Movie Review: Muscle Beach Party

Stars: 2 out of 5
Pros: The songs are fun
Cons: Never overcomes cheese; surfing footage
The Bottom Line:
Too cheesy for me
And that is saying something
Forgettable fluff




"I've Been Thinking."  "That's a Great Way to Ruin an Evening."

Over the years, I've heard references to the Beach Party series as cheesy but fun. So I figured I'd give the second, Muscle Beach Party, a try when I saw it on TV recently. If this is an example of the series, I think I'll give the rest a pass.

Our story takes place during Spring Break. Frankie (Frankie Avalon), his girlfriend Dee Dee (Annette Funicello), and a bunch of their friends have rented a house right on the beach for a week of laid back surfing and generally having a good time.

Things get off to a rocky start, however, when they discover that "their" beach is also the home of a group of body builders who use the beach for their work outs. Despite a rocky start, the two groups look like they will get along fine if they stay on their respective beaches.

That is until Julie (Luciana Paluzzi) enters the scene. She is an obscenely rich woman from Italy who travels the globe in her yacht following her whims, aided by her business manager (Buddy Hackett). And her latest whim is Flex Martian (Peter Lupus), the star of the muscle men.

Her whim changes that night, however, when she finds Frankie alone on the beach. He falls for her like a puppy dog, which makes both Flex and Dee Dee jealous. Can any of these romantic complications be worked out?

Since this is a cheesy musical comedy from the 60's, I wasn't expecting much. Unfortunately, my expectations weren't met. The series became famous for its surfing footage, and the footage of real surfers was good. Granted, it didn't match the small waves we'd just seen at the same beach, but I could let that go. What I found laughable was the footages of the stars "surfing." This was definitely filmed with them on a stage with wave footage in the background. And none of the actors ever get a hair wet. I'd love to know how they did that.

This movie certainly comes from an innocent time. While everyone shares the beach house, the guys and girls have separate rooms. A couple of the guys complain, but there is never a hint of anything immoral happening. And the bikinis are less skimpy than most of what is worn today. Annette famously wasn't allowed to show her belly button. While she is in a bikini, it's true. You really can't see it.

The story works alright for the most part. I kept wanting to hit Frankie upside the head as he did one stupid thing after another. Of course, I would probably be just as stupid if I were in his shoes, so I can't say too much. Dee Dee seems to go from mad to forgiving much too quickly as well.

The acting, for the most part, is adequate. There aren't any bad performances. And it certainly fits the material. Dick van Dyke shows fans will want to be on the lookout for Morey Amsterdam as the owner of the club where the group likes to hand out at night. And there is an early appearance by "Little" Stevie Wonder before he made it big.

Which brings us to the best thing about the film, the music. There are quite a few enjoyable songs here. Several of them are beach inspired numbers that sound like something from a Beach Boys record. And the ballads that Annette and Frankie sing are emotionally touching. There isn't much in the way of choreography. Just don't get me started on Candy Johnson's dancing. For some reason, they pretend that her wild body thrusting can throw guys across the beach or room without even touching them. Um, right. It does come in handy during a fight, but even then I thought it was ludicrous.

I've heard from people who love this series that this is by far the worst of the lot. I don't know if that's enough to get me to give the series another shot or not. All I know is I won't be watching Muscle Beach Party again.