Beach Blanket Bingo (1965)

April 14, 1965 – Richard Hickok and Perry Smith (the subjects of Truman Capote’s novel In Cold Blood) are hanged; The Supremes are number one on the music charts with “Stop! In the Name of Love’; and moviegoers have the option of either seeing Girl Happy, or Beach Blanket Bingo.  Since, I’ve already discussed Girl Happy in a previous post that leaves me no choice but to review Beach Blanket Bingo. I’m not going to lie, I absolutely adore this movie. I will concede that most of the criticisms against this movie are valid (the most obvious being, “It’s corny”), but I would argue that the filmmakers (director William Asher and co-writer Leo Townsend) are well aware of these shortcomings and deliberating set out to subvert the Beach Movie tropes.

The movie juggles three story lines: Frankie and Dee Dee (Annette Funicello) decide to take up sky diving; Bonehead (Jody McCrea) falls in love with a mermaid (Marta Kristen), Lorelei; and Eric Von Zipper (Harvey Lembeck), the dopey leader of a motorcycle gang, becomes absolutely smitten with pop singer, Sugar Kane (Linda Evans).  While American International  would go on to produce two more beach movies (How to Stuff a Wild Bikini and The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini), this would be final of the Frankie/Annette beach movies; Frankie is relegated to a cameo in How To Stuff a Wild Bikini, while The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini has a, mostly, different cast.  Therefore, it is surprising how the Frankie/Dee Dee story line feels like an afterthought; the only real tension is whether or not Frankie will allow Dee Dee to go through with her jump.  In the previous movies (Beach Party, Muscle Beach Party, Bikini Beach) the writers usually contrived a way to split them up only so they could be happily reunited at the end. The typical plot would be:  Frank just wants to have fun, while Dee Dee wants to settle down.  This would lead to a bitter argument and they two would, in a ruse to get the other one jealous, find comfort in the arms of a stranger, only to, inevitably, realize that they truly belong together. Beach Blanket Bingo discards this story line entirely; Frankie may flirt with the instructor Bonnie, but she is more of an annoyance than an actual threat.

In fact, the Bonnie subplot is resolved in a rather half ass manner.   After Dee Dee has made her free fall, Bonnie puts the plane on automatic pilot and puts the moves on Frankie, but he rebukes her. His rejection enrages her and she tears her shirt to make it seem like Frankie has assaulted her. When they land, she runs into the arms of Steve, a fellow sky diving instructor and would be lover, but he doesn’t believe her; neither does Dee Dee or any one else, for that matter.  Frankie points out to the Steve that Bonnie wouldn’t be looking around if he “got off the jealous kick.”  This makes Steve furious and he vows that Frankie is “going to be sorry.” Later on, both Frankie and Dee Dee are set to do another free fall and Bonnie tells them that she is worried about their safety, because Steve is still angry.  However, after setting up Steve’s wrath, the movie promptly diffuses the tension; Frankie asks Steve if there is any reason for him and Dee Dee to be worried and Steve says, “No.”  Steve even pulls Dee Dee to safety after her and Frankie dive into the ocean.  Why the change of heart? Steve does finally admit his feelings for Bonnie and two are last seen kissing on the beach.  This isn’t necessarily a bad thing; the common mistake that the three previous movies made was separating Frankie and Annette for a good chunk of the story. Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello, while not great actors, were a great double act. They had genuine onscreen chemistry and one could easily believe that they were a couple in real life.  Funicello was a Walt Disney star and the most famous Mousekeeter of the 50s (and, arguably, of all time), while Avalon was a teen crooner who’s most famous hit was “Venus.” His biggest break, however, was landing  a supporting role in John Wayne’s The Alamo.  It was casting a coup when producers Samuel Z. Arkoff and James H. Nicholson were able to get Funicello to appear in Beach Party, much to the chagrin of Walt Disney. I'm willing to bet the movie's success was largely due to teenage boys hoping to catch a glimpse of their childhood crush in a bikini. They must have been disappointed when Annette trotted out onto the beach in a fairly modest swim suit.

Pajama Party and How to Stuff a Wild Bikini, while fun movies are also easily the weakest in the series; Frankie is relegated to a cameo in both, while Annette is paired with a different leading man (Tommy Kirk in Pajama Party, Dwayne Hickman in How to Stuff a Wild Bikini). Annette co-starred with Kirk in a few Disney movies (most notably, The Shaggy Dog), but they never made for a convincing couple. Dwayne Hickman is a fun enough actor, but most of How to Stuff a Wild Bikini is Annette prattling on about how much she misses Frankie.  Frankie and Annette play off each other wonderfully, they are even given a nice bit of business in the beginning – Frankie, while tuning the radio, sees a bikini clad beauty walk by and does a double take, Annette notices this and chides him for his wandering eye. He does an embarrassed laugh and goes back to tuning the radio. It’s a pure visual moment and does a nice job of establishing these two characters (without relying on a single line of dialogue).  It’s also nice that Dee Dee isn’t as big of prude as she is in the previous movies and, for once, is allowed take part in the action. Before her making her jump, Frankie tells her that she doesn’t have to prove anything to him, she interrupts him and says that’s she got to do it for herself. He understands and allows her to go through with it.

It’s pretty apparent that writer/director William Asher is much more interested in Sugar Kane’s story, than he is with Frankie and Dee Dee’s sky diving antics, and with good reason, it is easily the best part of the movie.   It could have easily been a movie onto itself, because there are a lot of things going on; the best part being Paul Lynde as Sugar’s opportunistic manager, Bullets.  To promote Sugar’s new record, “Come Fall With Me,” Bullets has Bonnie, doubling for Sugar, sky dive into the ocean. Bonnie is picked up by a boat, carrying Sugar, and then Sugar takes her place in the ocean. Frankie and the gang witness all this and pull Sugar in.  Bullets arrives on the scene, with a photographer and columnist in tow, and comes up with headline “SINGER SAVED BY SURFER.” 

There is a clever bit of misdirection by Asher in this scene as the audience is set up to believe that Sugar will be a romantic interest for Frankie.  However, Frankie, at least in this movie, is too in love with Dee Dee to really consider a fling with Sugar. We are also treated to a genuinely funny exchange between Frankie and Bullets in this scene:

Bullets: I didn’t catch the name, boy.
Frankie: I didn’t throw it.
Bullets: That’s pretty tacky, boy.
Frankie: I didn’t want us to have a language barrier.
Bullets: Oh, a smart neck!

Linda Evan’s injects a child like innocence into the character of Sugar Kane; she’s extremely sweet, but rather naïve to the ways of the world.  When Von Zipper breaks into her room and tells her that he is kidnapping her, she naturally assumes that it is a publicity stunt arranged by Bullets.  In fact, she genuinely enjoys the time she spends with Von Zipper (he teaches her the game of pool) because, while he may have the body of grown man, he has the intellect of a five year old.  He doesn’t kidnap her for personal gain; he genuinely believes that he is saving her from the “bad” influence of the surfers.  He tells her time and time again that he “adores” her and that she is his “idol.” To Sugar Kane, it’s all one big adventure and, for a brief moment, she is given a chance to enjoy life, instead of being under Bullets' slightly tyrannical rule.  Indeed, a more appropriate ending for Beach Blanket Bingo would be for Bullets to be pushed into the ocean while Von Zipper and Sugar Kane elope. However, that would probably too creepy for most audiences, so, instead, she is paired up with the aptly named Bonehead.

The Bonehead/Lorelei story line is a bit jarring, because it is played in a completely straightforward manner.  Lorelei is a 300 year-old mermaid and on one day of the year she can walk on land; the catch being that she has to return to ocean by midnight. What we have here is essentially a Cinderella-like fairy tale trapped in the middle of a goofy Beach Movie, albeit this romance ends on an unhappy note;  after having spending the day with Bonehead, Lorelei tells him that they can never be together and returns to the ocean. Bonehead eventually, finds comfort in the arms of Sugar Kane; not a bad trade off, but given how indifferent he acted towards Sugar earlier in the movie, it comes off as a rather desperate move on his part.  Though, their “happy” union is responsible for one of the movie’s funniest lines:

Bonehead: (to Sugar) It was like we were brought together by the mystery of the sea.
Bullets: I knew he was stupid, but sickening, too.

If you made it this far, you are probably asking, “How could you love a movie like this?” Yes, I agree, it is one big mess of a movie; it is simultaneously - a beach movie, a rock n’ roll musical, a supernatural romance, a slap stick comedy, and a sky diving thriller. The storylines are practically disconnected from one another; though, it is Lorelei that informs Bonehead about Sugar’s abduction (she writes the words Von Zipper in the sand).  How Lorelei is privy to this information is never explained.  She must be a psychic mermaid.  Yet, it is arguably the most “filmic” of all the beach movies; William Asher is clearly having fun with the medium. The previous movies that he directed (Beach Party, Muscle Beach Party, Bikini Beach) more or less resemble television sitcoms; this isn’t too surprising as Asher directed well over 100 episodes of I Love Lucy and Bewitched.  In Beach Blanket Bingo, it is clear that Asher wants to broaden his scope; hence there are more sight gags than in the previous movies.  

There are two scenes that stand out:  

1) Donna Loren, the first and only Dr. Pepper Girl, sings her obligatory song, “It Only Hurts When I Cry.” While Miss Loren belts out this tune, the movie keeps cutting to a teary eyed Bonehead. We, naturally, assume that he is reacting to the song, but then camera tilts down to reveal that he is slicing an onion.  It’s a nonsensical throw away gag (why would he be slicing an onion in the living room?), but it’s far more interesting than the usual staging of these scenes (a person sings, while everyone shakes their booties).  It should be noted that Donna Loren, despite her two minutes of total screen time, is given a rather high billing in the credits (7^th overall). In her contract with Dr. Pepper, it was stated that she couldn’t wear anything that would compromise her “squeaky clean” image, meaning she couldn't show her navel onscreen. She would show up long enough to do a musical number and then promptly disappear(though, she has a few lines of dialogue in Pajama Party).

2) When Dee Dee does her first free fall, she begins to feel woozy and her face, literally, turns green.  This is achieved through lighting filters and it looks absolutely remarkable.  Beach Blanket Bingo, despite its low budget, looks terrific (certainly up to par with the musical Elvis was making at MGM around the same time) and this largely due to ace cinematographer, Floyd Crosby.  He was the director of photography on High Noon and also shot a few on the Vincent Price/Roger Corman/Edgar Allan Poe movies that American International was producing at the time.

Beach Blanket Bingo is a fairly self reflexive movie and Asher will often have characters commenting on the action; when it is revealed that the lecherous pool shark, South Dakota Slim has Sugar tied up in a saw mill, Bullets remarks that it’s straight out of the Perils of Pauline (a silent serial starring Pearl White).  When Frankie sings “These Are the Good Times,” the movie cuts to Bullets looking on with utter contempt. After the columnist, Earl Wilson, tells Bullets that he’s going to give Frankie a favorable write up, Bullets sneers, “Sugar taught him everything he knows.” There’s even a scene that consists of Don Rickles insulting everyone (in a loving manner); my favorite is when he turns to Frankie and shouts, “YOU’RE  43, FRANKIE! What are you doing here?”  Both Frankie and Von Zipper often break the fourth wall to point out the absurdity of the situation; Von Zipper is hanging from a helicopter and asks, “Why me? Why me all the time?”  Later, Frankie punches out South Dakota Slim while Bonehead unties Sugar in the background.  Sugar embraces Bonehead and exclaims, “My hero!” Frankie, astonished by all of this turns to the camera and says, “I do all the work and he gets all the credit! Well, that’s life for you.”  It is very self reflexive, which isn’t something you would normally associate with a silly beach movie.  

It is also interesting see a beach musical adopt a silent comedy aesthetic in it’s final ten minutes,; Beach Blanket Bingo ends a “race against time” chase to save Sugar from the clutches of South Dakota Slim, who has her strapped to a log on a buzz saw. It goes into pure silent move mode – complete with fast motion and silly sight gags. It even takes time to recreate a Charley Chase gag; Von Zippers pants are saturated with water, after having fallen into the ocean, so he walks into a stall, unzips his pants, and a deluge of water comes streaming from underneath the doors, the camera then pans up to reveal a look of relief on Von Zipper’s face.  The silent great Buster Keaton has an extended cameo as Don Rickle’s assistant; the movie will sporadically cut to him doing bits of physical comedy, like chasing after a curvy blonde, or while fishing, accidentally hooking a woman’s bikini top and pulling it off.  While Beach Blanket Bingo is not up to par with The General, or even Keaton’s lesser movies, he’s still a lot of fun to watch. 

The cast is likable, with the exception of John Ashley. I personally believe that Ashley was initially  American International’s answer to Elvis Presley; he was going to be the studio’s “bad boy.” In the movie How to Make a Monster he sings an Elvis-like song and does a dance number that is reminiscent of one Elvis did in Jailhouse Rock. The problem was the Ashley possessed neither Elvis’ charisma nor talent, he is just bland. Also, by 1965, Elvis had shed his bad boy image and was busy making light hearted fluff like Girl Happy, hence Ashley really had no function within the studio; it’s not surprising that he would eventually go onto to make grade Z horror movies in the Philippines.  Steve should be a threatening character, but with Ashley in the role, the audience shrugs him off. 

Finally, it should be noted that in the scene where Von Zipper “kidnaps” Sugar, the movie that is playing on the television is Invasion of the Saucer Men, produced by American International in 1957. This was common for the beach movies to reference other American International movies; in Beach Party, Muscle Beach, and Bikini Beach, Vincent Price, Peter Lorre, and Boris Karloff pop up in cameos. Karloff would later appear in The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini, which reused footage (and sets) from the Vincent Price movie, The Haunted Palace. In Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine, Vincent Price’s Dr. Goldfoot matches wits with Avalon’s Craig Gamble, while both Annette Funicello and Harvey Lembeck (Von Zipper) appear in cameos. That movie reuses The Pit and the Pendulum set, while Price wears the same garb he wore in that film. What I am trying to say is that silly American International Beach Movie takes in place in the same cinematic universe as the American International Edgar Allan Poe movies.  MIND BLOWN! Of course, if you haven’t seen any of these movies, this revelation will have you yawning with complete indifference. 

Cast: Frankie Avalon (Frankie), Annette Funicello (Dee Dee), Harvey Lembeck (Eric Von Zipper), Linda Evans (Sugar Kane), Paul Lynde (Bullets), Jody McCrea (Bonehead), Marta Kristen (Lorelei), Deborah Walley (Bonnie), John Ashley (Steve),  Donna Loren (Donna), Don Rickles (Big Drop), Michael Nader (Butch), Donna Michelle (Animal), Buster Keaton (Buster), Bobbi Shaw (Bobbi), Timothy Carey (South Dakota Slim), Earl Wilson (Himself), Andy Romano (J.D.),  Patti Chandler (Patti), Alberta Nelson (Puss),  Myrna Ross (Boots), The Hondells (themselves).

Director: William Asher
Screenplay: William Asher, Leo Townsend.
Running Time: 98 min.