''Wild Wild Winter'' is a 1966

Universal Pictures Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Ameri ...

beach party ''Beach Party'' is a 1963 American film and the first of seven beach party films from American International Pictures (AIP) aimed at a teen audience.Smith, Gary A. Smith (2009) ''The American International Pictures Video Guide'', McFarland p.21 ...

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...

directed by

standup comedian Stand-up comedy is a comedic performance to a live audience in which the performer addresses the audience directly from the stage. The performer is known as a comedian, a comic or a stand-up. Stand-up comedy consists of one-liners, stories ...

Lennie Weinrib Leonard Weinrib (April 29, 1935 – June 28, 2006) was an American actor, comedian and writer. He is best known for playing the title role in the children's television show ''H.R. Pufnstuf'', Grimace in McDonaldland commercials, the title role in ...

and starring

Gary Clarke Gary Clarke (born Clarke Frederick L'Amoreaux; August 16, 1933) is an American actor best known for his role as Steve Hill in the NBC western television series '' The Virginian'' with James Drury and Doug McClure. Early life Clarke was born in ...

and

Chris Noel Chris Noel (Sandra Louise Noel, born July 2, 1941) is a retired American actress and entertainer. Noel is best known for her appearances in beach party movies in the 1960s, and for her work on the Armed Forces Radio And Television Service ...

. It was produced by

Bart Patton Judy Ponder 1980-present Bart Patton (born Phillip Bardwell; 11 July 1939 in Culver City, California), is an American actor, producer, and director. Biography Bart's first acting job was as Scampy the Clown in ''Super Circus'' where he was cr ...

and is notable for featuring

Jay and the Americans Jay and the Americans are an American rock group who formed in the late 1950s. Their initial line-up consisted of John "Jay" Traynor, Howard Kane (born Howard Kirschenbaum), Kenny Vance (born Kenneth Rosenberg) and Sandy Deanne (born Sandy Ya ...

and the duo of

Dick and Dee Dee Dick and Dee Dee (or Dick and Deedee) is an American singer-songwriter duo that reached popularity in the early to mid-1960s. The group was founded by California classmates Richard Gosting and Mary Sperling. They eventually changed their names t ...

in their only film appearances.

The Beau Brummels The Beau Brummels was an American rock band. Formed in San Francisco in 1964, the band's original lineup included Sal Valentino (lead vocals), Ron Elliott (lead guitar), Ron Meagher (bass guitar), Declan Mulligan (rhythm guitar, bass, harmo ...

, Jackie and Gayle and

The Astronauts ''The Astronauts'' ( Polish: ''Astronauci'') is the first science fiction novel by Polish writer Stanisław Lem published as a book, in 1951. To write the novel, Lem received advance payment from publishing house Czytelnik (Warsaw). The book b ...

also perform onscreen.

Plot

Fraternity brothers at Alpine College in the snow-covered mountains of Lake Tahoe recruit Ronnie Duke (Clarke), a surfer friend from

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

to seduce Susan Benchley (Noel), head of the school sorority and secretary to Dean Carlton (James Wellman), because Susan has brainwashed the other female students on campus to avoid dating the boys. Ronnie sets out a plan to become captain of the ski team and win over Susan, who is engaged to John Harris (

Steve Franken Stephen Robert Franken (May 27, 1932 – August 24, 2012) was an American actor who worked in film and television for over fifty years. Career Franken, the son of a Hollywood press agent, was born in Brooklyn, New York and graduated from Corne ...

), while he also attempts to save the school from its financial troubles.

Cast

as Ronnie *

as Susan *

as John * Don Edmonds as Burt * Suzie Kaye as Sandy * Les Brown, Jr. as Perry * James Wellman as Dean *

Val Avery Val may refer to: Val-a Film * ''Val'' (film), an American documentary about Val Kilmer, directed by Leo Scott and Ting Poo Military equipment * Aichi D3A, a Japanese World War II dive bomber codenamed "Val" by the Allies * AS Val, a Sov ...

as Fox *

James Frawley James Joseph Frawley (September 29, 1936 – January 22, 2019) was an American director and actor. He was a member of the Actors Studio since around 1961. He was best known for directing ''The Muppet Movie'' (1979) and ''The Monkees'' television ...

as Stone * Anna Lavelle as Bus Bit Girl * Linda Rogers as Trisha * Buck Holland as McGee *

* Loren Janes as The Bear *

Jay & the Americans Jay and the Americans are an American rock group who formed in the late 1950s. Their initial line-up consisted of John "Jay" Traynor, Howard Kane (born Howard Kirschenbaum), Kenny Vance (born Kenneth Rosenberg) and Sandy Deanne (born Sandy Ya ...

Dick Miller Richard Miller (December 25, 1928 – January 30, 2019) was an American character actor who appeared in more than 180 films, including many produced by Roger Corman. He later appeared in the films of directors who began their careers with Corm ...

as Rilk * Steven Rogers as Benton

Production notes

This film was shot on location at the Alpine Meadows Ski Resort in

Alpine Meadows Alpine tundra is a type of natural region or biome that does not contain trees because it is at high elevation, with an associated harsh climate. As the latitude of a location approaches the poles, the threshold elevation for alpine tundra gets ...

, near

Lake Tahoe Lake Tahoe (; was, Dáʔaw, meaning "the lake") is a Fresh water, freshwater lake in the Sierra Nevada (U.S.), Sierra Nevada of the United States. Lying at , it straddles the state line between California and Nevada, west of Carson City, Nevad ...

, California. ''Wild Wild Winter'' is the last of four films in the beach party genre that made use of a winter setting. The other three are

MGM Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded on April 17, 1924 a ...

’s ''

Get Yourself a College Girl ''Get Yourself a College Girl'', also released as ''The Swingin' Set'', is a 1964 Metrocolor film comedy in the style of a beach party movie. The plot involves a college co-ed who tries to balance her time writing songs and dealing with her pub ...

'' (1964), AIP’s ''

Ski Party ''Ski Party'' is a 1965 American musical-comedy film directed by Alan Rafkin and starring Frankie Avalon and Dwayne Hickman. It was released by American International Pictures (AIP). ''Ski Party'' is considered as a beach party film spin-off, wi ...

'' (1965), and

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the mu ...

’ ''

Winter A-Go-Go ''Winter A-Go-Go'' is a 1965 American comedy-drama film directed by Richard Benedict and starring James Stacy, William Wellman Jr., Beverly Adams, John Anthony Hayes, Jill Donohue, Tom Nardini, Duke Hobbie, Julie Parrish, Buck Holland, Linda Roger ...

'' (1965). A follow-up to Lennie Weinrib’s previous beach party film, ''

Beach Ball ''Beach Ball'' is a 1965 American beach party movie starring Edd Byrnes and partly financed by Roger Corman.Ed. J. Philip di Franco, ''The Movie World of Roger Corman'', Chelsea House Publishers, 1979, p. 145 It features appearances by The Supre ...

'', this film was originally titled ''Snow Ball'', then ''Snowbound'' (the only lyrics to ''Wild Wild Winter''’s opening theme song are ''“Snowbound, snowbound!”'') While technically not a sequel to ''Beach Ball,'' this film utilizes the same writer (Sam Locke), producer and director as well four actors from that film’s cast: Chris Noel (named Susan in both films), Don Edmonds, James Wellman and Dick Miller. Universal signed Weinrib and Patton to a seven year contract on the basis of ''Beach Ball''. The film's working title was ''Snow Ball''.Lisanti p 309 The contract with Universal was to make two films a year for seven years.Film Team Young, Foolish and Funny Los Angeles Times 24 Sep 1965: c10. Weinrib’s directing career consisted of only three films – all in the beach party genre: the aforementioned ''Beach Ball'' from 1965, and both ''Wild Wild Winter'' and ''

Out of Sight ''Out of Sight'' is a 1998 American crime comedy film directed by Steven Soderbergh and written by Scott Frank, adapted from Elmore Leonard's 1996 novel of the same name. The first of several collaborations between Soderbergh and actor George C ...

'' from 1966.

was a Boulder, Colorado-based surf band who had a

Billboard Top 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming i ...

hit in 1963 with their song “Baja.” They appeared in three other beach party films ('' Surf Party,'' ''

Wild on the Beach ''Wild on the Beach'' is a 1965 beach party film directed by Maury Dexter and starring Frankie Randall, Sherry Jackson, Gayle Caldwell, and Jackie Miller. It is notable for the musical acts showcased onscreen, being the film debut of Sonny & ...

'' and ''

'') – more than any other surf band.

Music

The composer for the film, Jerry Long also wrote the score for another beach party film, ''

Catalina Caper ''Catalina Caper'', also known as ''Never Steal Anything Wet'', is a 1967 comedy musical mystery film starring Tommy Kirk. It blends the beach party format with a standard crime-caper comedy. It was shot on and around Santa Catalina Island, Cal ...

''. Both films are his only onscreen credits. "Wild Wild Winter", the theme song to the film, was composed by Chester Pipkin.

are shown performing their own "Just Wait and See".

perform "A Change of Heart", written by Mark Gordon and the film’s composer Chester Pipkin.

Al Capps Allan Alfonzo Capps (April 26, 1939 – June 7, 2018) was an American record producer, arranger, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and vocalist. Beginning in the 1960s and 1970s, he produced and arranged albums for popular artists such as Cher, ...

and Mary Dean wrote two songs heard in the film, "Our Love's Gonna Snowball", sung by Jackie and Gayle; and "Heartbeats", sung by

with the Astronauts shown as performing back-up. The Astronauts are also shown as providing back-up for

' performance of “Two of a Kind," written by Victor Millrose and Tony Bruno. A soundtrack to the film was released on

Decca Records Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis (Decca), Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934 by Lewis, Jack Kapp, American Decca's first president, and Milton Rackmil, who later became American ...

in December 1965.

Reception

The film reportedly made a profit. However, Weinrib and Patton only made one more film for Universal, ''

'' (1966). The ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' called it "colorful, yes, but wearying."Screen: Pale Bond Copy: 'Agent From H.A.R.M.' Tops a Double Bill New York Times 6 Jan 1966: 20.

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 0061194, Wild Wild Winter
Wild Wild Winter
at Letterbox DVD
Wild Wild Winter
at BFI
Wild Wild Winter
at

TCMDB Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is an American movie-oriented pay-TV network owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in 1994, Turner Classic Movies is headquartered at Turner's Techwood broadcasting campus in the Midtown business district of Atl ...

1966 films 1966 musical comedy films American teen comedy films Beach party films 1960s English-language films American skiing films Universal Pictures films 1960s American films