MovieChat Forums > Where the Boys Are (1960) Discussion > Connie Francis HATES this movie!

Connie Francis HATES this movie!

posted 15 years ago by preppy-3
23 replies | jump to latest

She introduced it at the Provincetown Fiolm festival years ago. She started by saying it was a terrible movie and doesn't deserve to be in ANY festival. She said she had read the script and didn't like it and was going to turn it down. Then her father read it, was horrified by it (it was pretty explicit about sex--for its time) and made it clear to her that she wasn't going to do it. So--to annoy her dad--she DID do it! She said she hated the way she looked in it (I personally thought she looked great) and she hated the songs she had top sing--except for the title tune.
I think it's an amusing innocuous little film--not even remotely terrible. It's not GOOD but there are worse movies out there. I was never able to figure out why she hated it so much. BTW--she gave a concert afterwards at one of the guesthouses. I wasn't staying there but there was a bar across the street from it. All of us guys were there out on the porch listening to her sing. She STILL has a great voice:)

[–] wmoores 14 years ago

I hated it too! But, who am I?? It didn't have enough skin for me and faltered all the way through.

[–] preppy-3 14 years ago

For 1960 it had plenty of skin. Back then the studios couldn't show nudity in movies at all. Anyways the actresses probably wouldn't have done it.

[–] ceebeegee 12 years ago

Why on earth would she agree to introduce the movie if she was going to trash it? Very unprofessional. Way to ruin it for the audience, Connie! (Although I still love her.)

[–] preppy-3 12 years ago

Why would she introduce it if she hated it? Simple. Thaey PAID her to do it:) Purportedly they were ready to kill her because she complained so much but everything went smoothly.

[–] MsELLERYqueen2 12 years ago

I think it's sad that some celebrities bash movies that they were in, just because those movies didn't do well in the box office, or didn't win Oscars, or whatever other reason. They should be proud of their work.

I think that this is a cute movie. :) If only Connie Francis had done more singing in it....

--
JIM HUTTON: talented attractive HOT; adorable as ElleryQueen; SEXIEST ACTOR EVER

[–] preppy-3 12 years ago

She said she did it only to piss off her father. He read the script and (in its day) it was considered pretty racy. He forbid her to do it...so she did it:) She said she hated the way she looked and (except for the title tune) she hated the songs she had to sing. After the movie she sang in the courtyard of a guesthouse. U had to pay to get in. However there was a gay bar across the street with a balcony. Virtually ALL the guys stood out on the balcony to hear her sing. We couldn't SEE here but we heard her. Her voice was GREAT! It was a warm summer night with a nice breeze and we were all dead quiet. It was magical:)

[–] pc-daisy 12 years ago

How lucky you were! Thanks for the update. Connie must have had a difficult relationship with her father. I read somewhere that Bobby Darin was her boyfriend and her father chased him down the street with a knife to scare him off! Apparently and not surprisingly, it worked! Connie also said she very much regretted having obeyed her father on that and wished she had married Bobby. Maybe that decision to defy her father came after the Darin episode. Can anyone help with insights into her personal life? I would be very appreciative, so thanks in advance.

[–] v_anzaldua 11 years ago

I watched a "Biography" on her on A&E and the incident that you mentioned about Connie's dad running Bobby Darin off with a knife really did happen. Because of that, she and Bobby never saw each other again after a special they did. Connie's dad was a very controlling man and very much ran her life.

[–] pc-daisy 11 years ago

Thanks so much. I enjoyed one magical summer break at Easter (summer in our southern hemisphere), when something similar to events in the movie took place at the Queensland Gold Coast. But for me and my friends, all very innocent and lots of good fun. So we love the movie because we lived it for a week! Connie is one of my all time favourite American singers. I wish her well and joy in her older years.

[–] MsELLERYqueen2 12 years ago

Yes, I can see how this movie would have been considered pretty racy back in 1960...

As for Connie Francis, she did a great job singing in this movie. She did do a lot more singing a few years later, in "Looking for Love". I've liked her music for a long time now. :)

~~
JIM HUTTON: talented gorgeous HOT; adorable as ElleryQueen; SEXIEST ACTOR EVER

[–] jane_bront 11 years ago

Uhhh , maybe her memories of this film are just too tied to memories of the way her dad acted. Dislike by association. And that's too bad for Ms. Francis because personally, I like the film and her in it. Her vocals for the theme song are dreamy - so much so that she makes me want to go where the boys are, where "someone waits for me" every time. The racy, more serious material was handled maturely and so the film stands heads above the airhead beach blanket bingo rip-off movies that followed. As for WTBA being a "good" film or not - well, I'd rather watch this ten times in one day than watch The Shawshank Redemption or There Will Be Blood ever again. I don't always like what other people find praiseworthy.

~"Chris, am I weird?"
~"Yeah, but so what? Everybody's weird."

[–] MsELLERYqueen2 11 years ago

Interesting...I couldn't get through "The Shawshank Redemption" either! I never saw "There Will be Blood". Yes, I would rather be watching this movie over and over again.

~~
Jim Hutton: talented gorgeous hot hunk; adorable as ElleryQueen; SEXIEST ACTOR EVER

[–] ronaldt49 9 years ago

Relationship with her father sounds almost like the one portrayed on "That Girl" with Marlo Thomas though I have yet to see Mr. Marie chase Donald with a knife. Mr. Marie is somewhat controlling with his twenty-something daughter.

[–] 9 years ago

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[–] jondoe888 8 years ago

Where ISN'T there a gay bar across the street in Provincetown? (gayest zip code in the country). And she's an odd choice to invite. Is she somehow a gay icon, like Liza or Bette? Maybe the movie was being spoofed, like a John Water's movie?

[–] preppy-3 8 years ago

Well the movie is a popular title among gay men. I stay in PTown a lot and one wet and rainy night I went to the local library to rent a movie for me and all the guys. I picked that one and all the guys loved it! We look upon it as a camp be cause it's so silly and melodramatic. Also there's plenty of hot guys on the screen during the beach scenes. True Francis is NOT a gay icon but she had and still has a beautiful voice. Also the movie just fits perfectly at a town like PTown. That's why us gay guys like it--the camp.

[–] preppy-3 8 years ago

I think she's changed her mind about hating it. I recently saw it on DVD and there was "making of" docu with the movie. In it she speaks fondly of the movie and the cast. However, surprisingly, she claims to not like the title tune! That's funny because I think it's a great song and her vocals in it are perfect. Also I used to find the film stupid but it grows on you with repeated viewings. It's innocuous but pleasant and dealt with taboo subjects (for the time) in a very honest way.

[–] 8 years ago

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[–] preppy-3 8 years ago

I think she hated it initially was because when she introduced it in PTown years ago it was in a stifling hot auditorium in the middle of summer. It was like watching the movie in a sauna! People were falling asleep left and right because of all the heat. She was in much better spirits later that night when she gave her concert. That was outdoors by the ocean so it was nice and cool.

[–] 8 years ago

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[–] 8 years ago

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[–] ronaldt49 7 years ago

Bet she liked the money from the song AND movie!!

[–] MsELLERYqueen2 7 years ago

Good point. It would have been great advertising for her and her music. I heard that this film was extremely popular when it came out, and that it even made Fort Lauderdale famous.

~~~~~
Jim Hutton (1934-79) & Ellery Queen = 