RETRO-ACTIVE: THE BEST FROM THE CINEMA RETRO ARCHIVES
Frankie
Avalon (Todd Armstrong/ Jane), Dwayne Hickman (Craig Gamble/ Nora), Deborah
Walley (Linda Hughes), Yvonne Craig (Barbara Norris), Robert Q. Lewis (Donald
Pevney), Bobbi Shaw (Nita), Aron Kincaid (Freddie Carter), The Hondells
(Themselves) Steve Rogers (Gene), Patti Chandler (Janet), Mike Nader (Bobby),
Salli Sachse (Indian), John Boyer (Ski Boy), Mikki Jamison (Vicki), Mickey Dora
(Mickey), Bill Sampson (Arthur), Mary Hughes, Luree Holmes (Ski Girls), Sigi
Engl (Ski Instructor). Uncredited: Christopher Riordan, Ronnie Dayton, Jo
Collins, Paul Gleason, and Annette Funicello (Prof. Roberts). Guest
Stars: James Brown and the Famous Flames, and Lesley Gore.
I
thought I'd end my Top 5 Sixties Beach Party movies with a cold treat for these
hot summer days. A few films (i.e. Get Yourself a College Girl, Winter a-Go-Go,
Wild Wild Winter) switched the locale from the warm California seashore to the chilly
mountaintop ski slopes. The best of the crop for me was Ski Party (1965).
Frankie
Avalon and Dwayne Hickman play two average college guys, who are losers when it
comes to the ladies, so they masquerade as English lasses on a ski trip to
discover why their chicks Deborah Walley and Yvonne Craig dig suave ladies man
Aron Kincaid and what they really want in a guy. Complications ensue when
the pompous Kincaid falls in love with Hickman's female incarnation. Meanwhile,
when not romping around in drag, Avalon tries to make Walley jealous by
flirting with Swedish bombshell Bobbi Shaw. The first half of the picture
unfolds quite briskly with excellent musical numbers performed by Avalon, James
Brown, and Lesley Gore though the second half bogs down a bit with a ludicrous
ski jump contest and an overlong chase sequence, standard for these AIP musical
comedies.
Ski
Party stands out from the rest of the AIP beach-party movies not only because
of the change in locale but because of the superior production values.
Credit must go to producer Gene Corman and his crew. The film is
exquisitely filmed on location with some awesome ski shots. Alan Rafkin
also does a first-rate job of directing and keeps the action moving. He
brings some originality to the musical numbers as well. Having Frankie
Avalon, Deborah Walley, Dwayne Hickman, and Yvonne Craig sing "Painting
the Town" while on a sunlit sleigh ride helps elevate the song with the
beautiful shots of the foursome traveling through the snow-covered back
roads. “Lots Lots More" would just have been a standard song warbled
by Frankie Avalon with twistin’ beach babes dancing beside him if it were not
for Rafkin’s unusual camera angles capturing the curvy features of Walley,
Patti Chandler, Mikki Jamison, and Jo Collins.
The
musical performances by the guest stars are the standouts of any AIP beach
movie. Here it is no exception. Lesley Gore sings the catchy
"Sunshine, Lollipops, and Rainbows" on the bus ride to Sun Valley. Following the release of Ski Party, the
song became a hit and peaked at No. 13 on the Billboard charts. The
Hondells turn up on the beach and rock on "The Gasser" and the title
song. Finally, the appearance of James Brown and the Flames who come in
out of the snow to perform their Top 10 record "I Got You (I Feel
Good)" is truly one of the greatest musical moments in beach movie
history.
Frankie
Avalon and Dwayne Hickman are well paired as the wisecracking losers-in-love
Todd and Craig and are very believable and amusing as the peppery English
lasses, Jane and Nora. As the objects of their devotion, Deborah Walley
and Yvonne Craig are only okay but they look stunning in Technicolor making it
perfetly plausible to the audience why the boys would go to so much trouble to
win them over. Bobbi Shaw is engaging as a sexy Swede who decides she
prefers love, American style. It is nice to see AIP contract players
Patti Chandler and Salli Sachse given more to do here than in the Beach Party
movies. They along with Luree Holmes, Mikki Jamison, and Playboy Playmate
Jo Collins look very good in their bathing suits or tight-fitting ski
clothes. For beefcake watchers, there’s lean boyish-looking Mike Nader
and handsome, chiseled Steve Rogers. But it is the smarmy charm of Aron
Kincaid (pictured above surrounded by a bevy of beauties) as the pompous
Freddie who flips for a guy in drag who steals the movie. Usually clad in
dark sweaters and turtlenecks (which were a perfect contrast to his blonde hair
and fair features), Kincaid is striking looking and awes every girl on screen
and every girl in the audience (not to mention a boy or two).
Ski
Party is available on DVD and I heartily recommend it!
-Tom
Lisanti/www.sixtiescinema.com
Click here to order the DVD from Amazon