So I was browsing this week's movie posters over at Heritage Auctions, and I discovered this:
I'm always intrigued by crazy movie titles, and this caught my eye.
So I checked the cast, and that's when my mind shifted into fifth gear!
Frankie Avalon! Dwayne Hickman! (Of Dobie Gillis fame, he was in a lot of these teen screeners.) Yvonne Craig! (Batgirl.) And James Brown?! Lesley Gore! (Of course... these movies always have music built in.)
I needed to know more, so off to Wikipedia!
Quite a fun plot. Girl trouble. College ski trip. Cross dressing. An all-Black ski patrol (James Brown & the Famous Flames). An ice-skating yodeling polar bear?!? And, of course, Annette Funicello, as a naughty professor!
Here's a pic of Frankie and Dwayne in drag:
They're supposed to be British. Which, coincidentally, has a long, proud tradition of men performing in drag.
Actually, they're kinda cute. But nowhere near Page Three.
Would I watch this movie?
Heck yeah!
You had me at "yodeling polar bear" and "lederhosen-clad lodge manager"! (And Yvonne Craig. Come on... this is a beach movie! Set in a ski resort! So bikinis AND turtlenecks!)
This movie was to have a sequel, titled "Cruise Party", but the meager box office of "Ski Party" nixed that idea. But Frankie Avalon did appear on "The Love Boat" in 1978...
TCM has a great overview! (Part of a bigger feature on Beach movies!)
You might want to do a double-feature with "Hot Dog ...the Movie", filmed in 1985. It's got an even better poster!
Phil Roberts did the art! You can see his other work here!
Or, if you've got kids (or are a discretionary viewer), you might want to view Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine instead. That one stars Vincent Price as the villain! And an opening sequence animated by Art "Gumby" Clokey! Sadly, it was to be a musical, but was edited. Oh well...
