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
This is a blog that is devoted entirely to film analysis. I tend to analyze movies in a historical context. What were the cultural trends at the time? Why was the rationale behind the movie? I also tend to write about lesser-known movies, as there really isn't much more that can be said about most mainstream movies. I hope you enjoy!!!