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BIKINI BEACH (1964)
Label: MGM
Region Code:
Region Code:
Rating:
Duration: 99 Minutes 34 Seconds
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 2.0 WITH Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (2.35:1)
Director: William Asher
Cast: Frankie Avalon, Annette Funicello, Martha Hyer, Don Rickles, Harvey Lembeck, John Ashley, Candy Johnson, Jody McCrea, Meredith MacRea, Donna Loren, "Little" Stevie Wonder
From director William Asher, the man who directed not just a shit-ton of AIP beach-teen flicks but the cult gem
Butcher, Baker, Nightmare Maker comes this treasure of 60's teen culture starring the King and Queen of the sub-genre Annette Funicello (she of the Skippy peanut butter commercials) and teen-crooner Frankie Avalon (Blood Song) as DeeDee and Frankie. This time around we have the surf gang hitting there favorire surf spot over Easter break but coming under fire from real-drag adult Harvey Huntington Honeywagon III (Keenan Wynn, Herbie Rides Again), who is not only the owner of a beachside retirement community but the editor of the local newspaper, which he uses to disparage the teens through editorials. He's of the opinion that all the surf-teens are sex-crazed delinquents, comparing them to primates - which he knows a lot about, because he has a pet chimp named Clyde who not only drives him around town in a vintage Rolls Royce but is a pretty slick surfer, too!
Oddly, Honeywagon's editorials about the surfing teens makes him a hero to Eric Von Zipper (Harvey Lembeck, Stalag 17), the illiterate and more than slightly fey leader of the Rats and Mice motorcycle gang, explaining that surfers are the natural enemies of the Rats and Mice, for reasons. Adult friends of the teens comes by way of a kindhearted school teacher (Martha Hyer, Picture Mommy Dead) and Big Drag (iconic insult comic Don Rickles, Innocent Blood) who runs the local drag strip and a teen hangout, who is also a abstract painter on the side. He also has a peculiar pet, a rather talkative and often wise-cracking parrot. We also get Avalon in a dual-role here, playing a Brit teen idol named Potato Bug, adding some Beatle-mania/British invasion panache tot he flick, whom ends up vying for pretty DeeDee's attention, much to the chagrin of Frankie, and they end-up having a drag race to see who rules the roost.
I remember my dad trying to get me to watch these beach flicks when I was a kid and I sort of hated them, it was so corny and contrived, and at the time it reminded me a lot of The Monkees TV show that was being re-run on MTV. It's still plenty corny and contrived with that clash-of-the-generations and clash-of-the sub-culture stuff, but I guess I just have a higher tolerance for kitschy teen shenanigans because I loved watching this! It's prerequisite for these flicks to be musicals and this one delivers the good, the opening title song "Bikini Beach" (all the chicks are bikini clad!) featuring the surf gang is quite catchy and wonderful, and I was in from that point on. We also get solo and duets from Funicello and Avalon, a Les Baxter score plus musical performances from surf group The Pyramids who are later joined by Little Stevie Wonder! Other oddball touches I enjoyed were a cameo from fright icon Boris Karloff, a recurring bit where Von Zipper freeze-up when pressure was applied to his temple, and a random appearance of a werewolf!
This is another barebones MGM MOD Blu-ray, no extras other than a static menu with the option for subtitles, that's it. The single-disc release arrived in a standard keepcase with a single-sided sleeve of artwork featuring the same artwork as the previous MGM DVD>
Special Features:
- None
Also Available from www.MovieZyng
- None
Also Available from www.MovieZyng
