Starring Frankie Avalon, Annette Funicello, Keenan Wynn, and Martha Hyer
Directed by William Asher
Music and Lyrics by various
We're ending the summer at the beach with another Beach Party movie and one of the many imitations released in the early and mid-60's. Let's kick off with the real deal. Beach Party proved to be such a sensation, more movies with similar characters and situations were released through the late 60's. This is the third, and the first to revolve around a second sport then-popular with teenagers along with surfing. Is it as much fun as the first two films in the series, or should it wipe out? To find out, let's begin with the teenagers as they head to the title resort in their brightly colored custom jalopy, just as school lets out...
The Story: The kids have a great time surfing and dancing and playing volleyball, until stuffy millionaire Harvey Honeywagon (Wynn) arrives with his chauffeur chimp Clyde (Janos Prohaska). He's shocked with their gyrating and loud music and considers them to be beneath primates, especially given his friend can dance, drive, and surf better than they can. He wants to drive them off the beach and expand his senior citizens' home, but his secretary Vivan Clements (Hyer) likes the kids and thinks their high spirits will help improve his clients' spirits.
Meanwhile, a British rock star called "The Potato Bug" (Avalon) is driving all the girls wild. Fed up with Frankie (Avalon) not taking their relationship seriously, Dee Dee (Funicello) dates him. The jealous Frankie challenges him to a drag car race...but doesn't know that in the second race, an angry Harry von Zipper (Harvey Lembeck) and his Ratz biker group sabotaged his car.
The Song and Dance: Honestly, these movies are such a blast, no wonder they remain fairly popular even fifty years after their release. Avalon's having the most fun as the frustrated surfer who wants to show his girl he's every bit the man that the Brit is and the refined British rock star who is delighted to be dating his first American woman. Lembeck returns for more slapstick and mangling the English language after having taken time off from Muscle Beach Party. Don Rickles also returns, this time as the owner of the local hang-out and the garage where the boys soup up their drag racers. He has a fairly amusing running gag where he keeps falling into oil drums or over booths at the race. Look for Wynn as the eccentric millionaire who learns to lighten up from the kids and a brief bit by Boris Karloff as an art dealer.
Favorite Number: We open with the title song, as the kids literally hang off their unique jalopy with the wooden house top painted in wild colors and dance all over it. "Love's a Secret Weapon" is the song on the beach performed by Donna Loren with the kids dancing and surfing that so offends Honeywagon. The surf rock group The Pyramids perform "Record Run" and the instrumental "Bikini Drag" as dance routines for the kids at the local hang-out The Pit Stop.
Later on, Avalon does a duet with himself when he and "Potato Bug" perform "How About That?" after the kids save the beach. He and Funicello duet on the sweet ballad "Because You're You" while on a walk at the shoreline. Annette then admits "This Time It's Love" as she realizes that Frankie really cares about her. The movie ends with one of the earliest performances of a genuine legend. A very young Stevie Wonder (here billed as "Little Stevie Wonder") gives the kids a "Happy Feelin' (Dance and Shout)" in the finale.
What I Don't Like: The Beatles satire is obvious, annoying, and maybe even a bit mean-spirited. Apparently, the Beatles were supposed to appear in this film, but were either too expensive or got snapped up by United Artists first. Avalon's accent is silly to the point of being dumb, and "Potato Bug" is not only nothing like the Beatles, but is so over-the-top, you can't imagine what the girls see in him. Not to mention, the fluffy story here is almost a rehash of Beach Party with an older adult observing the kids and an ape shoehorned in.
And...yes, this is a low-budget teen musical from the mid-60's. As with the other Beach Party films, you know what you're getting into. If you're not into goofy comedy, surf rock, or the time period, this isn't for you.
The Big Finale: I really enjoyed spending my summer with Frankie, Dee Dee, and their unusual friends. As Harry von Zipper would likely say, it's been an extinct pleasure. If you're looking for fluffy summertime entertainment, you can do far worse than these wacky comedies.
Home Media: Like most MGM-owned films, this is expensive on DVD, but cheap to stream. Many companies currently have it for free, including Amazon Prime and Paramount Plus.
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