Parents' Guide to

Where the Boys Are

By Renee Longstreet, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 14+

1960s spring break film focuses on drinking and sex.

Movie NR 1960 99 minutes
Where the Boys Are Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

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What's the Story?

Determined to let loose, have fun, and meet the men of their dreams, four Midwestern college coeds venture to the warm climes of the Spring Break Mecca of 1960: Fort Lauderdale, Florida. In WHERE THE BOYS ARE, each of those spirited young women will be changed forever as she basks in the warmth of male attention as well as sunny skies. Wholesome, smart Merritt (Dolores Hart) meets rich Ivy League dreamboat, Ryder (George Hamilton). Comic, self-deprecating, and very tall Tuggie (Paula Prentice) meets free-spirit, funny "TV" (Jim Hutton). Spitfire with a great singing voice Angie (Connie Francis) meets myopic jazz enthusiast, Basil (Frank Gorshin). Though three of the four girls are up to the task of dealing with the raging hormones of the young men, Melanie (Yvette Mimieux) gets in way over her head in her quest for a "Yalie" to call her own. As a result, in the only serious moments of the movie, Melanie finds herself in both physical and emotional jeopardy from heartless sexual predators.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say: Not yet rated
Kids say: Not yet rated

For fresh audiences, especially teens, it's dated but still fun. For many in the older set, it's a great piece of nostalgia. Beloved when it was released, the title song was a giant hit; Connie Francis was a star; teen girls flocked for repeat showings. The movie validated romance, virtue, and growing up with single-minded goals for women.

Overall, it's a terrific look back at a mostly innocent time when kids broke out in song, partied without consequences, and found love in all the right places. Still, "back in the day," there had to be a moral for almost every story, and Where the Boys Are is no exception. Melanie's "punishable" sexual behavior by 1960s standards, and its briefly frightening outcome, mars what is otherwise a very enjoyable and engaging remembrance of a different era.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about how teen attitudes and values have changed since this movie was made in 1960. How have attitudes about drinking shifted? Sexuality? Gender roles?

  • In what ways are modern-day kids the same as those portrayed in Where the Boys Are?

  • The 1960s were years of tremendous cultural change in the United States. Think of factors that contributed to that fact (the Vietnam War, the civil rights movement). If this movie is representative of the early years of the decade, what later movies in the late 60s and early 1970s reflected those changes?

Movie Details

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