Get Yourself a College Girl | |
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Directed by | Sidney Miller |
Written by | Robert E. Kent Robert G. Stone |
Produced by | Sam Katzman |
Starring | |
Cinematography | Fred Jackman Jr. |
Edited by | Ben Lewis |
Music by | Fred Karger |
Production company | Four-Leaf Productions |
Distributed by | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer |
Release date |
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Running time | 87 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Box office | $2,000,000 (US/ Canada rentals) [lower-alpha 1] |
Get Yourself a College Girl, also released as The Swingin' Set, is a 1964 Metrocolor film comedy in the style of a beach party movie. The plot involves a college student who tries to balance her time writing songs and dealing with her publisher who tries to pursue her. It was directed by Sidney Miller and written by Robert E. Kent, and filmed at Sun Valley, Idaho, United States. [2]
Terry Taylor (Mary Ann Mobley) is a senior at conservative Wyndham College for Women (fictitious), and under an assumed name, a successful pop songwriter. After her publisher Gary Underwood (Chad Everett) unknowingly exposes her career, Wyndham's board of trustees—including the college founder's grandson, California State Senator Hubert Morrison (Willard Waterman)—condemns Terry for indecent behavior.
To distract herself from a possible expulsion, Terry, her friends Sue Ann Mobley (Chris Noel) and Lynne (Nancy Sinatra), and their physical-education instructor Marge Endicott (Joan O'Brien) travel to Sun Valley, Idaho, for a Christmas-break ski vacation. There, they meet Gary and his artist friend Armand (Fabrizio Mioni); Senator Morrison, who wants to solicit the youth vote; and Lynne's husband.
The Dave Clark Five, The Animals, and other musical acts perform in the background as Gary and Armand romance Terry and Sue Ann, respectively, while Lynne and her husband spend the entire vacation in their room. Senator Morrison courts Marge and shows that he is a talented dancer, but an embarrassing newspaper photograph threatens his re-election. The others demonstrate his support among the young by holding a successful telephone poll with musical performances.
The film was known as Watusi A Go-Go, The Swingin' Set and The Go Go Set. [3]
A contemporary review by Howard Thompson in The New York Times reported that the film "deserves — and gets here — a one-line verdict: idiocy strictly for the birds." [4] Writing for DVD Talk, critic Paul Mavis described the film as "a good-looking, mildly amusing Sam Katzman cheapie for M-G-M, helped considerably by some socko musical numbers," adding that "the girls look great, the guys are handsome duds, and the music rocks and sways...but more laughs would have helped." [5] A review of the film by critic Mel Neuhaus in Turner Classic Movies described it as a "curious 1964 hybrid of teen movie musical with pre-feminist overtones" and "a must-see due to its strange guest-star cast, who help elevate the formula narrative into a near-surreal '60s happening," further noting that "the choice of music guest stars is one of the most freakish conglomerations in any movie musical." [6]
A review of the film in the Los Angeles Times called it "inoffensively silly". [7]
Harry "Sweets" Edison was an American jazz trumpeter and a member of the Count Basie Orchestra. His most important contribution was as a Hollywood studio musician, whose muted trumpet can be heard backing singers, most notably Frank Sinatra.
Mary Ann Mobley was an American actress, television personality, and Miss America 1959.
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Girl Happy is a 1965 American musical romantic comedy and beach party film starring Elvis Presley in his eighteenth feature. The movie won a fourth-place prize Laurel Award in the category Top Musical of 1965. It featured the song "Puppet on a String", which reached #14 on the Billboard Hot 100, #3 on the Adult Contemporary chart and in Canada, and was certified Gold by the RIAA.
The beach party film is an American film genre of feature films which were produced and released between 1963 and 1968, created by American International Pictures (AIP), beginning with their surprise hit, Beach Party, in July 1963. With this film, AIP is credited with creating the genre. In addition to the AIP films, several contributions to the genre were produced and released by major and independent studios alike. According to various sources, the genre comprises over 30 films, with the lower-budget AIP films being the most profitable.
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"Just in Time" is a popular song with the melody written by Jule Styne and the lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green. It was introduced by Judy Holliday and Sydney Chaplin in the musical Bells Are Ringing in 1956. Judy Holliday and Dean Martin sang the song in the 1960 film of Bells Are Ringing. Martin then recorded it for his 1960 album, This Time I'm Swingin'!. Tony Bennett recorded the song in 1956 and continued performing it until his retirement, at Radio City Music Hall, in 2021 at the age of 95.
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