Rating: 
Summary: FRANKIE & ANNETTE TRILOGY
Review: "Beach Blanket Bingo," "Bikini Beach" and "Beach Party." Most people when asked to name a beach movie, immediately refer to this Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello '60s trilogy ( I don't include the affshoot "Muscle Beach" flick as part of this authentic ouvre).
In 1963's "Beach Party" Annette went by the name Doris (an homage to Doris Day?). The plots, I use the term loosely, were almost interchangeable -- mostly surf, sand, rock 'n roll and sex -- well, mostly innicent tease really. What's most remembered is the hope -- false as it turned out -- that the voluptuous Annette would reveal a tad more skin. And then there's Bob Cummongs in a patently false beard, Harvey Lembeck as the hyper and astonishingly old juvenile delinquent Eric Von Zipper. And of course the tassled Candy Johnson shaking her bikini'd booty over, or is it under, the credits.
In "Bikini Beach" Annette is now Dee Dee (must be an homage to Sandra Dee) and Frankie stretches his chops by playing two roles. He is his standard sex-crazed surfer guy and also the gap toothed (a nod toward Terry Thomas?) Brit singer potato Bug -- apparently a spoof on the Beatles (remember, this is 1964). A drag race is part of the action and there's an ape that surfs.
"Beach Blanket Bingo" what a great title) is probably the best of the bunch. The dialogue is almost witty. And of course there's the great stone faced silent clown Buster keaton doing his timeless bits of busines. (A burned out alcoholic's sad, haunting and poignant farewell to the genius of his youth.) Don Rickles gets a major break with a part that sealed his antagonistic comic persona. Annette show a little more flesh and Frankie has a tan. The rear projection surf shots are still laughable but the over-all photography is much better. Les Baxter's score is full of energy and the title tune is actually memorable and fun.
Rating:
Summary: FRANKEI & ANNETTE TRILOGY
Review: "Beach Blanket Bingo," "Bikini Beach" and "Beach Party." Most people when asked to name a beach movie, immediately refer to this Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello '60s trilogy ( I don't include the affshoot "Muscle Beach" flick as part of this authentic ouvre).In 1963's "Beach Party" Annette went by the name Doris (an homage to Doris Day?). The plots, I use the term loosely, were almost interchangeable -- mostly surf, sand, rock 'n roll and sex -- well, mostly innicent tease really. What's most remembered is the hope -- false as it turned out -- that the voluptuous Annette would reveal a tad more skin. And then there's Bob Cummongs in a patently false beard, Harvey Lembeck as the hyper and astonishingly old juvenile delinquent Eric Von Zipper. And of course the tassled Candy Johnson shaking her bikini'd booty over, or is it under, the credits. In "Bikini Beach" Annette is now Dee Dee (must be an homage to Sandra Dee) and Frankie stretches his chops by playing two roles. He is his standard sex-crazed surfer guy and also the gap toothed (a nod toward Terry Thomas?) Brit singer potato Bug -- apparently a spoof on the Beatles (remember, this is 1964). A drag race is part of the action and there's an ape that surfs. "Beach Blanket Bingo" what a great title) is probably the best of the bunch. The dialogue is almost witty. And of course there's the great stone faced silent clown Buster keaton doing his timeless bits of busines. (A burned out alcoholic's sad, haunting and poignant farewell to the genius of his youth.) Don Rickles gets a major break with a part that sealed his antagonistic comic persona. Annette show a little more flesh and Frankie has a tan. The rear projection surf shots are still laughable but the over-all photography is much better. Les Baxter's score is full of energy and the title tune is actually memorable and fun.
Rating: 
Summary: Frankie Avalon's Best Movie
Review: A Good movie and the Best scenes are Frankie Avalon singing the theme song and the romantic song "These Are The Good Times" in the movie a song he later sang in a episode of "The Patty Duke Show".
Rating:
Summary: Frankie Avalon's Best Movie
Review: A Good movie and the Best scenes are Frankie Avalon singing the theme song and the romantic song "These Are The Good Times" in the movie a song he later sang in a episode of "The Patty Duke Show".
Rating:
Summary: Good movie, DVD could have been better.
Review: Although I enjoy most of the Frankie and Annette beach movies I doubt I would give any of them a rating of more than 4 stars. In the case of BEACH BLANKET BINGO (BBB) I could only give it 3 stars. It and BIKINI BEACH are probably my two favorite beach movies. Each of these were made towards the middle of this series of movies and by that time fans of the movies had grown to recognize most of the characters in the films and the stories seemed to move better. I gave stars because BBB did well with the relationships between Frankie & Dee Dee and with Bonehead & Lorelei. I especially enjoyed seeing the Bonehead character get a little more attention in this film. He is in most, if not all, of the beach movies and deserved a little more screen time. I also enjoyed Paul Lynde as Bullets. Nobody does snide or sarcastic as well as Paul Lynde. I deducted stars because BBB did not bring back Candy Johnson, the girl who was always dancing during the previous movies (she usually danced during the end credits of the earlier movies). Also, Little Stevie Wonder did not return for this movie, he had been in two prior beach movies. As for the DVD edition of this film I deducted stars because as others have mentioned this version did not include the song "I'll never Change Him." I also thought the DVD could have used some special features other than just the original trailer. Heck, most of the actors in this film are still alive and are in their 50's or 60's. I would have thought some of them would have been up for an interview. The director William Asher is still around, I see him every once in a while on shows such as "The 'E' True Hollywood story." All in all this is a good film. I would have given it 4 stars if the DVD had been a little better developed.
Rating:
Summary: Greatest one of them all
Review: Any movie that the Gorgeous Annette Funicello made is great, but I think Beach Blanket Bingo is the greatest becasue it has more fun, more songs, especially I'll Never Change Him(not on the video) and Annette as usual looks great... she is just Gorgeous and a wonderful actress and singer. Vince
Rating: 
Summary: this is fun stuff
Review: BEACH BLANKET BINGO is considered by many as their favorite "Beach Party" movie. In order, my three favorites are BEACH BLANKET BINGO, PAJAMA PARTY and BEACH PARTY. In this sequel, Dee Dee (Annette Funicello) and Frankie (Frankie Avalon) decide to take skydiving lessons from the hard-nosed pilot John Ashley and the late Deborah Walley. Things get complicated when up-and-coming pop singer Sugar Kane (Linda Evans) ends up in Frankie's arms - literally - and the ... Deborah decides to make Frankie an afterschool sweetheart! Dumb-as-stumps Deadhead (Jody McCrea) falls in love with an elusive mermaid (Marta Kristen) and the always-annoying Eric Von Zipper (Harvey Lembeck) and his "Rats" show up to kidnap the lovely Sugar Kane... Featuring a memorable title song as well as great musical turns by Frankie Avalon, Annette Funicello and Donna Loren. There are also great cameo roles from Earl Wilson, Don Rickles, Paul Lynde, Buster Keaton and Bobbi Shaw (reprising her role as Keaton's dizzy sidekick). The DVD includes the trailer. (Single-sided, single-layer disc).
Rating:
Summary: actually more enjoyable than the ORIGINAL "Beach Party"!
Review: BEACH BLANKET BINGO is considered by many as their favorite "Beach Party" movie. In order, my three favorites are BEACH BLANKET BINGO, PAJAMA PARTY and BEACH PARTY. In this sequel, Dee Dee (Annette Funicello) and Frankie (Frankie Avalon) decide to take skydiving lessons from the hard-nosed pilot John Ashley and the late Deborah Walley. Things get complicated when up-and-coming pop singer Sugar Kane (Linda Evans) ends up in Frankie's arms - literally - and the ... Deborah decides to make Frankie an afterschool sweetheart! Dumb-as-stumps Deadhead (Jody McCrea) falls in love with an elusive mermaid (Marta Kristen) and the always-annoying Eric Von Zipper (Harvey Lembeck) and his "Rats" show up to kidnap the lovely Sugar Kane... Featuring a memorable title song as well as great musical turns by Frankie Avalon, Annette Funicello and Donna Loren. There are also great cameo roles from Earl Wilson, Don Rickles, Paul Lynde, Buster Keaton and Bobbi Shaw (reprising her role as Keaton's dizzy sidekick). The DVD includes the trailer. (Single-sided, single-layer disc).
Rating:
Summary: The Best Of The Beach
Review: Beach Blanket Bingo is the best of AIP's Beach Party films. Unlike the other films in the series, there are actual attempts at some clever tongue and cheek writing here, Annette finally displays some of here phenomenal body, Frankie actually has a tan, and the supporting cast is much better this time around. Here we have Harvey Lembeck as Erick Von Zipper (what a great character!), Linda Evans, Marta Kristen, John Ashley, Buster Keaton, Don Rickles and the great, demented, Timothy Carey. Director William Asher had Roger Corman's Poe movie cinematographer Floyd Crosby on this film, making it the best looking of the series. The color is rich, the compositions dynamic and the camera more mobile than usual, giving the film a greater sense of excitement. Finally, series composer Les Baxter also had a bigger hand in writing and arranging the songs this time around, and they are much better than usual for this series -- the title tune is a standout. If you have a taste for American-International's Beach Party pictures, this is the best, and if you've never seen one before, this is the one to start with... Loads of fun!
Rating:
Summary: That's the name of the game...
Review: Dated though it may be, this archetypal 1960s beach film had me rolling with laughter. It has a bit of everything - surfing, skydiving, mermaids, bikers - and believe it or not, the humor is still funny even today. A delightful throwback to the era of beehive hairdos and martini lounges that will make you want to jump out of a perfectly good airplane once you are finished watching it. What more could you ask for? Don't rent it - buy it!
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