Starring Johnathan Daly, Karen Jensen, Robert Pine, and Carolyne Berry
Directed by Lennie Weinrib
Music and Lyrics by various
Another genre that was wildly popular in the mid-60's was the spy caper. The success of the James Bond films and the TV shows Danger Man and The Avengers made secret agents and their gadget-and-girls-laden undercover missions all the rage. Universal combined the two in their second of three Beach Party-inspired comedies. How well does surfing and teen lust combine with Danger Men and spy stories? Let's join the kids at the beach in Malibu, California and find out...
The Story: Local teen Sandra Carter (Jensen) overhears "Big D" (John Lawrence), the head of the local beach, making plans with his henchmen to destroy the kids with a bomb at their big Teen Music Fair. She and her boy-crazy friend Marvin (Barry) go in search of the world's greatest secret agent, but only finds his bumbling butler Herman (Daily). Herman's boss was injured in a mission, so he thinks he can take his place.
Herman's not finding it easy to sniff out clues. Big Daddy sends his sexy but deadly agents Scuba (Wende Wagner), Wipeout (Maggie Thrett) and Tuff Bod (Deanna Lund) after him, but Herman's luckier than a cat with ten lives and manages to evade them. His henchman Mousie (Jimmy Murphy) tells the local boys, including Sandra's jealous boyfriend Greg (Pine), that he's with the police and sends them after him. Even after he and the girls convince him that he's there to help, he still has to evade Big Daddy's strongest henchman Huh (Norman Grabowski), their many strange gadgets, and the two motorcyclists after him on the road to stop the bomb and save the rock n' rollers and their music!
The Song and Dance: I have to give them credit. Even the original Beach Party movies didn't think of doing spy spoofs. This is a relatively original take on both genres, with some mildly amusing slapstick and decent songs from big names of the time. Unlike Surf Party, Universal went all-out with this. There's color, some nice costumes (especially for the villains), and attractive cinematography on the real-life Southern California beaches. Murphy and Grabowski have by far the most fun as the shortest and smartest and largest and dumbest of Big Daddy's mooks. The songs aren't bad, either, with Gary Lewis and the Playboys and Dobie Gray getting the best numbers.
Favorite Number: We put our best foot forward in the opening with what's probably the film's best song, Gary Lewis and Playboys' playful "Malibu Run." The Knickerbockers give us a not-bad version of "It's Not Unusual" at the kids' beach house. The Turtles do a quieter "She'll Be Back" as an audition for the music fair and are good enough for the kids to take not only them, but all the bands.
The Astronauts tear into the raucous "Baby Please Don't Go" when Wipeout turns up at the beach; check out her idea of dancing. Freddie and the Dreamers croon "Funny Over You" and "A Love Like You" at the Music Fair. Dobie Gray's having a great time with "(Out of Sight) On the Floor" as he swirls around the minimal set with the dancers...if only the movie wouldn't keep cutting away from him.
Trivia: Written by Larry Hovis, now known best for appearing in the war sitcom Hogan's Heroes. Look for Hovis' fellow Hogan's actor Richard Dawson and then-music promoter Bob Eubanks in cameos.
What I Don't Like: This may be the strangest Beach Party movie yet. It makes even less sense than the AIP series. No matter how much the movie treats Herman's incredible luck as high farce, Daly is neither Sean Connery nor Jerry Lewis and just comes off as dumb. The other teens range from annoying to bland to barely in the film. The entire anti-rock-and-teens plot screams "mid-60's Cold War and generation gap anxieties" and seems more goofy and dated than funny or suspenseful nowadays. The ending is nonsensical bordering on just plain bizarre.
The Big Finale: Worth checking out at least once for the pure camp factor alone if you're a fan of the Beach Party movies or any of the bands involved.
Home Media: Never legitimately released on home media, the only way you can currently find this one is streaming on YouTube.
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