Michael_Elliott
Ski Party (1965)* (out of 4) College buddies Todd (Frankie Avalon) and Craig (Dwayne Hickman) are constantly wondering how one of their classmates is constantly able to bring in the ladies. They decide to follow him to a ski resort where they hope to learn but instead they both end up in drag.SKI PARTY is, apparently, connected to the BEACH PARTY series but I personally find that to be somewhat of a stretch. Either way, this is a really awful movie on many levels and it has only a few things that keeps it from being a complete disaster. The highlight of the film is a sequence where James Brown shows up to sing "I Feel Fine" and it's like a shot of energy because up until then the movie was a real drag. There are also a couple fine jokes but that's about it.The rest of the movie is a complete mess that seems to have been thrown together using leftover jokes from previous movies. The entire premise is a rip-off of SOME LIKE IT HOT but it just doesn't work. Avalon and Hickman contain no chemistry together and their comic timing is just awful. Neither Deborah Walley or Yvonne Craig bring much to the picture and the supporting players are just as bland.The entire movie has a very cheap feel to it but the biggest problem is that it's just never funny. The movie is a complete bore from start to finish and should be avoided.
jadedalex
To begin with, I understand that I am not sitting down to watch great cinema, such as 'Citizen Kane'. On the other hand, I am quite struck by the silliness of all of the beach movies, and you can throw this into the mix, along with all of those incredibly inane Elvis movies.On the plus side, you have the hopelessly cute Deborah Walley, the very hot Yvonne 'Batgirl' Craig. Also an asset is seeing Lesley Gore and the Godfather of Soul, James Brown. Although, I must confess, it's a bit unsettling having James Brown break into your ski home around all of those nice white boys and girls. At least the crackers seem to enjoy James' soul music.On the negative side, we are treated to Frankie Avalon and Dwayne Hickman in drag. And, like most teenage comedies of its time, it's not funny.I suppose if you were raised in sunny California, this might elicit some 'memories'. But all of these teenage romps, along with just about any Elvis movie you can name, has no basis in reality for most people.Even the Beatles went Hollywood, with the preposterous 'Help!' 'Help!' of course features a wonderful Lennon-McCartney movie score, but the preposterous plot is as silly as Elvis playing a race car driver. It doesn't 'help' that the Fab Four's first film proved that you could make a quality, amusing film about pop music stars without insulting the viewers' intelligence.The only true joy to be derived from most of the teenage movies of this period are the musical acts that are featured in so many of them. It would have been nice to have cut Ms. Walley's and Mr. Avalon's music segues and include more James Brown and Lesley Gore.I like a lot of bad movies. Some of them are really enjoyable. 'Ski Party' is not.
soames
It's pretty funny, especially when you consider yodeling polar bear and the unusually-sweatered gender confused ski lodge manager and Annette as the haughty college professor for the very likely class `Fun Without Sex." Plus Frankie and Dwayne are pretty funny. Modern moviegoers are waaaaaaaaaay too uptight.
hillari
Annette Funicello has a brief cameo as a professor, and Dwayne Hickman was added to the beach gang in a futile attempt to keep the series fresh. Really lame take off of "Some Like It Hot". Aron Kincaid plays his usual big-man-on-campus pretty blond boy routine. There are only two reasons to watch this movie. Leslie Gore singing on the bus on the way to the ski resort, and James Brown doing a split in the snow the end of "I Feel Good".
AD
