Thebeach party film is an Americanfilm genre offeature films which were produced and released between 1963 and 1968, created byAmerican International Pictures (AIP), beginning with their surprise hit,Beach Party, in July 1963. With this film, AIP is credited with creating the genre.[1][2][3] In addition to the AIP films, several contributions to the genre were produced and released by major and independent studios alike. According to various sources, the genre comprises over 30 films,[4][5][6] with the lower-budget AIP films being the most profitable.[7]
Generally comedies, the core elements of the AIP films consist of a group of teenage and/or college-age characters as protagonists; non-parental adult characters as antagonists and/or comic relief; simple, silly storylines that avoid any sobersocial consciousness; teen trends and interests (such as dancing, surfing, drag racing, custom cars, music, irresponsible drinking, etc.); simple romantic arcs; original songs (presented in both themusical genre style and as"source music"); teen-oriented musical acts (frequently performing as themselves); and atongue-in-cheek attitude toward thetarget audience.
The earliest films by AIP, as well as those by other studios, focus on surfing and beach culture. Although the genre is termed "beach party film",[4][5][6] several subsequent films that appeared later in the genre, while keeping most of the core elements mentioned above, do not actually include surfing – or even scenes on a beach.
One of the earliest uses of the term in print is found several times in the June 1965 issue ofMad magazine in an article written byLarry Siegel.[8] Commentators on the genre have used this term as well.[9][10][11][12] The term"beach party film" is distinguished from a"surf film" or"surf movie" in that the former refers to the comedies of the 1960s, whereas the latter terms refer to surf documentaries (such asThe Endless Summer orRiding Giants),[12] a still-active genre. Occasionally the term "surf movie" refers to a straightforward dramatic film that uses surfing as a backdrop or plot device, such asBig Wednesday orBlue Crush.[13]
Although bothColumbia Pictures'sGidget (1959) andGidget Goes Hawaiian (1961) have been cited as precursors to the genre, in thatGidget "launched surfing into mainstream America,"[14][15] while its sequel merely repeated the effort, AIP had actually established an archetype forBeach Party with 1958'sHot Rod Gang and especially with its 1959 sequelGhost of Dragstrip Hollow, both written byLou Rusoff.[16][17] Both films, which were up-front comedies for teenagers, "employed the tried and true formula of a popular trend coupled with romance and music."[16]
Additionally, 1960'sWhere the Boys Are, fromMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer and perhaps to some degree 1961's now-obscureGidget imitator,Love in a Goldfish Bowl, fromParamount Pictures, are two films that established a tone of light-hearted adolescent sexuality that would be exploited by AIP inBeach Party.[18]Bryna Productions' 1957coming of age drama filmThe Careless Years featured extensive use of beach party scenes filmed around Santa Monica, California.[19][20]
AIP ProducerSam Arkoff, in his biography,Flying Through Hollywood By the Seat of My Pants, explained that he got the idea for the firstBeach Party film from an unnamed Italian film that he and fellow producerJim Nicholson screened in Rome in the summer of 1962. Arkoff said that he didn't care much for the Italian production because "there's not enough there that American teenagers can identify with. But the beach is a wonderful setting for a teenage film. And it doesn't hurt to show girls in skimpy bathing suits." A few days later,Hot Rod Gang / Ghost of Dragstrip Hollow writer Lou Rusoff was assigned to do some research on the beaches of Southern California and by the end of the week, Rusoff was writing the script forBeach Party.[21]
AIP's premiereBeach Party took theGidget idea, removed the moral lesson and the parents, added more young talent with fewer clothes, and followed the studio's usual format of pandering to teenage filmgoers with popular trends, original songs and music.[22]
Regarding the idea of adding more music – and specifically the kind that attracted a teenage audience – film and music historian Stephen J. McParland writes:
AIP was more concerned with what was happening on the streets rather than what such sanitised copy asBillboard andCashbox was interested in promoting – and this was obviously reflected in the product the studio was renowned for; AIP was a rebel and in reality, a leader; unlike the monolithic and respected Columbia Pictures Corporation.[23]
Another key to the success ofBeach Party and its many sequels was the theme of teenage freedom, as parental involvement was non-existent. Unlike previous films such as the aforementionedGidget andLove in a Goldfish Bowl, parental characters do not appear in any of the AIP films, and are rarely mentioned in their plots, if at all.[24][25] This part of the formula was something that appeared to be lost on imitators, as several films of the genre by other studios featured parents as major characters and parental interference as plot points.
The politics and problems of the day, such as the seemingly endlessVietnam War, the political assassinations,the civil rights riots and similar issues were also ignored as these were primarily viewed as problems created by adults, not teenagers. Additionally, these films were produced as escapism, so the characters in them lived in a world where the focus was on having a good time.[26][27]
The advertising for the films was also fairly suggestive for the time period, promising on the poster much in the way of teenage sex, yet delivering little of it onscreen. For example,Beach Party teased, "It's what happens when 10,000 kids meet on 5000 beach blankets!" whileMuscle Beach Party promised, "When 10,000 biceps go around 5,000 bikinis, you know what's going to happen!" Likewise,Ski Party intoned, "It's where the HE'S meet the SHE's on SKIS – and there's only one way to get warm!" Though the clothing for both sexes in the cast was revealing by the standard of the day, the films never featured any sex scenes or nudity.
Occasionally modern critics[28][29] – and even Arkoff himself[30] – have suggested that the so-called "clean teens" in these films did not smoke or drink, but this appears to be based on recollection rather than observation: Avalon and others smoke in bothBeach Party andMuscle Beach Party (theSurgeon General'sreport on smoking was not released until January 1964), and beer is referenced in several of the AIP films,[31][32] as well as their imitators like 1963'sPalm Springs Weekend and 1965'sGirl Happy.
AMC's Tim Dirk calls the AIP series a "four year, seven-film 'beach party' continuing series" (yet lists eight films) and describes it as the "mostly sexless, antiseptic, and well-groomed antics of beachgoers"[33] – in spite of the fact that the AIP films are overflowing with sexual innuendo both in dialogue and action, as well as seduction, sexual teasing, and even include brief scenes of faking a sexual assault (Beach Blanket Bingo),gender dysphoria (Ski Party) and references to homosexuality (How to Stuff a Wild Bikini), albeit in a comedic setting. In reality, more "sex" was suggested in these films – as well as their posters and trailers – than in anything the studio had previously produced.[6]
Arkoff was able to get 1956 Academy Award winnerDorothy Malone (who had appeared in his first picture for AIP,The Fast and the Furious) and the popularBob Cummings as adult supporting characters, but he needed a couple of names for the lead teenagers. Arkoff already had a working relationship withFrankie Avalon, who had starred in two films for AIP,Panic in the Year Zero andOperation Bikini, and had become a much brighter star than AIP regular, singer/actorJohn Ashley. Arkoff next made a deal with former MouseketeerAnnette Funicello, whose contract withWalt Disney had a clause stating that she could work in non-Disney films subject to the approval of Disney's legal team. The deal came with one caveat, that Funicello not appear in a bikini (reportedly, Disney himself had to be settled down by Arkoff when he discovered that his subordinates had allowed Funicello to appear in the AIP film at all).[21]
With Avalon and Funicello on board, a shrewd pairing was evident.CinemaEditor magazine summed it up this way:
In Frankie and Annette, teenagers now had their own version of Rock Hudson and Doris Day as the 'bedroom farce' was moved to the beach and made a little younger, a little dumber, and stuffed full of wild music.[25]
Beach Party was able to use Ashley as Avalon's sidekick; picked upJody McCrea andEva Six from AIP's ownOperation Bikini; and secured "red-hot" surf music pioneerDick Dale and the Del-Tones (whose second and third albums would be released by Capitol Records in 1963) to bring in their usual demographic.
WhenBeach Party hit screens in July 1963, it was a huge hit with the first five-day grosses reportedly well ahead of its competition, which consisted of the popular concurrently running major studio filmsHud,Tammy and the Doctor,The Nutty Professor andThe Birds.[34]
When the picture opened ... the theater was flooded with kids. In many cases house records were set, and new AIP gross records were also secured. All of a sudden, theaters began clamoring for prints ofBeach Party. A new cycle had begun.[35]
AIP followed up withMuscle Beach Party barely seven months later in March 1964, andBikini Beach, released only four months after that, was the highest-grossing film in their history – as well as the highest-grossing film of the genre.[36]
American International Pictures produced a series of twelve films that fall into the genre.[9][37] With the exception ofSergeant Deadhead,Fireball 500 andThunder Alley, all were related by recurring characters. For example, much of the cast inBikini Beach appear in the follow-upPajama Party, albeit with different names – however, biker Eric von Zipper appears in the film, along with his gang of "Rats," playing the same characters as in two previous films. In addition,Ski Party would appear unrelated, except that the characters of Todd and Craig also appear in the laterDr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine, which is also linked toHow to Stuff a Wild Bikini by the appearance of Eric von Zipper and Annette Funicello.
The only film not to have an appearance of some kind by either Avalon or Funicello isThe Ghost in the Invisible Bikini; early promos for the film had announced that the two would appear, but it did not happen. Funicello does not appear in Avalon'sSergeant Deadhead and Avalon does not appear in Funicello'sThunder Alley.
| Release date | Film | Director | Writer(s) | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| August 7, 1963 | Beach Party | William Asher | Lou Rusoff, William Asher, Robert Dillon | Les Baxter |
| March 25, 1964 | Muscle Beach Party | William Asher | Robert Dillon | Les Baxter |
| July 22, 1964 | Bikini Beach | William Asher | William Asher, Robert Dillon,Leo Townsend | Les Baxter |
| November 11, 1964 | Pajama Party | Don Weis | Louis M. Heyward | Les Baxter |
| April 14, 1965 | Beach Blanket Bingo | William Asher | Leo Townsend, Sher Townsend, William Asher | Les Baxter |
| June 30, 1965 | Ski Party | Alan Rafkin | Robert Kaufman | Guy Hemric & Jerry Styner |
| July 14, 1965 | How to Stuff a Wild Bikini | William Asher | William Asher, Leo Townsend | Les Baxter |
| August 18, 1965 | Sergeant Deadhead | Norman Taurog | Louis M. Heyward | Les Baxter |
| November 6, 1965 | Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine[n 1] | Norman Taurog | Elwood Ullman, Robert Kaufman,James Hartford | Les Baxter |
| April 6, 1966 | Ghost in the Invisible Bikini | Don Weis | Louis M. Heyward, Elwood Ullman | Les Baxter |
| June 7, 1966 | Fireball 500 | William Asher | William Asher, Leo Townsend,Burt Topper | Les Baxter |
| March 22, 1967 | Thunder Alley | Richard Rush | Sy Salkowitz | Mike Curb |
As mentioned above, in addition to Avalon and Funicello appearing in nearly every film, AIP employed several newer actors, who were either relatively unknown or on the rise at the time. The following cast members showed up in at least three or more films:John Ashley,Dwayne Hickman,Jody McCrea,Deborah Walley,Bobbi Shaw, Salli Sachse, Luree Holmes,Michael Nader,Valora Noland,Andy Romano,Susan Hart, Jerry Brutsche and Linda Rogers.
Now-famous surfersMickey Dora and Johnny Fain each appeared in six films of the series, both as extras and as stunt-surfers.[38]
A few actors – such asFabian,Tommy Kirk,Deborah Walley andNancy Sinatra – appeared in beach party films made both by AIP as well as from other studios.
The AIP films also used a couple of established comedians more than once.Morey Amsterdam appeared in bothBeach Party andMuscle Beach Party as "Cappy," the owner of Big Daddy's, and the beach bar/hangout known as Cappy's Place, respectively; and famous insult comedianDon Rickles appeared in no less than four films in a row, starting withMuscle Beach Party, each time as more or less the same character but with a different name. Comedic talentFred Clark appeared in bothDr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine andSergeant Deadhead. Other popular comedians who made at least one appearance includedBuddy Hackett andPaul Lynde.
In addition, the AIP films regularly secured the talents of many well-known yet admittedly past-their-prime talents, withBuster Keaton being featured in four of the films (Pajama Party,Beach Blanket Bingo,How to Stuff a Wild Bikini, andSergeant Deadhead), andBoris Karloff being featured in two films (Bikini Beach andGhost in the Invisible Bikini). Other golden-age stars includedVincent Price,Peter Lorre,Elsa Lanchester,Mickey Rooney,Dorothy Lamour,Brian Donlevy,Eve Arden,Cesar Romero,Gale Gordon andBasil Rathbone.
| Film | Frankie Avalon | Annette Funicello | Jody McCrea | John Ashley | Deborah Walley | Dwayne Hickman | Guest stars |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beach Party | X | X | X | X | -- | -- | Morey Amsterdam Vincent Price |
| Muscle Beach Party | X | X | X | X | -- | -- | Morey Amsterdam Peter Lorre Buddy Hackett |
| Bikini Beach | X | X | X | X | -- | -- | Keenan Wynn Timothy Carey Boris Karloff |
| Pajama Party | X | X | X | X | -- | -- | Elsa Lanchester Buster Keaton Dorothy Lamour |
| Beach Blanket Bingo | X | X | X | X | X | -- | Paul Lynde Buster Keaton Timothy Carey Earl Wilson |
| Ski Party | X | X | -- | -- | X | X | Robert Q. Lewis |
| How to Stuff a Wild Bikini | X | X | X | X | -- | X | Mickey Rooney Brian Donlevy Buster Keaton Elizabeth Montgomery |
| Sergeant Deadhead | X | -- | -- | X | X | X | Eve Arden Cesar Romero Gale Gordon Fred Clark Buster Keaton |
| Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine | X | X | -- | -- | X | X | Fred Clark |
| The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini | -- | -- | -- | -- | X | -- | Basil Rathbone Boris Karloff Francis X. Bushman |
| Fireball 500 | X | X | -- | -- | -- | -- | Fabian Chill Wills |
| Thunder Alley | -- | X | -- | -- | -- | -- | Fabian |
The musical talent that AIP hired was a mixed bag of established artists and those who were about to break. Shimmy sensationCandy Johnson appeared in the first four films (appearing with her band, The Exciters, in the third film,Bikini Beach).Dr. Pepper spokesmodelDonna Loren appeared and sang in four films beginning withMuscle Beach Party. The aforementioned Dick Dale & the Del-Tones appeared in the first two films, and a 14-year-oldStevie Wonder performed in the second and third films. An up-and-comingNancy Sinatra acts and sings a song inGhost in the Invisible Bikini (two months after her hit record "These Boots Were Made For Walking" was released), backed up by the also-yet-to-breakBobby Fuller Four. General manager ofAmerican International Records, Al Simms, also commissioned the recording of four songs by his daughterLu Ann Simms, released on soundtracks and singles forBeach Party andHow to Stuff a Wild Bikini.[39][40]
Other acts that appeared includeJames Brown &The Famous Flames,Lesley Gore,The Hondells,The Kingsmen,The Pyramids andThe Supremes.
All seven of the major studios of the 1960s managed to release at least one film that would later be deemed part of the 'beach party' cycle, either big-budget affairs that they produced themselves, or low-budget knock-offs that they picked up for distribution. With the exception ofMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer'sGirl Happy (anElvis Presley vehicle) andUnited Artists'For Those Who Think Young, none of these were able to duplicate the box-office success of the AIP product.
The beach genre peaked in 1965 with no less than 12 features released that year. (The television sitcomGidget starring 19-year-oldSally Field as the titular California surfer girl, also premiered in 1965, lasting one season.)
Similar to AIP, other elements sometimes were blended into the mix – horror, science fiction, spy spoof, college melodrama, etc. – however, unlike the AIP films, none of the following films weresequentially related.
Columbia released the mostly surf-lessGidget Goes to Rome in August 1963, and rather than copying whatBeach Party had started, the studio released a true "surf drama" in the form of 1964'sRide The Wild Surf, which turned an eye on big wave surfers challenging Waimea Bay – the first surf drama to do so[41] – albeit with the usual Hollywood gloss and fluff.[42] The studio's only true "beach party" film was the low-budget ski-oriented entry,Winter A-Go-Go, released in October 1965.
Twentieth Century-Fox released three films in the genre, starting with what has been called the "firstBeach Party ripoff,"[43] with their distribution of the low-budgetSurf Party, from Associated Producers, directed byMaury Dexter, in January 1964, followed byDel Tenney'sThe Horror of Party Beach in June of the same year.The Horror of Party Beach has since been cited by critics and audiences as one of theworst films ever made.[44][45][46] In August 1965, the studio released a Maury Dexter-directed Lippert production,Wild on the Beach, (featuring then-unknownSonny & Cher).[47] All of AIP's beach party pictures were full-color and in widescreen format, whereas Fox – a studio that was known for glossy, big budget productions – put out three contributions that were each low-budget affairs, in the standard 1.33:1 format, and in black-and-white.
The aforementioned and rarely screenedLove in a Goldfish Bowl,Paramount Pictures' answer toGidget, (withTommy Sands and Toby Michaels as knock-off versions of James Darren andSandra Dee) was released in July 1961. An illustration of a surfer was used in the poster for the film, and a short beach scene was featured in the trailer, nevertheless, the bulk of the action takes place at a beach house on Balboa Island, Calif. However, following the success ofBeach Party, Paramount later put out three full-fledged 'beach party' imitations, starting withThe Girls on the Beach andBeach Ball, both in 1965, andC'mon, Let's Live a Little in 1967.
Warner Bros. was filmingPalm Springs Weekend when AIP'sBeach Party hit the screens, and although the posters were already on the streets, reportedly the film itself was "re-tooled" to match the style of the AIP hit.[48] Starring Troy Donahue and Stephanie Powers as collegiate types on a group vacation, it was released in November four months afterBeach Party.Palm Springs Weekend was the studio's only venture into the genre.
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer released three films in the genre – two with college-themed backdrops: theSam Katzman-producedGet Yourself A College Girl withMary Ann Mobley andChad Everett in November 1964, which shared the same clubhouse set with their Fort Lauderdale-based Elvis flick,Girl Happy, released five months later in 1965. Katzman also produced the ambitiousWhen the Boys Meet the Girls in October of the same year.
MGM also bought the film rights toIra Wallach'sMuscle Beach (1959), a satirical novel on Southern-California surf culture. By the time it was finally filmed – and released in 1967 under the new titleDon't Make Waves – it was not so much a beach party film as a bedroom farce withTony Curtis,Claudia Cardinale, andSharon Tate as a ditzy beach girl.
United Artists released only two films in the genre, the Hugh Benson-producedFor Those Who Think Young in June 1964, a college-based comedy with unusually little music; and the critically panned Elvis Presley vehicle,Clambake in December 1967. Identifying itself with the genre, the trailer forClambake promised "the wildest beach party since they invented the bikini and the beat!"
Universal Studios released the comedy-dramaThe Lively Set in 1964 (using the same leads as UA'sFor Those Who Think Young from four months earlier), then released two pure comedies directed byLennie Weinrib: the college-in-the-snow-basedWild Wild Winter in January 1966, and the Malibu-based spy-spoofOut of Sight four months later.
Seven films were produced in the genre that were released without the benefit of major studio backing, most of them either filmed or released in 1965. As with the major studios listed above, none of the following films were sequentially related either.
Dominant Films, which also releasedH.G. Lewis'Blast-Off Girls andSix Shes and a He, released the obscureDaytona Beach Weekend, featuringDel Shannon, in April 1965. Originally filmed in 16mm atDaytona Beach during Easter weekend, today the film is rare, with no revival screenings or home video releases.
Embassy released the sci-fiVillage of the Giants in 1965, starring Tommy Kirk (who appeared in four films in the genre, including two for AIP) as the older brother of kid-geniusRon Howard, who accidentally invents a substance that enlarges living things, with music acts provided byThe Beau Brummels andFreddy Cannon.
United Screen Arts released two films in the genre, both in 1965:A Swingin' Summer, aLake Arrowhead-based outing starringJames Stacy, William Wellman, Jr., Quinn O'Hara, Martin West, Mary Mitchell andRaquel Welch; as well as the rarely seen, even-lower-budget, Hawaii-basedOne Way Wahine, starringJoy Harmon.
U.S. Films releasedBeach Girls and the Monster in September 1965, starringJon Hall,Sue Casey andWalker Edmiston as characters in a Malibu-based monster murder-mystery.
According to several sources,[4][6][49] bothTrans American'sIt's a Bikini World andCrown International'sCatalina Caper appear to have been filmed in 1965, but neither hit film screens until 1967, withIt's a Bikini World coming out in April andCatalina Caper premiering in December.Catalina Caper is generally cited as 'the last beach party movie,'[4][5][49] although that distinction should probably go to Allied Artists' English-dubbed version of the 1966Gaumont Czechoslovakian productionSki Fever (originally titledLiebesspiel im Schnee), released in the U.S. in 1968. StarringMartin Milner, the film received a 1968Golden Globe nomination for Best Original Song for theJerry Styner/Guy Hemric composition, "Please Don't Gamble with Love" – theonly film in the genre to be nominated for a Golden Globe.[50]
Like AIP, both the major studios and independents loaded their films with a decent sampling of trendy (and not-so-trendy) pop music acts and stars, who either appeared onscreen as themselves or sang theme songs offscreen. These include:
AIP'sGhost in the Invisible Bikini, which hit the screens in April 1966, was essentially abox-office failure, and AIP immediately switched the focus tostock car racing, a fad that was peaking at the time. Only two months later, they hadFireball 500 with Avalon, Funicello and Fabian ready to go, and by March 1967, their last entry wasThunder Alley with Funicello and Fabian. In the meantime, Paramount releasedC'mon, Let's Live a Little, and two independent films (which were made a couple of years earlier – see "Contributions to the genre by other studios" above) were released, Trans-American'sIt's a Bikini World, and Crown International'sCatalina Caper.[5][49] Before the summer of 1967, theoutlaw biker film had become the major genre, of which AIP's own surprise 1966 hitThe Wild Angels (withPeter Fonda,Bruce Dern, andNancy Sinatra) proved to be the leader. AIP dominated this genre as well, and quickly released the semi-sequelDevil's Angels, followed withThe Glory Stompers in 1967, and eight more films in the genre between 1968 and 1971.[51]
Video Watchdog's Tim Lucas writes, "the 'Beach Party' movies...spoke the secret cultural language of their day, providing a unique interface between such timely interests as rock 'n' roll, skimpy swimwear, surfing, other surfing movies, the 'Gidget' series,drag racing, motorcycles,MAD magazine,Ed 'Big Daddy' Roth andCAR TOONS magazine,Don Post horror masks, and of course, American International Pictures itself."[11]
In theEncyclopedia of Surfing, Matt Warshaw writes, "The cartoonish beach movies were reviled by surfers in the '60s, embraced in the '80s as ironic camp, then – for some – cherished in the '90s and '00s as silly but likable tokens of a more innocent past."[12]
John M. Miller of Turner Classic Movies writes, "Beach Party and its successors in the series managed to simultaneously chronicle and be a part of a particularly vibrant moment in American popular culture."[52]
The genre has been referenced, parodied and lampooned several times since its beginning. A few notable examples are as follows:
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