Sergeant Dead Head

Second-string drive-in fare from American-International Pictures, here trying to evolve their "Beach Party" series into a more standard comedy genre--but with Frankie Avalon on-board, who could tell the difference? Sergeant Avalon is sent into orbit with a chimpanzee. Deborah Walley is his love-interest, Buster Keaton is an Air Force handyman, and Fred Clark is the befuddled general (no Annette Funicello this time, not even in a cameo). The nickname "Dead Head" was very popular with AIP's stable of writers; Frankie gets to wear the moniker this time, and he looks more than a little embarrassed monkeying around with this script. Eve Arden has a few funny lines and gets her own number, "You Should've Seen the One That Got Away", composed by Guy Hemric and Jerry Styner (who also contribute a cute love song for the gals in the barracks, "How Can You Tell"). Some frisky scenes--such as when the female Airmen drop their bath towels to salute the brass--but the rest is slapstick-stupid and routine. *1/2 from ****

This film essentially begins with an airman by the name of "Sergeant O. K. Deadhead" (Frankie Avalon) being sent to the guardhouse due to a series of mishaps which have caused problems on the base. Needless to say, this doesn't sit well with his fiancé "Airman Lucy Turner" (Deborah Walley) who had hoped to marry him that weekend. Likewise, Sergeant Deadhead also wanted to be married and as a result he tells his other two cellmates that he intends to be a model prisoner so that he can be released early. However, one of his cellmates named "Airman McEvoy" (Harvey Lembeck) doesn't share his concern and detonates an explosive that very night which compels Sergeant Deadhead to escape from the guardhouse as well. To that effect, upon being chased by the military police, Sergeant Deadhead takes refuge in a rocket destined for outer space--and returns as a completely different person. Now, rather than reveal any more, I will just say that this movie started off real well due in large part to the performances of Buster Keaton (as "Airman Blinken") and Gale Gordon ("Captain Weiskopf"). Unfortunately, the film seemed to run out of steam around the halfway mark and became less interesting at that point. Even so, I suppose it was good enough for the time spent and for that reason I have rated it accordingly. Average.

Major klutz leads his post though all kinds of calamities and misunderstandings that involve pratfalls, mistaken identities and a rocket trip with a monkey mixed in with a few songs.

This is the kind of movie you have to rate on a sliding scale. First of all consider the title, if that doesn't give you a clue about the level of entertainment you can expect you didn't read it right. Second consider that it comes from AIP a studio whose major output was innocent simple-minded films mostly in the beach party vein. This one doesn't exceed any of those expectations but it does have a veteran supporting cast all do their patented shtick each adding a little pleasure into the film. True Avalon and Deborah Walley are merely bland in the leads but the script doesn't require anything more from them and they fill those roles attractively.

If you're looking for a sweet throwback time passer this will fit the bill if you want anything weighty look elsewhere.

American-International decided to put Frankie Avalon in the Air Force for this latter day installment in the "Beach Party" series. There are quite a number of differences between this and the typical "Beach" movie. First of all, there is no beach what so ever. Secondly, Frankie Avalon plays opposite Deborah Walley instead of Annette Funicello. This had happened before in "Ski Party", but Annette makes a cameo appearance in that one. Here, she is nowhere to be found. Thirdly, the number of veteran character stars has increased. We get Cesar Romero, Eve Arden, Fred Clark, Reginald Gardiner, Pat Buttram, and, best of all, Gale Gordon in one of his few big screen roles. Buster Keaton is here, but he is given less to do than in previous AIP flicks. Harvey Lembeck is cast in his usual bumbling tough guy role, but he does not play Eric von Zipper. I wish he had! John Ashley is cast against type as a nerdy airman and he plays the role well. We get six new songs by Jerry Styner and Guy Hemric thrown into the slapstick mix. But there is a big difference in the songs. Except for Donna Loren's guest spot, these songs are written in traditional musical comedy style as opposed to California Beach Pop. Frankie Avalon had developed into a good comedian and he holds his own with the more seasoned comedy players in the film. His role(s) could have been played at the time by Jerry Lewis or Soupy Sales, but Avalon shows that he can be as funny as those master comics. Avalon shows that he can be effective as both a mousy guy and a confident braggart. Having veteran director Norman Taurog guiding the film adds to the sheen and he is able to keep everything looking good, despite the low budget. This may not be the best film in the series, but it is an enjoyable way to spend 90 minutes.

Many of AIPs main players are there including writers, direction etc. However, the script is very weak. There is very little of the classic AIP interplays or humor at work here. It feels flat and barely has any redeeming features. However, Fred Clark is good as the general and he's pretty funny. And great to see all those other character actors from those times. But something is missing here, it just has a weird vapid meandering vibe to it. Literally any previous AIP generated beach movie or knock offs such. 'Fireball 500' are much better. This film has its moments but really, if you're wanting to delve into the AIP library, this is not the place to start. Like I said, for completists only.