Ski Party (1965)

American International Pictures must have thought that if teenagers would flock to theaters to see Frankie Avalon at the beach, they’d happily watch him having fun in the mountains, and they weren’t wrong. Ski Party, released in 1965, was the snow-covered sibling of the sun-drenched Beach Party films. The Malibu shoreline was replaced with the frosty slopes of Sun Valley but, other than that, every zany ounce of the AIP teen-movie formula was kept intact from the jealous misunderstandings to the pop tune interludes to the inevitable “boys learn their lesson” finale. Like the Beach Party films, it's an unabashedly corny teen romp, but Ski Party is so dyed‑in‑the‑wool goofy that resisting its charm becomes downright impossible after a viewing or two. Or three. Or five. Honestly, this film gets more amusing each time we watch it!

Todd (Frankie Avalon) and his best pal Craig (Dwayne Hickman) are baffled by the eternal mystery of what girls want. Their girlfriends, the bubbly Linda (Deborah Walley) and the stylish Barbara (Yvonne Craig), seem to fall for the charms of the swaggering jock Freddie (Aron Kincaid). When Freddie's ski club and the girls all head to Sun Valley for the weekend, Todd and Craig decide to trade the sand for snow to make sure Freddie doesn't steal their sweethearts and to study the mysterious ways of the opposite sex. 

At the resort, Freddie swooshes down the slopes with the grace of a snowbound Apollo, so Todd and Craig decide that if they master the rudiments of skiing, it's a cinch that the girls will flock around them, just like they do with Freddie. Their plan? To disguise themselves as girls to infiltrate the female ski class. Donning floppy wigs and falsetto voices, they become British co-eds "Jane" and "Nora". Naturally, no one questions why Frankie Avalon in a wig still looks exactly like Frankie Avalon in a wig. Complications arise for the two Casanova wannabes when Freddie falls for "Nora" and Barbara gets jealous of Craig's attention to "Jane". 

Ski Party was allotted a larger budget than the Beach Party films and the usual director William Asher (known for his TV work) was replaced with Alan Rafkin (The Ghost and Mr. Chicken), an experienced comedy film director. His direction - and the better script - made Ski Party one of the most entertaining entries in the series. Plus, there was the added bonus of the beautiful location filming at Sawtooth National Forest and the Sun Valley Resort in Sun Valley, Idaho. 

While Annette Funicello's presence is missed (she has a brief cameo in the film), Dwayne Hickman more than makes up for her absence. Television's "Dobie Gillis" was a natural comic and he should have appeared in more of the Beach films in place of the wacky Harvey Lembeck. 

"And so we see the male becomes the most romantic between the ages of 17 and 19." - Professor Sonya Roberts (Annette)

[Sound of chalk on a chalkboard] "It sounds like my mating call." - Todd

"Mine's much noisier." - Craig

Ski Party also boasts some good musical breaks including Leslie Gore singing the catchy "Sunshine, Lollipops and Rainbows" on the bus enroute to the lodge, James Brown and the Famous Flames appearing as a ski patrol and singing "I Feel Good" and Frankie Avalon bopping with "Lots More Where That Came From" and "Painting the Town". 

Ski Party is definitely juvenile fare with lots of teenage hijinks but it's a fun winter romp so brightly colored and so shamelessly goofy that it becomes more endearing with each viewing.

Dell Movie Classics: Master of the World (1961)

Dell comics were best known for their TV series tie-ins (click here to read an older post about them) but they gave Gold Key some competition in the 1960s with movie tie-ins as well. This series was known as the Dell Movie Classics and there were quite a few titles in their line-up, all of them featuring juicy painted illustrations or photo covers. 

This one - Master of the World (#1157) - was released in conjunction with the American International adventure film of the same name starring Vincent Price, Charles Bronson, and Henry Hull. The film tried trying to capture the grandeur of Walt Disney's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and Around the World in 80 Days but since the studio had a smaller budget and the sets were limited, it came off as more of a B+ adventure flick....but an enjoyable one, nonetheless. Since I revisited it a few days ago, it seemed only fitting to feature its comic connection in our Dell series. 

The "madman" referred to on the cover is Robur the Conquerer, a Captain Nemo of the air. Jules Verne liked powerful men who destroyed warships and while Captain Nemo was busy sinking them with his submarine, Robur blasted them from above in his flying airship. 

This entry in the series features a fantastic painted cover by Don Spaulding depicting one of these warships being destroyed by the airship. Inside, the artwork and inking is very nice, too. Of course, the characters don't resemble the actors exactly but I do not think they were permitted to copy their likenesses. 

Today, this comic sells for $10-20 for a decent copy. If you want to read more about this fun flick, check out our review here. 

The Impossibly Difficult Name that Movie Game

 
It's a new year and a new round of Impossibly Difficult Name that Movie game puzzles begins with this juicy entry. There are some small clues in this screenshot to help you identify the film but really not enough to make this anything less than impossibly difficult! 

As always, if you are not familiar with the rules to the Impossibly Difficult Name that Movie game or the prize, click here.

Good luck! 

Film Albums: Pepe at the Movies (1965)

This is a wonderful album. Pepe Jaramillo was a fantastic pianist and the arrangements of these popular film themes are lovely. In an era when all of these songs appeared on countless instrumental albums, it seems impossible to create a new and unique arrangement for each and yet Ken Thome, the musical director of this album, did just that. If you can picture Ferrante and Teicher mixed with Xavier Cugat's orchestra, you can imagine how Pepe Jaramillo's music sounds like... but don't take my word for it, listen to it yourself. The link is down below. 

The album begins with the exciting theme from Charade which is infused with a Latin touch, followed by the lush The Singer Not the Song. This was the theme to one of Britain's few western productions. A Certain Smile is one of the best songs on this album. It's a slow rather melancholy love song as performed by Johnny Mathis in the film of the same name, but Pepe turns it into a lively Latin jungle-sounding dance tune. The album closes with the lovely Moon River. 

Pepe at the Movies was released in 1965 by Parlaphone records, a British label. The Mexican-born Jaramillo didn't have much success in the United States but he found a large audience in the UK so most of his albums from the 1960s were British labels. 

Listen to the full album here on Youtube. 

Track List

Side One: 

Charade 

The Singer Not the Song 

A Certain Smile 

I Will Wait for You 

Gigi 

Forget Domani 

Side Two:

Lawrence Of Arabia 

Days Of Wine & Roses 

Call Me Irresponsible 

Exodus 

The Green Leaves of Summer 

Moon River

Top Picks: Charade, The Singer Not the Song, A Certain Smile, Gigi, Forget Domani

From the Archives: The Moon-Spinners (1964)

Every year on the day before we take our Christmas tree down, we watch The Moon-Spinners (1964). It's such a lovely tradition and I don't even recall how it started, but this is one of my favorite scenes in the film. Nikki (Hayley Mills) and Mark (Peter McEnery) spend the night in the ruins of a Greek temple inhabited by stray cats. In the morning, they meet the helpful Anthony Gamble (John Le Mesurier). 

From the Archives is our latest series of posts where we share photos from the Silverbanks Pictures collection. Some of these may have been sold in the past, and others may still be available for purchase at our eBay store: http://stores.ebay.com/Silverbanks-Pictures 

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year dear readers! Let the new year ring out with happiness and don't plug your ears - keep them and your eyes wide open, let surprises happen in 2026! Blessings to all! 

The Impossibly Difficult Name that Movie Game

Even with this man's face in full view, this month's Impossibly Difficult Name that Movie Game is especially tricky so, because of that, we are offering two prizes instead of one! 

If you are the first to identify this screenshot, then in addition to a vintage photo of your choice from our online stores, you will also receive Connie's latest book - Classic Films: Famous and Forgotten Films (1930-1985) which for the moment is only purchasable through direct order.  It is packed with over 50 film reviews collected from nearly 13 years of writing this blog. We wish we could offer it to all countries, but it is only available to US and UK residents due to shipping restrictions. 

As always, if you are not familiar with the rules to the Impossibly Difficult Name that Movie game or the prize, click here!

Good luck!