''Where the Boys Are '84'' (onscreen title: ''Where the Boys Are'') is a 1984 American

sex comedy film Sex comedy, erotic comedy or more broadly sexual comedy is a genre in which comedy is motivated by sexual situations and love affairs. Although "sex comedy" is primarily a description of dramatic forms such as theatre and film, literary works such ...

that was directed by Hyman Jack "Hy" Averback (the last film he ever directed) and starred

Lisa Hartman Lisa Hartman Black is an American actress and singer. Career After some minor television appearances, Hartman starred on the short-lived ''Bewitched'' spin-off, ''Tabitha'' during 1977–78. She subsequently appeared frequently on television in ...

, Lorna Luft,

Wendy Schaal Wendy Schaal (born July 2, 1954) is an American actress known for her work in Joe Dante films such as '' Innerspace'', ''The 'Burbs'', and '' Small Soldiers''. Her other film credits include starring in films such as ''Where the Boys Are '84'', ...

, and

Lynn-Holly Johnson Lynn-Holly Johnson is an American retired figure skater and actress. After achieving some success as a figure skater in the mid-1970s, she began an acting career, including a Golden Globe-nominated role in 1978's ''Ice Castles'' and her role a ...

. A

remake A remake is a film, television series, video game, song or similar form of entertainment that is based upon and retells the story of an earlier production in the same medium—e.g., a "new version of an existing film". A remake tells the same ...

of the 1960 film '' Where the Boys Are,'' it was produced by Allan Carr. It was the first film released by Tri-Star Pictures.

Plot

Four co-eds from snowbound Penmore College in the

Northeast The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each se ...

head to

Fort Lauderdale, Florida Fort Lauderdale () is a coastal city located in the U.S. state of Florida, north of Miami along the Atlantic Ocean. It is the county seat of and largest city in Broward County with a population of 182,760 at the 2020 census, making it the tenth ...

for spring break: Carole ( Lorna Luft) is taking a separate vacation from her steady boyfriend Chip (

Howard McGillin Howard McGillin (born November 5, 1953, in Los Angeles, California) is an American actor. He is known for his role of John Jasper in ''The Mystery of Edwin Drood'' and for portraying the role The Phantom in Andrew Lloyd Webber's ''The Phantom of t ...

), but she winds up as a hot contender in a "Hot Bod Contest;" Jennie (

) is doubly lucky, courted by both a rich classical pianist ( Daniel McDonald) and a devil-may-care rocker ( Russell Todd); Sandra (

) is looking for the Mr. Right who will finally satisfy her; and Laurie (

) is a sex crazed

nymphomaniac Hypersexuality is extremely frequent or suddenly increased libido. It is controversial whether it should be included as a clinical diagnosis used by mental healthcare professionals. Nymphomania and satyriasis were terms previously used for the c ...

who dreams of a night of unbridled passion with a real he-man. Laurie ends up getting her wish, albeit through a rather unexpected source. During the week-long festivities, the girls meet Sandra's snobbish aunt Barbara Roxbury (

Louise Sorel Louise Jacqueline Sorel (née Cohen, born August 6, 1940) is an American actress. She is perhaps best known for her role as Vivian Alamain in '' Days of Our Lives'' from 1992 to 2000, 2009 to 2011, 2017 to 2018, and 2020, Augusta Wainwright on '' ...

) and her friend Maggie (

Alana Stewart Alana Hamilton Stewart (; born May 18, 1945) is an American actress and former model. She has also used her maiden name, Alana Collins, and her names from her first marriage, Alana Collins-Hamilton and Alana Hamilton, professionally. Early life ...

) and get to sample much of Fort Lauderdale's nightlife. They are also invited to a formal party at Barbara's house, which ends up being crashed by hundreds of spring breakers.

Cast

as Jennie Cooper * Russell Todd as Scott Nash * Lorna Luft as Carole Singer *

as Sandra Roxbury *

as Laurie Jameson *

as Chip *

as Barbara Roxbury *

as Maggie *

Christopher McDonald Christopher McDonald (born February 15, 1955) is an American film, television, theatre and voice actor. McDonald is best known for playing the villainous professional golfer Shooter McGavin in the 1996 comedy ''Happy Gilmore''. Other notable ...

as Tony * Daniel McDonald as Camden Roxbury III *

Jude Cole Jude Anthony Cole (born June 18, 1960) is an American singer, songwriter, manager, and record producer. After signing to Reprise Records, Cole's solo career began with his eponymous debut studio album in 1987, which was followed up 4 subsequen ...

as Jude *

George Coutoupis George may refer to: People * George (given name) * George (surname) * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Washington, First President of the United States * George W. Bush, 43rd President ...

as Ray *

Asher Brauner Asher Brauner (October 25, 1946 – January 2, 2021) was an American actor. Brauner appeared in the 1975 action film, ''Switchblade Sisters'', directed by Jack Hill, and his other film credits include roles in ''Two-Minute Warning'' (1976), ''T ...

as Officer Ernie Grasso *

Frank Zagarino Frank Zagarino (born December 19, 1959, in Los Angeles, California) is an American personal trainer and former actor, who starred in a number of low budget action movies. One of his early roles was in the movie ''Barbarian Queen'' (1985) in whi ...

as Conan *

Dara Sedaka Neil Sedaka (; born March 13, 1939) is an American singer-songwriter and pianist. Since his music career began in 1957, he has sold millions of records worldwide and has written or co-written over 500 songs for himself and other artists, collabo ...

as Christine * Barry Marder as Rappaport

Production

Posters and advertising material presented the film's title as ''Where the Boys Are '84,'' the onscreen title is simply ''Where the Boys Are.'' In an interview on the DVD Wendy Schaal remembered it as a fun production with a party atmosphere, thanks to producer Allan Carr who was known for his parties. Schaal admitted they were smoking real marijuana in the beach funeral scene. Russell Todd's singing was dubbed by Peter Beckett, vocalist with Player and Little River Band. Touted as a more "realistic" version of the popular 1960 film, with nudity and drug references, the date rape storyline of the original does not appear in this version. ''Where the Boys Are '84'' was filmed from May 16 to June 26, 1983 at the following Florida locations: Royal Palm Yacht and Country Club in

Boca Raton Boca Raton ( ; es, Boca Ratón, link=no, ) is a city in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. It was first incorporated on August 2, 1924, as "Bocaratone," and then incorporated as "Boca Raton" in 1925. The population was 97,422 in the ...

; Lauderdale Beach Hotel, Bootleggers and City Limits Nightclub in Fort Lauderdale; Young Circle Bandshell in

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood, ...

Release

''Where the Boys Are '84'' was produced independently by ITC Productions and was distributed by Tri-Star Pictures after Universal Pictures rejected it.London, Michael
"Tri-Star Bows With A Universal Castoff."
''

Sarasota Herald-Tribune The ''Sarasota Herald-Tribune'' is a daily newspaper, located in Sarasota, Florida, founded in 1925 as the ''Sarasota Herald''. History The newspaper was owned by The New York Times Company from 1982 to 2012. It was then owned by Halifax Media ...

'' (February 18, 1984). On April 3, 1984, it was screened at the National Theater in New York City with Allan Carr and the principal cast attending the premiere, as well as the post-premiere party at

Studio 54 Studio 54 is a Broadway theater and a former disco nightclub at 254 West 54th Street in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Operated by the Roundabout Theatre Company, Studio 54 has 1,006 seats on two levels. The theater was ...

. The film was released nationwide on April 6, 1984 and was both a

box office A box office or ticket office is a place where ticket (admission), tickets are sold to the public for admission to an event. Patrons may perform the transaction at a countertop, through a hole in a wall or window, or at a Wicket gate, wicke ...

and critical flop. It ranked #5 at the US

grossing $3.6 million on its opening weekend. Its total domestic gross was $10.5 million.

Reception

Janet Maslin, writing for '' The New York Times'', called the film "dumb, vulgar and mostly humorless."

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...

, writing for '' The Chicago Sun-Times'', reported, "It isn't a sequel and isn't a remake and isn't, in fact, much of anything." Reel Film Reviews' David Nusair wrote: "There's ultimately not a whole lot within ''Where the Boys Are'' worth embracing or getting excited about..."

Accolades

Soundtrack

''Where the Boys Are '84: Music from the Motion Picture Soundtrack'' was released in April 1984 on vinyl and

cassette tape The Compact Cassette or Musicassette (MC), also commonly called the tape cassette, cassette tape, audio cassette, or simply tape or cassette, is an analog magnetic tape recording format for audio recording and playback. Invented by Lou Ottens ...

by RCA Records. The soundtrack features ten songs, all of which appear in various scenes throughout the film. The title track cover version by

was released as a

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

with the

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

"Hot Nights" by

, however, it failed to chart. Lorna Luft recorded a

disco Disco is a genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the 1970s from the United States' urban nightlife scene. Its sound is typified by four-on-the-floor beats, syncopated basslines, string sections, brass and horns, electric pia ...

version of "Where the Boys Are" released concurrently with the film although it was not a soundtrack item: produced by

Joel Diamond Joel Diamond is an American record producer. He has produced 36 gold and platinum recordings and had over 54 recordings on the ''Billboard'' charts. Diamond grew up in Passaic, New Jersey, and graduated from Rider College (now Rider University ...

, this version - credited mononymously to Lorna - featured background vocals by members of Village People.''St Petersburg Times'' 8 April 1984 "Where the Songs Are" p.6A. ; Side A: # "Hot Nights" – performed by

# "Seven Day Heaven" – performed by Shandi # "Mini-Skirted" – performed by

Sparks Sparks may refer to: Places *Sparks, Georgia * Sparks, Kansas *Sparks, Kentucky *Sparks, Maryland * Sparks, Nebraska *Sparks, Nevada *Sparks, Oklahoma *Sparks, Texas * Sparks, Bell County, Texas * Sparks, West Virginia Books * ''Sparks'' (Raffi ...

# " Be-Bop-a-Lula" – performed by

The Rockats Levi and the Rockats are a British rockabilly revival band originally from Essex but currently based in New York City. They are recognised as one of the pioneering neo-rockabilly groups of the 1980s. History Levi & the Rockats were founded in ...

# "Jenny" – performed by Peter Beckett ; Side B: # " Where the Boys Are" – performed by

# "Woman's Wise" – performed by

# "Girls Night Out" – performed by Toronto # "Slippin' & Slidin'" – performed by Phil Seymour # "All Fired Up" – performed by

Rick Derringer Rick Derringer (born Richard Dean Zehringer; August 5, 1947) is an American guitarist, vocalist, producer and songwriter. He came to prominence in the 1960s as founding member of his band, the McCoys. Their debut single, "Hang on Sloopy", was ...

Home media

The film was released on VHS as

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...

offshoot

Key Video 20th Century Studios Home Entertainment (commonly referred to as 20th Home Video, or 20th Home Entertainment, formerly known as 20th Century-Fox Video, CBS/Fox Video, Fox Video, and 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment) is a home video label of Wa ...

. The DVD release was marred by copyright disagreement between Tri-Star and ITC Productions. On February 6, 2018 Scorpion Releasing issued a remastered version of the film on Blu-ray, with DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0.

References

External links

* * * * {{Hy Averback 1984 films 1980s teen comedy films 1980s sex comedy films American coming-of-age films American sex comedy films American teen comedy films Remakes of American films Films about spring break Films set in Fort Lauderdale, Florida Films shot in Florida Teen sex comedy films ITC Entertainment films TriStar Pictures films Films directed by Hy Averback Films produced by Allan Carr Films scored by Sylvester Levay Golden Raspberry Award winning films Comedy film soundtracks 1984 soundtrack albums 1984 comedy films 1980s English-language films 1980s American films