Beach Party (1963)

Pop star Frankie Avalon and former Mouseketeer Annette Funicello inaugurated the beach movie proper (after Gidget tested the waters) with this celebration of surf, sand, rock & roll music, and, of course, sex. Frankie carries Annette (named Doris in the film) over the threshold of a beach cabin as she whispers "It's just like we're married." "Exactly!" he smiles before tripping over a dozen friends camping out on the floor. Well, not quite, as it turns out in the boys-against-girls contest of one-upmanship and jealous tantrums. Frankie woos the pneumatic Scandinavian Eva Six and Annette flirts with frumpy anthropologist Bob Cummings (wearing a beard that would scare Grizzly Adams). Meanwhile he secretly studies the mating rituals of the beach tribe with his eternally frustrated assistant Dorothy Malone. Harvey Lembeck (from Stalag 17) is the aging juvenile delinquent Eric von Zipper, a spastic motorcycle gang leader, while Morey Amsterdam recites silly beat poetry in a Chinese mask and surf rocker Dick Dale plays bongos and wears a gold earring. Look for bit parts by Beach Boy Brian Wilson (as a surfer) and Peter Falk (as a biker) and a cameo by Vincent Price. This first beach romp is about as sophisticated as a Keystone Kops farce (it ends with a slapstick free-for-all that wouldn't be out place in the silent era), but it's dumb, fluffy fun with lots of hunky boys and pretty bikinied girls shaking their booties and making out. --Sean Axmaker Amazon.com

First in a series

As with most firsts the first film is the best as it has the fresh idea and is not rehashed. I may seem a little sophomoric these days but it filled a gap and reflected the music and culture of the time.

Frankie (Frankie Avalon) assumes he is going to spend the summer alone with Dolores (Annette Funicello). Boy is he in for a surprise. There are surfers, bikers, air planes, and Morey Amsterdam.

Robert Cummings adds a good balance to this movie as a researcher of the California beach tribe. He must keep his objectivity as he is interacting with their culture. Will he be able to or not?

We are all waiting for the word from Big Daddy.
January 16, 2007

And Wild Man Dick Dale

Funny how when this series started it must have been aimed at adults as well as teens, for the central love story is the one between The Professor and Mary Anne--no, not the ones from Gilligans Island, though it's an odd coincidence isn't it--but the adult anthrolopogists played by Robert Cummings and Dorothy Malone. For an Oscar winner, Malone doesn't have much to do here, but when she's prowling around the Professor's apartment alone, manning his directional signals and playing a 45 on his hifi, she goes absently sexy, swinging her hips to the music, singing along to Annette's prerecorded vocal to "Promise Me Anything, Give Me Love." Some sophisticated sound editing in this sequence produces the effect that Malone is sometimes singing on the record, her voice noticeably less processed and more "musical" than Annette's super-produced studio squeak (that we all love anyhow). I will say that neither Malone nor Annette is very well served by the makeup department, who must have shot their wad trying to make Eva Six look exactly like Marilyn Monroe in the first reel of LET'S MAKE LOVE. But poor Annette with that crazy hairdo that looks as though she'd slept all night under an anvil, while Dorothy Malone looks like her skin is the shiny pink of a china pig.

Anyhow the plot is all about the Professor trying to get tenure and finish his book about the sex lives of the surfing youth. It's pretty funny and most of the ironically dimwitted scholarly comments about the "tribe" of the surfers seem right on today. He takes Annette as his protege, but she mistakes his interest in her tribe for a personal interest, and to make Frankie jealous she reciprocates by "dating" him even though he must be twice her age or more. It's a little eerie, and Dorothy Malone calls it "Lolita love," which isn't far from the truth.

Valera Noland, as Annette's best friend Rhonda, gives her usual animated performance. Whatever happened to her? But most of all, who is the dancer (not Candy Johnson) who wears her hair tied back with a headband and a tight sweater with big green stripes who dances around Frankie during the "Don't Stop Now" number--the one who stares him down with a seductive smirk at every turn? She resembles a really, really sexy version of Jane Fonda and her dancing could make a dead man stand up straight for once. Don't you think it strange how, in the Beach Party movies, Jody McCrea plays the southern goofus "Deadhead," okay, he doesn't play him well, but to me he IS Deadhead, and then when AIP decided to make "Sergeant Deadhead," Jody must have figured this was his big break, only to discover that this time out, Frankie was playing Deadhead? What a bitter blow to the most nibble-able torso in the movies of the 1960s! August 20, 2006

beach party

these is also a great movie, my whole family likes the beach party movies September 5, 2005

Carefree Fun In The Sun With Frankie And Annette

I have to admit that I have always loved these curious creations of the early 1960's; they being the series of "Beach Party", movies. There is something about their appealing innocence and carefree storytelling that always leave me with a smile on my face everytime. Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello became top teen movie idols with this long running series of beach themed stories filmed in the early 1960's which generally involved Frankie wanting to get to know Annette a "whole lot better", than Annette was ever going to allow him to. It was always played very innocently without any of today's sex and nudity and somehow I like it better that way as the pair where such an appealing couple who made these films such fun to watch. 1963's "Beach Party", was the first in the series and it makes highly enjoyable viewing where the worries of the day are never more serious than catching the next wave on your surfboard or getting the low down on the beauty in the bikini down on the beach. "Beach Party", was a big box office success and set the highly successful formula for the following series of films that always combined romance, wacky comedy, great location work and some not so memorable but appealing songs, ensuring audiences always had a good time. These films might seem overly innocent and cute nowadays but they made huge stars of Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello who developed large popular followings during the early 1960's through their teamings together.

"Beach Party", begins with one of those endlessly sunny Californian summers where Frankie (Frankie Avalon), and girlfriend Dolores (Annette Funicello) arrive on a college break to rent a beach house. Because Dolores knows that Frankie has more on is mind than just enjoying the sun she has invited the whole college gang along to spend the summer with them. Seeing his romantic plans for the summer shattered Frankie feels angry towards Dolores and begins to romance Ava (Eva Six), the very mature blonde waitress at the local hangout which is run by the mysterious "Big Daddy", (Vincent Price in a cameo role). Unbeknown to the gang however a middle aged anthropologist stuffy Prof. Robert O. Sutwell (Robert Cummings), is watching them through a telescope on the beach in order to do research for his new book which is establishing a connection between primitive tribal customs and mating habits and the behaviour of modern teenagers. Assisted by his faithful companion Marianne (Dorothy Malone) Robert records everything the teenagers do and when he decides to go out and meet the "natives", he unintentionally gets dragged into the quarrel between Frankie and Dolores. To get Frankie back for running around with the curvy Ava, Dolores starts to take an interest in the much older Robert stating mature men are of much more interest to her than younger guys with only one thing on their mind. Complication piles on complication and is not helped by the arrival at the hang out of the eccentric biker Eric Von Zipper (Harvey Lembeck) and his gang of "Rats", and "Mice". When Eric takes an interest in Dolores Frankie of course comes to her rescue and Robert inevitably helps out by putting Eric into a trance. Seeing Robert becoming "involved", with Dolores arouses some long hidden feelings in Marianne and when the unlikely pair talk about marriage Marianne leaves town. Dolores however realises after a dangerous palne ride with Robert who her real feelings are for and works to get the older pair back to together while letting Frankie know in no uncertain terms that she is "his girl". After a confrontation with Robert about playing around with "his girl", the two couples happily get back together with Frankie and Dolores declaring their real love for each other and Marianne finally telling her befuddled Professor about her real feelings for him at the happy fade out.

Fluffy innocent fun is what you get in "Beach party", and however simple the film may seem today it must be remembered that it struck a cord with young audiences and resulted in a number of highly successful sequels including "Muscle Beach Party", "Bikini Beach","Beach Blanket Bingo", and "How to Stuff a Wild Bikini". They all starred likeable pair Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello in predictable teenage romance stories intermixed with surfing action, and pop music. Frankie and Annette in a way became the Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland of their generations with their fresh looks, appealing personalities, and ability to carry a musical number. The Beach part films also had the additional interest in providing suporting roles to a number of Hollywood veterans who saw the value in involving themselves in these popular escapist outings. Robert Cummings and Dorothy Malone are both great fun in their roles here and Cummings in particular as the bearded dork with the funny clothes who finds himself in "teenage land", and an emotional pawn between Frnkie and Annette's characters is a total hoot. Harvey Lembeck as the greaser Eric Von Zipper who would reappear in later beach party films is also amusing and I sometimes feel was the inspiration for the character of Fonzie in the later 70's series "Happy Days". Veteran Vincent Price also makes an amusing cameo appearance as Big Daddy who spends the whole film asleep only to wake up at the conclusion to deliver "the word" to all his followers in a funny scene where he also puts in a plug for his recent film "The Pit and the Pendulum". As with every beach party film music plays a big part in the story and Frankie Avalon sings some fun songs including the title number "Beach Party Tonight", in a jeep with Annette at the beginning. Annette also has a suitably romantic number in "Treat Him Nicely", as she bemoans the loss of Frankie's love. The pair are also backed up by the popular singing group the Deltones that also appear in the movie.

"Beach party", may be considered a relic of another era however it still makes great viewing for a nostalgic journey back to a simpler time. The advertising jingle for this movie, "The perfect Summer where the urge meets the surge", really implies more than is seen in "Beach Party". Frankie and Annette where always clean cut teenagers who were really totally innocent despite what was implied and their likeable persoanlities ensured them great success as a team in these efforts through the early 1960's. "Beach party", is highly recommended viewing for those curious about how teenagers were depicted in the 1960's on screen as they are light years away from the angst driven rebellious teenagers depicted in films of the late 1950's as personified by the likes of James Dean. Enjoy some fun in the sun with Frankie and Annette soon. May 23, 2005

Good

I thought it was okay.It wasn`t as good as the other ones.Infact I didn`t see this before the other ones.It was a surf`in good movie. February 23, 2005

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