Tom Lisanti is an award-winning author/film historian specializing in1960s/1970s film and television. He began writing professionally in 1998. His newest book is Ryan’s Hope: An Oral History of Daytime’s Groundbreaking Soap from Citadel Press/Kensington Books released in October 2023. Look for his next book, Dueling Harlows: The Race to Bring the Actress’ Life to the Silver Screen from McFarland & Company in late spring 2024.
Pretty, perky Chris Noel was once described as “devastation in a bikini.” A former model, this green-eyed blonde was discovered while doing summer stock. With her fresh-faced, innocent look, Noel was perfectly cast as the wholesome girl-next-door looking for fun or romance on the beach, on campus, or on vacation. Wearing the skimpiest of bikinis, the effervescent actress was a highlight of a gaggle of teenage and beach films—Get Yourself a College Girl (“The swingin’-est blast ever filmed.”), Beach Ball (“Nothing bounces like Beach Ball!”), Girl Happy (“Elvis jumps with the campus crowd to make the beach ‘ball’ bounce!!!”), Wild Wild Winter (“A surfin’ snow ball!), and For Singles Only (“See how the single half lives…in co-ed pads where the unmarrieds swing 24 hours a day!”). When the beach films became passe during the late sixties, Noel segued to the biker genre with roles in The Glory Stompers and The Tormentors. No typical starlet she, Chris became the first female disc jockey on Armed Forces Radio in 1966 and began visiting Vietnam on her own to help boost the morale of the GIs. Her devotion to our military has never stopped and she dfounded Ceasefire House in Florida to help homeless Vietnam vets. Read more about Chris Noel in my books Fantasy Femmes of Sixties Cinema and Hollywood Surf and Beach Movies: The First Wave. Or check out the many books Chris Noel has written herself on Amazon.
Inga Neilsen was dubbed on the Internet as “A Nordic Goddess Supreme, the World’s Greatest Glamazon” and the statuesque beauty clearly deserves the title. Standing 6-foot-3 in heels, this striking blue-eyed blonde had curves galore and was built to be ogled on the big screen in spy spoofs (The Silencers, The Ambushers) and musical extravaganzas (A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Funny Girl where she stood out as the Winter Bride). Her body was not all Inga offered as she was an accomplished singer and had comedic talent to hold her own opposite some of the decade’s top comedians. Read my interview with her in my book Glamour Girls of Sixties Hollywood.
Summer’s here and surf’s up! My book Hollywood Surf and Beach Movies: The First Wave, 1959-1969 makes for great laid-back, at the shore summer reading. Revisit all those great 1960s beach movies such as Gidget; Where the Boys Are; Beach Party; Ride the Wild Surf; The Girls on the Beach; Beach Ball; A Swingin’ Summer; Beach Blanket Bingo; Don’t Make Waves, etc. Full of comments and anecdotes from many cast members including Salli Sachse, Jody McCrea, William Wellman, Jr., Peter Brown, Bart Patton, Gail Gerber, and particularly the late Aron Kincaid. Our cover boy not only wrote a foreword but provided many funny and interesting stories about his beach movies, his life and career. Catch the wave!
And don’t forget my most recent book Pamela Tiffin: Hollywood to Rome, 1961-1974. All her summer teenage summer drive-in movies are discussed such as the beach movie For Those Who Think Young plus State Fair; Come Fly with Me, The Lively Set; and The Pleasure Seekers.
My new interview book tentatively titled Talking Sixties Drive-In Movieswas delivered to BearManor Media 2 weeks ago. It is my first time working with this publisher who has released a number of impressive film books at reasonable prices recently.
Talking Sixties Drive-in Movies is a collection of profiles, interviews, and tributes about actors and films popular with the drive-in movie crowd during the sixties. Genres covered include beach party films, Elvis Presley musicals, spy spoofs, spaghetti westerns, biker films, and alienated youth exploitation movies. Some of the chapters center on one movie or a genre while others are career profiles with a main focus on one or two drive-in movies.
The book is somewhat arranged in chronological order based on the release of the genre or the particular movie the interview with the actor focuses on. It begins with Elvis Presley’s three-time co-star Shelley Fabares and supporting players Arlene Charles, Nancy Czar, Gail Gerber, and Christopher Riordan talking about working with him during his MGM days from 1964-1967 in such films as Viva Las Vegas, Girl Happy, Spinout, and Clambake.
https://youtu.be/lpPP75GVE8k
Bobbi Shaw remembers making her AIP Beach Party films including Pajama Party, Beach Blanket Bingo, Ski Party, and The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini.
Perpetual bikini girl Arlene Charles recalls her fun times in Hollywood working in teenage movies and her adventures in Hawaii shooting I Sailed to Tahiti with an All Girl Crew.
Rediscover drive-in heartthrob Steven Rogers from TV’s Combat! to the big screen’s The Girls on the Beach, Ski Party, Wild, Wild Winter, and Angels from Hell with brief observations from the actor.
Jan Watson remembers what is like being a decorative Slaygirl opposite Dean Martin in the Matt Helm spy spoofs The Silencers, Murderers’ Row, and The Ambushers.
Irene Tsu recounts her time in Hawaii with Elvis Presley filming Paramount’s Paradise, Hawaiian Style.
Mimsy Farmer talks about how she went from being the Queen of the Drive-In starring in such movies as Hot Rods to Hell, Riot on Sunset Strip, and Devil’s Angels to working in Europe.
Diane Bond shares memories of going from beach parties and Elvis movies to becoming a Flint Girl opposite James Coburn in the spy spoof In Like Flint.
Italian actress Nicoletta Machiavelli talks about all her spaghetti westerns including Navajo Joe with Burt Reynolds and her experience being under contract to producer Dino De Laurentiis.
https://youtu.be/dB2jMag_H0o
Lara Lindsay recalls her days as a 20th Century-Fox contract player attending their talent school and the making of the last sixties Hollywood surf movie, The Sweet Ride.
Screenwriter Stephen Yafa explains how he came to write the script for Three in the Attic and offers a behind-the-scenes look at the making of this drive-in hit, while co-star Maggie Thrett also shares her stories about the movie and her singing and acting career.
Valerie Starrett relives her time making one of the most popular biker films of the sixties Run, Angel, Run where she was not only the female lead but the screenwriter as well.
https://youtu.be/-2ndWjwYZPU
One of the busiest young dancing actors in Hollywood during the sixties, the outspoken Christopher Riordan dishes on his teenage drive-in movies and his memorable role in the cult comedy The Gay Deceivers. [Photo from ChristopherRiordan.com]
Lada Edmund, Jr., reflects on her career as a dancer on TV’s Hullaballoo; actress, particularly her role opposite Jon Voight in the teenage coming-of-age film Out of It; and stunt woman.
A salute to Edy Williams for giving a wonderfully over-the-top performance in Beyond the Valley of the Dolls with comments from fellow Fox contract player Lara Lindsay and co-star Christopher Riordan.
