Review

by Sam S

Insanely colourful 60s pop cinema

One of those colourful 60s beach movies that you always see spoofed but have never actually seen, this film is both hilarious and shocking in its depiction of teen life. Starring 60s teen heartthrob Troy Donahue and (brother of Dick) Jerry Van Dyke, the set-up finds a school team of American footballers chasing girls over the Palm Springs Weekend. We find everyone hanging out in the record store where they dance casually in the aisles, besides the pool dancing to Van Dyke’s banjo rendition of ‘Bye Bye Blackbird’ and at a squeaky-clean house party where a bourbon-drinking rebel sparks off a brawl. Perhaps the highlight is the kind of scene you only really see in cartoons: when Van Dyke spills soap suds into the swimming pool, foam engulfs the hotel. A complete fantasy of teen life and the 1960s, this is a great example of pop cinema barely ever seen nowadays.