Starring James Stacy, William Wellman Jr, Beverly Adams, and John Anthony Hayes
Directed by Richard Benedict
Music and Lyrics by various
With the Beach Party movies huge hits for American International, Columbia and Universal must have thought Ski Party would be equally popular. Their winter sports-themed teen musicals came out within six months of Ski Party's June 1965 release. Winter-A-Go-Go came out first in October, a little closer to the actual ski season. How does Columbia's snow shenanigans measure up to the ones at American International? Let's begin, not with snow, but with three would-be receptionists on their way to interview for a job at a new ski lodge, and find out...
The Story: Jeff Forrester (Wellman) just inherited a ski lodge at Heavenly Valley in Lake Tahoe, California. He and promoter Danny Frazer (Stacy) hire young, beautiful women to work at the lodge, despite not having even seen it yet. To everyone's disappointment, the lodge is an old-fashioned wooden resort that's dusty and in disrepair. After they clean it, Danny and Jeff opt to put the emphasis on music and recruit dancers and a band (The Nooney Rickett Four).
Danny's not happy when Jeff makes the female staff off-limits to the men and keeps trying to chase them. Their bartender Frankie (Tom Nardini) keeps trying to get every girl at the lodge to go out with him but the one who actually likes him, Dori (Judy Parker). Jeff is interested in sophisticated older woman Gloria Jones (Nancy Czar), ignoring his own girlfriend Janine (Jill Donahue). And then, there's the two men who arrive as guests, but are seemingly determined to cause trouble...
The Song and Dance: What I like about this one is, for all the light story, it's actually a tad darker than most sixties teen musicals. Jeff and Danny are a bit tougher and older than Frankie Avalon and his buddies, and the two goons they deal with are a lot more menacing than Harry Von Zipper. There's even a brawl at the lodge's club that ends with the guys getting battered, and someone ends up with a broken leg after the goons' sabotage. There's also a wedding in the end, which I doubt is something that ever crossed the minds of anyone in the Beach Party films!
The other standout is the gorgeous scenery. Like Ski Party, this was filmed on location (in the real Heavenly Valley and Lake Tahoe), and it looks stunning. The ski sequences in particular are beautifully shot.
Favorite Number: We open with the title song, played over the credits as the hopeful receptionists drive to Danny and Jeff's offices and show off their legs on their way through the building. Danny declares it to be a "Hip Square Dance" as he encourages the kids to clean up the resort. "King of the Mountain" is the snow-themed ballad performed by Joni Lyman with the Nooney Rickett Four. They also get the more upbeat dance numbers "Ski City" before the brawl and "Do the Ski With Me" earlier. The four-many harmony group The Reflections perform the charming "I'm Sweet On You" at the club while the dancers hand around giant lollipops to the crowd.
Trivia: There was supposed to be a follow-up, Hot Bikini...but while this one didn't do badly, it didn't do as well as Columbia had hoped, and the sequel was canceled.
What I Don't Like: The emphasis here is on action and romance. It's not nearly as funny as the Beach Party movies. When it does try to go for laughs, the slapstick stands out like a sore thumb and doesn't really work. For all their ruggedness, Stacy, Wellman, and the two goons are completely interchangeable. I can barely tell them apart during the brawl; I have no idea how the ladies can. The songs are dull, the dialogue even moreso, and the only woman who really has anything to do is Jones. There's also the stereotypical Japanese cook they hire when they find him reading girlie magazines. Thankfully, he's not in much of the movie.
The Big Finale: If you enjoyed Ski Party and the Beach Party films, you'll want to give this slightly less fluffy take on winter shindigs a look as well.
Home Media: DVD only from Sony Pictures' Screen Classics By Request made-to-order DVD line.
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