BEACH BLANKET BINGO

Beach Blanket Bingo
American International Pictures (AIP), 1965, Color, 98 minutes, ***
Released April, 1965

The "Beach Party" gang is back again for laughs, rock and roll, surfing and those sexy two-piece bathing suits. The plot, such as it is, involves a missing singing star, a mermaid, and Eric Von Zipper's gang. With Frankie, Annette, Harvey Lembeck, Linda Evans, Paul Lynde, Don Rickles.

Rumor has it that Walt Disney objected to Annette Funicello - still under contract to Disney - wearing a bikini on film. So, she is the only girl appearing in the film with a one-piece bathing suit.

The "Beach" movies of the early-mid 1960s are not exactly what one might refer to as great movies, but they are often kinda fun, and they usually feature some songs and singers that you don't get to see very often otherwise. Watch them for the performers and the music that has been all but forgotten!

Beach Blanket Bingo is definitely the best of the genre.

Produced by: James H. Nicholson and Samuel Z. Arkoff
Co-Producer: Anthony Carras
Production Supervisor: Jack Bohrer, Directed by: William Asher
Assistant Director: Dale Hutchinson
Written by: William Asher and Leo Townsend
Musical Supervision: Al Simms
Songs:Music and Arrangements by: Jerry Styner
Lyrics by: Guy Hemric
Hondells "Cycle Set" by Gary Usher and Roger Christian
Musical Score by: Les Baxter
Choreography by: Jack Baker
Art Direction: Howard Campbell
Set Decorator: Harry Reif
Costuming and Designing by: Marjorie Corso
Make-up: Bob Dawn Hairdresser: Eve Newing
Sound: Bob Post
Director of Photography: Floyd Crosby
Special Effects: Roger George, Joe Zomar
Filmed in Panavision and Pathecolor
Film Editors: Fred Feitshans, Eve Newman

Cast: Frankie Avalon [Frankie], Annette Funicello [Dee Dee], Deborah Walley [Bonnie Graham], Harvey Lembeck [Eric Von Zipper], John Ashley [Steve Gordon], Jody McCrea [Bonehead], Donna Loren [Donna], Marta Kristen [Lorelei], Linda Evans [Sugar Kane], Timothy Carey [South Dakota Slim], Don Rickles [Big Drop], Paul Lynde [Bullets], Donna Michelle [Animal], Mike Nader [Butch], Patti Chandler [Patti], The Hondells [Themselves], Buster Keaton [Himself], Earl Wilson [Himself], Bobbi Shaw [Bobbi], Andy Romano, Allen Fife, Jerry Brutsche, John Macchia, Bob Harvey, Alberta Nelson, Myrna Ross [Rat Pack], Ed Garner, Guy Hemric, Duane Ament, Ray Atkinson, Brian Wilson, Mickey Dora, Ned Wynn, Frank Alesia, Phil Henderson, Johnny Fain, Ronnie Dayton [Beach Boys], Linda Benson, Mary Sturdevant, Mary Hughes, Judy Lescher, Salli Sachse, Pat Bryton, Linda Merrill, Pam Colbert, Luree Holmes, Dessica Giles, Laura Nicholson, Stephanie Nader, Linda Bent, Jo Ann Zerfas, Chris Cranston [Beach Girls]

Musical Program: [0:02] Beach Blanket Bingo (sung by Annette Funicello, Frankie Avalon and Chorus, danced by the beach kids, partially behind titles); [0:13] It Only Hurts When I Cry (sung by Donna Loren); [0:27] I Am My Ideal (sung by Harvey Lembeck and the Rats); [0:28] New Love (sung by Linda Evans with The Hondells); [0:36] I Think You Think (sung by Annette Funicello and Frankie Avalon while walking along the beach - cute number with some harmony and some counterpoint); [0:43] Don Rickles comedy routine; [0:45] Fly Boy (sung by Linda Evans with The Hondells, danced by the nightclub patrons); [0:49] These Are the Good Times (sung by Frankie Avalon with The Hondells); [1:02] Cycle Set (played and sung by The Hondells); [1:05] These Are the Good Times (instrumental arrangement waltzed by Marta Kristen and Jody McCrea, joined by other night club patrons); [1:33] Beach Blanket Bingo (sung by Frankie Avalon, Annette Funicello and Chorus behind end credits)