MOTORCYCLE MAMA!

Looking as if she would be more comfortable on the runway of a Miss America pageant than straddling a hog, Diane McBain took on the lead role of a vile biker chick in the camp classic The Mini-Skirt Mob (1968). Take a look at the trailer and then read Diane’s comments about making the movie from my book Fantasy Femmes of Sixties Cinema.

“I wasn’t an obvious choice to play this part,” agrees McBain. “I think I was just the person with the recognizable name. That’s what the producers were looking for.” Described as “hog straddling female animals on the prowl,” The Mini-Skirts included Patty McCormack and Sandra Marshall with Jeremy Slate, Harry Dean Stanton, and Ronnie Rondell as their boyfriends. “After I agreed to do this movie I went out and learned how to ride a motorcycle,” remembers McBain. “A big motorcycle. When I arrived on the set they gave us these tiny scooters. It was the silliest bike you ever saw. I thought it was ridiculous to have this Mini-Skirt Mob on these small bikes. I knew then I was in trouble.” [Laughs]

“What attracted me to do this film was the role of Shayne,” says Diane. “I thought it would be fun to play such a sadistic killer because women don’t usually get to play these sort of roles. The part also required me to do my own stunts. I rode my own motorcycle. I actually hung off the mountain attached to a cable. And I did the fight scenes with Sherry. We had been roommates at one time so we were fairly friendly. We had no problems doing those scenes. Actually, all the actors got along nicely which was great because we shot it on location. Patty McCormack was very nice. Jeremy Slate was friendly and professional with me but we didn’t get close or anything. He often plays the tough guy because he has those distinct features. Harry Dean Stanton was such a character, very intense with a spark in his eye. It always looked like he was keeping some funny little secret.” Though she has the highest regard for her co-stars, The Mini-Skirt Mob is not a film McBain is very proud of because “I didn’t think it is a very realistic movie. Girl gang members didn’t wear mini-skirts! It was just AIP’s way to cash in on the popularity of mini-skirts and biker films.”

GERBER ON THE BEACH

Click below to see the wild trailer for The Girls on the Beach (1965) starring Gail Gerber with the Beach Boys, Lesley Gore, Martin West, Noreen Corcoran, Aron Kincaid, Lana Wood, Linda Marshall, and the dreamy Steve Rogers (that is him on the left with West and Kincaid).

Gail talks in length about the making of this movie in her memoir Trippin’ with Terry Southern. These girls on the beach did not play nice with each other when the cameras stopped rolling and Gail reveals her disdain for having to shake her bod to the Beach Boys’ music, which she thought was Godawful.

REMEMBER THE ALAMO!

One of the most popular movies of 1960 was the John Wayne directed The Alamo starring the Duke as Davy Crockett, Richard Widmark as Jim Bowie, plus Laurence Harvey, Frankie Avalon, Chill Wills, Patrick Wayne and Linda Cristal.

Click here to see rare behind the scenes footage of The Alamo from the Texas Archive of the Moving Image. The clips are in b&w and are silent, but show some interesting scenes. The blonde actress featured is Sixties Starlet Joan O’Brien. I interviewed her for my book Fantasy Femmes of Sixties Cinema, and below are excerpts from it:

O’Brien’s agents next wrangled her an interview for a role in John Wayne’s epic film The Alamo (1960). The small part of Sue Dickinson interested Joan because “I thought it would be a nice thing to play a historic character and this role had the big dramatic ending as she and two children are the sole survivors of the massacre. I could envision that whoever portrayed Sue would get a big play on the screen.” Meeting John Wayne, whose image was bigger than life itself, terrified Joan who was summoned to his office alone without her agents. “John Wayne was a huge guy—a giant,” comments Joan. “But he made me feel very much at home. I remember he put his feet up on his desk and looked down at me from his big leather chair. He just talked to me like a regular person. I thought, ‘Gee, he’s not hard to take.’ Then he told me that Loretta Young had offered to do the part for free. Right away he had me because I thought ‘If Loretta Young offered to do it for nothing I should be so happy to do this and get paid.’ He was very flattering and said to me, ‘You remind me of a younger Lana Turner.’ He thought I was right for the part and I knew I had nothing to lose by taking it.”

The Alamo finally began shooting on September 9, 1959 in Brackettville, Texas. Describing the location, Joan says, “This dusty little town had one gas pump, one little café where they only spoke Spanish, and one movie house that only showed Spanish films. There was nothing to do in that town and I went stir crazy. This shoot was long, laborious, and exhausting.”

As for her opinion of John Wayne, O’Brien muses, “John Wayne was just getting his feet wet as a director with The Alamo. He knew how to stage scenes and what to do with the camera, the lighting, and positioning his actors. But he wasn’t very good getting an emotional draw from an actor. Which is unusual because when an actor directs they usually handle other actors extremely well. I didn’t feel any frustration with him because I felt that my character was truly defined. He also seemed at times somewhat abrupt and impatient with some individuals. I think one of the reasons for that was The Alamo was a project of enormous magnitude. He not only starred in it but also produced and directed it. He had a lot riding on this film. And when you also have money invested in it sometimes it is very difficult to be charming. However, Wayne was never rude with me.”