Having previously seen Bikini Beach and found it very silly, I partly dreaded wondering if Beach Blanket Bingo was going to be the exact same way. While there are plenty of similarities, there were some differences that I appreciated like seeing Annette actually deciding to go skydiving with Frankie instead of trying to talk him out of it like she tried to in BB when it was about drag racing and also that Frankie, while initially not wanting Dee Dee (Annette's character) to do such a dangerous stunt, liked her even more when she did. Also, Jody McCrea's Bonehead-who was too stupid for my tastes in BB-is quite touching here with his romance with the mermaid Lorelei (Marta Kristen). I especially found funny the way he measured her body for a dress and the way she said, "Do it again!" There's also some amusing physical bits from Buster Keaton, some witty lines from Paul Lynde, another nice song from Donna Loren, a couple of good duets from Frankie and Annette, a pretty good solo from Frankie (though I wonder why Annette didn't have one this time around), and a charming number from Harvey Lembeck as Eric Von Zipper with his rat gang. Lembeck himself is hit-or-miss with his shtick though Timothy Carey provides some hilarity as occasional nemeses, South Dakota Slim. Then there's Linda Evans as singer Sugar Kane (did writer/director William Asher intentionally steal that name from Marilyn Monroe's character in Some Like it Hot?). Her innocent sexiness comes through in each of her scenes especially when she gets "kidnapped" by Von Zipper and says "Marvey" when he teaches her to play pool (Puss and Boots also provide some amusement when they make fun of her). And her mouthing the singing of Robin Ward sure fooled me! That said, Beach Blanket Bingo is only slightly better than Bikini Beach as once again, Don Rickles seems wasted here even when he's allowed to do a brief insult act in front of Frankie and the gang. Deborah Walley faking a rape was also pretty tastless here. And the speeded-up chase at the end is only slightly more amusing here due to Keaton and some water gags done on Lembeck. And I wish the Bonehead/Lorelei romance had ended like Splash but I guess that wasn't to be since Bonehead would appear in another sequel. All that said, I enjoyed Beach Blanket Bingo a little more than Bikini Beach and seeing Buster and dancer Bobbi Shaw at the end with some other girls doing their moves marked a very cute way to end this silly A.I.P. beach movie musical...