Wow! Star Troy Donahue sings the opening song while the credits roll at the beginning.This is basically another take off of fun filled spring breaks in college.Jack Weston, as the basketball coach, really steals the show with his supposedly tough persona, only to find romance himself while on retreat with the guys.The movie has the usual takes with fun in the swimming pool, the big fight during a swinging party but takes on serious overtones when a spoiled, neglected young man vies for the attention of a girl and almost kills his competitor. There is a serious moment when the guy is forced to look at himself for his actions.

The film's story is about what one would expect for a romantic comedy from the early 1960s. California guys chase girls, and vice versa. With an exception or two, the tone is lighthearted, upbeat, frothy, and fluffy.The script has an ensemble cast. Connie Stevens, Ty Hardin, Stefanie Powers, and Robert Conrad probably fare the best. And Carole Cook, as a perky hotel clerk, is quite good. But Andrew Duggan, Jack Weston, and Jerry Van Dyke all seem out of place here.Major characters have enough dimension, though just barely, to make them reasonably interesting, especially Gale Lewis (Stevens) and Eric Dean (Conrad). One could argue that the script over-populates the story. Three or four main characters might have worked better. As is, the plot is all over the place as it flits from one character to another.Comedy is quite juvenile. It is very unsubtle, and veers toward slapstick. As an example, an annoying little boy named Boom-Boom creates havoc when his behavior results in a swimming pool that fills up with soap bubbles.Music trends decidedly upbeat. I like the Van Dyke/Hardin duo of "Bye Bye Blackbird". But I could have wished for some songs from the early 60s. The Kingston Trio performs a rather uninteresting number. More interesting than the song are the large, unattractive horn-rimmed glasses the lead singer wears.Don't expect any complex plot or heavy-duty message here. "Palm Springs Weekend" is pure fluff, engineered for entertainment. As such, the film will appeal mostly to older audiences yearning for a bit of early 1960s nostalgia.

You have got to give Warner Bros studios credit for milking Troy Donahue for all they could get with the teenage audience....there was "Summer Place", "Parrish", "Susan Slade", "Rome Adventure"...Warner Bros was riding the high waves with Donahue for the teenage audience in the early 60s.......then they apparently decided to remake "Where the Boys Are"....this time the film is in Palm Springs California instead of Florida....Stephanie Powers more or less recreates the role Delores Hart had in "Where the Boys Are".....a young student looking for teenage/young adult love...Troy Donahue basically recreates the role George Hamilton had.....the handsome lover boy looking for romance.....basically corny and overly silly in a lot of respects. Plenty of comedy though as Jerry Van Dyke plays a over the top goofball who winds up with the homely down and out girl...sort of like the role Frank Gorshin had in Boys Are with Connie Francis....lots of similarities with both films. Troy Donahue did not have to do much acting...just stand around looking handsome and available and the gals ate him up. In a silly teenage film like this much acting was not required at all. For my money a scene near the end where Donahue and Stephanie Powers were standing in front of a fake, paper rock, supposedly in the desert was laughable....Powers says "look out there, see the sands, it is the valley of lost lovers" ha=ha-ha.....or something to that effect....Donahue stands there listening to her with a silly gape on his face....just totally laughable acting. Nothing like that old puss himself Jack Weston to play the lovable loser - he was the basketball coach trying to keep his players under control and falling for the matronly owner of the motel they were at....Weston always a lovable loser, just like in "The Cincinatti Kid" and "Thomas Crown Affair" in the 60s..... For my money Jerry Van Dyke steals the movie as a looney over the top comedian....once again, this is a teenage love flick at it's best....if you saw "Where the Boys Are" you have seen "Palm Springs Weekend"....just the same two films stitched together with different actors....Bob Conrad as the spoiled, rich kid with the fast T-Bird and Connie Stevens as the nubile, and very available coed....she gets mixed up with the wrong guy. Top notch film for the teenagers in the early 1960s.

Nothing to do on a Saturday afternoon so me and some friends went to the movies. It was the old Kabar Theater on Anaheim Boulevard in Long Beach, California. I think it was either a quarter or a half dollar to get in for a double feature. Popcorn was ten cents.After the film started, the first thing that caught my attention was this guy, (Robert Conrad) driving a beautiful, 1963 Ford Thunderbird Roadster. It had a tonneau cover over the backseat with Kelsey Hayes wire wheels, which together gave it a sportier look than the standard convertible. With a 5 foot tall Bugs Bunny in the passenger seat, at the age of 12, I thought, that's how you get the girls.I've owned five old T-Birds since 1969 and even an old Mercury convertible with bull horns on the hood like Ty Hardin drove. Now I'm into old police cars like Andrew Duggan drove.After this movie, Jerry Van Dyke was one of my favorite funny guys and I envied Billy Mumy. He was a busy child actor in those days. He even appeared twice in one of TV's greatest shows, "The Twilight Zone." I was also in love with Connie Stevens for years. Wasn't she a cu-tie? Still is! This movie has it all. Suave, sophisticated leading men like Troy Donahue. Beautiful leading ladies. Comedy, drama, a hint of sex, live music, violence and a car chase in the desert.Haven't seen this film in years so naturally I'd like to pick up a copy on DVD but none are available. I guess I'll have to stay up every night and try and catch it on the Late, Late Show.