Beach Blanket Bingo
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| Beach Blanket Bingo | |
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| Directed by | William Asher |
| Produced by | Samuel Z. Arkoff James H. Nicholson |
| Written by | Leo Townsend Sher Townsend William Asher |
| Starring | Frankie Avalon Annette Funicello |
| Music by | Les Baxter |
| Cinematography | Floyd D.Crosby |
| Distributed by | American International |
| Release date(s) | 1965 |
| Running time | 98 min. |
| Country | U.S.A. |
| Language | English |
| All Movie Guide profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
Beach Blanket Bingo is an American International Pictures Beach Party film, released in 1965 and was directed by William Asher. It is the fifth film in the Beach Party film series.
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[edit] Synopsis
A singer, Sugar Kane (Linda Evans), is unwittingly being used for publicity stunts for her latest album by her agent (Paul Lynde), for example, faking a sky diving stunt, actually performed by Bonnie (Deborah Walley). Meanwhile, Frankie (Frankie Avalon), (duped into thinking he rescued Sugar Kane), takes up skydiving, prompted by Bonnie, who secretly wants to make her boyfriend, Steve (John Ashley) jealous. This, of course, prompts Dee Dee (Annette Funicello) to also try free-falling. Eric Von Zipper and his Malibu Rat Pack bikers also show up, with Von Zipper falling madly in love with Sugar Kane... she is his idol but HE is his ideal. To top all this, in one of the stranger twists of the series, Bonehead (Jody McCrea) falls in love with a mermaid (Marta Kristen - Judy Robinson from TV's Lost In Space)! Eventually, Von Zipper "puts the snatch" on Sugar Kane. The film takes a Perils of Pauline-like twist, with the evil South Dakota Slim (Timothy Carey) kidnapping Sugar and tying her to a buzz-saw in his Boobie House!
The film is packed with catchy musical numbers featuring "These are the Good Times" by Frankie Avalon, "I Think You Think" by Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello, "It Only Hurts When I Cry" by Donna Loren, "The Cycle Set" by the Hondells, "He's My New Love" and "Fly Boy" lipsynched by Linda Evans as Sugar Kane & the popular title tune "Beach Blanket Bingo" sung over the opening and closing credits by the entire cast. "I'll Never Change Him" by Annette Funicello was featured in initial prints, but later excised when the song was used again in "How To Stuff A Wild Bikini". It can still be seen in 16mm prints and Television broadcasts, but the Region 1 MGM DVD omits it. The closing credits reprise "Beach Blanket Bingo," with Buster Keaton and beach beauties Bobbi Shaw, Mary Hughes, and Patti Chandler in an amusing sequence.
Rat Pack leader Harvey Lembeck (Eric Von Zipper) is given more screen time than ever before in this film. He even gets to sing his own song titled "Follow Your Leader" (Later rewritten as "I Am My Ideal" for the followup, "How To Stuff A Wild Bikini").
Paul Lynde steals the show as Bullets, Sugar Kane's pushy talent manager, and he received the best reviews of any performer in the film by Variety. Don Rickles again appears, but again as a different character; this time "Big Drop", owner of the sky diving school. And, of course, classic comedian Buster Keaton is around to chase and dance with Buxom Bobbi.
[edit] Cast
- Frankie Avalon as Frankie
- Annette Funicello as Dee Dee
- Harvey Lembeck as Eric Von Zipper
- John Ashley as Steve
- Deborah Walley Bonnie
- Jody McCrea as Bonehead
- Marta Kristen as Lorelei
- Linda Evans as Sugar Kane
- Don Rickles as Big Drop
- Paul Lynde as Bullets
- Donna Loren as Donna
- Timothy Carey as South Dakota Slim
- Buster Keaton as Buster
- Bobbi Shaw as Bobbi
- Earl Wilson as Himself
- Michael Nader as Butch
- Donna Michelle as Animal
- Patti Chandler as Patti
- Andy Romano as J.D.
- Alberta Nelson as Puss
- Myrna Ross as Boots
[edit] Songs
- Beach Blanket Bingo (G. Hemric, J. Styner) - Frankie Avalon, Annette Funicello, and the Cast
- It Only Hurts When I Cry (G. Hemric, J. Styner) - Donna Loren
- Follow Your Leader (G. Hemric, J. Styner) - Harvey Lembeck and the Rat Pack
- New Love (G. Hemric, J. Styner) - Linda Evans
- I Think You Think (G. Hemric, J. Styner) - Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello
- Fly Boy (G. Hemric, J. Styner) - Linda Evans
- These Are the Good Times (G. Hemric, J. Styner) - Frankie Avalon
- I'll Never Change Him (G. Usher, R. Christian) - Annette Funicello
- Cycle Set (G. Usher, R. Christian) - The Hondells
[edit] Crew
Produced by
- Samuel Z. Arkoff .... producer
- Anthony Carras .... co-producer
- James H. Nicholson .... producer
- Floyd D.Crosby .... cinematographer
- Bill Paxton .... art director
- Howard Campbell .... art director
- Eve Newman .... editor
Original Music by
- Les Baxter
- Roger Christian (songs)
- Jerry Styner (songs)
- Gary Usher (songs)
[edit] Trivia
- Frankie Avalon's last starring role in the Beach Party films. He appears for only a few minutes in the next film, How to Stuff a Wild Bikini and not at all in the last film The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini.
- The fighting/skydiving couple John Ashley and Deborah Walley were husband and wife at the time of filming. They divorced in 1966.
- Dell Comics put out a 12 cent comic book version of Beach Blanket Bingo in conjunction with the movie's release.
- In the 1983 film "The Outsiders," Beach Blanket Bingo is shown in a drive-in.
- In the 1987 film "Good Morning Vietnam," Adrian Cronauer takes Trinh and her family to a showing of Beach Blanket Bingo
- The scene where Sugar Kane gets bitten in the leg by the mermaid, and the bite mark is acknowledged as a human bite are references to the film Mr. Peabody and the Mermaid (1948).
