My summary line above pretty much says it all about "Muscle Beach Party", and quite honestly I think, for the entire beach movie genre. Not that I'm an expert, the only other one I've seen is "Beach Blanket Bingo", but it strikes me that this is the kind of film that's fascinating in the same kind of way as a major head on collision on the interstate that you have to slow down for so you don't miss any of the details. What truly amazes me is how you can put Don Rickles, Buddy Hackett and Morey Amsterdam in the same picture and still wind up with something totally less than entertaining. I guess you had to be there, but I guess my hormones still hadn't kicked in at thirteen.
Frankie and Annette of course were the only reasons to even consider catching these flicks for good money back in the day. I don't know if it happened in any of the other pictures in the series, but I was surprised to see Frankie kissing another girl (Lucianna Paluzzi) here; it was a good thing he made it up to Dee Dee (Funicello) later with that impassioned speech at the café. However just like in 'BBB', Annette found it hard to stay in character, getting miffed whenever Julie (Paluzzi) was around, but not batting an eye when Frankie danced with the hot babe in the white shorts and red sweater while ogling her all over the place.
And how about that Candy Johnson - I'd like to know if her jiggle wiggle dance numbers were sped up, but somehow I don't think they were. Have you ever seen such energy without the perpetrator just falling over from making themselves dizzy?
To give some credence to the story, there was a neat lineup of muscle men with names like Hulk, Biff, Riff, Sulk, Tug, Rock, and Clod. In another picture they might have been the seven dwarfs, but they were just a little bit over-sized here. Good old Peter Lupus did the honors as Mister Galaxy, using his sword and sandal name of Rock Stevens in the credits. I was surprised to see Larry Scott's name in the cast because I didn't recognize him, and he went on to become the first Mr. Olympia just one year later in 1965. If I could catch his scenes without watching the whole picture again I would, but that's not likely.
And say what! - Little Stevie Wonder in his very first screen appearance, and he was still 'little' as it were - fourteen years old!!! His was about the most professional appearance in the picture, which says a lot about everybody else.
And oh yes, just as I couldn't get over the fact that Charlie Chaplin did a bit in 'Bingo', here was the legendary Peter Lorre turning up as a character named Dr. Strangedour. He called himself the 'strongest man in the world', and to appear in this picture, I guess he had to be.
Frankie and Annette of course were the only reasons to even consider catching these flicks for good money back in the day. I don't know if it happened in any of the other pictures in the series, but I was surprised to see Frankie kissing another girl (Lucianna Paluzzi) here; it was a good thing he made it up to Dee Dee (Funicello) later with that impassioned speech at the café. However just like in 'BBB', Annette found it hard to stay in character, getting miffed whenever Julie (Paluzzi) was around, but not batting an eye when Frankie danced with the hot babe in the white shorts and red sweater while ogling her all over the place.
And how about that Candy Johnson - I'd like to know if her jiggle wiggle dance numbers were sped up, but somehow I don't think they were. Have you ever seen such energy without the perpetrator just falling over from making themselves dizzy?
To give some credence to the story, there was a neat lineup of muscle men with names like Hulk, Biff, Riff, Sulk, Tug, Rock, and Clod. In another picture they might have been the seven dwarfs, but they were just a little bit over-sized here. Good old Peter Lupus did the honors as Mister Galaxy, using his sword and sandal name of Rock Stevens in the credits. I was surprised to see Larry Scott's name in the cast because I didn't recognize him, and he went on to become the first Mr. Olympia just one year later in 1965. If I could catch his scenes without watching the whole picture again I would, but that's not likely.
And say what! - Little Stevie Wonder in his very first screen appearance, and he was still 'little' as it were - fourteen years old!!! His was about the most professional appearance in the picture, which says a lot about everybody else.
And oh yes, just as I couldn't get over the fact that Charlie Chaplin did a bit in 'Bingo', here was the legendary Peter Lorre turning up as a character named Dr. Strangedour. He called himself the 'strongest man in the world', and to appear in this picture, I guess he had to be.