User reviews

Palm Springs Weekend which was unashamedly ripped off from Where The Boys Meet The Girls, gave the Warner Brothers television stars a last time to strut their stuff before the cameras. Within three years all of these contract players would be gone from the Warner lot as the British invasion led by the Beatles reconstructed the whole idea of what a teen heartthrob was supposed to be.

Troy Donahue(Surfside Six), Ty Hardin(Bronco), and Robert Conrad (Hawaiian Eye), are all on spring break and bound for that favorite west coast location, Palm Springs. While there Donahue gets involved with Stefanie Powers the police chief's daughter and Hardin and Conrad get to fight over Connie Stevens who's lying about her age. She's borderline jailbait, but looks old.

In that department Connie was the most ludicrous, but the notion that these guys were all students of some kind is beyond belief. All of them were past 25 at this point, they must have felt ridiculous. But the stars of 90210 didn't look much like high school kids so nothing's really changed.

But romance was in the air in Palm Springs Weekend, even Jack Weston the college basketball coach gets to have a fling with hotel owner Carole Cook. Best in the film is Jerry Van Dyke who supplies some needed comic relief and plays a mean banjo.

Still the film really hasn't worn well over the decades. But it's pleasant enough entertainment. Troy Donahue gets to sing over the title credits. That was a mistake.

The nice thing about Palm Springs Weekend is that the film makers did not waste the audiences' and their time with bad language and obscene material like today's film makers do. The plot may not be that original or Oscar material, but then again, not every film is meant to be or should be. However, it is wonderful, free-wheeling, nostalgic fun.

I'm a college student and I saw this film for the first time when I was eighteen years old, and it was probably the first teen flick I could watch from beginning to end without having to change channels because of inappropriate content. The film centers around a group of college students and their antics when they converge on a Palm Springs Hotel for spring break.

The story has its funny moments, like whenever the kids have run-ins with the local police or when Jerry Van Dyke tries to get people to check out his love machine. Watch out for Bill Mumy in the swimming pool scene. You'll laugh like crazy!

The one to see is a young Robert Conrad (why can't there be more young actors like him today?), who's got a big part in this film, even though Troy Donahue got star-billing. This is the perfect film to watch if you're looking for something that's sweet, innocent, and timeless no matter how corrupt and cynical the world has gotten.

I enjoyed this film for what it was - an early 60's escapist film which was coming to grips with a quickly changing culture influenced by the effects of the pill and the coming social revolution. There are a few scenes in this movie that must have influenced movies like Animal House and others years later. A young Stefanie Powers makes a startling impression - goes to show how charming William Holden must have been to have made her his companion for the last 10 years of his life. Some good characters to watch here.

If you're after fun, escapist, Kennedy-era entertainment with a WB vs. AIP budget, sit back and enjoy "Palm Springs Weekend" for what it is: A bunch of kids (most of whom will never see twenty again) invading the popular resort community for the weekend, getting into all sorts of romantic trials and tribulations, with the inevitable happy ending.

Troy Donahue, then at the height of his fame, is the nominal hero of the story, a nice young medical student affectionately called "Dr. Jekyll." He has remarkably little to do, however, and it's the more colorful supporting characters who keep your interest through the film: Jerry Van Dyke as Donahue's wackyzanynutty best friend, Robert Conrad (just pre-"Wild, Wild West") as the particularly slimy heavy of the piece, Ty Hardin as the rodeo cowboy turned football hero (He's got steer horns affixed to the front of his car. You know the type), Connie Stevens as the "good girl" who gets in way over her head when she falls for Conrad, and Jack Weston and Carole Cook providing love among the oldsters as the boys' football coach and a local hotel owner, respectively. For the obligatory musical interlude, we have the Modern Folk Quartet performing in a nightclub sequence. See if you can spot a young Cyrus Faryar among the latter.

Norman Tourog's direction is appropriately easy and breezy, and the screenplay is by the young Earl Hamner, Jr. ("The Waltons"). Check your brain at the door and get in the mood for some early-60's-style fun. You'll be glad you did.

I loved watching this movie. Seeing some stars in the beginning of their careers, such as Stephanie Powers, made it more enjoyable. Billy Mumy, aka Will Robinson from Lost in Space, was in this, playing the bratty little boy! Such fun, especially the pool scene. Honestly, quite enjoyable. Too many stars to mention, but you'll recognize many of them.

I did catch a blooper in the beginning. The front desk clerk called Connie Stevens "Connie" instead of her character's name! I laughed at that.

Overall, well worth watching. I usually watch this when it comes up in rotation. It's sort of the West coast version of Where the Boys Are, only this time it seems the boys (and lots of good looking ones!) are the ones who are searching for the girls.

I first saw this movie as a young person under 10, and didn't understand the dramatic essence. I think this is probably Robert Conrad's best dramatic part, very troubled and complex.

The car, a 1963 Thunderbird roadster, still is the real star of this movie, as far as I am concerned. The comedy was adequate for the era, but a bit over the top.

The car chase is, for it's time very appropriate, but as a child I was very concerned about Stretch, LOL such an altruistic lad, I think Stephanie Powers is one of the most beautiful female actresses that has ever graced the screen!

This is a great movie for historians, if they care to investigate the culture and mores of 1963.

Fluff about a bunch of college kids spending Easter Week vacation in Palm Springs. There's Jim Munroe (Troy Donahue) romancing a local girl (Stefanie Powers) whose overprotective father happens to be the chief of police. Then there's innocent Gail (Connie Stevens) falling for psycho Eric (Robert Conrad) but is watched over by sweet Stretch (Ty Hardin). The odious comic relief of the kids named Biff (Jerry Van Dyke) falls for nerdy Amanda (Zeme North), AND the coach of the boys basketball team (Jack Weston) falls for Rosalind Russell sound alike Naomi (Carole Cook).

The comedy is stupid, the complications predictable and there's zero believability here but I liked it! This falls squarely in the so-bad-it's-good category. The color is strong, the cast is certainly attractive and there's good acting by Stevens and Powers. Only real debit-=Robert Conrad. His character is clearly a psycho and Stevens keeps going out with him! I know she's naïve but THAT naïve? Still this is harmless fluff and terrible but fun.

The above quote is from the Broadway musical "A Chorus Line," and came to mind as I watched this piece of nostalgia from the '60s.

For baby boomers, Palm Springs Weekend is incredible fun; we get to see all of the TV stars we grew up with: Troy Donahue, Stefanie Powers, Robert Conrad, Connie Stevens, Jerry van Dyke, Ty Hardin, Billy Mumy, and old-timers Carole Cook, Andrew Duggan, and Jack Weston.

There's not what you'd call a plot, exactly. A bunch of kids descend on Palm Springs Weekend for fun in the sun and find romance. Soft-spoken, pretty Connie Stevens plays a young woman who takes up with a rich man's son (Robert Conrad); he turns out to have a quite a temper. All the while, she flirts with a cowboy (Ty Hardin, and I had forgotten how handsome he was). Cook runs the motel where everyone is staying; Mumy is her brat son; Duggan is the police chief of Palm Springs; and Powers is his daughter, who ends up involved with Donahue, a med student.

Donahue gets top billing and sings the theme song, sort of. He looks bloated here and overly made up, and definitely not as good as he looked in his earlier films. However, there was always something appealing about him and he always managed to hold his own. His stature and strong speaking voice helped. The humor, often provided by clownish Jerry van Duke, is obvious and geared to the teen set. Since it was made for the teens of the early '60s, the movie succeeds very well if not compared to something like Citizen Kane.

Palm Springs Weekend is sure a look back in time and a fun one, even if some of those college kids seemed a little long in the tooth.

Los Angeles college students drive or take the bus to sunny Palm Springs for holiday hijinks--but when jealousies erupt and the guys attempt to show each other up, it nearly spoils the fun. Rather smarmy variation on 1960's "Where the Boys Are", although the general tone here has a curdled, cynical undermining (released just two weeks before the Kennedy assassination, this picture's representation as slick drive-in fare for clean teens was soon to find itself nearly extinct). Contract picture for Warner Bros. Talent looks like harmless, candy-coated fun--and the cars are beauties!--but the screenplay (from future "Waltons" creator, Earl Hamner, Jr.) has a rude, pushy tone that is never acknowledged. Jerry Van Dyke is uncomfortably used as the class clown...and then there's Troy Donahue attempting to sing (the actor probably asked Jack Warner to help him branch out, and this was the one-shot result). Escapist fare certainly doesn't utilize Connie Stevens very well; having begun her acting career in Teen Terribles, it was probably disheartening for Stevens to find herself caught once again in a mindless boy-girl tug-of-war, which is no different from the juvenile vehicles of five years prior except to say the budget is bigger. ** from ****

If you like swinging hips and swinging fists and you are of a certain birth vintage, namely a baby boomer from the 50's or 60's then the 1963 Palm Springs Weekend will be right up your alley. With up and coming stars such as Connie Francis, Stefanie Powers, Ty Hardin, Troy Donahue, and Robert Conrad, you have all the making of another beach blanket bonanza with swinging hips and fists as the beach parties get pretty hot and heavy.

The film packs a mighty punch with lots of lips a smacking and fists a flying as the boys and girls at the Palm Springs Hotel are there for a good time and not a long time while on a weeks vacation school break. There are new romances for some of the older generation as well as some of the first teenage loves. Heck there is even an attractive tom boy named Amanda North (played by Zeme North) who while babysitting the hotel owners son Boom Boom Yates (Bill Mumy) she has achieved a black belt in the art of Jiu Jitsu and uses her martial arts skills to put some unorthodox moves on her love interest Biff Roberts (Jerry Van Dyke).

This beach blanket hipster is the original fun loving film which preceded the latter and more successful 1965 Beach Blanket Bingo and other beach related films. It may be old and the (then) young film stars such as Ty Hardin, Troy Donahue, and Robert Conrad have now passed away but their youthful images live on in campy classics such as Palm Springs Weekend.

I give the film a respectable 6 out of 10 IMDb rating.

This is a mostly wimpy "Palm Springs Weekend" trip to "Where the Boys Are" (1960) territory. The studio stars an attractive cast of slightly long-in-the-tooth "teen idols" from Warner Bros. In case you miss the point, they court MGM lawyers by proclaiming "It's Where the Boys Are and Where the Girls Are" in advertising. From the just concluding youthful TV favorite "Hawaiian Eye" come cuties Troy Donahue, Connie Stevens, and Robert Conrad. Hollywood westerners Ty Hardin and Stefanie Powers round out the kissing quintet.

You can't completely pan anything with a pre-teen Billy Mumy featured, but this one might make you want to be wished into the cornfield. Don't worry, Mumy's robotic companion Bob May is around to help you out. Mr. Donahue is assigned singing duty on the Elvis-like "Live Young" over the opening credits, which might have given Presley pal Red West déjà vu during "Roustabout" (1964). The Technicolor cast is sprinkled with familiar faces, contract players, and guest stars. Connections to Kevin Bacon should come in few degrees.

**** Palm Springs Weekend (11/5/63) Norman Taurog ~ Troy Donahue, Connie Stevens, Stefanie Powers, Robert Conrad

This was the first movie I saw when I was a kid. I was almost seven at the time and it was on a double bill with "The Sword and The Stone." My mum dropped my two sisters and myself off at the Altantic Theater in Long Beach, California and this movie played first. I can't tell you a thing about the Disney movie, but I remember just about every scene from Palm Springs Weekend. The '63 Thunderbird, Bugs Bunny, Stephanie Powers, Connie Stevens, the pool with the bubbles and the car chase at the end. Hard to believe, but this film made me want to work in the movies.

And so I did. I have worked in film and video most of my career and I always tell people this was the film that first gave me the notion.

During my career I have been fortunate to meet two of the people involved with this film, Connie Stevens and Earl Hamner Jr (the man who wrote this film) When I met with Hamner over lunch, it was to talk about his classic television show The Waltons, but his eyes lit up when I asked him about PSW. He told me several stories and we had a good laugh. A very special memory.

I too would like to see this film released on DVD. It really captures a time and a generation and that '63 T Bird!

It's Easter vacation. A busload of college students from Los Angeles is headed to Palm Springs for fun. The boys are chaperoned by coach Fred Campbell. Underaged Jane Hoover (Connie Stevens) falls for rich playboy Eric Dean (Robert Conrad) with a fast car. He gets into a fight with Doug Fortune (Ty Hardin) as they compete for Jane who is using the fake identity of Gail Lewis. Bunny Dixon (Stefanie Powers) is tired of her overprotective Palm Springs police chief father.

This is basically a beach party movie taking place at poolside. They dress like the 50's away from the pool. It's mostly harmless. The humor has no edge. It's a bunch white people doing the twist while pretending to be hip. There is a good fist-a-cuff in the middle. It could have been the start of a good rivalry with some thugs but they seem to go away just as quickly. Instead, the melodrama gets concentrated on Eric but he turns pathetic. The movie needs a simpler villain. Overall, there are some fun and some drama but non of it is that good.

Palm Springs Weekend is interesting for its look at early 60s mores. Unfortunately, it's hampered by poor writing and bad acting. Troy Donahue and Connie Stevens are fine, but Jerry Van Dyke seemed to have more screen time than anyone. This is inexplicable, because not only is he untalented; he's extremely annoying. So is Robert Conrad, who has something of Alec Baldwin's look and violent irascibility. Production values are cheap, especially the obviously painted desert backdrop in a scene outside a roadhouse bar. That this film, with idiotic set pieces like a swimming pool full of soap bubbles, was written by Earl Hamner Jr., creator of the beautiful The Waltons, is hard to believe. I suppose this is a minor classic of its genre, but I found it tedious to watch.

You have got to give Warner Bros studios credit for milking Troy Donahue for all they could get with the teenage audience....there was "Summer Place", "Parrish", "Susan Slade", "Rome Adventure"...Warner Bros was riding the high waves with Donahue for the teenage audience in the early 60s.......then they apparently decided to remake "Where the Boys Are"....this time the film is in Palm Springs California instead of Florida....Stephanie Powers more or less recreates the role Delores Hart had in "Where the Boys Are".....a young student looking for teenage/young adult love...Troy Donahue basically recreates the role George Hamilton had.....the handsome lover boy looking for romance.....basically corny and overly silly in a lot of respects. Plenty of comedy though as Jerry Van Dyke plays a over the top goofball who winds up with the homely down and out girl...sort of like the role Frank Gorshin had in Boys Are with Connie Francis....lots of similarities with both films. Troy Donahue did not have to do much acting...just stand around looking handsome and available and the gals ate him up. In a silly teenage film like this much acting was not required at all. For my money a scene near the end where Donahue and Stephanie Powers were standing in front of a fake, paper rock, supposedly in the desert was laughable....Powers says "look out there, see the sands, it is the valley of lost lovers" ha=ha-ha.....or something to that effect....Donahue stands there listening to her with a silly gape on his face....just totally laughable acting. Nothing like that old puss himself Jack Weston to play the lovable loser - he was the basketball coach trying to keep his players under control and falling for the matronly owner of the motel they were at....Weston always a lovable loser, just like in "The Cincinatti Kid" and "Thomas Crown Affair" in the 60s..... For my money Jerry Van Dyke steals the movie as a looney over the top comedian....once again, this is a teenage love flick at it's best....if you saw "Where the Boys Are" you have seen "Palm Springs Weekend"....just the same two films stitched together with different actors....Bob Conrad as the spoiled, rich kid with the fast T-Bird and Connie Stevens as the nubile, and very available coed....she gets mixed up with the wrong guy. Top notch film for the teenagers in the early 1960s.

This film essentially begins with several players from a college basketball team in Los Angeles skipping out on their coach over the weekend to go to Palm Springs for some fun and relaxation. To their surprise, their coach "Fred Campbell" (Jack Weston) just happens be on the same bus with them and is there to ensure that they stay in top physical shape. Also on this bus is an attractive young lady named "Gayle Lewis" (Connie Stevens) who is headed to Palm Springs with the hope that she will meet a wealthy young man to settle down with--while having some fun in the process. Yet even though all of the travelers on the bus are looking for some fun and excitement, what they don't realize is that there is a law enforcement official in Palm Springs by the name of "Police Chief Dixon" (Andrew Duggan) who likes things nice and quiet--and he has no tolerance for college kids stirring things up in his city. Now, rather than reveal any more, I will just say that this was an enjoyable romantic comedy which primarily benefited from the aggressive rivalry between the spoiled rich kid "Eric Dean" (Robert Conrad) and the small-town Texan "Doug 'Stretch' Fortune" (Ty Hardin) over Gayle Lewis. And while I didn't particularly care for the comedy supplied by Jerry Van Dyke (as "Biff Roberts"), I thought Jack Weston more than made up for it with his excellent performance. Likewise, the delicate romantic situation between "Jim Munroe" (Troy Donahue) and "Bunny Dixon" (Stephanie Powers)--who happens to be the daughter of the hard-nosed police chief--was also well played. Be that as it may, although this romantic comedy might seem out-of-date by current standards, I enjoyed it for the most part, and I have rated it accordingly. Slightly above average.

Released in the first week of November 1963, Palm Springs Weekend was what Hollywood was presenting as hard partying Spring Break rebelliousness before the sea change in this country just up ahead. Counter culture was about people who hung around diners not those dissatisfied with the system and in Weekend we get a skewed representation of American youth; blonde, blue eyed (Troy Donahue, Connie Stevens, Ty Hardin) neatly attired with bad taste in music.

The raging hormone set are off to Palm Springs for the weekend from LA along with some bumbling grown ups like basketball coach (Jack Weston) who is intent on keeping his boys in training but ultimately succumbs himself to the temptations of the party culture. Locally Chief Dixon (Andrew Duggan) and daughter Bunny (Stephanie Powers) argue the generation gap. The stage is now set for the kids to hook-up and dance, kiss, fight and celebrate the stupidity of youth circa 63 but even back then this was pretty tame stuff.

Director Norman Taurog keeps things flood lit and flat most of the way juggling his roster of second stringers to help give the film a pulse but the humor is heavy handed, the romance beyond mawkish. It takes itself a little more serious than the Frankie and Annette Beach saga which began the same year but it more or less delivers the same sand in your bathing suit result of insipid irritation. Today it can be seen as a goofy time piece of more innocent and secure times.

The film's story is about what one would expect for a romantic comedy from the early 1960s. California guys chase girls, and vice versa. With an exception or two, the tone is lighthearted, upbeat, frothy, and fluffy.

The script has an ensemble cast. Connie Stevens, Ty Hardin, Stefanie Powers, and Robert Conrad probably fare the best. And Carole Cook, as a perky hotel clerk, is quite good. But Andrew Duggan, Jack Weston, and Jerry Van Dyke all seem out of place here.

Major characters have enough dimension, though just barely, to make them reasonably interesting, especially Gale Lewis (Stevens) and Eric Dean (Conrad). One could argue that the script over-populates the story. Three or four main characters might have worked better. As is, the plot is all over the place as it flits from one character to another.

Comedy is quite juvenile. It is very unsubtle, and veers toward slapstick. As an example, an annoying little boy named Boom-Boom creates havoc when his behavior results in a swimming pool that fills up with soap bubbles.

Music trends decidedly upbeat. I like the Van Dyke/Hardin duo of "Bye Bye Blackbird". But I could have wished for some songs from the early 60s. The Kingston Trio performs a rather uninteresting number. More interesting than the song are the large, unattractive horn-rimmed glasses the lead singer wears.

Don't expect any complex plot or heavy-duty message here. "Palm Springs Weekend" is pure fluff, engineered for entertainment. As such, the film will appeal mostly to older audiences yearning for a bit of early 1960s nostalgia.

I recall the New York Times gave a favorable review to this sprightly fun film that became a smash hit for Warner Bros.

Troy Donahue who was the biggest star on the WB lot is first billed over other WB stars Connie Stevens, Ty Hardin and Robert Conrad. The WB stars all look great. Stefanie Powers is Donahue's romantic interest. The set up is thin but fun: a group of college students converge on Palm Springs for a weekend of romance and fun. Jerry Van Dyke, and Carole Cook give fun support. WB gave Ty Hardin a shot at stardom with other WB films such as Wall of Noise ( with another WB star Dorothy Provine), PT 109, and George Cukor's The Chapman Report.

Troy Donahue's real life best friend Greg Benedict, and best man at his wedding to Suzanne Pleshette has a small pivotal role in Palm Springs Weekend. This was WB's reply to smash hit MGM film Where The Boys Are that starred Jim Hutton, Paula Prentiss, George Hamilton, Yvette Mimieux, and Dolores Hart ( who would leave Hollywood and become a Nun). During this time Columbia also had a stock company of Stefanie Powers, Michael Callan, James Darren, Deborah Walley. I wish those days would return!

Troy'Donahue made 4 smash hits at WB with Delmer Daves: A Summer Place with Sandra Dee, Parrish with Diane McBain and Connie Stevens, and Susan Slade with Connie Stevens and Rome Adventure with Angie Dickinson and Suzanne Pleshette. Palm Springs Weekend was Donahue's first film at WB without the mark of Delmer Daves. Troy Donahue's hit streak at WB continued with this film directed by veteran Norman Taurog.

Trivia note that Troy Donahue at first refused the film but was enticed to star into it and sings the title song over the credits. Suzanne Pleshette was offered role that eventually was played by Stefanie Powers.

Nothing to do on a Saturday afternoon so me and some friends went to the movies. It was the old Kabar Theater on Anaheim Boulevard in Long Beach, California. I think it was either a quarter or a half dollar to get in for a double feature. Popcorn was ten cents.

After the film started, the first thing that caught my attention was this guy, (Robert Conrad) driving a beautiful, 1963 Ford Thunderbird Roadster. It had a tonneau cover over the backseat with Kelsey Hayes wire wheels, which together gave it a sportier look than the standard convertible. With a 5 foot tall Bugs Bunny in the passenger seat, at the age of 12, I thought, that's how you get the girls.

I've owned five old T-Birds since 1969 and even an old Mercury convertible with bull horns on the hood like Ty Hardin drove. Now I'm into old police cars like Andrew Duggan drove.

After this movie, Jerry Van Dyke was one of my favorite funny guys and I envied Billy Mumy. He was a busy child actor in those days. He even appeared twice in one of TV's greatest shows, "The Twilight Zone." I was also in love with Connie Stevens for years. Wasn't she a cu-tie? Still is! This movie has it all. Suave, sophisticated leading men like Troy Donahue. Beautiful leading ladies. Comedy, drama, a hint of sex, live music, violence and a car chase in the desert.

Haven't seen this film in years so naturally I'd like to pick up a copy on DVD but none are available. I guess I'll have to stay up every night and try and catch it on the Late, Late Show.

Warner Bros. had several fine players under exclusive contract and cast Troy Donahue, Connie Stevens, Ty Hardin and Bob Conrad in this film along with another WB contractees Andrew Duggan and Greg Benedict

Troy Donahue had come off a series of Delmer Daves soap operas at WB that were smash hits -A Summer Place, Parrish- Susan Slade and Rome Adventure- and Troy was a very big box office star. Connie Stevens co starred with Donahue in Parrish and Susan Slade and was WB's answer to Sandra Dee. Ty Hardin was cast in several WB films such as George Cukor's Chapman Report, Merrills Maurauders, PT 109 and Wall of Noise. All three were great looking Stars and this film captures Troy, Connie and Ty,at the height of their WB fame and glory. Stefanie Powers on loan out from her home studio Columbia plays Troy Donahue's love interest in this film.Another WB star Bob Conrad is also featured.

Filmed at Warner Bros. in Burbank and on location in Palm Springs it is a delightful escapist entertainment nicely moved along by veteran director Norman Taurog.

Desert Palms Inn 67-580 E Palm Canyon Drive Cathedral City, CA