Bikini Beach

This sequel to MUSCLE BEACH PARTY (1964) is only slightly better: much of the teen cast returns, as well as Don Rickles (but, having now forsaken muscle-men for drag-strip racing) and even Stevie Wonder. We do get a number of new faces – eminent publisher Keenan Wynn (with a practiced simian in tow, he's intent on demonstrating that the youth of today have regressed to pretty much its primitive state!) and schoolteacher Martha Hyer constituting more or less the normal people (they start out as opponents but gradually come to understand and love one another), Harvey Lembeck as the overage leader of a motorcycle gang called Eric Von Zipper (actually, this character had already featured in BEACH PARTY [1963]: here, he's prone to falling victim, by his own hand, of Peter Lorre's paralysis-by-touch technique seen at the end of the previous film) and Timothy Carey (appearing very briefly as a pool-playing eccentric who has a werewolf, fitted with a leather jacket, for a sidekick!).

There's even a second role for Frankie Avalon – doubling as a legendary mop-top and gap-toothed (essentially a cross between The Beatles and Terry-Thomas!) British singer/racer…and, then, there's that great final gag involving Boris Karloff (seen a couple of times from behind throughout but only revealed at the very end as an art dealer interested in Rickles' abstract collection, quipping that he ought to tell his pal Vincent Price – noted for his taste in fine art and at the time also contracted to AIP – about it!). It's these quasi-surreal elements – including the monkey driving Wynn's car (to the recurring consternation of two traffic cops) as well as a dragster, and even doing a bit of surf…but extending to the final credits as blonde-with-powerful-hips Candy Johnson is joined in her wild dance by an aged member of Wynn's old folks' home! – which render the film that much more enjoyable than its predecessor. Otherwise, we get a lot of the same shtick as before – though the beach scenes themselves are thankfully downplayed here; the climax, then, involves a Keystone Kops-type chase which culminates in yet another gratuitous bit of brawling slapstick (this time occurring at Rickles' pseudo-beatnik joint).

Again, the songs are far from classics but, all in all, the film retains some interest (not least in the contribution of cinematographer Floyd Crosby, production designer Daniel Haller and composer Les Baxter – all of them synonymous with Roger Corman's contemporaneous horror films based on the writings of Edgar Allan Poe!) in particular for characterizing the transition between two trends in youth-oriented pictures i.e. the Juvenile Delinquent films of the 1950s and the Counter-Culture efforts (advocating drug use and Free Love) that would prevail soon after

It's a colorful southern California summer of 1964.

Frankie Avalon (as Frankie) hears nature calling him to Annette Funicello (as Dee Dee); but, she hears only wedding bells. In short order, the "Beach Party" gang goes ga-ga over popular English superstar Frankie Avalon (in a dual role, as "The Potato Bug"), arriving to fill out a romantic triangle for Mr. Avalon and Ms. Funicello. Newspaperman Keenan Wynn (as Harvey Huntington Honeywagon III) is also on hand; accompanied by his ape "Clyde" (Janos Prohaska); Mr. Wynn sets out to prove the "sexually preoccupied" teenagers are akin to monkeys. Adult beauty Martha Hyer (as Vivian Clements) thinks Avalon and company are just having a good time. Don Rickles (as Big Drag) and Harvey Lembeck (as Eric Von Zipper) help add drag racing and motorcycle fun.

Returning more to the initial entry's "Beach Party" formula makes "Bikini Beach" an improvement over the series' recent dip into "Muscle Beach Party". The script is relatively snappy, and amusing. "Clyde" and "Frieda" have a great scene together; for example, when "Clyde" plays with Rickles' bird, in the dragster's beer joint (strictly for kids, Rickles explains, as he serves only beer and soda). Avalon's dual role is nicely played; and it is a timely, welcome nod to the mid-sixties musical "British invasion". Funicello, with a decent amount of navel displayed, is always charming; however, the added hair was unnecessary. The regular "teenagers" are attractive, and Ms. Hyer performs exceptionally well.

Director William Asher uses bewitching wife Elizabeth Montgomery well; she reads the beginning of a newspaper article, and voices the French "Lady Bug". Despite the presence of Stevie Wonder, the Pyramids, and the Exciters; performing songs by the usual writers, the soundtrack is derivative, and unmemorable. Look for Gary Usher, Roger Christian, and Mike Nader among the "Beach Boys". Mr. Nader once told me he was in these movies, and now I see him.

****** Bikini Beach (7/22/64) William Asher ~ Frankie Avalon, Annette Funicello, Martha Hyer, Don Rickles

I'm sure with a bit of irony Frankie Avalon played dual roles in Bikini Beach. The first is his usual beach loving self and the second with blond wig page boy style is that of invading British rocker. Frankie would go on for years as actor and nightclub performer. But that quartet from Liverpool signaled he and his generation of performers of the Elvis era were passing into history.

Two people invade the beach space in this film. One is the Avalon alter ego, British rocker Potato Bug who makes a play for Annette Funicello. The other is Keenan Wynn who brings a chimpanzee to start a campaign that these beach kids and their music are as intelligent as his simian. Wynn is channeling his Alonzo Hawk character from his Disney films. Wynn enlists the really brain dead Harvey Lembeck and his motorcyclists to assist in turning the beach into a senior citizen retirement community.

Bikini Beach is so old that among the musical guests is listed Little Stevie Wonder. Everybody on the film looks like they're having a good time making it and they bring a nice infectious spirit to the proceedings.

This is probably the best of the "Beach Party" films. The series pretty much hit its peak here and after this it was all downhill. Annette Funicello is her level headed best and Frankie Avalon is still her lunkheaded boyfriend who only can think about surfing. The thing I think is a little ironic about this film is the fact that Avalon in his portrayal of Potato Bug takes a swipe at The Beatles. Many forget that Avalon was one of the hottest singers in America until the "Fab Four" arrived the same year this film was released. After that it was downhill from there. The other shining moment in this film has to belong to Harvey Lembeck as the perpetually dimwitted leader Eric Von Zipper. This was his defining role and this film was his funniest yet.

Annette Funicello is probably the most over-dressed beach bunny to ever hit the sands, but she's a stitch in her scenes with Frankie Avalon (as surfer Frankie) and pop-singer The Potato Bug (Avalon again, in a Beatle wig, funny teeth and English accent). Their repartee makes this a charming piece of Americana, but the thing is so stuck in a sterile time-capsule it's nearly impossible to believe that teenagers once got a charge from it. Drag-racing is the newest craze, and the beach gang gets shown up once Keenan Wynn puts a chimp successfully behind the wheel of a hot rod. For racing aficionados, we get a glimpse of the Mantra Ray, a $50,000 all-aluminum experimental "dream rod" with a King Cobra Ford engine. Annette poses prettily beside it... ** from ****