The Girls on the Beach

American International Pictures wasn't the only studio that tried to cash in on the short-lived "beach movie" semi-craze. To this film's credit it does not exactly follow the formula of AIP's pictures. But the result isn't much different--or much better.

It's ironic that the plot revolves around the (completely absent) Beatles, since that group and the others in the "British invasion" of 1964 pretty much killed off the scene depicted in this movie. Practically before it got rolling the beach movie was old hat and dead as a genre.

This may be the only beach movie to actually feature the Beach Boys, whose musical influence permeates all of the films of this type. The title song is not one of their better numbers but it does reflect their sound at a time when Brian Wilson was in complete creative control. More effective are Wilson's ballad "The Lonely Sea" and "Little Honda." During the latter song's performance it's amusing to watch Dennis Wilson, the noted hedonist, who is mightily distracted by the nearby dancing girls. As far as the other musical names in the film go, I never much cared for Lesley Gore and the Crickets without Buddy Holly are just...the Crickets.

Girls on the Beach is one of the most satisfying films of its genre. A beautifully realized screenplay of straight-to-the-point dialogue and acting that borders on Kabuki theatre. And of course there's the great songs of Leslie Gore and The Beach Boys. The ending is pure magic realism.

This inoffensive little film, made as a clone of AIP's beach-party films, is less affected than some entries in the official series and is notable for being told from the female's point of view for a change.

The plot is forgettable fluff, but the film features more beautiful actresses on one beach than AIP could ever muster. The cast includes several familiar faces from television, including a grown-up Noreen Corcoran (from "Bachelor Father") and Lori Saunders (here billed as Linda Saunders and soon bound for "Petticoat Junction").

Music fans are also in for a treat: the film features the most extensive Beach Boys performance in any feature film, as well as appearances by Lesley Gore and the post-Buddy Holly Crickets.

I don't know where you grew up but NY, PA and OH: Yes, girls had boufants and ratted hairdos, boys had short hair and sport coats in 1965. In fact in 1968, there was only one guy with long hair (over ears) in my whole school. Unfortunately, we didn't have any surfboarding either in suburban NY. Lame movie... good soundtrack.

I saw this one recently on AMC and all I can say is this: If you can wade through the insipid plot, even by Beach Movie standards, and worse acting, you'll actually get some pretty good performances by the Beach Boys, Leslie Gore, and the original Crickets, Buddy Holly's backup group. Alas, you have to put up with the one to get at the other. Musically, I give "Girls on the Beach" a 10, otherwise one half of one! It's hard to believe a major studio like Paramount could have gone the AIP route with this one.