Plantiana
Yawn. Poorly Filmed Snooze Fest.
Laikals
The greatest movie ever made..!
ChicRawIdol
A brilliant film that helped define a genre
James Hitchcock
"Beach Party" from 1963 is sometimes credited with creating its own short-lived film genre, the "beach party" genre of the mid-sixties sixties, although the same elements- sun, sea, sand, surfing, sexy girls in bikinis, hunks in trunks and pop music- could be found in earlier American films such as "Gidget" from 1959 and "Where the Boys Are" from 1960. This last, however, was not a "pure" comedy like the typical beach party movie, but a rather uneasy mixture of comedy and more serious themes. "Beach Party", however, was such a success that it was followed up several more beach party films from the same studio, American International Pictures.Like all the AIP beach party films, this one deals with a group of teenagers holidaying on the beaches of Southern California. An eccentric academic, Professor Robert Sutwell, is also visiting the beach with the aim of making an anthropological study of the teenage surfing sub-culture, which reminds him of primitive tribes. As with many of these films, the leading roles are taken by Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello, who play boyfriend and girlfriend Frankie and Dolores. Complications arise when Dolores develops a crush on the nutty Professor and Frankie starts paying attentions to a Hungarian waitress named Ava. A further complication is provided by the local biker gang and their leader Eric Von Zipper (probably intended as a parody of Marlon Brando's character in "The Wild One"). The decline of the "beach party" genre can be attributed to the fact that it fell on the wrong side of the great cultural divide between the not-quite-permissive early sixties and the more genuinely permissive second half of the decade. There is a vague assumption that the boys and girls who flock to the beaches are all making wild passionate love, but nothing is ever made explicit, as the Production Code was still officially in force in 1963. The girls all wear bikinis of a design which probably seemed quite daring at the time but which only a few years later their mothers would have been quite happy to be seen wearing, and the boys are all prime specimens of the "sun-tanned, crew-cut, All-American male" (to quote a line from "Beach Baby", a British pop song from the seventies which seemed to hark back to the spirit of the AIP films). Nothing encapsulates way in which society was about to change better than the film's attitude towards facial hair. The Professor is constantly mocked ("old pig-bristles!") for the fact that he sports a beard, something which strikes the other characters as not only unfashionable but also ridiculous. The other male characters are clean-shaven to a man, with not a single beard, or even a well-trimmed moustache, to be seen among them. I suppose in '63 this might just have been credible but by '67 or '68 there would have been plenty of hirsute, bearded youngsters to be seen. The plot is pretty feeble, but that is perhaps not a serious criticism of the film as I doubt if anyone ever went to a breach party movie expecting a strikingly original plot or intellectual writing. The music, however, is also dull and forgettable, and the acting is below par even by teen movie standards. The best-known cast member of Vincent Price, but his is the briefest cameo imaginable. The best contribution comes from Bob Cummings, who succeeds in making the Professor strangely loveable as well as eccentric, but I just couldn't see what the attraction was of either of the two leads. Avalon, regarded as something of a heart-throb at the time, was good-looking, but here comes across as rather unlikeable and unsympathetic. As for Funicello, she came across as such a milk-and-water goody-two-shoes that it seems incredible that she was ever considered a sex-symbol, except perhaps the sort of thoroughly wholesome and respectable sex-symbol whom parents think their sons ought to like but whom the sons themselves find a bit boring. (It came as no surprise to learn that she made her name on Disney's Mickey Mouse Club). The film was clearly aimed at a teen audience but what strikes us today is how dated it looks, far more than do most films of the era aimed at adults (or, for that matter, those aimed at younger children). Teenage sub-cultures seem to age particularly badly. Not only does the film look outdated by the standards of 2018, it would have looked almost equally outdated by the standards of my own teenage years in the seventies and eighties. Indeed, the last entries in the AIP series were probably starting to look like relics of the past even when they were released in 1966 and 1967. 4/10
TheLittleSongbird
I find it very difficult not to like Beach Party. While it may seem dated by today's standards, it is interesting to see surfing done this way and how people acted and I thought it added to its charm. My only real problem with Beach Party actually is the banal subplot between Sutwell and Marianne that seemed to come from a completely different movie altogether. Bob Cummings however is very likable, and Dorothy Malone is resourceful with some nice lines. Her character may seem somewhat worthless compared to this subplot, but not because of her performance. The rest of the performances are also fine, Harvey Lembeck seems to be enjoying himself, and the leads Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello(it's easy why anybody would have a crush on her) are really charming and sweet. Vincent Price also has a nice if brief cameo. The film looks colourful, and the soundtrack is very catchy and drives it wonderfully. The pacing is zippy, the characters are appealing and the story is rarely dull. The dialogue has its wit and fun too, if perhaps very of the time. All in all, charming, likable and fun, very difficult not to enjoy regardless of whether it's perfect or not. 8/10 Bethany Cox
TxMike
This 1963 movie was a prequel of sorts to the 1964 "Bikini Beach", using many of the same characters and some continuation of story lines, like Eric Von Zipper and his RATZ motorcycle gang. But Avalon and Funicello, even though experienced actors, had not become the the "beach lovers" yet, and this is the movie that made them that. It brings back good memories for me in particular, 1963 was the year I graduated from high school and turned 18. I didn't see this movie back then, but seeing it now is a certain type of fun that can't be explained unless you too were a teenager back then.This movie really focuses on established star Robert Cummings, who was in his early 50s, as Professor Sutwell. He landed his small high-wing plane on the beach and stuck around to study this strange species, the teenage surfer crowd. His able assistant and eventual love interest is Dorothy Malone as Marianne .Frankie Avalon is Frankie and Annette Funicello is Dolores (called 'Dee-Dee' in the next movie). They are boyfriend and girlfriend, but as was custom back in the 1960s, she wanted him to ask her to get married. She was graduating from high school and wanted to be a wife. (It really was that way back then, all the girls from my 1963 graduating class that didn't go to college got married pretty quickly, and many of them have lasted through the years. It was a different time.)So most of the story is Dolores trying to make Frankie jealous so that he will ask her to marry him. She does that by taking an interest in Professor Suttwell, even with the age difference. She misinterprets his interest as a romantic interest.Another really fun blast from the past is Morey Amsterdam as Cappy who ran the local hangout. Harvey Lembeck is Eric Von Zipper and we see how Professor Suttwell first paralyzes him with "the finger" to his temple. Soon after to become obscure was Eva Six as Ava , who some described as 'a face like Marilyn Monroe's and a body like Jayne Mansfield's, which she did but I suppose she wasn't much of an actress.The movie is mostly ridiculous and slapstick, it never was intended to be high art, just fluff of entertainment for the times. And for that it hits that mark quite well.
oscar-35
*Spoiler/plot- 1963, A young couple rents a secluded romantic summer beach house but their friends 'crash' the house only to use it for a beach party and crash pad. The couple is furious at the gang and themselves. They attempt to make each other jealous with concocting summer romantic 'flings' with many beach area locals. A local motorcycle gang intervenes in this lover's spat when it's leader gets infatuated with the lead female character. Only through the intervention of the young couple's beach gang and a mysterious anthropologist temporarily living at the beach to study the summer 'surf youth' culture does the film resolve itself with a pie-throwing conclusion and Big Daddy finally speaking to the beach locals.*Special Stars- Bob Cummings, Dorothy Malone, Frankie Avalon, Annette Funicello, Harvey Lembeck, Jody McCrea, Meredith McRea, Candy Johnson, Morey Amsterdam, and Dick Dale and the Del Tones.*Theme- Kids just want to have fun at the beach.*Based on- Southern California 'Surf' culture and Motorcycle culture.*Trivia/location/goofs- The first of the southern Californian "surf and beach" film genre. Features many pop songs by Avalon, Funicello, and Dick Dale & his band. Funicello was still under contract to Walt Disney from her Mouseketeer Days and got Uncle Walt's permission to do the beach shows in an un-revealing matronly bikini. Two new actors (kids of major movie stars) are featured: Jody McCrea and Meredith McRea. 'Candy' Johnson is the Go Go Dancer of special note. Harvey Lembeck's comedy motorcycle character is a spin-off of Marlon Brando's "The Wild Ones" role (Jonnie) and Lembeck's real son will become a famous and wanted TV sitcom director. An interesting cameo role is Vincent Prices near the end of the film as "Big Daddy". Mr. Price was a American International main star and made his career in its horror genre films with other classic actors. Eva Six plays the "Frankie" bar waitress love interest in a delivering a confusing "Marilyn Monroe V.S. Zsa Zsa Gabor" performance. The beach sequences were shot at Leo Carrillo and Latigo Beach above Malibu Beach. Look for some continuity goofs with the Yoga Girls wearing their wrap-around sunglasses, Ava's black hosiery 'changes' in mid café dance, and some obvious microphone boom shadows in the café "Big Daddy's".*Emotion- An enjoyable but rather crazy surf movie featuring the sights, dances and songs of that early 60's era. It's a vintage American International (Orion Pictures now) B-Movie drive-in comedy laced with laughs, morality & music fun. A bouncy musical about the 60's beach party vacation break society with some exposure of the rough motorcycle club crowd. This film is a comedic 'slice of life' for the era and age group.
