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BEACH PARTY (William Asher, 1963) The first of AIP's Beach Party films introduced Frankie Avalon, Annette Funicello and the group and it was a solid success right out of the gate becoming the indie studio's biggest hit to that date.

The plot was simple with an anthropoligist Professor (Robert Cummings) and his assistand Marianne (Dorothy Malone) studying the 'modern' teenager. Frankie and Dolores (Funicello) playfully toy with each other with him dangling a Hungarian bombshell (Eva Six as Ava) to make her jealous and she with the teacher. There's an inept biker gang led by Harvey Lembeck. The music is provided by Dick Dale and The Del Tones and others (including Frankie and Annette, naturally). All the while, Annette hides her Belly Button to keep Walt Disney happy! It's all very innocent and harmless - even by 1963 standards.

There are smaller parts and cameos including Morey Amsterdam, John Ashley, Yvette Vickers and Vincent Price as 'Big Daddy'.

Surf's up!

ANATOMY OF A MURDER was another film where Preminger pushed the bounds of the Motion Picture code. Based on the book by Robert Traver with a screenplay by Wendell Mayes this courtroom thriller stars Jimmy Stewart, George C. Scott, Arthur O'Connell, Ben Gazzarra, Eve Arden, Orson Bean and a fantastic Lee Remick. The score is by Duke Ellington. It was so controversial, that it was briefly banned in Chicago. Saul Bass' movie title design is typically brilliant.

The film was nominated for seven Oscars including Picture, Director, Stewart, Scott and O'Connell - but was shut out. History has been kinder than the Academy - it stands as one of the best crime films of the era and perhaps the greatest courtroom film of them all.

CAPRICORN ONE (1978) Last week was the anniversary of the first Moon landing in July 1969. Almost from the very touchdown of Apollo 11 conspiracy theories have emerged which claim that it was all faked in a studio (the most elaborate involves Stanley Kubrick supposedly shooting it while making 2001: A Space Odyssey). Director Peter Hyams was inspired by those theories along with his observation that people only believed an event took place if they saw it on TV.

Hyams' tale moves forward a decade or so to a manned landing on Mars. When something goes wrong with the spacecraft, the astronauts (James Brolin, Sam Waterston and...uh...O. J.) are brought to a studio to fake the mission! Ironically, a few years later, Hyams would follow-up Kubrick's 2001 with 2010 - hmmm? More fuel for the conspiracy fire!!!??

CAPRICORN ONE was just one of several 70s conspiracy films (PARALLAX VIEW, THREE DAYS OF THE CONDOR, ALL THE PRESIDENT'S MEN etc. - aficionados of the genre will not some visual quotes ), but Hyams tried to make this one a more enjoyable thriller with a big cast that also included Elliott Gould, Hal Holbrook, Brenda Vaccaro, David Doyle, Karen Black, Robert Walden, James Karen and Telly Savalas. Jerry Goldsmith provides the rousing score. The first half setting up the conspiracy is a bit pokey and slow, but things pick up considerably once the Astronauts are on the run (insert OJ joke here).

It gets silly and melodramatic, but it's a decent afternoon popcorn thriller. Don't forget the Tang!