Wild on the Beach

If 20th Century Fox was hoping for a series of beach films to rival American-International Pictures Beach Party series, then why didn't they splurge for color? It would seem that was a given in these situations.

Taking the place of Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello are road company leads Frankie Randall and Sherry Jackson. Randall was a good singer, but surely was no actor and Jackson had a lot of trouble convincing people she was an actress because they couldn't get past her voluptuous figure. She could give a performance, but not here. I guarantee you will have heard of no one else in the cast save two.

Randall plays a young man attending Beach University in Florida and he's been given permission by one Captain Sullivan to live at his beach house while attending. A couple of weeks before the semester starts in walks Sherry Jackson the captain's niece who informs Randall and his many house guests and party guests that she is the new owner. But since the will hasn't been probated yet It's all up in the air.

In the meantime the mean old party pooper dean of the college wants this coed cohabitation put to an end.

Upon this plot several forgotten acts of the era do their thing. However the film also featured the yet unknown Sonny and Cher. We all have to make our start somewhere so Representative Bono and entertainment legendary diva Cher begin their careers here in a pale imitation beach film.

Only reason I can think of to see this film.

Way outdated plot (old-timers don't like the idea of boys and girls living together in the same house), brainless script, terrible songs that the producers apparently thought "the kids" would think was cool but definitely weren't, a bland leading man whose singing and acting are on the same level (lousy), chintzy production values (to be expected from a Lippert picture) and some of the unfunniest "comedy" bits (consisting mainly of old people tripping and falling down) in recent memory all combine to make this cheap "Beach Party" ripoff barely watchable. At least the "Beach Party" movies were shot in color so the audience would see nice shots of the beach and the ocean; this thing is shot in black-and-white, so the few scenes where you actually see the beach are bland and uninteresting.

Just about the only things this mess has going for it are Sherry Jackson, who was adorable as a child actress and grew up to be an absolute knockout; and a couple of shots of some cute girls running around a beach house in their nighties. That's it. Period.

Don't waste your time.

Without a doubt the absolute worst beach-party-style rip-off film that I've seen, and there is plenty of competition. Adam (Frankie Randall) and Lee (Sherry Jackson) both rent the same beach house for the summer, and each refuses to give up their claim. Zero laughs and amateur drama ensue. Also featuring Russ Bender, Gayle Caldwell, Jackie Miller, and Booth Colman. If you haven't ever heard of these people, there is a reason for that. There are also performances by Sonny & Cher, The Astronauts, and Sandy Nelson. The Sonny & Cher song, "It's Gonna Rain", may be one of the worst songs in the history of Western Civilization. The entire film is like hammering a railroad spike through your foot.

Yes, Sonny and Cher are in it. They perform one number, but do not engage in any comedy. Speaking of comedy, what passes as humor in this film is unfunny and depressing. Justin Smith, a character actor who mostly worked in TV, gets saddled with unfunny comedy material. Making it even more horrible is the worst background music ever used for a film. It is absolutely unlistenable. The credit (?) for the score goes to Jimmie Haskell, who wrote and orchestrated for movies, TV, and albums. I hope for Mr. Haskell's sake that this job was farmed out to a ghost writer. And then there's Frankie Randall. Randall is a fine jazz pianist who made a few albums in the 1960s and was championed by Frank Sinatra. Later he became a regular attraction and entertainment director in Las Vegas and Atlantic City. He still performs and records today. As tasty as his piano and vocal stylings are, he always seems to be a bit under pitch. This problem is evident in this film and is accentuated by pop musical material which is foreign to Randall's style. He also seems a bit uncomfortable as an actor. I guess Lippert saw him as an alternative to Frankie Avalon, but Avalon is adept at comedy and can make poor pop songs sound like Cole Porter. Randall is only effective when interpreting the REAL Cole Porter songs.

Frankie Randall (who?) and Sherry Jackson try a mean imitation of Frankie Avalon and Annette in this dreary,black and white rip-off of the beach party flicks.There's too much plot,(something about sharing a beach house,disliking each other,rousing the ire of the local college board,until the happy ending.) Frankie sings alot (songs you'll never hear again),Sherry Jackson does a nice Annette pout but it's all for naught.Sonny and Cher and the Astronauts do a brief guest bit,there's some lame comic turns (one guy is always losing his contacts,etc.),stuffy adult reactions to the kids,no beach scenes,no babes in bikinis,just alot of plot.Even boys and girls forced to share the same house isn't presented in a spicy way.Everyone is too hostile.I saw this picture when it first came out and thought it was great but I grew up!