| Muscle Beach Party | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | William Asher |
| Screenplay by | Robert Dillon |
| Story by |
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| Produced by |
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| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Harold E. Wellman |
| Edited by | |
| Music by | Les Baxter |
| Distributed by | American International Pictures |
Release date |
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Running time | 94 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $1 million[1] or $150,000[2] |
Muscle Beach Party is the second of sevenbeach party films produced byAmerican International Pictures. It starsFrankie Avalon andAnnette Funicello and was directed byWilliam Asher, who also directed four other films in this series.[3]
Dick Dale and the Del-Tones andStevie Wonder appear in musical numbers, the latter aged thirteen and making his film debut, billed as "Little Stevie Wonder."
The movie was released two days afterPeter Lorre's death. (AIP had meant to star Lorre inIt's Alive.[4])
Frankie, Dee Dee, and the beach party gang hit Malibu Beach for yet another summer of surfing and no jobs, only to find their secret surfing spot threatened by a gang of bodybuilders led by the dim-witted coach Jack Fanny. All the while a bored Italian countess is trying to steal Frankie from Dee Dee and, much to everyone's surprise, he seems more than happy to go along with it. Her plan is to turn him into a teen idol.
Due to some razzing from his former surfing buddies and sage advice from wealthy S.Z. Matts, Frankie sees the error of his ways and goes back to his Americanbeach bunny, Dee Dee.
Funicello reprises her character fromBeach Party, although in this film (and three others that follow) she is referred to as "Dee Dee", as opposed to "Dolores."John Ashley's character, previously called "Ken", is now known as "Johnny."[5]
Harvey Lembeck's Eric von Zipper character and his Rats gang fromBeach Party are absent in this film, although they appear inBikini Beach,Pajama Party,Beach Blanket Bingo,How to Stuff a Wild Bikini, andThe Ghost in the Invisible Bikini. Lembeck as von Zipper (but sans Rats gang) also appears in a cameo inDr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine. Lembeck also appeared inFireball 500, another Avalon-Funicello vehicle, as an entirely different character. Peter Lorre appears briefly near the end of the film and there is a notice explaining that he will appear in the next installment of the series. Lorre died in March 1964; thus, this was his only appearance in the series.[6]
Before production producerMartin Ransohoff announced he was going to make a film calledMuscle Beach based onIra Wallach's satirical novel. This was eventually made asDon't Make Waves (1967).[1]
Filming started December 1963.
A 141-page paperback adaptation of the screenplay, written byElsie Lee, was published prior to the release of the film byLancer Books.
In the above-cited paperbacknovelisation, the Jack Fanny character (a satire ofVic Tanny) introduces his bodybuilders as Biff, Rock, Tug, Riff, Sulk,Mash and Clod, whereas in the film he calls them Biff, Rock, Tug, Riff, Sulk,Hulk, and Clod. In two separate sequences, the latter version of these names is seen printed on their shirts.
Larry Scott, who played Rock, was well known in the bodybuilding world at the time and became the firstMr. Olympia. Due to his preference for a piece of gym equipment commonly known as the Preacher Bench,[7] the bench also became known as the Scott Curl Bench.[citation needed] Gene Shuey who played Riff, andChester Yorton who played Hulk, were also well known in the bodybuilding circuit.Peter Lupus (aka "Rock Stevens") was also a champion bodybuilder himself, holding the titles of Mr. Indianapolis, Mr. Indiana, Mr. Hercules, and Mr. International Health Physique. He is best known as Willy Armitage, the strong, mostly silent, member of the IMF team inMission: Impossible from 1966 to 1973.[8]
The swimsuits were designed byRose Marie Reid; Buddy Hackett's clothes were from Mr. Guy of Los Angeles; and the hat that Deadhead wears was designed byEd "Big Daddy" Roth.
The surfboards used in the film were by Phil of Downey, California – aka Phil Sauers, the maker of "Surfboards of the Stars."[9] Sauers was also the stunt coordinator for anotherbeach party film that used his surfboards,Columbia Pictures'Ride the Wild Surf, which was released later the same year. Sauers was even portrayed in that film as a character by Mark LaBuse.
The "globe" telephone cover on Mr. Strangdour's desk is the same one in Norma Desmond's home in the filmSunset Blvd.
The original score for this film, likeBeach Party before it, was composed byLes Baxter.
Roger Christian,Gary Usher andBrian Wilson (ofThe Beach Boys) wrote six songs for the film:
Guy Hemric andJerry Styner wrote two songs for the film:
The colorful, hand-painted mural that is shown in full and in detail as background during the opening credits is by California artistMichael Dormer, whose surfer cartoon character, "Hot Curl" can also be glimpsed throughout the film.[10]
Although the end titles provide a credit reading, "Muscle Mao Mao Dance Sequence Choreographed by John Monte, National Dance Director,Fred Astaire Studios", no such sequence is found in the film's release prints.
John L. Scott of theLos Angeles Times called it "a romantic, slightly satirical film comedy with songs which should prove popular with members of the two younger sets it concerns — surfers and musclemen — and with oldsters who don't mind the juvenile antics."[11]
Variety wrote that "the novelty of surfing has worn off, leaving in its wake little more than a conventional teenage-geared romantic farce with songs ... Whenever the story bogs down, which it does quite often, someone runs into camera range and yells, 'surf's up!' This is followed by a series of cuts of surfers in action. It's all very mechanical."[12]
The Monthly Film Bulletin stated, "Indifferently scripted, and lacking the brightening presence of Dorothy Malone and Bob Cummings, this is an excruciatingly unfunny and unattractive sequel toBeach Party. William Asher's direction remains quite bright, but that is about all that can be said for the film."[13]
Filmink argued the movie "feels short of a story strand or two" and was "a surprisingly gloomy film with a (relatively) lot of angst... the most serious of the series (maybe Frankie Avalon asked for the chance to ACT or something?)."[14]
The Golden Laurel, which had no ceremony but published its award results in thetrade magazineMotion Picture Exhibitor from 1958 to 1971, nominated Annette Funicello for "Best Female Musical Performance" for this film in 1965.
The film was banned in Burma, along withSki Party,Bikini Beach andBeach Blanket Bingo.[15]