Beach Blanket Bingo

Infobox Film
name = Beach Blanket Bingo


image_size =
caption =
director = William Asher
producer = Samuel Z. Arkoff
James H. Nicholson
writer = Leo Townsend
Sher Townsend
William Asher
narrator =
starring = Frankie Avalon
Annette Funicello
music = Les Baxter
cinematography = Floyd Crosby, ASC
editing =
distributor = American International
released = 1965
runtime = 98 min.
country = U.S.A.
language = English
budget =
preceded_by = "Pajama Party"
followed_by = "How to Stuff a Wild Bikini"
website =
amg_id = 1:4413
imdb_id = 0058953

"Beach Blanket Bingo" is an American International Pictures Beach Party film, released in 1965 and was directed by William Asher. It is the fifth film in the Beach Party film series. The film starred Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello and also featured cameos by Paul Lynde, Don Rickles and Buster Keaton.

Plot

A singer, Sugar Kane (Linda Evans), is unwittingly being used for publicity stunts for her latest album by her agent (Paul Lynde), for example, faking a sky diving stunt, actually performed by Bonnie (Deborah Walley). Meanwhile, Frankie (Frankie Avalon), (duped into thinking he rescued Sugar Kane), takes up skydiving, prompted by Bonnie, who secretly wants to make her boyfriend, Steve (John Ashley) jealous. This, of course, prompts Dee Dee (Annette Funicello) to also try free-falling. Eric Von Zipper and his Malibu Rat Pack bikers also show up, with Von Zipper falling madly in love with Sugar Kane. To top all this, Bonehead (Jody McCrea) falls in love with a mermaid (Marta Kristen - Judy Robinson from TV's Lost In Space). Eventually, Von Zipper "puts the snatch" on Sugar Kane. The film takes a The Perils of Pauline-like twist, with the evil South Dakota Slim (Timothy Carey) kidnapping Sugar and tying her to a buzz-saw.

Cast

* Frankie Avalon as Frankie
* Annette Funicello as Dee Dee
* Harvey Lembeck as Eric Von Zipper
* John Ashley as Steve
* Deborah Walley Bonnie
* Jody McCrea as Bonehead
* Marta Kristen as Lorelei
* Linda Evans as Sugar Kane
* Don Rickles as Big Drop
* Paul Lynde as Bullets
* Donna Loren as Donna
* Timothy Carey as South Dakota Slim
* Buster Keaton as Buster
* Bobbi Shaw as Bobbi
* Earl Wilson as Himself
* Michael Nader as Butch
* Donna Michelle as Animal
* Patti Chandler as Patti
* Andy Romano as J.D.
* Alberta Nelson as Puss
* Myrna Ross as Boots

ongs

* Beach Blanket Bingo (G. Hemric, J. Styner) - Frankie Avalon, Annette Funicello, and the Cast
* It Only Hurts When I Cry (G. Hemric, J. Styner) - Donna Loren
* Follow Your Leader (G. Hemric, J. Styner) - Harvey Lembeck and the Rat Pack
* New Love (G. Hemric, J. Styner) - Linda Evans
* I Think You Think (G. Hemric, J. Styner) - Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello
* Fly Boy (G. Hemric, J. Styner) - Linda Evans
* These Are the Good Times (G. Hemric, J. Styner) - Frankie Avalon
* I'll Never Change Him (G. Usher, R. Christian) - Annette Funicello
* Cycle Set (G. Usher, R. Christian) - The Hondells
**"I'll Never Change Him" by Annette Funicello was featured in initial prints, but later excised when the song was used again in "How to Stuff a Wild Bikini". It can still be seen in 16mm prints and Television broadcasts, but the Region 1 MGM DVD omits it.

Crew

*Samuel Z. Arkoff - producer
*Anthony Carras - co-producer
*James H. Nicholson - producer
*Floyd D.Crosby - cinematographer
*Bill Paxton - art director
*Howard Campbell - art director
*Eve Newman - editor
*Les Baxter - Original music

Trivia

* Frankie Avalon's last starring role in the Beach Party films. He appears for only a few minutes in the next film, "How to Stuff a Wild Bikini", and not at all in the last film "The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini".
* The fighting/skydiving couple John Ashley and Deborah Walley were husband and wife at the time of filming. They divorced in 1966.
*Rat Pack leader Harvey Lembeck (Eric Von Zipper) is given more screen time than ever before in this film. He even gets to sing his own song titled "Follow Your Leader" (Later rewritten as "I Am My Ideal" for the followup, "How to Stuff a Wild Bikini").
* Dell Comics put out a 12 cent comic book version of Beach Blanket Bingo in conjunction with the movie's release.
* The scene where Sugar Kane gets bitten in the leg by the mermaid, and the bite mark is acknowledged as a human bite are references to the film "Mr. Peabody and the Mermaid" (1948).
* Originally Nancy Sinatra was scheduled to play Sugar Kane. However, she backed out of the project just before filming was scheduled to begin. This was due in part to the fact that the plot involved a kidnapping, which was somewhat reminiscent of her brother Frank Sinatra Jr.'s kidnapping a few months before shooting began and it made her uncomfortable causing her to drop out.Fact|date=February 2008
* Donna Michelle, who portrays Animal, was the Playboy Playmate of the Year for 1964.
* In the 1983 film "The Outsiders," Beach Blanket Bingo is shown in a drive-in.

References

External links

*imdb title|id=0058953|title=Beach Blanket Bingo
*amg title|id=1:4413|title=Beach Blanket Bingo