At Wingate High School, a group of pals including Griner (Ronnie Burns), Arthur "Beau" Beaumont (Pat Boone) and Sanford "Fofo Bidnut" Wilson (Dick Sargent) race cars and boats, hang out at an after-school place called the "Shamrock Club", and jokingly profess their love for a mythical dream girl named Bernardine Mudd from Sneaky Falls, Idaho.

Sanford, who's academically and socially less successful than his pals, declares that he intends to take a date to see bongo king Jack Costanzo perform at the Black Cat Club.

But when his widowed mother (Janet Gaynor) talks about remarrying, and he realizes he could flunk out of school rather than graduate, he decides to briefly put his new romance on the back burner.

Buddy Adler of 20th Century Fox bought the film rights in 1955 as a vehicle for Robert Wagner.

"[10] In 2019, Diabolique magazine, criticizing Sargent's performance in the leading role, said the filmmakers erred by not giving Boone that part instead.

The main thing he does in the movie is sing (including “Love Letters in the Sand” which became a huge hit) and introduce an elder brother (James Drury) who runs off with Terry Moore.