For Those Who Think Young (1964) User Reviews

Ho Daddy, Ho Daddy -Drive In Special - Surf's Up

[DKosty123 · 6/10 · 8 December 2007]

I saw this movie during a dusk until dawn show at a Drive-In theater many years ago. These shows would keep you up all night watching all kinds of stuff. I can't remember the entire show that night but to me this was one of the ultimate drive-in movies. It is a beach movie without Frankie & Annette.

When you weren't old enough to be in the back seat of the car with someone, there were enough women on the screen to keep your attention. The comedy in this is sophomore stuff, and to me the most interesting thing is the casting. Woody Woodbury had a comedy LP album at the time this was released. Bet that is a collectors item now as it set a martini mood & really dovetails with this movie as his routines here are watered down versions of that album.

What is most surprising about the women in this film is how many would become famous but yet none of them really ever did a block buster film. Never realized until I looked at this cast that Tina Louise is older than Nancy Sinatra. This was before both of them would achieve their greatest fame, Nancy with music, & Tina with Bob Denver as this is an earlier place to find them in the same film. Tina is a stripper in this movie, & Denver is James Darren's assistant & a bit of a playboy. Bob Denver leads the Ho Daddy Chorus but this song is not about calling women by that name. I would call most of them attractive.

Paul Lynde is pretty much his usual self here. There were worse fillers for these dusk till dawn drive-in films of the earlier 1960's fillers.

Funsy 1960s beach craziness

[chuckmall-45145 · 6/10 · 9 October 2021]

Can't find better escapism! James Darren & Pamela Tiffin as the hotties, Tina Louise breathily trying to sing while sticking out her breasts, Nancy Sinatra with her natural hair color (the not-yet-blonde days), grumpy parents who don't understand "kids these days" & Paul Lynde as the "bachelor uncle" (yeah, right?) all combine for a wild, mindless romp. And who can unsee that weird number with Bob Denver, buried in sand except his makeup mouth & chin, singing "Ho Daddy"? Great with a bottle of wine and/or some 420.

Woody's Here

[bkoganbing · 5/10 · 15 March 2010]

My main reason for watching For Those Who Think Young was to see Woody Woodbury believe it or not. I remember watching Who Do You Trust after I came home from school and I never did get to see the film that he incessantly plugged during the show.

I wasn't missing a whole lot, For Those Who Think Young makes the beach films of Frankie and Annette look like Shakespeare or O'Neill. The substitute leads here are James Darren and Pamela Tiffin standing in for Frankie and Annette. Jim's a rich kid whose grandfather Robert Middleton tightly controls the family purse strings and he's had to practically buy the college he's going to in order to keep Jim there.

Pam is Woody's niece and she's been raised by him and his partner Paul Lynde in the club and she occasionally strips. But she wants to better herself. Not by marrying a rich kid though, especially if its my grandson says Middleton.

I will say this about For Those Who Think Young, it has one of the most eclectic casts ever assembled for a film at that time. Imagine seeing such veteran performers as Anna Lee, Addison Richards, Sammee Tong, Allen Jenkins and Benny Baker and even George Raft in an unbilled part as a police officer raiding Woodbury's club. Put them together with Bob Denver and Tina Louise before Gilligan's Island and the daughters of Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin also playing college coed friends of Tiffin's and you have a cast for the ages.

If you're a fan of the Beach films than you will like For Those Who Think Young. As for me this goes back to when I was young.

And this review is dedicated to Woody Woodbury who while his career never went the way his predecessor on Who Do You Trust, Johnny Carson's did, I still have good memories of him and the show.

In defense of this film

[grghull · 16 September 2008]

Times change. Tastes in movies and comedy change. Doubtless most of the other users who reviewed this movie are too young to remember Woody Woodbury at all, but he was quite popular and successful back in the sixties (albeit briefly). I can well remember listening to his comedy albums (a sort of primitive CD, large flat plastic disks that were played on an ancient device called a "record player") and finding them quite amusing, if nowhere near as funny as Bob Newhart or as cutting edge as Jonathan Winters or Bill Cosby. And certainly he seems much more dated now than any of them but even in this movie I still find his humor --- well, pleasantly amusing is maybe the best way to express it.

As for the movie itself: it was one of many attempts by big studios to cash in on the success of the AIP BEACH PARTY movies and probably better than most. It sure had enough talented and recognizable people in the cast including, to my astonishment, a young and very pretty Ellen Burstyn. Certainly FOR THOSE WHO THINK YOUNG is a harmless and genial enough way to spend a couple of hours if you have nothing better to do. There are worse things in the world.

Not very good, but hey, it's got Bob Denver AND Tina Louise!

[moonspinner55 · 4/10 · 6 October 2002]

Although they share no on-screen time, Bob Denver and Tina Louise (reported rivals on TV's "Gilligan's Island") make their one and only film together, with Denver playing a beatnik and Louise stealing the show as a tone-deaf dancer. Acting accolades are really quite scarce here as the movie--a comedy about college kids awakening to civic rights while partying on the beach--is fairly dim-witted and slow on laughs. As one of the adults on hand, Ellen Burstyn (née McRae) does a drunk act with the best of them, but romantic leads James Darren and Pamela Tiffin are easily forgotten. Brunette Nancy Sinatra (pre-"Boots") is cute as Denver's girlfriend, and it is fun to catch all these stars together in one place. Few of them ever crossed paths again. ** from ****

Extended, derivative commercial for Pepsi-Cola

[biker45 · 5/10 · 21 September 2002]

Unfortunately, I can't think of many good things to say about the film.

FOR THOSE WHO THINK YOUNG functions basically as a long, long commercial for Pepsi-Cola. Even the title of the film is the direct quote of a catch phrase used in Pepsi radio and TV commercials of the early 1960s. There are blatant product placements throughout the film, notably a huge Pepsi dispensing machine placed directly in the center of several shots of a night club bar.

The story line is a rip-off of the BEACH PARTY genre, with James Darren doing his best Frankie Avalon imitation, even down to look alike hair style and obviously phony suntan. Poor Pamela Tiffin looks terribly uncomfortable trying to fill the shoes (and swimsuit) of Annette Funicello. To bridge the gap between shots of Pepsi logos, there are the typical "crazed youth" beach activities (tribal-style ritual dances, a bunch of actors grabbing surfboards at the call "Surf's Up!", then paddling out into a perfectly flat ocean, followed by stock footage of real surfers riding huge waves).

There are also several long sequences of comedian Woody Woodbury doing his night club act. The humor in these segments is extremely dated, and falls flat, only serving to bring the story to a grinding halt while on screen. Tina Louise adds some visual spice as an exotic dancer, but Paul Lynde is wasted in the role of a wisecracking musician. Bob Denver plays his typical off-center Gilligan/Maynard G. Krebs character (seemingly the only thing he is capable of).

Darren and Tiffin were also featured together in a companion piece called THE LIVELY SET, a similar but more interesting film with a racing car theme. This film also served to plug Pepsi-Cola, and the cast even featured Joanie Sommers (the manufactured singer who hit the charts with "Johnny Get Angry"), and who provided (coincidentally, no doubt) the singing voice for Pepsi commercials in real life.

Overall, FOR THOSE WHO THINK YOUNG is an curio from a bygone age, contrived and derivative. Any similarity to real life in the pre-flower power, pre-Vietnam era is purely coincidental.

Pale Beach Party

[wes-connors · 2/10 · 16 July 2009]

Watered down "Beach Party" swipe, with James Darren (as Ding Pruitt) and Pamela Tiffin (as Sandy Palmer) playing a slightly older, more conservative Frankie and Annette. Obviously, Woody Woodbury (as Woody Woodbury) is meant to represent the title "For Those Who Think Young"; he hosts the local hang-out, which is threatened with closure by the unhip. "Uncle" Woody overloads the joint with tired jokes and topical humor; and, the zaniness present in the "American International" series is non-existent.

In hindsight, the most interesting thing about "For Those Who Think Young" may be the appearance of Tina Louise and Bob Denver before "Gilligan's Island"; they both sing songs, and have no scenes together. Ms. Louise shows off her figure well, and Mr. Denver romances a dark-haired Nancy Sinatra. You'll also get to see Ellen Burstyn get drunk in a purple hat while investigating underage drinking. An underutilized Michael Nader gives the film's best performance. Paul Lynde and George Raft kick up no sand.

** For Those Who Think Young (6/3/64) Leslie H. Martinson ~ James Darren, Pamela Tiffin, Woody Woodbury

Even with the sappy ending - Not as bad as expected.

[kfo9494 · 7/10 · 23 October 2015]

Having reviewed a number of beach movies, I can say that I have not seen one yet that has high reviews. So going into this movie, I was not expecting too much form the offering. Yes, the movie is corny and had a beatnik feel but you have to remember that was most American kids in the early 1960's. It is something that a person born after 1970 cannot relate in life.

For a beach movie the film had an almost regular plot where a parent or guardian is not wanting their child involved in a relationship. But I found that this script was more interesting than others. We have a rich grandfather not wanting his child hanging around 'bad-blood'. So he sets off to discredit people with some far-reaching, but humorous, activity.( I mean the slot machines in the place should have been a small hint.) Everything is going fine until the very end when the entire cast breaks out in a 'surf's-up' type musical that also includes some zesty arm movements. Something that may be all right for young people but this far-out scene including the aged actors which proved more embarrassing than entertaining. Plus I was never sure why the old man just made a 180* turnabout about his kid's partner.

For me, the bright spot of the movie was Woody Woodbury, Sure his jokes were even old for that time period and most were so corny that Hee-Haw could have used - but for some reason the exchange with the audience made me laugh. Was not expecting that type of humor from the show but it worked.

This is far from a classic but it did exactly what it was intended. People having a good time is suppose to reflect to the viewing audience. For the most part the viewer feels good about the people involved in the program. How groovy is that!

Seeing Tina Louise and Bob Denver in For Those Who Think Young before their teaming on "Gilligan's Island" was the only real interest in watching this

[tavm · 2/10 · 17 August 2012]

Earlier this week, I had reviewed "The Deep End" ep of "Kraft Suspense Theatre" which had both Tina Louise and Ellen Burstyn (credited as Ellen McRae as she is here) as players but had no scenes together. They still don't in this movie. Bob Denver is also in this movie, several months before he and Ms. Louise premiered on "Gilligan's Island", but they also appear separate. This is one of those silly beach movies made during this era that the American International studio made successful but this one was made for United Artists and doesn't have any of the players from the ones made for AIP during this time (though Paul Lynde would eventually appear in Beach Blanket Bingo for them). This one was way too silly for my tastes and way lame too especially when the lion's share of the scenes are devoted to the act of comedian Woody Woodbury. No wonder he didn't ring a bell for me. It was interesting to see both Nancy Sinatra (a brunette here not the more familiar blonde of the later part of the '60s) and Claudia Martin (yeah, Dean's daughter) in roles but otherwise, I can't recommend For Those Who Think Young unless you're interested in completing your viewing of the filmography of the various players I've mentioned. Though I did enjoy some of Ms. Louise's stripteasing and Denver's chin becoming an upside down face makeup...

silly beach movie

[bcrumpacker · 6/10 · 4 June 2010]

other reviewers cover the basics. Two often overlooked points: In the surreal, primitive "HO DADDY" beach dance, Bob Denver's bearded, singing Topo Gigio face is rather obscene even by today's standards. It could not have been an accident. In Pamela Tiffin's big confrontation scene, she is shot from the only angle which reveals her bad teeth. Again, this could not have been an accident. She must have angered the production team, or must have previously insisted on NOT being shot from that angle. It could have been done just to get her angry for the scene; but for whatever reason it worked and she did get furious. Too bad she left for Europe shortly afterwards; she was gorgeous. The less said about Woody Woodbury the better. Even Paul Lynde and their very muted gay schtick couldn't liven things up. Bottom line: put your brain on cruise control, have a Tab and rum, and go to a bright and shiny place.

This was just awful!

[Mg6 · 3/10 · 8 July 2013]

I will watch anything having to do with southern California during the 1950s and 1960s, that era has such a great nostalgic feel. Well, many of the films set there and during that time period involve the "beach scene." Looking at this cast, you would think, hey, this might be alright. Wow, this was one of the dullest and most incoherent messes ever thrown down on celluloid. James Darren is tragically bad in the lead, as his character lacks any personality or empathy. Look, I know that this is a movie from another era where standards and tastes were different, but that does not excuse this poorly crafted film. Interesting to see some actors that you would see again in the future, but they are so wasted in this waste of a film that it hardly does anything for you. This was just dry.

Nice, goofy fun

[cemab4y · 8/10 · 15 March 2010]

Look, this film ain't a classic. Nevertheless ,it was the type of film, that brought the kids in in the 1960's. I saw it at a drive-in when I was 9. Even at that age, I recognized the Pepsi slogan, and when I kept seeing Pepsi machines in the film, I thought it was sponsored by Pepsi. My first encounter with product placement.

The plot is mindless, the characters shallow, the jokes unfunny. Tina Louise stripping off that gold-lame gown is priceless, though. Nice to know, that Tina Louise, could have had a backup career as a stripper, if she had not cashed in on "Gilligan's Island".

Pamela Tiffin's character has the I.Q. of a soapdish. I still enjoyed this film. I work in telecommunications, and I got a real chuckle out of the two (2!) mobile telephones in James Darren's car. I also enjoyed the bit where Darren calls Bob Denver on the walkie-talkie. Real high-tech stuff for this time period.

Good enough

[SanteeFats · 7/10 · 9 July 2013]

This movie was made in 1964 so it is a little sappy by today's standards. It is also pretty good. While this movie introduced Woody Woodbury he seems to get a lot of screen time. That is okay with me since he is funny enough to deserve it. James Darrin and Pamela Tiffin are a couple of surfing kids,not really as there is just s short fake scene, but this allows for the typical beach actions-dancing, girls in bikinis, and music. Darrin's character is a rich playboy who, apparently, just likes one night stands until Tiffin hooks him by the old tried and true gambit of playing hard to get until she decides it is time to reel him in. Paul Lynde plays his usual corny but funny style and Tina Louise shows why she never got to be a big star. Bob Denver is adequate as Kelp.

Sure good to think back

[thehund · 8/10 · 30 January 2005]

I read a few of the other comments. So critical! I loved the movie. Just to see Tina, Bob, James, Nancy and Paul in their prime. The movie was meant for fun...not a literary study for correctness. True the jokes were corny...but hey...anything that attempts to make us laugh and be clean at the same time is so rare today. The movies today have more violence more cursing more junk...I tell ya i sure miss the days of jerry lewis and dean and Abbott and Costello...Ernest P Worrell...Movies like these are treasures. I remember sitting with my mom as a kid and watching James Darren. It wasn't the movie, it was the man...and the cast...Or where are the Red Skeltons of today? Remember the times when entertainers ended with and "May God Bless" and meant it. Roy Rogers ended his TV show with "May the Good Lord Take a Likin to ya" I see movies to day that are really funny and have so much profanity in them, when the movie would had been funny without them. I sure miss movies like "For those who think Young". I miss the musicals. James Darren singing...Elvis singing, Dean Martin singing, Ricky Nelson singing, Frank, Bing, and beach movies with Gary Lewis, Jan and Dean...Frankie and Annette...and the movies left a song you could hum, sing a long and feel good about yourself...the romance...made you think of good things and good hopes for the future. I am in my 40's and hardly ever go to movies anymore. Maybe one a year. Sure there are the DVD's but there are not the entertainers that just make you want to go see them, as it used to be...Where are the John Waynes? Where are the movies that made feel good about being an American? So in conclusion...this movie may not be a critics love-lore but it sure is better than most of the crap on screen today.

For Those Who Don't Think...

[Poseidon-3 · 18 September 2002]

This horrendous mish-mash of "Beach Party" movie, showcase for "comedian" Woodbury and love story between Darren and Tiffin has so much excess junk in it that none of the elements succeed. The cast list is jaw-dropping. There's Burstyn (doing an admirable enough job) in a role far removed from the meaningful work she would later do. Middleton plays Lee's father even though he is TWO YEARS older than her in real life. "Gidget" TV co-star Nader wiggles and jiggles around next to Darren (who starred in the original movie "Gidget".) Denver has the camp highlight of the movie. He paints his chin to look like a person, buries himself in the sand and sings a surfing chant while curvy, tan teens gyrate everywhere. Louise is shown stripping (which is one of the few acceptable things about the movie!) It's hard to believe that Denver and Louise appeared in a feature film together the year that "Gilligan's Island" premiered. (For decades, she groused about how she was a star who got stuck on TV. If this is what she was making, she didn't miss much from her film career!) The delectable Tiffin looks spaced through much of the film (or is her eye makeup too heavy to keep her eyes open?) She promotes Pepsi in this film after promoting Coke in "One, Two, Three". Her career was through before she could do one for RC. Woodbury is agonizing. Not only are most of his jokes just plain awful, the way he delivers them is abysmal. He is yet ANOTHER of the "Introducing ________ as_______" who was scarcely heard from again....for good reason! He's what Tab Hunter would look like with a gap in his teeth, a hellacious comb-over, wrinkles and even less talent. Beyond all these people, toss in Raft, Hart and Dino and Frank's daughters! You'd think something interesting could have come of all these personalities. But no...... The biggest crime the film makes (and one that it just can not be forgiven for) is billing Lynde third and giving him absolutely nothing to work with. He barely appears on screen and is exactly what this film needs. HE should have played Woodbury's part! He and Woodbury are amusing in that they are brothers, but they live and act like two old queens. They sit on the beach like two old sisters and even sleep together in one scene! Another scene has Louise handing them some dangerously phallic hot dogs. Woodbury, after toying with it briefly, hands his to Lynde and says, "Here...keep this warm." That moment alone causes one of the few laughs in the film. They should have run with it!

...

[hyjyljyj · 4 August 2004]

Since the best thing that can be said about this film is that it features Bob Denver's bearded mouth upside down with a cartoon face painted on it doing surf be-bop rap in extreme, agonizing close-up, you know there's little reason to see it. Except to guffaw uncontrollably at what the directors guessed teenagers would think was "cool" in 1964: A bunch of squeaky-clean, tanned white kids prancing around in a circle twitching and jerking like epilepsy victims shouting "HO Daddy! HO Daddy! HO Daddy! HO Daddy!" and then shutting up while Denver spews another inane bit of vapid verse while completely buried in sand except for his dreadful mouth, and then repeating the process. Normally an actor would be mortified to have to look back on something like that as a highlight of his career, but then he went on to do GILLIGAN.

The scene in the bar where the owner, washed-up comedian Woody Woodbury, goes around the room methodically tossing out teens who didn't do well on their last test (presumably to go home half-bagged to STUDY), while the rest of the kids laugh and chant along, "It's Woody Weedin' Time, it's Woody Weedin' Time" just makes one squirm. Like this is a common ritual every night, for the owner to go around and "weed out" his customers--as if that would make a nightclub POPULAR.

I give this film one star, but it only gets so many because Tina Louise and some girl in a lime-green bikini shake their clunes something fierce.

My vote -

[Gangsteroctopus · 15 September 2002]

• for the most UNfunny stand-up comedian of all time goes to Woody Woodbury, one of this film's supporting players. Comedy often doesn't date well (witness the first five so-called "classic" seasons of Saturday Night Live - trust me, they're nowhere near as hysterical as you remember them being), but watching Mr. Woodbury perform his act for what seems like hours on end makes you wonder how anyone could have ever found him even slightly risible. (I'm sure being heavily soused probably had a lot to do with it.) In fact it's hard to understand why the audience didn't just rise up as a whole to tar and feather 'Uncle Woody' and ride him out of town on a rail. (I'd have been one of the people at the bar screaming, "You SUCK!" and hurling full bottles of beer at this alleged comedian's head.)

As for the rest of the film, it's mostly pretty forgettable with the exceptions of a) Bob Denver's inverted mouth with a cartoon face painted on it upside down, doing surf/be-bop/rap (very disturbing); and b) Tina Louise - what a hottie!

For Those Who Think Young

[mhrabovsky1-1 · 18 September 2008]

Pathetic ripoff on the AIP beach party movies with Annette Funicello and Frankie Avalon....why blame UA studios for making this fluff...if it worked for AIP and made money it could do it for UA too....didn't take too much of a budget to turn out these teen age frolics, just a bunch of beach scenes with unknowns dancing around twisting their arms and fannies and staring sexually at each other. James Darren as much a staple in the beach/teenage movies as Frankie Avalon reprises Avalon's role and Pamela Tiffin (whatver became of her???) takes on Annette's role as the lame brained, boy chaser of James Darren. Ironic to see Ginger (Tina Louise) and Bob Denver (Gilligan) in this film playing two knuckleheads about a year or two before they signed on to do "Gilligan's Island". These teenage/beach party movies were all the same, zero acting, boys chasing girls and vice versa, a few guitar tunes, some goofy adults thrown in trying to control the beach set and oversee their kids/relations. Watch this fluff, or any of the Frankie/Annette movies, "Get Yourself a College Girl", "Ski Party", "Surf Party", "Hooteanny Hoot", "Ride the Wild Surf" with Fabian, and you would not know which film is which. Cant blame the studios....these films were made with tiny budgets and the teenagers of American flocked to the theatres/drive ins to suck them up. Made a ton of money for a little investment. Poor Paul Lynde stuck in this film...he was given little to work with and played second fiddle to a mildly successful 60s comedian, Woody Woodbury. He tried hard to be funny but came on more as a bore than a laugh. Nancy Sinatra in one of her first roles playing a coed chasing the boys, ala Bob Denver. Pamela Tiffin had fake eyelashes on in this film that looked about 3 inches too long....she and Darren reunited the same year in "The Lively Set", a film about car racing...diss the beach in this one. As the 60s progressed these films went totally out of style with the hippie/drug culture taking over America. Still this stuff was great drive in material during the 60s...you will like this film if you were a teenager in the early 60s.....