The Girls on the Beach

Faced with a deadline of one week to come up $10,000 to save their sorority, the president of "Alpha-Beta" named "Selma" (Noreen Corcoran) and her companions come up with several different plans to raise the funds. Unfortunately, not all of their plans come to fruition so as a last resort they plead with some local boys to petition the English group known as the Beatles to come and put on a small concert. What they don't know is that these guys have fabricated their connection to the singing group in order to date these girls and with time running short the chances of keeping their house becomes even more seriously jeopardized. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that this was a solid "beach movie" produced by Paramount which compared favorably (more or less) with the American International films at the time. Of particular note was the presence of the Beach Boys and Leslie Gore who lip-synced a number of songs. Likewise, having several attractive actresses like Ahna Capri (as "Arlene"), Gail Gilmore ("Georgia") and the aformentioned Noreen Corcoran certainly didn't hurt the film in any way either. That being said, while this was not a great film by any means, I still found it to be entertaining to a certain degree and for that reason I have rated it accordingly. Average.

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.

Sorority beach babes in Balboa, CA have to raise $10,000 to save their order, eventually resorting to desperate measures such as entering a cooking contest, a beauty contest and trying to get The Beatles to perform at the local hot spot. Charmingly dim-witted surf-sand-&-sexy girls opus, obviously a knock-off of the "Beach Party" cycle--and better produced--but not as charismatic. The flick spotlights a bevy of energetic ladies, guest stars The Beach Boys and also Lesley Gore (it's unclear if Gore is visiting royalty or if she's just one of the gals). Though it isn't fresh, it is noodle-headed fun given a fast pace and a good soundtrack. ** from ****

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.