"The Cool Ones" is kind of an embarrassment. As a viewer you feel embarrassment for the cast and for the production staff. Less so for the pre-production people who are responsible for this lame attempt at cinema or for the producers/studio who somehow got this silly thing green lighted and funded.
It is like a horrible blend of "Bye-Bye Birdie" and a standard American International beach movie. Just thinking that makes you wish for Harvey Lembeck doing his Eric Von Zipper bit as the male lead. He would would be far cooler than Gil Peterson who looks like the sort of greasy guy who would proposition your your fourteen year-old sister. For that matter Jessie Peterson (the original Conrad Birdie) would have been more contemporary looking for this 1967 release. Even Johnnie Mack Brown (the 1930's Alabama running back who took his good looks to Hollywood) would have been preferable to this phlegmatic Mississippi State running back who followed him 30 years later.
"The Cool Ones" is a surprisingly high budget production with good film stock and decent location shooting. But its clearly clueless about what would be likely to connect with its target audience in 1967. Although even a quality script would have been unable to salvage a production featuring someone as wooden and unlikable as Peterson.
On the other hand Debbie Watson is the well worth watching. She is talented, natural, confident, beautiful and pretty sizzling in this her first sexy role. And naturally very likable. Visually the film is a excellent showcase of all those qualities. It opens up the question of why her career went nowhere after 1967. In a variety of roles from 1963 to 1969 she obviously impressed a lot of people as they kept throwing opportunities at her. She had two television series, this expensive feature, and a number of quality television guest appearances. Most notable was a 1969 appearance on "The Virginian", a significant and serious part which demonstrated her serious acting talent. Why did she retire in 1971, still in her early 20's?
Her staring in The Cool Ones" could be characterized as that of a Manic Pixie Dream Girl, consistent with . Her "Tammy" type-casting. My guess is that the "Pixie" part was the problem. She was typically cast for her pixie look, playing characters slightly older and looking cute doing it. She was born in 1949 so you can do the math.
But that pixie thing was a screen illusion. She was 5' 8" with a solid curvy frame - not tiny, frail, or delicate. There would likely be weight struggles in her future. She had a child when she was just 17 which kind of killed her image. I suspect that by the time she turned eighteen she could see that her window of opportunity was closing.
It's a lousy film on most levels but its greatest failure is at its most basic level, the romantic relationship between the two main characters is not even remotely authentic. It would take extraordinary writing, acting, and acting for the camera direction to sell this even to viewers willing to suspend disbelief. Not surprisingly the production never comes close to doing so giving viewers a relationship impossible to identify with or care about.
Bottom line, "The Cool Ones" can be enjoyed if you focus solely on Watson's performance. Other than that there is nothing here for anyone other than competent production and post-production.
It is like a horrible blend of "Bye-Bye Birdie" and a standard American International beach movie. Just thinking that makes you wish for Harvey Lembeck doing his Eric Von Zipper bit as the male lead. He would would be far cooler than Gil Peterson who looks like the sort of greasy guy who would proposition your your fourteen year-old sister. For that matter Jessie Peterson (the original Conrad Birdie) would have been more contemporary looking for this 1967 release. Even Johnnie Mack Brown (the 1930's Alabama running back who took his good looks to Hollywood) would have been preferable to this phlegmatic Mississippi State running back who followed him 30 years later.
"The Cool Ones" is a surprisingly high budget production with good film stock and decent location shooting. But its clearly clueless about what would be likely to connect with its target audience in 1967. Although even a quality script would have been unable to salvage a production featuring someone as wooden and unlikable as Peterson.
On the other hand Debbie Watson is the well worth watching. She is talented, natural, confident, beautiful and pretty sizzling in this her first sexy role. And naturally very likable. Visually the film is a excellent showcase of all those qualities. It opens up the question of why her career went nowhere after 1967. In a variety of roles from 1963 to 1969 she obviously impressed a lot of people as they kept throwing opportunities at her. She had two television series, this expensive feature, and a number of quality television guest appearances. Most notable was a 1969 appearance on "The Virginian", a significant and serious part which demonstrated her serious acting talent. Why did she retire in 1971, still in her early 20's?
Her staring in The Cool Ones" could be characterized as that of a Manic Pixie Dream Girl, consistent with . Her "Tammy" type-casting. My guess is that the "Pixie" part was the problem. She was typically cast for her pixie look, playing characters slightly older and looking cute doing it. She was born in 1949 so you can do the math.
But that pixie thing was a screen illusion. She was 5' 8" with a solid curvy frame - not tiny, frail, or delicate. There would likely be weight struggles in her future. She had a child when she was just 17 which kind of killed her image. I suspect that by the time she turned eighteen she could see that her window of opportunity was closing.
It's a lousy film on most levels but its greatest failure is at its most basic level, the romantic relationship between the two main characters is not even remotely authentic. It would take extraordinary writing, acting, and acting for the camera direction to sell this even to viewers willing to suspend disbelief. Not surprisingly the production never comes close to doing so giving viewers a relationship impossible to identify with or care about.
Bottom line, "The Cool Ones" can be enjoyed if you focus solely on Watson's performance. Other than that there is nothing here for anyone other than competent production and post-production.