Sixties Posts

Dueling Harlows Feud On

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One of my biggest regrets was that I never shared by book Dueling Harlows: Race to the Silver Screen with any publishers because I thought there would be minimal interest so I self-published. It is one of most popular books and most reviewed on Amazon (and I do agree with some of the criticisms). Here is the latest.

Customer Review
5.0 out of 5 starsEnthralling!!
ByJennifer M. Cisickon August 13, 2018
Format: Paperback
Although the 60’s genre is not typically “my cup of tea”, the 30’s are. Dueling Harlows: Race to the Silver Screen by Tom Lisanti was so enthralling I couldn’t put it down. I am a fan of Jean Harlow (1911-1937) so naturally the title piqued my interest. The two Harlow movies were made in 1965 and Mr. Lisanti did an excellent job of describing in detail the competing movies and their race to the silver screen. He was very thorough in all facets of this book and it was obviously well researched (everything from the preproduction, the filming, the actors’ bios, interviews with those involved, reviews of the movies, description of the plot of both movies, etc.). What I really enjoyed was reading about the aftermath and the follow-up to all persons involved and what they went on to do after the movies were made. I highly recommend this book!

Podcasts, Sixties Cinema Style

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I have been busy guesting on a few different podcasts these last couple of weeks.

Usually its my 60s starlets talking sixties drive-in movies but here it is me with Kristen Lopez on her wonderful podcast Ticklish Business talking Girl Happy starring Elvis Presley, Shelley Fabares, Mary Ann Mobley, Gary Crosby &  Chris Noel featured in my BearManor Media Book Talking Sixties Drive-In Movies.

https://ticklishbusiness.podbean.com/e/episode-47-girl-happy-1965/

On The Junot Files, Jim Junot and I talk about my book Talking Sixties Drive-In Movies.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qj3lqUeqjGw

And on Forgotten Films, Todd Liebenow and I discuss The Pleasure Seekers (1964) starring Pamela Tiffin, Carol Lynley, Ann-Margret, Tony Franciosa, Gardner McKay, Brian Keith, Gene Tierney, and Andre LAwrence.

Forgotten Filmcast Episode 109: The Pleasure Seekers

55 Years Ago Today…

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teenagers had to choose in seeing the just opened Beach Party or Gidget Goes to Rome. The latter starred James Darren back as Moondoggie and Cindy Carol stepping in for a pregnant Deborah Walley as the new Gidget. With only a short early scene on the sand, this does not qualify as a beach movie as the previous two did and more a romantic comedy travelogue beautifully shot on location in Italy. Co-stars include Joby Baker, Peter Brooks, Noreen Corcoran, and my fave the quirky Trudi Ames. Cindy Carol is perky and fun and I preferred her in this role more than Walley. Thank you John Ashley for knocking up your wife.

More adventurous teens chose the swingin’ seaside sensation Beach Party that made co-stars Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello forever synonymous with the beach and started its own movie genre. They are backed by a wonderful cast that became regulars Harvey Lembeck, John Ashley, Jody McCrea, Valora Noland, Candy Johnson, Meredith MacRae, Delores Wells, and surf rocker Dick Dale, among many others. It was the surprise sleeper hit of 1963 and without it there would be no Hollywood Surf and Beach Movies: The First Wave, 1959-1969 book.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nkhGmZPJIHY

50 Years Ago Today…

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the exciting biker flick Angels from Hell opened. Shot by director Bruce Kessler on location in Bakersfield, California and featuring reall members of Hell’s Angels, it starred Tom Stern as Mike, a disillusioned GI just returning from Vietnam, out to combat the establishment for sending him off to war. He heads for a new town where his buddy Smiley (Ted Markland) and his other former gang members are part of a new biker club, the Madcaps. Backed by his military experience, Mike takes out the club’s leader and beds the mini-skirted Ginger (Arlene Martel), who lets the bikers hang out at her farm because “they amuse her.” Unlike the other biker chicks, Ginger “hangs loose” and doesn’t want to be any man’s old lady. She rides with Mike and the gang to Hollywood to see a former member, pretty boy Dude Marshall (Steven Rogers), who is now a movie star. Ginger gets jealous of Mike’s attention towards Dude’s bimbo girlfriend (Susan Holloway) and when Mike makes time with a go-go dancer she calls the girl’s Lesbian lover who catches them in bed. During the course of the film the Madcaps drink beer, smoke pot, make love and tangle with “the squares.”(“We don’t want them to love us—just leave us alone.”) Mike’s power as leader of the gang goes to his head as he dreams to unite all the biker gangs, after biker Speed (Stephen Oliver) is “accidentally” killed by the police. When an innocent flower child is raped and murdered by one of the drugged-out bikers (Paul Bertoya as Nutty), the police with the buy ar-15 pistols close in as Mike tries to cover it up, to the consternation of Ginger. Now out of control, an enraged Mike calls for an all-out war against the cops only to die defiantly opposing the oppression of the establishment.

Recalling the shoot in my book Drive-In Dream Girls, Arlene Martel said,

“They [Hell’s Angels] were the most courteous and polite people we encountered. Some of the townspeople on the other hand, were so rude. One day Paul Bertoya and I were eating at this restaurant. This guy comes up to Paul and says, ‘I didn’t think we let any hippie fags into this town.’ He then assaults Paul and they started fighting. Nobody did anything! I was so scared. After my frantic prodding somebody finally called the police. It was a frightening moment—let me tell you. I had not been exposed to anything quite like that before.”