Drive-In Dream Girls: A Galaxy of B-Movie Starlets of the Sixties [Hardcover]

Tom Lisanti (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0786415754 | ISBN-13: 978-0786415755 | Publication Date: March 2003

During the 1960s, a bushel of B–movies were produced and aimed at the predominantly teenage drive-in movie audience. At first teens couldn’t get enough of the bikini-clad beauties dancing on the beach or being wooed by Elvis Presley, but by 1966 young audiences became more interested in the mini-skirted, go-go boot wearing, independent-minded gals of spy spoofs, hot rod movies and biker flicks.

Profiled herein are fifty sexy, young actresses that teenage girls envied and teenage boys desired including Quinn O’Hara, Melody Patterson, Hilarie Thompson, Donna Loren, Pat Priest, Meredith MacRae, Arlene Martel, Cynthia Pepper, and Beverly Washburn. Some like Sue Ane Langdon, Juliet Prowse, Marlyn Mason, and Carole Wells, appeared in major studio productions while others, such as Regina Carrol, Susan Hart, Angelique Pettyjohn and Suzie Kaye were relegated to drive-in movies only.

Each biography contains a complete filmography. Some also include the actresses’ candid comments and anecdotes about their films, the people they worked with, and their feelings about acting. A list of web sites that provide further information is also included.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Fascinating stories and tidbits...worth reading" -- Classic Images

"Well researched and loaded with pictures...fine tribute" -- Shock Cinema

"Wildly entertaining...well-researched and informative" -- Paper

About the Author

Tom Lisanti is the author of McFarland’s Hollywood Surf and Beach Movies (2005), Film Fatales: Women in Espionage Films and Television, 1962–1973 (2002, coauthored with Louis Paul) and Fantasy Femmes of Sixties Cinema: Interviews with 20 Actresses from Biker, Beach, and Elvis Movies (2001). He has also written for such magazines as In Theatre, Filmfax, Femme Fatales and Films of the Golden Age. He lives in New York.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 360 pages
• Publisher: Mcfarland & Co Inc Pub (March 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786415754
• ISBN-13: 978-0786415755
• Product Dimensions: 9.9 x 7.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,304,736 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Tom Lisanti is an award winning author and "starlet stalker" documenting the actresses and drive-in movie genres (beach, Elvis, biker, alienated youth, horror) of sixties cinema. His interviewees have included Carol Lynley, Pamela Tiffin, Francine York, Celeste Yarnall, Deanna Lund, BarBara Luna, Lana Wood, Sue Ane Langdon, Laurel Goodwin, Lori Williams, Diane McBain, Shelley Fabares, Linda Harrison, Aron Kincaid, Peter Brown, William Wellman, Jr., Jody McCrea, Lee Meredith, Victoria Carroll, Gail Gerber (pictured with me), and Thordis Brandt, among many others. He is a regular contributor to Cinema Retro Magazine (print and online editions) and Blogs regularly on his web site www.sixtiescinema.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another great book by Lisanti on the '60s unsung sweeties, May 9, 2004

By 

James E. Bagley "Jim Bagley" (Sanatoga, PA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Drive-In Dream Girls: A Galaxy of B-Movie Starlets of the Sixties (Hardcover)

This is a companion piece to Tom Lisanti's excellent 2001 book Fantasy Femmes. While that book dealt with '60s starlets who appeared in beach, biker, Elvis, delinquent youth, and horror films, this book concentrates a bit more on ladies who graced the beach and Elvis films (with no repeats). For me, a huge admirer of the beach films, that makes for an even more enjoyable read than the first book. Such Beach Party staples as Donna Loren and Luree Holmes are interviewed in depth, while Patti Chandler, Susan Hart, Valora Noland, and my absolute favorite, the Bardot-like Mary Hughes are also profiled.

Like Fantasy Femmes, Drive-In Dream Girls interviewed 20 of the '60s most delightful gals. Those included here are:
Sue Caey (The Beach Girls and the Monster, Catalina Caper); Andrea Dromm (Come Spy With Me, Hit The Surf); Gail Gilmore (Girls On The Beach, Harum Scarum); Laurel Goodwin (Girls! Girls! Girls!); Sharyn Hillyer (A Guide For The Married Man); Luree Holmes (Beach Party series, Ski Party); Suzie Kaye (Clambake, It's A Bikini World); Sue Ann Langdon (Roustabout, Frankie & Johnny); Donna Loren (Beach Party series, Sergeant Deadhead); Vitina Marcus (The Lost World, the Green Lady on Lost In Space); Arlene Martel (Angels From Hell); Marlyn Mason (The Trouble With Girls); Quinn O'Hara (Ghost In The Invisible Bikini, A Swingin' Summer); Melody Patterson (Wrangler Jane from tv's F-Troop; Cycle Savages); Cynthia Pepper (Kissin' Cousins); Hilarie Thompson (Maryjane, If It's Tuesday This Must Be Belgium); Darlene Tompkins (Beyond The Time Barrier, Blue Hawaii); Beverly Washburn (Spider Baby, Pit Stop); Carole Wells (The Lively Set); Lori Williams (Faster Pussycat Kill! Kill!, A Swingin' Summer).

While Fantasy Femmes also profiled 12 '60s sweeties, Drive-In Dream Gals looks at an additional 30 favorites, all longer profiles than the first book. They are: Brenda Benet (Beach Ball, Harum Scarum); Diane Bond (Pajama Party, A Swingin' Summer); Cindy Carol (Gidget Goes To Rome, Dear Brigitte); Regina Carroll (Satan's Sadists, Angels' Wild Women); Patti Chandler (Beach Party series, Ski Party); Nancy Czar (WIld Guitar, Winter-a-Go-Go); Jackie DeShannon (C'mon Let's Live A Little, Surf Party); Jill Donohue (Winter A Go-Go, Nobody's Perfect); Joan Freeman (Roustabout, The Reluctant Astronaut); Susan Hart (Ride The Wild Surf, Dr. Goldfoot & the Bikini Machine); Anne Helm (Follow That Dream, The Magic Sword); Mary Hughes (Beach Party series, Ski Party); Mikki Jamison (Beach Ball, Ski Party); Candy Johnson (Beach Party series, Pajama Party); Marta Kristen (Judy from Lost In Space, Beach Blanket Bingo as the mermaid); Meredith MacRae (Bikini Beach, Billie Jo on Petticoat Junction); Dodie Marshall (Easy Come Easy Go, Spinout); Claudia Martin (For Those Who Think Young, Ghost In The Invisisble Bikini); Jenny Maxwell (Blue Hawaii, Take Her She's Mine); Mary Mitchel (A Swingin' Summer, Girls On The Beach); Laurie Mock (Hot Rods To Hell, Riot On Sunset Strip); Valora Noland (Beach Party, Muscle Beach Party); Angelique Pettyjohn (Hell's Belles, Clambake); Pat Priest (Marilyn on The Munsters, Easy Come Easy Go); Juliet Prowse (G.I. Blues, Who Killed Teddy Bear?); Bobbi Shaw (How To Stuff A Wild Bikini, Pajama Party); Ulla Stromstedt (tv's Flipper, Catalina Caper); Wende Wagner (Out Of Sight, tv's Green Hornet); Debbie Watson (Cool Ones, Tammy and the Millionaire); Venita Wolf (Catalina Caper).

As I mentioned in my review of Fantasy Femmes, most of these lovely ladies had their careers end by the time they reached 30. A lot of that had to do with getting married, having kids, and being expected by society to concentrate on raising their family. Another key reason was the end of the studio contract system by the late '60s. Most of the gals profiled here were contract players at one time or another. With no studio to support them, they often faded away, leaving us to savor their all too brief careers and wishing we had gotten to see them grow in their work.