| Catalina Caper | |
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 Theatrical poster | |
| Directed by | Lee Sholem |
| Screenplay by | Clyde Ware |
| Story by | Sam Pierce |
| Produced by |
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| Starring |
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| Cinematography | Ted V. Mikels |
| Edited by | Herman Freedman |
| Music by | Jerry Long |
| Color process | Eastmancolor |
Production company | Executive Pictures Corporation |
| Distributed by | Crown International Pictures |
Release date |
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Running time | 84 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Catalina Caper, also known asNever Steal Anything Wet, is a 1967comedymusicalmystery film starringTommy Kirk. It blends thebeach party format with a standard crime-caper comedy. It was shot on and aroundSanta Catalina Island, California.
An ancient Chinese scroll is stolen from a museum in Los Angeles. The thief and teenager Don Pringle arrive on Catalina Island on the same boat. About half of the film involves swimsuit-clad adolescents dancing on yachts in various montages set to the singing ofLittle Richard,Carol Connors andThe Cascades. When they are not dancing, Pringle and his friends investigate the scroll's theft and discover that the parents of one of the boys are responsible. They also attempt to woo a mysteriously depressed young woman, Katrina Corelli, from her vaguely threatening fiancé Angelo. After wrestling the scroll away from Angelo and his cohorts, bent on more dangerous results (in an underwater scuba-diving action scene), the boys secretly return the scroll to the museum to the relief of the repentant parents.
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BothNever Steal Anything Wet andScuba Party were working titles, beforeCatalina Caper was chosen.[1]
Produced by Executive Pictures Corporation, formed by Bond Blackman and Jack Barlett, it started filming in September 1965, on Catalina Island.[2][3] Tommy Kirk was signed to a four-picture contract, of which this was to be the first. Kirk was announced forScuba Party in August 1965,[4] but he did not wind up making any of the other films.[5]
Kirk appeared in four other films in thebeach party genre:Village of the Giants (1965); two AIP features,Pajama Party (1965) andThe Ghost in the Invisible Bikini (1966); andIt's a Bikini World (1967).[6]Sue Casey was seen earlier as one of the female leads in another beach party film, 1965'sThe Beach Girls and the Monster.
Ted V. Mikels recalls "I loved shooting that... Little Richard did whatever I suggested. I didn’t direct him though. He was very pleasant to work with. He was just another performer.”[7]
Catalina Caper composer Jerry Long also wrote the music for another beach party film,Wild Wild Winter. The two films are his only onscreen credits. Long also wrote two songs for the film, "Never Steal Anything Wet," heard over the opening/closing credits and performed byMary Wells; and "Scuba Party," performed onscreen byLittle Richard, who is also credited as a co-writer on the song.
The Cascades perform "There's a New World Just Opening For Me," written byRay Davies and originally recorded byThe Kinks, andCarol Connors performs "Book of Love," which was written by Connors andRoger Christian.
Variety called it "pretty insubstantial of its kind."[8]Filmink described it as "kind of like a Disney film."[9]
TheMST3K version of the film, which was accompanied by the uncut, unriffed version as a bonus feature, was released byRhino Home Video as part of theCollection, Volume 1 DVD set. The set was reissued byShout! Factory with additional features (but without the uncut film) in September 2015.