As the college kids head off to warmer climes for the next month or so, we’re left to entertain ourselves with some great spring-break movie memories. ¶ Well, maybe not great. But they go well with Pabst Blue Ribbon and nachos. ¶ The top five spring-break movies:
1. “Where the Boys Are” (1960)
The title song by Connie Francis is swimming around in your head already. Starring Dolores Hart and George Hamilton, the original (and not the dreadful 1984 remake) remains the quintessential movie about spring break. But not because it romanticized sunny days on Fort Lauderdale’s beach, but rather because the film maturely explored the rapidly changing sexual attitudes that would later define the decade.
Memorable quote: “Experience! That’s what separates the girls from the Girl Scouts.”
2. “Girl Happy” (1965)
Note to Elvis Presley: Don’t fall in love with the mobster’s daughter (Shelley Fabares) whom you’re being paid to protect over spring break. It will no doubt lead to embarrassing song-and-dance numbers for silly tunes named “Do Not Disturb” and “Do the Clam.” And no woman, in organized crime or not, can respect a man who “does the clam.”
Memorable lyrics: “Everybody’s got that beat / Well listen to those happy feet / Ain’t you glad that you found out / What the clam is all about!”
3. “The Sure Thing” (1985)
Unlucky in love (and the physical byproducts of romance) at his snooty Northeastern college, John Cusack takes off for Southern California, where BFF Anthony Edwards (still with hair!) has supermodel Nicollette Sheridan waiting for him … no strings attached. Of course, he ends up saying no to her. If Cusack really has a Hot Tub Time Machine, I’d urge him to go back to 1985 … and change his mind!
Memorable quote: “I’m not going to bed with you, I’m going to bed in a bed you happen to be in also.”
4. “Spring Break” (1983)
Hard to ignore a movie with a title about the very topic we’re discussing. And yet, this clunker is a Trivial Pursuit question at best, starring Perry Lang and David Knell. Umm, who? Come on, you remember Knell. He played Kevin’s friend No. 2 in a 2003 episode of “Six Feet Under”! You the man, Knell. All you need to know about this beer-and-breast fest is that while the location (Fort Lauderdale again!) is classic, the plot was strictly optional.
Memorial quote: “We got el shafto grande; we got no place to stay.”
5. “From Justin to Kelly” (2003)
What movie could rank lower than a movie starring two nobodies? Why, a movie with two “American Idol” pop-tarts, of course. First-season winner Kelly Clarkson and runner-up Justin Guarini meet at spring break and it’s “bomb” at first sight. Clarkson’s career recovered. Guarini is probably hosting open-mike nights these days at the Daytona Beach Econo Lodge.
Memorable quote: “You’re the mayor of spring break, and she’s one-bonnet-shy-Amish!”
Scripps Howard News Service
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