Where the Boys Are

Where the Boys Are (1960) is an American motion picture comedy, written by George Wells and based on the novel by Glendon Swarthout, about four Midwestern college co-eds who spend spring break in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The film was originally intended for the teen market, featuring sun, sand and romance.

Where the Boys Are was one of the first teen films to explore adolescent sexuality and changing American sexual mores and attitudes among college youth. Given the censorship of the day, the audience is never sure of exactly what happened to Yvette Mimieux's character in the motel room. But the story is focused on the "coming of age" of the Dolores Hart character. Thus, the film ends with a melancholy rather than a laugh. Released in the wintertime, the film inspired thousands more American college students to head to Fort Lauderdale for their annual spring break.

Veteran cowboy actor Chill Wills plays the veteran Police Chief of Fort Lauderdale. His opening speech sets the tone for the whole movie. George Hamilton plays a reluctant rich kid, and Jim Hutton who plays a wacky college kid with a penchant for hats.

The kind of cool modern jazz (or west coast jazz) popularized by such acts as Dave Brubeck, Gerry Mulligan, and Chico Hamilton, then in the vanguard of the college music market, features in a number of set pieces, as well as pop star Connie Francis, who had her introductory role as an actress in this film. Her popular title song (written by Neil Sedaka) played over the opening credits.

In the years since its release, Where the Boys Are has gradually acquired cult status, and together with the collegiate film High Time is today appreciated as a virtual time capsule of the emerging postwar Baby Boom generation, their relationship with the older generation, and the changing lifestyles of 1960s America.

An unsuccessful remake, Where the Boys Are '84, was made in 1984 by TriStar Pictures. TriStar's parent company, Sony Pictures Entertainment, led a partnership that acquired MGM in 2005; however, the rights to this film (along with the rest of the pre-1986 MGM library) are now owned by Warner Bros. and its subsidiary Turner Entertainment.