film, but producer Joe Pasternak passed over the song Francis and the songwriting duo preferred in favor of a lush 1950s style movie theme. Francis recorded the song on October 18, 1960 in a New York City recording session with Stan Applebaum arranging and conducting.
The theme song, "Where the Boys Are", peaked at No. 4 in the U.S. and became Connie Francis's signature tune. It was covered by many other artists.
Besides the theme song, Francis sang "Turn on the Sunshine", another Sedaka-Greenfield composition, in the film.
The film's soundtrack also features "Have You Met Miss Fandango?", sung by co-star Barbara Nichols, with music by Victor Young and lyrics by Stella Unger.[21]
MGM did not release a soundtrack album for Where the Boys Are.[22][23]
1984 film[edit]
Where the Boys Are '84 was released in 1984 by TriStar Pictures. While it bears the distinction of being the first film released by TriStar, the film was a critical and commercial failure. Although it was touted as a remake, it was imagined as a sex comedy. Roger Ebert reported that "It isn't a sequel and isn't a remake and isn't, in fact, much of anything."[32]