Frankie (Frankie Avalon) and Dee Dee (Annette Funicello) and their lively friends continue to frolic on the beach and, in this instalment of the vapid but popular 'Beach Party' movies, take up sky-diving. By this, the 5th film in the series, the story-lines were getting petty formulaic (once again characters try to arouse jealousy in their 'true loves' by feigning a romantic interest in someone else). The humour, primarily provided by 'Bonehead' (Joel McCrea), Eric von Zipper (Harvey Lembeck), Don Rickles (in his 4th 'Beach' outing) and Buster Keaton is generally silly and the generic '60s pop songs unmemorable (although it's always great to see Dick Dale perform). There is an odd bit of meta-humour when Rickles steps out of this 'Big Drop' character for a couple of minutes and hits the cast with his trademark 'insult comedy' stand-up shtick. The best part of the film (IMO) is the strange subplot about Bonehead meeting a mermaid ('Lost in Space's Marta Kristen). Considering the characters involved and the general vibe of the film, this offbeat romance is almost touching. No one watching a '60s beach movie would expect much more than this film offers - from the perspective of 60 years in the future, these goofy, sexually charged yet innocent, teen-romance-comedies may more interesting than entertaining to a lot of viewers but they can still be a fun way to burn off 90 minutes of couch time.
Review of Beach Blanket Bingo
