Ski Party

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
It's snow, a go-go, and another name for a ski party.

(00:03):
And the craziest things happen to the snow.
Frankie Avalon and Deborah Walley here, cool.
And Dwayne, Hickman and Yvonne Craig, warm at 20 below.
They all have a snowball in ski party.
See, ski party, American International.
We're not talking about actors.
We mean a real monster.
I brought her back.
She'll live and I'll get her another body.
I know tey’re gonna catch me, but don't let anyone see me like that.

(00:26):
Please, Doctor, help me!
Biologically speaking, it's of primary importance that man should want to mate.
Hey, that’s right!
You don't get all your kicks from surfing, do you?
We want to be free to ride our machines without being hassled by the man.
And we want to get loaded.
You think you're going to make a slave of the world?
I'll see you in Hell first!

(00:47):
The American International Podcast.
Are you ready?
Hello and welcome. It's the American International podcast.
I'm Cheryl Lightfoot.
And I'm Jeff Markin.
And today we're hitting the slopes for a ski party from 1965.
Ski party was directed by Alan Rafkin from a screenplay by Robert Kaufman
and produced by Gene Corman for American International Pictures.

(01:10):
Ski party stars Frankie Avalon as Todd Armstrong.
Dwayne Hickman as Craig Gamble, Deborah Walley as Linda Hughes,
Yvonne Craig as Barbara Norris, Robert Q. Lewis as Mr. Pevney,
Bobbi Shaw as Nita Elksberg, Aaron Kincaid as Freddie Carter,
The Hondells as themselves.
Also appearing are Steven Rogers as Jean,
Patti Chandler as Janet, Michael Nader as Bobby, Sally Sachse as Indian,

(01:35):
John Boyer as John, Mikki Jamison as Mikki,
Mickey Dora as Mickey, Mary Hughes as Mary,
Bill Sampson as Arthur, Luree Holmes as Luree,
Lesley Gore as herself and James Brown an the Famous Flames as themselves.
Nice. The ski party opens and we see a race downhill on skis.

(01:59):
We get the American International logo and then the Hondells sing ski party
over skiing, stock footage I imagine.
The credits are in Comic Sans, which is an indication to me to not take this movie too seriously.
There was a line in the song ski party that it catch my ear.
It goes get some alcohol and put it under my hood.
That sounds dangerous. That's how you get car fires.

(02:19):
I thought the night skiing footage looked cool.
It went from day to night and not that I'm a skier,
but if I was, I might like skiing at night with the colored lights.
Yeah, they were holding lanterns or something and the glow would kind of cool
against the snow.
The twilight.
After the credits, we find ourselves in a college classroom.
The class is fun without sex with Professor Sonya Roberts.

(02:40):
I guess you play as Professor Sonya Roberts.
I don't have to guess. I saw the movie.
It's an unquited and net gunacello.
In the class, there are a couple of students who look like Frankie Avalon and Dwayne Hickman,
but they're actually Todd Armstrong and Craig Gamble.
Which is which in this movie?
Frankie Avalon is Todd Armstrong in this case and Dwayne Hickman is Craig Gamble.

(03:01):
I had to write it down because we did another movie where that was reversed.
Yeah, it was Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine where Frankie and Dwayne played
characters of the opposite names.
The same names, but they switched actors.
And those aren't related at all.
These movies are not connected in any other way.
The subject is the disparate sexual peaks of men and women, although Professor Sonya Roberts calls

(03:23):
them romantic peaks.
Professor Roberts teaches that the female doesn't reach a romantic peak until her 35th year,
whereas the male reaches their most romantic between the ages of 17 and 19,
which presents certain social problems for the college male.
Yes, and we all know that by romantic, she means sexual.
This presents certain social problems, such as extreme anxiety, frustration, and tension.

(03:47):
Horniness.
After the class ends, Tad and Craig walk out of the building and decide that they need an older woman,
someone to use AARP age, but one that looks good, hopefully.
And then they see a classmate who has no problem with romantic peaks.
This is Freddie Carter and he's got a whole gaggle of girls around him.
Freddie asks which one of those girls will be lucky enough to buy him dinner tonight.

(04:10):
Well, it's the one who wins the race to the locker room.
Todd and Craig discuss with each other whether Freddie might share with his secret with them.
Probably not they decide.
Craig thinks they should ask him anyway.
It will give him a reason to suck him.
That's what John Wayne would do now Craig and Todd are in suits.
Craig says that he and John Wayne use the same razor for shaving.
Number five, and they see Freddie with his gaggle of girls once again.

(04:32):
Now they're dressed for track.
Todd and Craig just don't get what Freddie has and they don't.
They're athletes, so they say.
And Freddie's an athlete, so why aren't they pulling girls the same way?
Todd realizes they've been playing in front of the girls while Freddie is playing with them.
But enough bad news.
Todd tells Craig he scored them both a second date with Barbara and Linda.

(04:54):
Craig's ready to go tonight, but the day's actually two weeks from next Thursday.
So now let's be two weeks from next Thursday because it's date night.
Linda and Barbara are giggling in the backseat of the car.
They're at a drive-in movie.
Well, Todd and Craig are seated up front.
I think I figured out at least part of their problem.
They don't know how dates work.
And they're watching some Italian film.

(05:14):
Apparently there's some sort of love scene not that we get to see it.
That makes the girls giggle.
After the film, the four of them decide to go parking, although if they don't switch seats,
I don't know how this is going to work.
Todd's parking spot is blocked by another car.
He goes up to the passenger window of that car,
dash the driver to move, and low and behold,
the driver is making out with Professor Sonya Roberts.

(05:36):
She's dating a student.
Well, they're both at their sexual peaks.
She knows from once she speaks.
Once parts, Todd and Craig leave the car to decide who gets to stay with the car
and who gets to go for a walk with his date.
I'm surprised they don't go with each other.
That says the last time he and Linda took a walk
and Craig and Barbara had the car.
Craig's not sure it's how we remember it,

(05:58):
but Todd tells them that that was when Craig tried to kiss Barbara,
and she burnt his nose with her cigarette.
Which refreshes his memory?
Well, it would, wouldn't it?
So Todd has Craig to meet him back here in 20 minutes.
They negotiate and agree on 12 instead.
They've taken up a really long time to synchronize their watches.
And then they decide what the heck.
There are only a few seconds off.
So Todd gets the car.

(06:18):
And then we get a montage of him attacking Linda.
Set to silent movie music.
I don't know how to describe it any better than that.
The windshield wipers are going.
The top is going up and down.
Things slow down when Todd tries to go in for a kiss.
And Linda just kind of laughs at him and says, you're kidding.
That doesn't understand.
He's a nice clean cut American boy with a C-plus average.

(06:41):
But he realizes the problem is he's just not like Freddie.
Linda doesn't feel for Todd, what she does for Freddie.
She's Gaga over him like all the other girls are.
And she can't really explain why.
Just that Todd doesn't have it.
Whatever it is.
Now we're with Todd and Craig and their dorm room, I suppose.
Craig is doing push-ups and Todd is doing squats as they discuss

(07:01):
how they failed to get anywhere with the girls that night.
Not only did they not get a kiss good night,
they didn't even get to walk into the front door.
Yep, they're losers.
If he can be believed, Craig is at 2,194 push-ups and counting.
Maybe that's the frustration going.
Out the window, they hear Freddie driving up with his date,
trying to drop her off.
But she won't go.

(07:22):
Todd yells out the window, "Leave her alone, you dirty young man, you."
I think he's yelling at the wrong person.
Freddie's trying to get Janet.
The girl who's all over him to go in, but she says she just wants another five minutes with him.
He tells her they're going on a ski week and they'll have plenty of time for this then.
Oh sure, says Janet, along with Indian and Linda Hughes and Barbara Norris and all the rest of them.

(07:43):
But Freddie is president of the ski club and it's his duty to go on this trip.
Todd and Craig go over here this and Craig thinks after a week with Freddie,
they'll never see Linda or Barbara again.
But Todd wants to go on the trip.
He tells Craig to start packing some warm clothes.
Now's their chance to do a girl boy sport.
Craig comes around in a grease, but there's one problem.
Neither one of them can ski.

(08:04):
But that's something they'll worry about once they get there.
Now the bus is leaving for the ski trip and I guess Leslie Gorsnuck on board to sing
Sunshine Lollipops and Reimbos.
She's the on board entertainment.
And she makes the kids sing along with her too.
When she finishes the song, she takes a seat never to be seen again.

(08:26):
No, it's a little weird, but it's not the weirdest cameo this movie has to offer.
At the resort, the gang disembark from the bus and meet the neurotic hotel clerk, Mr. Pévney.
He takes them inside the lodge and shows them the infirmary where three doctors set
an average of nine broken bones a day.
And there's loud paint screams coming from inside.
He tells the group that he's received letters from all of the boys' fathers saying that

(08:50):
the chaperones won't be necessary.
The boys are delighted to hear this, but unfortunately the girls' parents didn't send any such
letters, so they will be on the honor system.
And it doesn't mean what Todd thinks it means.
Evinny is going to divide the girls and boys into separate rooms, which I assume they would
do anyways, but I guess they're on different sides of the lodge.
As he's trying to give room assignments, he fumbles his clipboard and everything falls to the ground.

(09:13):
The students try to help him pick everything up and Todd and Craig find a tape sent by Pévney
to his psychiatrist.
And Todd gets an idea he calls Operation Screwball.
Operation Screwball starts right away as Craig starts asking questions to try and confuse Mr. Pévney.
He turns to Pévney and asks if he's sure he's received a letter from his father because his

(09:33):
father doesn't know how to write.
It was weird stuff about his dad being married in the second grade and dropped out of school.
And they couldn't figure out how old he was, either 18 or 23.
It was all pre-poineless.
And Pévney just basically gets frustrated and tells him all to go to their rooms.
And as they are an attractive woman named Nita,

(09:54):
struggles by in her swimsuit.
And all the guys get excited.
They're going to go for a swim too.
The girls feeling rebuffed realize they have bikinis too, except for Indian.
And Janet offers Indian her shoelaces because as she says, this is war.
So the kids are now gathered at the pool dancing while Todd sings lots, lots more.
And the kids kind of awkwardly gyrate.

(10:15):
In a way, I guess you could call dancing.
They're not that good.
Two of the guys are talking with Nita.
One of them's Bobby who's played by Michael Nader.
I love seeing him this because I was a big fan of him in all my children.
He played Dmitry.
Just a little side note for anyone who ever watched soap operas.
They're very appreciative of Nita because not only is she attractive,
she always says, "Yah!"
And never says, "No."

(10:35):
It's not in the Swedish vocabulary.
She's from Stockholm.
And Pévney comes in to announce the ski lesson schedule.
Advanced ski instruction begins in 52 minutes.
And it's for the fellas only.
So they can brush up for the big event.
The women get to go to a beginner class only.
And that's pretty sexist.
Some of the women could be better than the men.
And as we'll find out, some of the men can't even ski.

(10:57):
So then we see that the group is taking a ski lift up the mountain.
First Freddy is with a girl and she's all over him.
Following them are Linda and Barbara and the next chair,
wondering when they might get their turn with Freddy.
And then we see Todd and Craig.
They're clinging to each other in abject terror.
And behind them, there's one guy who remarks,
more or less to the camera, on their unusual closeness.

(11:20):
Now with the top of the mountain and Craig and Todd seem ready to ski.
Well, I wouldn't say Craig does.
I think he's trying to back out because he's breakable.
He admits he's a coward and refuses to go down.
And just then a yorling polar bear skis passed.
This is so absurd, but it's also one of my favorite parts of this movie.
No explanation ever given.

(11:40):
I think it does cause the time to do a double take,
but he just goes with it.
It's just something that's going to happen again and again in this movie for no reason whatsoever.
Then Craig and Todd join the others for their instruction.
The instructor who has a very German accent
sends a couple of guys down the hill.
They're demonstrating the ski rescue practice.
One of them slides under the other with his head between his legs,

(12:03):
picks the other guy up on his shoulder and then they go off.
And this spooks Craig and Todd to such a degree that they basically scamper away.
And the instructor just yells "Akutung" at them a lot, but they're gone.
But they are closer to where the girls are having their lesson.
They hear the sound of the girls laughing and look in to see how much more fun they're having.
That's the way to learn, says Todd.

(12:24):
Nice, easy and slow.
A couple of lessons like that and they would be able to out ski pretty easily.
I don't know why they weren't offered lessons by their status beginner or advanced
instead of their gender.
It should be no shame to not know how to ski and take beginner lessons.
But Todd has a great idea.
And last time I had a great idea, Craig was suspended for two semesters.

(12:44):
So you know it's going to be good.
Before he could finish that son, so however Todd and Craig are descending the stairs of the
ski lodge dressed as women kind of wearing sweaters and wigs and headbands.
They also have falsies, makeup and...
Not a lot of makeup.
They pretty much look like Frankie Evelyn and Celine Hickman with wigs on.
Only the most undisturbing viewer would ever mistake them for anyone else.

(13:05):
As they descend the stairway, they get a lot of attention,
but it's not all positive.
One girl passing them says, "Look at the competition."
And another says, "I can't. I just had lunch."
Then Craig and Todd practiced their girly voices.
They're high and vaguely British.
I didn't think they were remotely British.
Well, I heard just a touch of it.
It's like they're trying to imitate someone from Monty Python wearing a wig,

(13:29):
but or Mrs. Doubtfire, not that they would have seen that at that point.
Yeah, I would say Mrs. Doubtfire is a much closer match to how they talk.
It sounds more like they're trying out some British slang maybe, but not the accents.
Yeah, well, a lot of people think they're doing a British accent, and they aren't, and this is the case here.
Well, now dressed convincingly as women.

(13:50):
They join the girls who are headed out to ski.
And because of those amazing accents they're using, they are able to convince them
they're British exchange students.
And Nita is the girls instructor.
Let me get our second polar bear sighting.
The Yodeling Bear skis down the hill.
Now we see Nita trying to teach Jane, that's Todd's alias, to ski.

(14:10):
And she ends up going down the slopes at top speed.
Nora wants to help her, but as Linda points out she can't ski either.
Linda calls Nita for help, but getting done goes after Jane herself.
I guess Nita decides the best way to learn is by doing so she gives Craig as Nora a push,
and he goes down the hill too.
It doesn't actually look that bad, despite claiming to not know how.

(14:33):
I mean his stunt double doesn't look that bad.
How does Jane isn't doing that bad either?
He's making a lot of noise, but he's staying upright as he goes down the hill and in between trees.
He's bargaining with God, I guess, that he'll do all these things if he can make it down alive.
Pretty on the other hand, it seems like an old pro.
He's on his skis while reading Casanova his private life.

(14:54):
But he tosses the book over his shoulders because there's no pictures.
And Craig, as Nora crashes into him,
ready is immediately smitten with a high-pitched voice corner.
With a five o'clock shadow.
I think what he likes about her is that she doesn't like him.
Immediately, Nora pushes him away physically and verbally.

(15:14):
And this is catnip to Freddy.
Meanwhile, Todd's last Jane is still going down the hill until he crashes into a tree.
Yep, and Deborah Wally stunt double finds him.
Oh, Jane, Linda laughs.
Twist Jane replies, "I must have taken a wrong turn."
So now we're at another scene.
Linda and Jane catch Nora on Freddy's back.

(15:36):
He got fresh with her and she's got him in a half-melted.
Linda just can't believe that anyone would not want to be with Freddy.
But Nora isn't interested.
But Freddy is still interested in Nora.
Oh, jeez, Linda, can't you see me want to be alone?
Nora continues voicing her displeasure and Freddy's attention.
Linda tells Nora that all the girls at school want to get with Freddy.
So she doesn't understand why Nora is taking issue with him.

(15:58):
Then she holds Nora off for a talk, leaving Jane alone with Freddy.
Freddy asks Jane about British girls and Jane Karate traps him playfully.
And then we get a polar bear ice skating cameo.
It's our third.
So Linda's telling Nora, who was really Craig, how women in America take care of their men.
But first she has Nora swear so help me Liz Taylor.
That she'll never tell any male person this privileged information.

(16:22):
But when she tells Nora the secret, the film is commuted at the government's request.
So it's unknown to the viewing audience what she related.
There's a weird message about in the interest of furthering the population explosion.
This information will not be divulged.
And I at first didn't understand this.
But you explained to me that this is how Linda and other women trick men into getting with them.

(16:44):
I guess marrying them.
And we don't want them men to find out their little girl secrets.
Exactly.
Because then they beyond us.
That's just so corny.
So Nora asked if Linda would share this information with Jane too.
She's a woman, isn't she?
Nora whistles over to Jane who is still with Freddie.
Freddie tells Jane he hopes they can be friends.

(17:05):
If only you meant that.
That's not the way you looked at Nora.
Freddie agrees with Nora.
It's different.
And he offers Jane a handshake to prove their friendship.
And Jane shakes his hand with her kung fu grip.
Freddie says, "Hey, I said I was sorry."
[Music]

(17:30):
Now we find Craig and Barbara and Todd and Linda
writing in a two horse open sleigh singing "Painting the Town."
Or once they're sitting boy girl, boy girl.
Craig kisses Barbara and they just need to have a strange conversation.
Barbara says after that kiss he's going to have to marry her now.
Craig says he hears bells but Barbara explains that's just the sleigh bells.

(17:51):
Craig says that he would marry Barbara tomorrow if he could only get a raise.
She wonders that he has a job he's in college.
He says no in my allowance.
And they admit that they kind of like each other.
And they exchange a bunch of really weird one liners.
Craig says that he really does like her and Barbara says we'll see.
Craig calls her on this and she says she saw Barbara Stanwick say that in the movie once

(18:14):
and she ended up with Carrie Grant.
Craig informs Barbara that she can be prettier than him but not funnier.
And that's kind of a severe restriction for this character to give.
In the back of the sleigh Todd tells Linda he'd like her to be his girl but she tells him he's
too anxious.
She doesn't got to do anything.
Yes, for what he's doing wrong but he already knows the answer everything.

(18:35):
He wants Linda to tell him exactly how to get a girl like her to want him.
And Linda says that she'd never tell a guy that but she would tell another girl.
Todd thinks that we may not too caddy to share their secrets but Linda says well no just today
I started to tell two English girls the secret.
So Todd asks if she's going to be telling these two English girls more tomorrow.
Actually says Linda she had planned on waiting them over for Coco after the sleigh ride

(18:59):
but she doesn't know where they live.
Todd offers that if he sees them he'll tell them the head on over.
Oh good says Linda they were really lots of fun.
More than Craig and me how does.
Linda assures him that it's in a different way.
In their room Deborah Wally takes the lead on the song Will Never Change Them
as the other girls but not Barbara singing dance.

(19:20):
Besides Linda Janet Indian and Luri are all in the room.
As are Jane and Nora.
If they come in start bopping along with the music.
Once the song is over and it's safe Barbara comes in with some Coco.
And now it's time for girl talk.
Barbara describes how she taught that Craig gambler less than when he tried to kiss her.
She gets more detail on that cigarette on the nose story.

(19:40):
Yeah and it kind of sounds like a hostage situation.
He tried to kiss her and she didn't want to so he locked the car doors and tried to tie her hands behind
her with her hair ribbon.
Man in a different movie this would be the start of a killing spree like true crime podcast.
But when he tried to kiss her again she let him and this time she had that little cigarette in her mouth
which causes laughter to erupt amongst all the girls except for Nora and Jane.

(20:03):
Craig might be seeing things from another perspective for once.
But how do you not know if somebody's smoking a cigarette when you go in for a kiss?
Then the other girls take turns telling their tales.
And one of them Indian says that one boy who got fresh with her will be out of jail in two years.
I mean what are these girls going through?
I guess we did see some of it.
Maybe they should be talking to Freddie.

(20:23):
He's the one that could really relate to that.
Eventually Jane slash Todd says it's getting late and they've got to be going.
As they're leaving a couple of pillows are thrown their way.
Hello fight.
Shall we ask Jane?
Do you have to ask says Nora?
Then we cut to the aftermath of the pull of fight.
Others everywhere.
Others everywhere and the girls seem to have lost to the British exchange students.

(20:44):
UK one, US nothing.
Linda asked them to turn out the lights when they go.
But as they're leaving Mr. Pemney locks them in for the night.
From the outside.
Is this not some kind of fire hazard?
Well he did say that they would be locked in to ensure the honor system that they were going to be put on.
I guess their chastity is more important than their physical help.

(21:06):
Greg asked what they're going to do now.
That turns the face to the camera.
Greg, what's the average age of our audience?
15 says Greg.
Out commands Todd.
They think out the window because what they want to do is an appropriate for a 15-year-old audience.
And now I suppose it's the next day.
In the lobby at the front desk Mr. Pemney is taking a call from a former guest who's missing some

(21:27):
items of clothing that she left behind.
And you can guess which articles those might be.
Wigs, letters and headbands I would guess.
Yep.
And probably Braziers and Wolfs Breast.
Then Todd and Craig as Jane and Nora come down the stairs.
Craig is complaining that he just wants to learn how to ski so he can ditch the drag and spend some time with Barbara.
He's tired of this dime-stored sum like at Hot Routine.

(21:49):
How to sure is him that today is the last day they'll have to do this as soon as they finish those ski lessons.
They pass Pemney who's still on the phone.
Once they're outside, Todd asked Craig for his brunette wig.
Operation screwball needs it to make Pemney crack into a million pieces.
Todd puts his own blonde wig under his sweater and then don's Craig.
He walks over to the desk and makes Pemney notice them with the brunette wig on.

(22:10):
Then he disappears up the stairs for a little bit, swaps Wigs and returns so that now Pemney sees him
as a blonde, same face, different hair.
And Pemney is befuddled.
He thought he was getting better.
And now we're at the end of the I did erad apparently as Nita is delivered via dog sled to the ski lesson.
Adam Craig still dressed as Jane and Nora.

(22:30):
Speak with her. They're discussing the difference between the three of them being European girls
and the American girls.
Nita tells how they do things in Sweden.
And apparently it involves very little talking and a lot of doing.
If you know what I mean.
Jane asks Nita if she has a friend.
Nita's a little confused but Jane explains like she and Nora are friends.
And Nita has a friend in town named Helga.

(22:51):
Todd gets an idea from this and he calls the Nodable.
He's going to go back to the lodge and ditch his wig.
He thinks he's figured out that girls only want boys who want other girls.
So if he, Todd gets with Nita and Craig gets with her friend,
Helga will then Linda and Barbara will be jealous enough to notice and want them back.
But it would look suspicious if they both leave and come back as Todd and Craig.

(23:13):
So Todd's going to go first.
Craig says okay but he gets Nita.
Todd says no.
Craig gets Helga.
But what if she's a dog?
Todd raises the pitch of his voice and calls up.
Nita tells about her friend.
Nita replies that she's got a great personality.
She's loads of fun.
She's a dog says Craig.
Todd takes off and then Craig tells the audience to go have a cook or something

(23:35):
because nothing's going to happen in the next 15 minutes.
But he spoke too soon.
Birdie is there and he's brought a toboggan and some hot cocoa and a thermos.
He intends to woo Nora and it's kind of starting to work I think.
He convinces her to get on the toboggan and through a bit of misadventure.
And they're hurtling down the mountain alone.
That on purpose he gives her a push but then he loses a balance.

(23:57):
Well I do call it misadventure.
And Nora obliviously heads down the hill alone.
Chattering to ready the whole way.
Todd has reached the lodge and notices that
Pevni has fallen asleep on his feet at the desk.
So Todd finally places the blonde wig on Pevni's head.
Meanwhile Nora continues her descent down the hill and she flies over a ski jump.
Well she sees Bobby judging by on his skis and then she realizes she's on the ski jump

(24:21):
and starts to panic before crashing.
At the lodge Pevni is now awake.
He's writing down the details of the dream he just had.
It's a recurring dream whereas the mommy wished he was a girl instead of a boy.
He has yet to notice the blonde wig on his head.
A girl comes up to the counter to buy a couple of stamps and when she looks up and sees the
rug on Pevni's head she screams.
They're really unconvincing scream too.

(24:43):
And Pevni runs outside excited to tell anyone who will listen to his mother's dream it come true.
He's a girl now.
He runs in a crag who is still dressed as Nora.
Pevni why you he asks.
Pevni yells out it's contagious and runs away.
And then we see the polar bear again.
He yells his way out of a shed and delivers a mug of cocoa to Anita and wolf whistles at one of the other girls.

(25:04):
Everyone's on picnic benches in the snow having a little snack.
Again Todd notices the polar bear but decides not to mention it.
He's quizzing Anita about life above the Arctic Circle.
And what they do when it's dark for eight months of the year.
Anita is strongly hinting that sweets do nothing but have sex for eight months of the year.
And Todd likes the sound of that.

(25:26):
At the next table, Linda and Barbara are rumbling about how Todd is pretended to be vice president of the
ski club to get a story on Anita for the school paper.
That tells Anita he needs to get a picture of her.
Anita says she has one in her room and she offers to bring it to dinner but Todd says that's okay.
He hates looking at pictures while he's eating.
So she says she can give it to him after dinner in the lounge by the fire.

(25:47):
Todd repeats this plan loud enough for Linda to hear.
He noticed that his act was working and he's really leaning into it.
So that evening in the lounge all the kids are there,
most are dancing.
They're all around a roaring fire.
She's in a large hearth.
When suddenly the doors blow open.
It's the ski patrol but not one you've ever seen before.
Led by James Brown they bring in the frozen pevney.

(26:08):
They also have three St. Bernard's and they each have one of the barrels around their neck.
And all of them have mixed drinks in them.
And the kids are kind of excited about this.
The kids identify pevney but the leader of the ski patrol thought it was the abominable snow girl.
Yeah, we still intact.
He doesn't introduce himself but Barbara recognizes him as James Brown

(26:29):
and the other three as the famous flames.
And the man that he'd do a song.
He no sooner agrees than starts breaking into I feel good.
All the kids dance or otherwise clap along as the song plays out.
As the song ends James Brown slides off the door.
The famous flames had left earlier.
They leave their coats behind.
He just sort of like shuffles backwards out the door.

(26:51):
This has got to be the best musical cameo in any movie I've ever seen.
Later all the kids are sitting around.
Nobody's dancing anymore.
Had a need or playing cards.
Freddie is lamenting that Nora has lost somewhere out in the snow.
And Linda is sure Freddie that Nora will be fine.
Are we sitting on the couch with Craig and feeling that she knows where Nora is?
She was seen going into Craig's room and she's probably there now.

(27:13):
Frank says that he and Todd like European chicks and Barbara stomps off.
Freddie asks Craig why he's smiling.
You heard Barbara.
I'm having a big thing with myself.
What?
Nevermind says Craig.
Freddie goes over to Todd to taunt them about coming up to the ski lodge
and not ever skiing, not even once.
That says he was bang on going out tomorrow
but Freddie reminds him that tomorrow was the big competition.

(27:34):
Okay the next day says Todd.
We're going home the next day says Freddie.
Freddie calls Todd a chicken.
And Nita asks is it true? Are you afraid to jump?
Not Todd's caught in a bind.
Nita suggests Todd could enter the competition.
She likes winners.
She thinks that he could win.
And if he does, she says she'll reward him with a game of spin the bottle back at her place.

(27:56):
It's her favorite American game.
And that's enough for Todd to agree to risk life and limb.
Linda's been watching and she finds this very hurtful.
Linda tells Todd that she hates him and she hopes he wins.
And then Freddie says we who are about to watch you die salute you.
And he does a salute now that they're alone.
Todd asks Craig what choice did he have?

(28:17):
He's got to do this.
Later we see that Craig is sneaking a container of helium to his room.
He never from a weather balloon that was going to be sent up apparently.
They send one up every day.
In their room Todd is in a wetsuit and Craig straps the helium tank on

(28:38):
to Todd saying that he hopes it will work.
Why not says Todd it works in movies.
And now we're down at the bottom of the ski jump
where everyone's supposed to land and Pavanese running the show.
All the kids are in the audience watching the action.
Pavanese through an intercom of some kind tells Freddie that he's up next.
Pavanese fires a gun into the air to signal if ready to start

(28:59):
and Freddie comes down the hill and jumps 236 feet in the standsland and Barbara plot.
Nita is there too sitting with Craig.
Gina's up next and he jumps 234 feet.
And now it's Todd Armstrong's turn.
If up at the top alone he preps his helium tank and then he heads down.
Just as he makes the jump he deploys the helium tank.

(29:19):
It blows up his coat and he goes up really really high like a balloon.
He wonders if President Johnson will want to talk to him when he comes down.
Nita asks why it looks so fat up there and Craig says
because he likes to have a big breakfast before ski jumps.
Nita yells out for Todd to pull the string.
But Todd can't find it.
Craig asks Pavanese what to do and Pavanese predicts it.

(29:41):
Well once he floats out to the coast radar will pick him up and some jets can shoot him down.
This inspires Craig.
So Craig grabs Pavanese stutter pistol to try to shoot Pad down himself.
The first shot misses but the second one is successful and it's hitting its target.
He pops and starts spiraling downward and crashes bearing himself in the ground.
A small crowd of kids runs up to him including Linda Barbara and Craig.

(30:04):
I think it's broken says Todd.
Craig looks at his ski.
Yes it's broken.
Not that my leg.
Ow!
Craig agrees that his leg is broken as well.
I'm surprised they're not both broken and a lot more besides.
How many hundreds of feet do you think he fell?
Like he jumped out of a crop duster.
So now we see Linda Barbara and Craig waiting outside the infirmary
where Todd is owing in pain from the other side of the door.

(30:25):
And he's afraid that this is going to mess up his date with Nita tonight.
In their room to Craig's surprise,
Todd is determined to hobble over to Nita.
She even left him a map to her place.
He's got his leg in a full cast now.
Yeah.
He reminds Craig that he used to call Linda to make sure that she knows that he is going over there
and then he limps away.
He's supposed to wait 10 minutes but as soon as Todd's out the door, Craig makes the call.

(30:47):
Linda answers and Craig subtly tells her that Todd took his bottle and left.
He didn't ask to speak to Barbara but Barbara doesn't want to talk to Craig.
He's going to reject it.
Craig walks across the room and notices his Nora wig.
He puts it on and goes to the phone. He asks for room 206.
Then he raises the pitch of his voice.
Hello, Freddie. Is that you?
I bet I can't do false idols anymore.

(31:07):
I don't think I could even do that, Jeff.
And now we're with Todd and his broken leg as they make the miles long trek to Nita's in the snow.
It's actually blizzling right now.
It's quite the journey.
Once he gets there, he spots a polar bear who is uncharacteristically angry.
The polar bear roars but Todd is too exhausted from his journey to deal with this right now.

(31:28):
Get out, he says.
And then he goes inside Nita's cabin, which to me it looks like the interior of Gini's bottle
from the TV show I Dream of Gini.
Todd's ready to spin the bottle but Nita's had a change of heart.
She wants him to talk to her like he does the American girls.
She says she's been watching and it looks like fun.
First they'll talk then more talk.
Then he'll ask for a kiss on the cheek and then maybe.

(31:49):
But she doesn't know what comes after that.
Neither does Todd.
That's as far as he's ever gotten.
And apparently he doesn't even get that far because the next time we see him,
he's back in his room.
He's packing his case.
And I think Craig's as well.
Craig is Nora enters, starry eyed.
Todd demands to know why he's dressed like that.
We're pinned Craig smiles.
Congratulations, his Todd.

(32:10):
You and Barbara, not Barbara.
Craig cuts them off.
Ready?
Brett, but he can't do that.
He's a boy and so are you.
We'll work it out, says Craig.
Todd thinks that Craig has lost it and follows to get him out of there tonight.
He grabs their suitcases.
I guess he did pack both.
And they start to leave by going out the door,
but Freddy's out there.

(32:31):
Todd asks who's there.
And then Freddy goes berserk.
Todd's in the room with his Nora.
He's so jealous, says Craig.
Had the size they should go on through the window.
As their exiting Craig says,
Freddy wants him to get a nose job in the spring and Todd offers to give him one tonight.
He's gushing about Freddy because no one has ever treated him so well or per.
They go out the window onto the ledge and the whole time Craig is talking about how wonderful Freddy is.

(32:56):
It's from a good family.
Then they go through another window back inside.
Just as Freddy breaks the door down into their room,
finding his Nora gone, Freddy chases after her.
Todd and Craig hail a cab.
And Freddy Waley is Peppney who's riding by on a scooter to give chase.
He commands him to follow that cab and Peppney reluctantly agrees.
There's a small crowd of the kids outside who witnessed this escape.

(33:18):
And one of the guys tells the others to make sure everyone's awake,
including the driver because they're going to have to head back.
I'm not sure why they're in such a hurry.
No.
And he tells India to gather the skis and poles.
They're packing and they're all leaving.
If you expect things to start making sense in this movie right now,
well, I don't think we're watching the same movie.
It's 894 miles to Los Angeles.

(33:39):
In the cab, Craig takes off his wig and tells Todd,
he was just kidding.
He's not really into Freddy and can they just go back now?
Todd's relieved, but seeing Freddy chasing them,
tells the cabbie who's dick Miller,
you keep going.
Craig may be kidding, but Freddy certainly isn't.
Now all the kids are on the bus and headed back to Los Angeles.
Knowing that Todd and Nora apparently left together,

(34:01):
Linda is sorry that she's driven Todd into another woman's arms.
She blames herself and her hard to get tactics.
Barbara looks at her a gas.
She can't believe her ears.
We're back in the cab and Craig is driving now.
While the cabbie is taking a nap in the back,
at this point the fare is over $400.
Uh-oh.
That's 1965 money.
And now we're back with Freddy and Mr. Peppney.

(34:22):
I guess the scooter is finally run out of gas.
So they stop at a station.
It's early 630 AM and the place doesn't open till 7.
Though Peppney figures that no one's there,
but Freddy pounds loudly on the station door,
demanding that the provider wake up and gas them up.
Freddy walks from the other side of the building
to see if he could find anyone.
When the attendant comes out in a bathroom and carrying a crowbar.

(34:43):
I guess he lives there.
Peppney says they need some gas and tells him it only takes about
18 cents worth of regular.
Peppney gets clovered for Freddy's sins,
but when Freddy returns, the scooter is I guess gasped up.
Even though Peppney is kind of passed out on top of it.
He picks them both up and then they drive off.
"Hurry up, we don't want them to get away," says Freddy.
"Yes, we do," says Peppney.
"The next time we see says it's only 49 miles to Los Angeles.

(35:07):
Back on the bus, everyone is asleep except for Barbara and Linda."
Linda wonders why the guys ran off.
She and Barbara realize that they really do love those nuts.
Linda wonders what Barbara did wrong with Craig.
Gilt by association, Reckon's Barbara.
Barbara gives Linda an apple and says she'll feel better if she eats some fruit.
Back in the cab, the cabbie is driving again.
He points out the Pacific Ocean.

(35:28):
He seems really excited to see it.
He's probably never seen it before.
Being from Idaho, half asleep, Craig asked Todd if there's anyone at the beach house.
Also half asleep, Todd replies, "No."
They had to come away for the weekend.
They'll have the whole weekend to soak up the sun and privacy.
Craig says if he sees no again before he's 60, it'll be too soon.
As they pull up to the beach house, they tell the cabbie to wait in the driveway.

(35:49):
Craig asked Todd what he should do with his nori get up.
Todd tells him not to waste a match.
Just leave him out of the beach when the tide comes in.
Wush.
And Todd tells Craig they take any better upstairs.
But Craig asked for a blanket.
He'd rather sleep on the beach.
And then Dick Miller, the cabbie asked if he can have a blanket too.
He's been driving a long time and he really needs to sleep.
Todd agrees to go get him one and then remembers that somehow he's going to have to pay that $560 cab fare.

(36:15):
Yeah, growls, Dick Miller.
Meanwhile, the bus pulls over to the beach house.
The kids all run out and are excited to see the Handels performing on the beach.
Wow, what luck.
And a beach party with chicks and bikinis and guys in shorts commences immediately.
The Handels finish performing ski party and then go into the gasser.
Barbara and Linda split up and go find their fellas.
And we forget to mention that Paul Gleason is shimming in the background as the

(36:38):
Handels play the gasser.
Anyway, we're almost done.
Linda goes into the beach house and finds Todd.
Todd asks what she's doing there.
She says she followed him all the way from Idaho.
And Todd confesses everything for some dumb reason.
Well, Linda wants to know if Nora's gone and Todd says that she never existed.
Linda's about to take all the blame when Todd reveals that he was Jane and Nora was Craig.

(36:59):
And instead of being pissed, Linda's impressed that he went through all that trouble.
He even shows off his big accent.
She does not smack him strangely and she also doesn't curse herself being so unabsorbed to not
notice that her boyfriend was wearing a wig.
Todd explains the whole setup and Linda is really flattered that he wanted her that bad and would go
to all that trouble for her.

(37:20):
Todd confesses that, you know, I'm a wipe out for redheads.
And well, let's not tell a net about that.
Outside Freddie pulls up on that scooter.
Kevin is running behind him because he didn't get to ride all the way.
Freddie is desperately asking everyone where Nora is.
He goes to Craig who points out the clothes laying on the beach and says that
when Nora heard that Freddie was coming, she just started swimming.

(37:43):
He figured she's somewhere between here and Japan.
Freddie goes out into the water chasing after her yelling, "Nora!"
He vows to find her.
Craig breaks the fourth wall to tell us not to worry about Freddie.
They'll tell him tomorrow if he doesn't drown.
And now we're with Pemney who I guess we should point out he's been wearing one of those
raccoon coats this entire time and he's still wearing it.

(38:04):
He's sitting on the beach dictating a letter to his therapist.
He says he's feeling better by looking at the surfboards.
He says he's noticed that the skis have gotten much better.
And then the credits mercifully roll and we are told to remember the moral of the story.
And I guess it's Frankie Avlon because that's the next thing that comes up on screen.
We're also told to remember not to forget to turn off our TVs when it's time to come back and watch

(38:26):
a cruise party.
And that never happens.
Maybe that was supposed to be a TV show if we're not turning off our TVs.
But either way, it doesn't exist.
And then we see a little more of that night skiing footage and that's the end.
[Music]

(38:46):
Welcome back to the American International Podcast where we're talking about
ski party from 1965.
Skie party is the sixth film in the Beach Party series.
Filming for Skie party was set to begin shortly after Beach Blanket Vingo wrap.
On November 2, 1964, Ailey Variety reported that ski party was set to begin filming in Hollywood
in February of 1965 for AIP. It would star John Ashley, Deborah Wally and Susan Hart.

(39:10):
But Ashley and Hart did not remain with the project.
Variety listed ski party is one of AIP's Golden Dozen releases for 1965
with an expected theatrical release in September of 1965.
However, by late February 1965, Variety revised that to a June 65 release.
In two separate articles published in October of 1964,

(39:30):
Ailey Variety reported that singer Bobby Vitten had partnered with producer Alan Klein
to form an independent film production company called
Bobby Vitten Productions and had hired Ed Lasco to buy the screenplay and title Skie party
in which Vitten would star.
Production was expected to occur in Switzerland in February 1965 and a $1 million budget was announced.
Although the title and the production starting date were the same,

(39:52):
Vitten's film does not appear to have any relation to the AIP feature
and a skiing picture starring the singer was never produced.
Daily Variety announced in December of 1964 that Frankie Avallon had been cast in the lead role
and filming was scheduled to begin in March on location in Sun Valley Idaho.
The shoot was planned to be entirely on location and centered around the
Haramon Cup races held annually at the Idaho Resort.

(40:14):
Alan Raffkin was announced as the director of that February,
marking the television director's feature film, "Tabue."
The rehearsals were scheduled to begin in late February 1965.
In March of '65, Earl Wilson's column said that Robert Cue Lewis,
quote, "gets his break in an AIP picture, Skie party."
He gets to break his leg.
A blurb by a syndicated columnist reported that Lewis had a commute between Idaho and New York,

(40:38):
where Lewis was serving as the substitute host for "To Tell the Truth."
In April of 1965, Wilson reported that Patty Chandler, who played Janet,
broke a toe doing the wattoucci for the Skie party film.
The Willa Parsons column released in April 1965 reported, doing Hickman knows where his
next 14 movies are coming from. James H. Nicholson and Samuel Arcoff have just about secured dibs on

(41:00):
Dwayne by signing him for two films a year for the next seven years. Says Boss Arcoff,
"Wayne is our star of the future and we're putting our money where our judgment is.
We decided on the long-term arrest thing as Russia's the Skie party. We think is best so far."
Ernest Scott interviewed Frankie Avalon for his column, published in April of '65,
and wrote, "Mr. Avalon, age 24, has put his sandy foot down and refused to play a male beach beauty

(41:23):
again. I was getting typed," Avalon said with Admiral Boerry Strait. People are beginning to think
of me as the beach party kid." According to Hollywood Sturff in Beach Movies Part 1 by Thomas
Lassani, AIP wanted to contract player John Ashley to play Freddie, and even man adds in the trade,
saying Ashley would appear in Skie party. But producer Gene Corman thought Ashley wasn't tall enough
and looked too similar to Frankie Avalon. Corman had to fight AIP until they finally relented and

(41:48):
allowed him to come to appear. I guess that's why John Ashley was mentioned in that
Golden Doesn't Report. AIP signed Aaron King Cade to a seven-year contract and planned to cast him
in a proposed musical remake of the Adventures of Robin Hood, with Frankie and Annette as Robin
and Marion. Can you imagine? That project was shelved and King Cade won a role in the ghost and
the invisible bikini instead. King Cade lied to producers when they asked if he could ski. He then

(42:13):
called his cousin a ski instructor at Big Bear Lake and asked for ski lessons and did he had two days
to do it? In case Cade's cousin told me you're not going to be able to walk in two days. Dwayne Hickman
said in an interview that he had no interest in appearing in Skie party until he read the script.
He wrote in his autobiography Forever Dobey. In Skie party, I was set to play Craig Gamble,
and the role of my buddy Todd Armstrong would be played by Frankie Avalon. When Frankie and I met at

(42:38):
the wardrobe fitting, we hit it off immediately. We talked about the script and decided that we should
play the characters like Hope and Crosby. Frankie would be the Crosby type character, smart,
in charge and slick. While I would play the Hope role and be the Bumpler, we had a lot of funny
physical business which helped and not very imaginative script. Hickman also wrote that he and Avalon
wrote three different ski lifts to the top of the mountain for a shoot only to find that the

(43:01):
camera was frozen and the shoot would be delayed. Neither Avalon nor Hickman could ski. So they had
to take the lifts back down the mountain. I have never been colder in my whole life, he wrote.
In her autobiography, Ivonne Craig wrote about how she was excited to appear in Skie party.
I told my agent that if Dwayne was in it and Bob had written it, I didn't even need to read it.
I was sure it was wonderful. Only too late did I realize that Bob was in the

(43:24):
throws of a writer's block and that Skie party was the derivative result. According to Harrison
Carroll's column, published in April, Deborah Wally had 24 hours notice before her on-screen singing
debut in Skie party where she sang, "We'll Never Change Them." The song was originally written as,
"I'll Never Change Him" and sung by Annette Funicella when it's seen cut from Beach Blanket
Bingo. Leslie Gore was originally supposed to sing in Skie party, but she backed out.

(43:48):
Though a classically trained ballerina, Ivonne Craig never got the hang of social dancing.
And after seeing her try to do the twist during the James Brown number, director Rafkin suggested
that Craig take a seat by the heart and try clapping to the beat. But when that proved too difficult
for her, the instructor just sit there and sway. This is the only AIP Beach party film not scored

(44:08):
by Les Baxter. Edwin Norton is credited as the film's music editor and Gary Usher is credited with
the film's score. A Greenberg wrote in a April 65 column for the LA Citizen News that Skie party
director Alan Rafkin was enjoying switching from directing to television to motion pictures.
"Man, it's beautiful," he said. "Feature films give you so much more time to get what you want on

(44:29):
the screen. We shoot about four pages of script a day for a movie, as opposed to cracking about
12 pages a day for television plays. While there's greater spontaneity in television,
there's greater excitement in making movies." Despite every precaution taken by AIP,
there were some injuries during the filming of Skie party. When Hickman heard his back and
Debra Wally suffered strained ligaments, and Hickman standing quirky followed broke his leg.

(44:50):
"Karaman John Stevens fractured two ribs when the snow rickie was riding hit a rock."
"Filming in Sun Valley was completed by Mid-March, followed by post-production, which happened at
producer studios Inc. and Hollywood California." Skie party opened in Los Angeles on August 11, 1965,
in October of 1965, Skie party was playing in New York City on a double bill with another AIP

(45:12):
release, also starring Frankie Avallon, Sergeant Deadhead. "Wow, what a pairing."
Del Comics published a 12 cent comic book version of Skie party in conjunction with the movie's
release. Fox office recommended Peter Owners play up the musical angle, arranging for music stores
to display Avallon's many record albums, as well as those of Leslie Gore.
"Taglines for Skie party include here Frankie Avallon, Leslie Gore and James Brown,

(45:34):
singing and swinging their newest hits." "The coolest way to keep warm at 20 degrees below."
"It's where the hies meet the she's on skis and there's only a one way to get warm."
"When the ski next meet the ski chicks it's called Snow a Go-Go."
"I think their tagline writer needs to calm down." Samuel Arkov stated in a New York Times
interview that Skie party was a commercial disappointment. A follow-up film announced in the credits

(45:58):
"Cruise Party" was never made. Arkov said, quote, "The Bikini Beach Style has had it. We've had
some real bombs lately." But then Arkov cited favorable publicity touting the success of the
beach films. Heard that because actors and writers have, quote, "read so much about how much money
American international was making that they've started asking for higher salaries."
James H. Nicholson said, "The success of our whole operation depends on our ability to bring in

(46:22):
pictures on modest budgets. That's become almost impossible now." Both Columbia Pictures and Universal
Studios produced their versions of Snow a Bound Beach Party films. Columbia's Winter a Go-Go
was released four months later in October 1965. And Universal's Wild Wild Winner was released in
January 1966. So the trend can't be that unprofitable? Box office wrote in their review,

(46:43):
"This should do smash business wherever young folk predominate." As directed by Alan Raffkin,
from a typically daffy screenplay by Robert Kaufman, the picture moves fast,
gets many howls during a sum-like at-hut situation, and Avalon and Hickman masquerade as girls.
Avalon and Hickman are funny and believable throughout. The Pan-Avision Technicolor photography

(47:03):
is an asset. The Lost Side Nellies Times wrote the dialogue seems awfully childish, even for teenagers,
but like the musical acts. The Boston Globe reviewer wrote, "As usual, the picture is designed for
immature escapists. This being true, how do account for the many fat and informally clad adults in
the audience? There must be a reason beyond the comprehension of this reviewer."
Sam Hoffman of the Springfield, Massachusetts Daily News called "Ski Party No World Leader,"

(47:28):
but it is better than the usual run-of-the-mill party films, which should make every youngster
around quite happy. Hoffman continued, "The acting is uniformly acceptable, neither Frankie,
Dwayne, Deborah, or Yvonne need worry about an Oscar nomination. Some fun is provided by Robert
Coolewis as the befilled desk clerk at the ski resort." Ken Bernard in the Detroit Free Press did

(47:49):
not spare the criticism in his review. Aimed frankly at the teen trade, this fluff casserole runs
much too long for the little it has to offer. What it really amounts to is a bush-league version of
some like it hot. In audiences may be content to listen to the musical efforts of Leslie Goren
James Brown while watching the writhing that accompanies the music at Pulseide. Skying will probably

(48:09):
continue as a sport despite this view of it. "Writey called it, and entertaining teenage comedy romance
in snow country settings, with excellent direction of good satirical script and fine performances by young
thesps. Jean Cormor production values are standout and seven tunes in live and pace." The New York Times
Review did not have much more to say than the scenery of the Sawtooth National Forest is gorgeous,

(48:30):
and a busload of girls who agitate their bikinis and ski pants at the camera are willowy.
But in a 2014 review of the James Brown biopic Get On Up, Nelson George recalled the
singer's appearance in the film. He wrote, "In the 1965 Frankie Avalon Vehicle ski party,
James Brown is backing vocal group the famous flames, enter a ski lodge after rescuing a frozen

(48:51):
reveler. Resplendent in white and red sweater, tight black slacks, black pointy shoes and a
regal pumpador, brown performs, I got you, I feel good." Giving the lily white crowd of clapping
skiers a taste of the showmanship that it made him a star on the so-called "Chitlin Circuit" among
blacks. Even in a movie as disposable as ski party, Brown turned a corny scene into genuine entertainment.

(49:13):
Skie party was released to DVD by MGM Home Video in April 15th, 2003, paired with Muscle Beach Party as
part of the Midnight Movies Collection with Skie party on side two of the disc and released again on
July 10th, 2007 as part of the box set of Frankie and Inek Collection with Skie party on the fourth disc.
All right, Jeff, we've had a lot to say about Skie party, but we really haven't given a lot of

(49:40):
our own opinions, so why don't you start and what's the first thing that comes to mind when you want
to give your evaluation of Skie party? Well, I know that you haven't seen many of the Beach Party movies,
I've seen most of them, and they tend to get more and more surreal as they go along. Really,
the only surreal thing in this, I think, is the polar bear. Yeah, and it's my favorite part,

(50:01):
but I really go for things that are surreal and absurd in movies. But the way this movie plays,
plays differently, and I think that's because we have a different director. We had Alan Raffkin
directing this one, and up to this time, it's always been a William Asher direction. It did feel different
from the ones that I have seen Beach Party and Muscle Beach Party, and to me, it was kind of a positive
change. It definitely plays a faster pace. And I thought, while this movie does have some very corny

(50:27):
elements, I thought that they also introduced a little something more than the typical Cornball humor
that we get from a Beach Party movie, especially a Muscle Beach Party, which I thought was one of the most
egregious movies I've ever seen. Oh, yeah, I haven't seen anything yet. It's corny.
But there's also a lot of meaningless dialogue here. Yeah, I tried not to write it down,
and we were taking notes. And I think that's because it was corny, and I'm not really interested in that.

(50:51):
Another corny thing is Operation Screwball. I don't understand
why that was so important for Todd Armstrong to want to mess this guy up. I mean, keep your eye
on the prize. Why are you here? Yeah, the only thing that would make sense is if they were trying to
get rid of supervision, they didn't want to be supervised as they tried to zero in on their women,

(51:13):
but their whole plan made it unnecessary. Whether they were supervised or not, they were playing women,
so they could go anywhere. So yeah, it just seemed like they were being cruel for no good reason.
Well, I think the reason was just to give Robert Culu something to do.
Yeah, but I think that with all the other antics that we're going on, maybe he could have been the
only one that notices that Todd and Craig or Jane and Nora and nobody believes him because

(51:37):
for some reason they pass so well as other people. That could have been funny, but it just seemed like
you know, looking at it from 2025 when mental health is a serious issue and
them playing with a guy who's unstable in some way just seems really mean.
It's not really in the spirit of fun that you would expect in a movie like this,

(52:00):
but obviously different time and they were playing it for laughs. I just seem kind of cruel.
And if he's in this position where he's going to have a breakdown that easily, he probably shouldn't
be in charge of a whole ski lodge. Yeah, there's no other staff at all. You don't see anybody.
It's just him and all these kids. So no one's starting to crack a little who wouldn't. But yeah,

(52:21):
there's a lot of other themes in this movie that they could be exploring more fully. And
there's kind of a gender identity sexuality thing going on here where I think in a more modern movie,
I think we'd see Craig discovering that maybe he's not straight, at least not 100%.
No, but you're also account for his animosity toward Freddie in the beginning of the movie. He just

(52:45):
wants to collaborate. Right. So he's in denial of something that maybe he's not even really aware of
yet. But like he said, Freddie is the only one who's treated him well and that's kind of a revelation
for him. What it's like to be pursued and what it's like to be wanted. And he's never had that.
And he's realizing that even though it's coming from a man, it's still a welcome. And what does that

(53:06):
mean? But then we have to sort of negate all that because Todd doesn't approve. Yeah, we mentioned
the Del Comics adaptation and really do brush over all that stuff. So obviously it touched a
nerve. They played for laughs here, but feels like there's something more going on. And maybe
there's something more going on with Freddie too because he's got all these beautiful women just
clawing at him and well, nobody likes to be potted all the time. But he's not into them. The first

(53:31):
person he's into is a man and drag and one who's aloof with him. So I think that that's the real
story here in a modern remake. That's what we'd be exploring. It wouldn't be a goof. It'd be for real.
This is also a kind of a change for an AIP film in that they brought in Gene Corman as producer and
he had some of his own ideas. This is Roger Corman's brother of course. Yeah, he'd already done a couple

(53:55):
of beach movies by now, which I haven't seen. So I can't really say how they might be different from
the AIP versions. And he had brought in some of his own casting ideas that kind of infiltrated the
AIP regulars. John Ashley was out. Aaron Kincaid was in. And he brought Dick Miller in. Oh yeah. And I
think swapping John Ashley for Aaron Kincaid was probably the best thing he could have done for

(54:18):
this movie. John Ashley would have been a disaster in this role. They needed someone who was different
than our two Schlubby lead characters. And John Ashley could really blend in with them. He does
on the other beach movies. He's one of the gang. Yeah, they're all brunettes. And Aaron Kincaid is a
tall, Nordic looking blonde. I kind of expected him to have an accent when the movie first started

(54:40):
to add to as a lure with all the women. But now he's just a all-American guy. With a very nasal
voice. Yeah, he's no prize in the voice department. But then neither is John Ashley.
But yeah, that's kind of the parts of the movie that I like. Is the gender swapping the gender roles,

(55:01):
the way that romance is treated, how women view it, how men view it, how it's different.
And I thought I'd that been explored a little more thoroughly. It could still be funny.
But instead they sort of leaned into the corn ball.
And I mentioned this during the synopsis. But when Hickman and Frank Avalon don't go out of the
way to really look like women. They're just wearing wigs. Yeah. And the blonde wig that

(55:26):
Frankie Avalon wears, he allegedly puts on Pemney. But that's going to be a different wig,
because that's more like a Dutch boy look. They're both short wigs. They're not
rocking long ponytails or blowing locks. They sort of look like moms. Like they're in their 40s.
They're tired of trying to look good for their husbands and they've just given up.

(55:47):
And that's the result. That's what they look like. But that's not what they're supposed to be posing as.
No, they're supposed to look like the other girls. And all the other girls are willowy and
wearing tight clothes and they have long hair. Well, actually Linda and Barbara don't have long hair.
But basically they look very stereotypically female. And Todd and Craig look like boys wearing

(56:09):
their mother's clothing in a wig. And they dab it a little bit in her makeup kit.
They should have had Linda and Barbara teach them how to do their makeup and stuff.
And their falsetto voices are only slightly more convincing than mine.
Hello. That's too bad. This is pre-mony python because they could have learned a lot from Michael

(56:31):
Palin and Eric Guidal, who were very good at playing British women. How do you feel about
after all this? They just end up back on the beach. It kind of feels inevitable. Even though I
thought it was an extremely dumb development. But they're trying to reinforce that, yeah, this is
the beach party gang. And we're going to at least end up with one beach scene. It feels strange

(56:51):
because they don't stare on the beach. They're in college. Right. They're on a campus. So it's
kind of weird that that's where they wind up. No, but I guess that's where the handels were and
what choice did they have? I mean, you want to get a look at the Pacific Ocean, right? And they had
a dispose of Nora and Freddie, I guess, last seen somewhere around Guam. I don't know. There's so
many dumb developments in this movie that I'm not a screenwriter, but I would object to if I was in

(57:17):
some sort of script conference. You know, can't we do this differently? Can't we make it make sense
a little bit more? Can't we make it a little more fun for the audience? But I don't know. They
really aiming this at 15-year-olds. Was that really the audience that they were going for?
Does this feel like a middle-aged person movie to me? I don't think a middle-aged person would be

(57:38):
caught dead in a beach party movie. No, but it's so tame. And that's part of, you know, we're in 1965.
Maybe the sexual revolution hasn't quite kicked in yet, but these girls are fighting over getting
kissed on the cheek. And they're on dates with boys. And I'm not saying that they need to put out
or anything, but they're so standoff-ish. Craig kisses Barbara and she says, "Now you have to marry me."

(58:03):
I mean, I'm pretty sure that people kissed in the 50s even, if not earlier, and now we're in the mid-60s,
and a peck on the cheek is third-base. It just seems a little weird that they're so sexually
tame here. So pure tanical. It just feels out of time and place.
Well, there was the Boston Globe Review that said that there were adults in the audience,

(58:27):
which should be fuddled in the reviewer. They're fat too. And not dressed up at all. I don't know
what the reviewer was expecting. Teenagers and formal clothing, I guess. Yeah, it just seems that the
audience for this movie is someone who doesn't exist. Young people who are very pure tanical. I just
don't know who would be interested in this. And it did flop. So there you go. I think the movie

(58:52):
starts out a lot more promising than it ends up. We get the characters where they're going. They're on
the bus. Leslie Gore is there. And then she vanishes. It's kind of downhill from there. It picks up
a little and James Brown shows up. But that's it. And the musical numbers, I think, kind of are the
highlight of this movie. And I think they're good. I think they're better than definitely muscle
beach party. I do miss stick Dale and the deltons. But I thought the caliber of the songs was better

(59:18):
here. Maybe that's just me. Maybe that's just the James Brown and Leslie Gore of it all.
It's too bad. Leslie Gore didn't sing that other song. Yeah, but then she would have to be one of the
girls. And she would have to have a reason to be there. I would be okay with her being there.
But then she would have to be like bullseye and she'd have to be the ski lesson. Like why would she

(59:38):
be with all the other girls if she's not their friend? But then again, why would she just be on the bus?
And then where does she go after that? The bus doesn't go back. Where does she go? She rode all the way
from Los Angeles to Idaho. And then she vanishes. So that doesn't make sense. She can just come out when
needed. When we did Sergeant Deadhead Bobby Shaw's in that and she sings a song out of nowhere. She played

(01:00:02):
Anita Elksburg and ski party. But she appears in Sergeant Deadhead out of nowhere sings a song.
And we never see her again. A lot of the background characters who have been around the beach party
movies for a while do get names and lines here where they normally wouldn't. So that was kind of
good to see. Yeah, but it is weird. We couldn't not figure out who the guy on the ski lift who commented on

(01:00:25):
Reagan's has unusual closeness. And then I think that was the same guy who at the end tells everyone to
you know, get into gear or get out of here. We don't know his name. Got a very distinctive face.
But I don't know who it is. We narrated down to probably Gene or John or Arthur.
But definitely not Mickey. Larry Holmes plays Larry. That's James Nicholson's daughter.

(01:00:48):
Mickey Jameson is another one who's bought over by Gene Corman.
plays Mickey. One of the Mickey's. Girl Mickey. And Mickey Dora also plays Mickey. Boy Mickey.
He was the professional surfer in the group. Was anybody surfing?
No, but he's been in the beach party movies prior. Right. But why was he here? Did he also ski?

(01:01:09):
A lot of unanswered questions with the casting. And that Gennacella had sort of an odd cameo
thing against her regular character. But I think that was just for shock value. I don't know.
You really needed to be here. No, I agree. It was for shock value. It was the same thing with her cameo
and Dr. Cole from the bikini machine. She appears briefly in the stacks in the dungeon.

(01:01:30):
And that's just them being silly. And we're not supposed to take this movie seriously. I realize that.
But I think that silly can just go too far sometimes. They're trying to tell a story here. And they let
this other stuff take you out of the movie too much. And yet you're a link polar bear with your favorite
character because it only happens four or five times. It's very brief. And it's really funny.

(01:01:53):
And they don't explain it. They don't take a lot of time to point it out. It's just something that
happens and then goes away. Except for the part where the polar bear brings coffee to Nida,
it's almost as if Tad Armstrong is the only one who ever sees it. And we see it. So it's our shared
delusion. And there's no reason for that to be there. It's just something that I personally find

(01:02:13):
delightful. Had it not been there, I wouldn't have missed it. The way you see the beach party movie with
the talking pelican. Oh, well, can't wait. You're that's corny. Did you have a favorite song amongst the
numbers that weren't performed by guest stars? That weren't performed by guest stars. Is there only the two of
them? Yeah, I think so. You can say the Hundels. I think the theme song ski party is probably the best.

(01:02:37):
The gas are didn't really stand out to me. I think I like the will never change them song. It's really
bouncy and upbeat. And kind of a good message that they just need to accept their men as they are
or break up with them. I did think I was better than the Frankie's song. Yeah, but it's kind of a
bobb. The painting the town when they're in the sleigh. Well, I bet about that one. Yeah, that was cute.

(01:02:59):
It was funny that they're painting the town and they're on an afternoon sleigh ride. And you think
well, they're going to town and they're going to poop it up there of it. No, they're having a charming
little sleigh ride through the snow. And it's it's a cute scene. They look cute. It's very picture-esque.
But then it gets into that meaningless dialogue between Greg and Barbara where they're trying to

(01:03:22):
out to each other in the cute department. The funny department. And I think Barbara wins. Greg is not
that funny. It's really hard to see the appeal of either of the lead characters. They're neurotic,
they're handsy, they're entitled. They're not that interesting. They like to break the fourth wall.
Yeah, but Twain Hickman has always done that. It's weird to think of him not breaking the fourth

(01:03:45):
wall. It's a doby thing. Right. And it's an AIP thing. These beach party movies. And it's a
Frankie Avalon thing too because we've seen him do that before. And it irritates me every single time.
Even in the million eyes of Sumeru. Yeah. So it's supposed to be a spy thriller, I guess.
And yeah, he does a little take to the audience. Yeah, it annoys me. And no less so here. That's just

(01:04:08):
another corny thing that I could do without. Yeah, Todd and Craig need to work on themselves. They
demand that the girls like them, but they're not likeable. You want to be like to be likeable. It's
pretty easy. Instead, they just whine about how they can't get none. But in the 60s, I guess,
you get issued your girlfriend in college and then you get married. And well, if that doesn't

(01:04:30):
happen, it's not your fault. It's the system. I know it's a movie, but the plan to go out and drag
works a lot better for them than it should. Even getting the outfits together because that's
something planned on before they got there. They rated the lost and found. They were lucky to find
two wigs. Most places wouldn't even have one. Exactly. I can't believe a woman would leave those

(01:04:52):
behind. Those are expensive. They'll just leave them in the nightstand. Well, in her defense,
they really weren't attractive wigs. No, but she called back wanting them. So they meant something to her.
Have any had to assure her that they weren't going to be died and sold on the black market or something.
That's right. All right, I think we've picked apart this movie as much as we can pick.
Let's give it a rating using our AIP. Scalware is awesome. I's intermediate and P is pathetic. You first.

(01:05:19):
Well, when I was researching this film, what I discovered was that behind the scenes of this movie
are so much more fun than the movie itself. We only touched on this, but there's a situation with
Yvonne Craig where she wasn't allowed to participate in the dance numbers because apparently she has
no sense of rhythm whatsoever. She's a ballerina. But when it comes to rock and roll, I guess she can't dance.

(01:05:41):
Was it she in an Elvis movie? She wasn't too well with movies. Oh, wow.
But apparently they had her dancing during the James Brown sequence and had to have her go off screen
because she looked too awkward. So they tried to have her clap and she couldn't keep the beat.
I wish we could see some of the outtakes. And then there's another story that's not really surprising,
but Aaron Kinkay spoke of how he really wasn't accepted into the click. And then apparently there

(01:06:04):
were three different clicks on the set of this. The leads were in one. The regular beach party kids
were in the other and then there were the outsiders who were in a third click and weren't even allowed
to be part of that. So they were all social, but they weren't hanging out together. And they were
accepted as part of the other groups. And Kinkay didn't belong in any of those groups. He was the
true outsider. And that's for Ski Party. Despite the interesting background,

(01:06:28):
movie just is not great. It's amusing. I too like the polar bear. But this one has just kind of a
weird feel to it. And a lot of that is because of the way it's edited. Dialogue will continue into
the next scene as kind of a transition. And while that's not an usual in film, it is unusual in the
beach party series. So it does feel weird. And then there was the bits like Operation Screwball.

(01:06:52):
Again, what's the point? And the fact that Linda's agreeable to taking Todd back after finding out
that he did all this stuff that any sane woman would be like goodbye and never speak to him again.
Yeah. Any sane woman would have figured it out on day one. But this is a fantasy world and
we're all watching it. I'm going to give it an eye. It's an okay watch. The songs are good.

(01:07:16):
Musical guests are great. Yeah. If nothing else, watch the James Brown scene.
And it's worth a watch at least once. Intermediate eye for me. What do you think?
I'm going to agree because there are parts of it that I did like. But I'm kind of extrapolating them
into a different, better movie. The way that Craig started having feelings for Freddie, I think that
in a modern movie, we could really explore that. You could have fun with it. We could make it serious.

(01:07:41):
Here they weren't brave enough to go with that. They had to make it all a goof. And so that takes
away from it. I like the polar bear. I like the music. I like some of the interplay between Barbara and
Linda. But yeah, they could do better. These guys aren't all that. And they're totally deciding and
talking themselves into settling on the way back to Los Angeles. And it was jaw dropping. That

(01:08:07):
Deborah Wally didn't at least smack Frankie Avalon for what he did to her. It's so stupid and so
pointless. She's touched that he went through all the trouble. Yeah. But I would be questioning my own
sanity and powers of discernment at that point. I'd be writing Dr. Pemney. Yeah. What is wrong with me?

(01:08:27):
I stood this close to my own date. He was just wearing a wig and some falsies. And I thought he
was a completely different person. And you know, they actually break character a few times in front
of the girls. And of course, it's, you know, stage whisper, I guess. And they're not supposed to
over here. But they're in the same room. Sometimes they're standing right next to each other. And they

(01:08:48):
use their real voices. They're even talking to us. Well, yeah. And I can see they're not supposed to see
that. But anyway, it's just the dumbness of this movie and the cheesiness of this movie. Wait,
down to the point where I just can't like it as much as I want to. And I don't hate it. It is
better than muscle peach party. Thinking back on that, you know, I would never want to see that again.

(01:09:14):
This one I could probably suffer through it one more time. I'm going to give it an eye as well.
See it for the good parts. Maybe you could just skim through the rest of it.
It's kind of strange that the whole Craig and Freddie relationship is just played for laughs.
And then kind of blown off. Yeah. He pinned her. She took his pin. They're going steady.
And then at the end, they tell Freddie that she swam into the ocean to get away from him.

(01:09:38):
That doesn't make sense. And here I am demanding that a beach party movie make sense. I know. But I mean,
I had to watch it. I would like a little reward for my effort. And because Todd and Nora got into that
cab together, everybody just assumes they're running off together, which appears that's what they
are doing. So what? Why does everybody have to then leave their vacation a day early?

(01:10:00):
Well, Freddie has to because he has to stop Nora from making a horrible mistake. Everybody else,
I'm not sure. And why don't you just steal Pevney Scooter instead of dragging him along with
who's running the ski lodge? There's nobody there. Maybe that's why the kids had to leave because there's
no one to surf them dinner anymore. Hope they lock the door and they way out. So to find out more about
ski party and the other movies that we've covered on the American International podcast,

(01:10:24):
visit our website, aippod.com. So you can find posters, trailers, lobby cards,
as well as a way to message us. So you can tell us how you feel about how we're doing with this
podcast or you can ask questions or tell us if we're wrong about anything we've said. If the movies
are streaming anywhere, you could find out where to stream them on our website. And you can also
check on our merch. We'll never ask for money on this podcast, but if you do decide to buy some of

(01:10:47):
our merch, it does help to keep the podcast going. Pretty cool stuff. All right. I think we've reached
the bottom of the hill and it's time to go for the American International podcast. I'm Cheryl Lightfoot.
And I'm Jeff Markin and we'll meet you at the drive-in.
Follow the American International podcast on Instagram and Letterbox @aip_pod and on Facebook
at facebook.com/americaninternationalpodcast.

(01:11:09):
The American International podcast is produced and edited by Jeff Markin,
a man whose mind is distorted by hatred, and Cheryl Lightfoot.
A girl hungry for too many things.

(01:11:32):
The American International Podcast is part of the Pop Culture Entertainment network.
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