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Bikini Beach
Updated 4/22/2008.
cast
Frankie Avalon, Annette Funicello, Martha Hyer, Keenan Wynn, Don Rickles, Harvey Lembeck, John Ashley, Jody McCrea, Donna Loren, Meredith MacRae, and Candy Johnson.
plot synopsis
Released in July 1964, this third AIP beach party entry finds Frankie Avalon playing two roles: Frankie and "The Potato Bug," a British singer about whom all the girls are crazy---even Dee Dee (Annette Funicello). Added to the mix is Harvey Huntington Honeywagon III (Keenan Wynn), a rich newspaper columnist who attempts to prove that his pet chimpanzee Clyde is more intelligent than the teens who hang out on the beach. However, Honeywagon has a dual purpose: he also wants to build a retirement village on the beach and throw out the partying teens.
LEFT: Original one-sheet poster. CENTER A: From the opening scene of the film, with the beach gang riding along. CENTER B: Dee Dee gets down at Big Drag's. RIGHT: Frankie Avalon meets "The Potato Bug"
Meanwhile, Frankie and the Potato Bug compete for Dee Dee's attention. Teacher Vivian Clements (Martha Hyer) attempts to talk some sense into Honeywagon, letting him know that the beach kids aren't as wild as he thinks they are. In the end, Frankie, the Potato Bug, and the beach kids join forces to put down Eric Von Zipper (Harvey Lembeck) and his biker gang, the Rats and Mice.
LEFT: Annette Funicello at the drag strip. CENTER: Keenan Wynn in a stand-off with Eric Von Zipper (Harvey Lembeck) and his gang. RIGHT: Dragstrip scene with Annette Funicello
music
Stevie Wonder makes a rare early appearance and performs a song near the end of the film. Frankie Avalon, Annette Funicello, and Donna Loren sing the lion's share of songs in the movie.
Beach babes in Bikini Beach. LEFT: Classic Donna Loren still. CENTER and RIGHT: Curvaceous Mary Hughes acted in six AIP beach party films, beginning with Muscle Beach Party. Hughes also appeared in other AIP flicks such as Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine and Fireball 500
trivia
- Boris Karloff makes a cameo appearance as an art dealer who blanches at the sight of Don Rickles' paintings.
- Look for the following kids on the beach in bit parts: Ned Wynn, Mary Hughes, Michael Nader, Luree Holmes, Patti Chandler, and Gary Usher.
- American International spent $600,000 to make Bikini Beach, a large sum of money for an independent studio at that time.
From Movies Unlimited
Beach Party (1963)/Bikini Beach [DVD](1964) DVD
The first entry in A.I.P.'s surfside slapstick series, "Beach Party" stars Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello as fun-loving teens who become the subject of anthropologist Bob Cummings' research into adolescent mating rituals. With Morey Amsterdam, Dorothy Malone, Dick Dale and The Del-Tones, and Harvey Lembeck as Eric Von Zipper. Next, Frankie plays himself and mop-topped British pop idol the Potato Bug (get it?)--and both are vying for Annette's attention--in "Bikini Beach," co-starring Don Rickles, Keenan Wynn, Little Stevie Wonder, and Boris Karloff. 198 min. total. Widescreen; Soundtrack: English Dolby Digital mono; Subtitles: French, Spanish; theatrical trailers.
Frankie & Annette: M-G-M Movie Legends Collection [DVD] DVD
"Surf's up" in this four-disc boxed set saluting AIP's teen comedy series and seaside sweethearts Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello. Anthropologist Bob Cummings uses the pair as part of a study of modern mating habits in the original "Beach Party" (1963), with Morey Amsterdam, Dorothy Malone, and Harvey Lembeck as Eric Von Zipper. Annette has her hands full when the Potato Bug, a British pop star who's Frankie's double, arrives at "Bikini Beach" (1964). Don Rickles and Little Stevie Wonder guest star. Gym owner Rickles wants to take over the kids' surf spot, and heiress Luciana Paluzzi wants to woo Frankie from Annette, in "Muscle Beach Party" (1964). Avalon trades his board for slats and joins Dwayne Hickman, Deborah Walley and James Brown for a "Ski Party" (1965). "Beach Blanket Bingo" (1965) boasts a missing singer, a mermaid, and skydiving surfdogs. Avalon wants to keep pal Hickman away from Funicello while he's on military duty in "How to Stuff a Wild Bikini" (1965), with Buster Keaton. Frankie's a moonshine-running hot rodder competing with racer Fabian for Annette's hand in "Fireball 500" (1966). And Fabian and Funicello burn rubber together in "Thunder Alley" (1967). 12 1/2 hrs. total. Widescreen; Soundtrack: English mono.
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This page premiered January 22, 1999.
Counnter reset March 1, 2001.
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