The 1964 Movie "For Those Who Think Young" -- Part 2

Following Part 1

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In June 1964, 18-year-old Baby Houseman and 20-year-old Lisa Houseman watched the new movie For Those Who Think Young.

Lisa loved the movie. She admired the movie's 19-year-old heroine, Sandy Palmer, for earning a marriage proposal from the wealthy 20-year-old hero, Gardner "Ding" Pruitt III. He fell in love with Sandy because she did not submit to his sexual seduction. Furthermore, Ding agreed to Sandy's condition that she graduate from college before they married.

Lisa imagined that Sandy would not use her college diploma to begin a professional career immediately, but rather would settle down into married life with her rich husband and raise a family with him. Sandy would postpone her own career until after her children had grown up.

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Baby, on the other hand, looked forward to graduating from college and then working abroad in the Peace Corps for several years and then beginning her professional career. Getting married to a rich man who would enable her to be a stay-at-home mother was not an essential part of Baby's plans for her own life.

Also, Baby already had lost her virginity to Johnny Castle, and so she was rather cynical about a movie heroine who uses her virginity to lure a man into proposing marriage. Baby intended to enjoy some more extra-marital experiences before she married -- if she ever married at all.

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Still, Baby did like the movie. The movie's character Ding was played by the actor James Darren. She had been a fan of Darren since her early teenage years. When she was 13, she had watched him star in Gidget (1959); when she was 15, she had watched him star in Gidget Goes Hawaiian (1961); when she was 17, she had watched him star in Gidget Goes to Rome (1963). Ever since she saw the first Gidget movie, Baby had been buying record albums of his singing.

 Baby liked the movie Gidget Goes Hawaiian so much that she copied Gidget's dress for her performance with Johnny Castle at the Kellerman's talent show.

Baby Houseman copied this dress from
a Gidget movie starring James Darren

 

Baby loved this dance lift
in James Darren's 1961 movie Gidget Goes Hawaiian

Baby hoped that she would be able -- during the summer between her sophomore and junior years at Mount Holyoke College -- to spend the summer studying in Italy. Baby had fantasized about such a summer ever since she had watched Darren's 1963 movie Gidget Goes to Rome.

So, even though Baby expected the movie For Those Who Think Young to be silly and irrelevant to her own life, she went to her local movie theater and watched it -- just because it starred James Darren.  She paid close and affectionate attention to the role that he played in the movie.

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Gardner "Ding" Pruitt III is a rich, handsome, charming playboy who enjoys much success in seducing young women. He (like Sandi) attends Ocean Crest College, located near the Pacific Ocean. He and many of his fellow students enjoy surfing and even own surf boards.

All of Sandy's sorority sisters have crushes on Ding. When he calls the sorority, they fight over the phone in order to talk with him. They cannot understand why Sandy plays hard-to-get with him.

Sandy's sorority sisters fighting for the phone when Ding calls

Ding spends little time or effort on his studies. He does not have to, because his rich grandfather is a major donor to Ocean Crest College, and so the teachers have to give Ding passing grades.

Ding is popular, fun-loving and the life of any party. He is a nice guy. Everyone knows and accepts that he is a playboy. After he graduates, he will live prosperously as a top manager in his family's successful business.

Ding loves young women, and they love him. Even after he breaks up with a girlfriend, she will continue to be friendly, grateful and affectionate toward him.

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Ding lives in a luxurious apartment and employs two servants.

One of Ding's servants is an elderly Chinese man, Clyde (played by the 62-year-old actor Sammee Tong), who mainly takes care of the apartment. Unknown to Ding, Clyde is being paid separately by Ding's grandfather to spy on Ding's romantic adventures with various young women. The purpose of this spying is to enable the grandfather to prevent Ding from becoming too involved with any young women who are not from high-society families.  

Ding's servant Clyde preparing Ding's apartment for Sandy's visit

The other of Ding's servants is Kelp (played by the 33-year-old actor Bob Denver). He is a personal assistant who accompanies Ding most of the time and does miscellaneous tasks for him.

Kelp serving drinks to Ding and Sandy during a beach date

In particular, Kelp maintains an alphabetized telephone index -- a so-called "Filly File" -- full of data, notes and photographs of Ding's past, current and prospective girlfriends.

A telephone index

For example, the page about Sandy Palmer reports her status as: Needs a hard sale. Keep trying.

The "Filly File" page about Sandy Palmer
Needs a hard sale. Keep trying.

The index pages about Ding's other former girlfriends indicate his successful sexual seductions, usually with the help of alcohol. For example, his page about Olive Olson reports that he succeeded After only four martinis.

The "Filly File" page about Olive Olson
After only four martinis

Ding's usual seduction tactic is to invite the young woman to his apartment, where she finds herself alone with him. He serves alcoholic drinks to her. Gradually intoxicated, she submits happily to his seduction.

Ding uses this seduction tactic with many women, and he gradually has perfected the tactic. As the movie begins, Ding is trying to use the tactic on Sandy.

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Ding pays Kelp very little -- or not at all. At one point, Ding remarks that Kelp serves him merely for the status of doing so.

Kelp is able to attract a girlfriend -- Karen Cross (played by the actress Nancy Sinatra) -- simply by being around Ding all the time.

Karen sharing one milkshake with Kelp,
who does not have enough money to buy two

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Ding epitomizes the lifestyle portrayed by Playboy magazine, which was extremely popular -- especially among college students -- in the early 1960s.

The Playboy cover for May 1964

Playboy strongly influenced young men and also young women. The magazine showed young men how -- by their lifestyle and behavior -- they could be admired by young women. The magazine showed young women how they could attract and enjoy an admirable young man.

Ding is living the Playboy lifestyle. He dresses well, furnishes his apartment tastefully, buys a fancy sports car and entertains young women seductively. For these reasons, he is admired by young women, who feel complimented by his attention and flirtations.

Young women understood that they should go along with a man like Ding. They should go to his apartment, should listen to his jazz music, should drink his martinis, should reveal their naked body to him, and should enjoy an adult sexual experience with him.

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Kelp epitomizes the ordinary young man who reads Playboy but who lacks the physique, looks, money, wit, charm and self-confidence to become an actual playboy who can seduce many women.

Kelp manages to get one girlfriend -- a mousy, silly nitwit -- for a while. She immediately wants to marry him, but he does not ever want to marry her or any other woman.

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Bob Denver, the actor who played the character Kelp, was famous in 1964 for the role of Maynard G. Krebs that he played in the television series The Many Loves of Doby Gillis, which had been broadcast during the years 1959-1963. The TV character Maynard was a beatnik, who was lazy, slovenly, dumb and unambitious.

Everyone who was watching the movie For Those Who Think Young in a movie theater in 1964 perceived the movie character Kelp to be essentially a somewhat older version of the TV character Maynard. This character is a nice, amusing young man, but he never would amount to anything more than being a sidekick to a successful man.

The following video clip shows Denver's television character Maynard.

Maynard was a popular character. One major reason why people -- including Baby and Lisa -- went to watch the movie For Those Who Think Young in 1964 was because they wanted to watch Denver play his comic stereotype.

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I will continue this series about the movie For Those Who Think Young in my Part 3.