The Exhibitor (1960)

before and realize that you have un¬ earthed a new star, as I did when we finished ‘WHERE THE BOYS ARE,’ it makes up for all the risks you may take. “The same goes for the other young people in this cast — Dolores Hart, George Hamilton, Yvette Mimieux, Jim Hutton, Connie Francis. A few years from now, they are going to be in such demand. I’ll have my work cut out trying to get them for a picture.” Russell Downing, executive director. Radio City Music Hall, which will play "WHERE THE BOYS ARE," presents producer Pasternak with a plaque commemorating his 25th anniver¬ sary as one of Hollywood's leading producers and calling attention to the many successful MGM-Pasternak productions which have graced the Music Hall screen. suit of the Pasternak-produced ‘‘THE GREAT CARUSO,” one of the biggest hits in MGM history. In some instances, Pasternak has turned singers into actresses as well as actresses into singers, as occured in “LOVE ME OR LEAVE ME,” one of the first pictures which enabled songbird Doris Day to re¬ veal her now undisputed talents as a dra¬ matic star. Cyd Charisse, who rose to fame as a dancer, is another who was given an opportunity at dramatic fireworks in such Pasternak productions at “MEET ME IN LAS VEGAS” and “PARTY GIRL.” Shirley MacLaine, a former Broadway hoofer, proved to be an expert comedienne under the “Pasternak touch” in “ASK ANY GIRL.” Lana Turner, whose recent pictures have all been in the stark drama category after her beginnings as the world’s favorite “sweater girl,” admits that Pasternak was one of the first pro¬ ducers to see beyond her glamorous facade when he cast her in a powerful emotional role in “FLAME AND THE FLESH.” Professionally and personally, however, it is in the area of bringing fresh, bright new faces to the screen that Pasternak finds his greatest rewards. Let him tell it in his own words: “What can be more satisfying than to discover struggling young actors and ac¬ tresses and to give them a chance in one of the most highly competitive and diffi¬ cult professions in the world, particularly when today there is a crying need for new screen personalities? “People have told me they wonder why I am willing to take a gamble by produc¬ ing expensive pictures with newcomers in the starring roles. Certainly it’s a gamble, but when you find a girl like Paula Pren¬ tiss, who has never appeared in a movie Pasternak calls attention to the difficulty a producer faces before he can get a name star to approve a script. A big star, he adds, can’t make a picture “if the subject isn’t right.” In addition, he believes that it is more fun to work with unknowns because no one tells you the part needs building up or that the cameraman isn’t shooting the scene from the right angle. “The players I am building up are happy and let me be the boss,” he smiles. Paster¬ nak has no formula for his long and suc¬ cessful career in the motion picture in¬ dustry. However, he is fiiTnly convinced that a producer must keep up with the times. “Tastes in entertainment have changed along with tastes in everything else,” he declares. “You have to come up with fresh ideas, as well as fresh faces.” And this Pasternak has done. “Where The Boys Are” is distinctive in that it is a high budget film produced in the lavish manner that has come to be associated with Pasternak’s efforts, and yet boasts not a single recognizable star name. This is a film that the youngsters will carry exclusively. As such, it affords exhibitors with an excellent opportunity to prove that their numerous requests for new faces and their repeated promises to help build these youngsters into stars are more than empty words. The film is rather freely adapted from Glendon Swarthout’s runaway best seller and concerns the adventures and misad¬ ventures, often hilarious, sometimes seri¬ ous, of the college students who invade Fort Lauderdale, Fla., every year on their spring vacation. While a natural for the young set that has become so important to any success¬ ful film, “Where The Boys Are” contains plenty of food for thought for their par¬ ents as well. Dolores Hart proves that if tv/o of Yvette Mimieux' eyes are beautiful, then three are just that much more beautiful as an amused Pasternak looks on. Long known as a producer who isn't afraid to give new talent big roles in big pictures, Pasternak has nothing but talented newcomers in this colorful, expensive production. January 18, 1961 MOTION PICTURE EXHIBITOR 21