For Those Who Think Young

My main reason for watching For Those Who Think Young was to see Woody Woodbury believe it or not. I remember watching Who Do You Trust after I came home from school and I never did get to see the film that he incessantly plugged during the show.

I wasn't missing a whole lot, For Those Who Think Young makes the beach films of Frankie and Annette look like Shakespeare or O'Neill. The substitute leads here are James Darren and Pamela Tiffin standing in for Frankie and Annette. Jim's a rich kid whose grandfather Robert Middleton tightly controls the family purse strings and he's had to practically buy the college he's going to in order to keep Jim there.

Pam is Woody's niece and she's been raised by him and his partner Paul Lynde in the club and she occasionally strips. But she wants to better herself. Not by marrying a rich kid though, especially if its my grandson says Middleton.

I will say this about For Those Who Think Young, it has one of the most eclectic casts ever assembled for a film at that time. Imagine seeing such veteran performers as Anna Lee, Addison Richards, Sammee Tong, Allen Jenkins and Benny Baker and even George Raft in an unbilled part as a police officer raiding Woodbury's club. Put them together with Bob Denver and Tina Louise before Gilligan's Island and the daughters of Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin also playing college coed friends of Tiffin's and you have a cast for the ages.

If you're a fan of the Beach films than you will like For Those Who Think Young. As for me this goes back to when I was young.

And this review is dedicated to Woody Woodbury who while his career never went the way his predecessor on Who Do You Trust, Johnny Carson's did, I still have good memories of him and the show.

Having reviewed a number of beach movies, I can say that I have not seen one yet that has high reviews. So going into this movie, I was not expecting too much form the offering. Yes, the movie is corny and had a beatnik feel but you have to remember that was most American kids in the early 1960's. It is something that a person born after 1970 cannot relate in life.

For a beach movie the film had an almost regular plot where a parent or guardian is not wanting their child involved in a relationship. But I found that this script was more interesting than others. We have a rich grandfather not wanting his child hanging around 'bad-blood'. So he sets off to discredit people with some far-reaching, but humorous, activity.( I mean the slot machines in the place should have been a small hint.) Everything is going fine until the very end when the entire cast breaks out in a 'surf's-up' type musical that also includes some zesty arm movements. Something that may be all right for young people but this far-out scene including the aged actors which proved more embarrassing than entertaining. Plus I was never sure why the old man just made a 180* turnabout about his kid's partner.

For me, the bright spot of the movie was Woody Woodbury, Sure his jokes were even old for that time period and most were so corny that Hee-Haw could have used - but for some reason the exchange with the audience made me laugh. Was not expecting that type of humor from the show but it worked.

This is far from a classic but it did exactly what it was intended. People having a good time is suppose to reflect to the viewing audience. For the most part the viewer feels good about the people involved in the program. How groovy is that!

Although they share no on-screen time, Bob Denver and Tina Louise (reported rivals on TV's "Gilligan's Island") make their one and only film together, with Denver playing a beatnik and Louise stealing the show as a tone-deaf dancer. Acting accolades are really quite scarce here as the movie--a comedy about college kids awakening to civic rights while partying on the beach--is fairly dim-witted and slow on laughs. As one of the adults on hand, Ellen Burstyn (née McRae) does a drunk act with the best of them, but romantic leads James Darren and Pamela Tiffin are easily forgotten. Brunette Nancy Sinatra (pre-"Boots") is cute as Denver's girlfriend, and it is fun to catch all these stars together in one place. Few of them ever crossed paths again. ** from ****

I saw this movie during a dusk until dawn show at a Drive-In theater many years ago. These shows would keep you up all night watching all kinds of stuff. I can't remember the entire show that night but to me this was one of the ultimate drive-in movies. It is a beach movie without Frankie & Annette.

When you weren't old enough to be in the back seat of the car with someone, there were enough women on the screen to keep your attention. The comedy in this is sophomore stuff, and to me the most interesting thing is the casting. Woody Woodbury had a comedy LP album at the time this was released. Bet that is a collectors item now as it set a martini mood & really dovetails with this movie as his routines here are watered down versions of that album.

What is most surprising about the women in this film is how many would become famous but yet none of them really ever did a block buster film. Never realized until I looked at this cast that Tina Louise is older than Nancy Sinatra. This was before both of them would achieve their greatest fame, Nancy with music, & Tina with Bob Denver as this is an earlier place to find them in the same film. Tina is a stripper in this movie, & Denver is James Darren's assistant & a bit of a playboy. Bob Denver leads the Ho Daddy Chorus but this song is not about calling women by that name. I would call most of them attractive.

Paul Lynde is pretty much his usual self here. There were worse fillers for these dusk till dawn drive-in films of the earlier 1960's fillers.

Can't find better escapism! James Darren & Pamela Tiffin as the hotties, Tina Louise breathily trying to sing while sticking out her breasts, Nancy Sinatra with her natural hair color (the not-yet-blonde days), grumpy parents who don't understand "kids these days" & Paul Lynde as the "bachelor uncle" (yeah, right?) all combine for a wild, mindless romp. And who can unsee that weird number with Bob Denver, buried in sand except his makeup mouth & chin, singing "Ho Daddy"? Great with a bottle of wine and/or some 420.