A recent reviewer for a (legitimate) national magazine recently compared "Oppenheimer" to a Frankie & Annette Beach movie. He said what they revealed was important but what they concealed is more important. In this case what they conceal, apparently, is Annette's pregnancy.
Meanwhile, Frankie's out of town, having a ball in short cameos on a Pacific island with nothing but beautiful women and Buster Keaton. I wouldn't mind that, myself.
How do you replace Frankie? Easy. Call for Dwayne Hickman (Dobie Gillis). He's a better actor, anyway. Avalon and Hickman would go on to co-star in the cult classic buddy movie "Doctor Goldfoot and His Bikini Machine" with Vincent Price. Good stuff. Unfortunately, fine as he is, in the later flick Hickman would prove to have better chemistry with Frankie than he has here with Annette. The two are a far cry from the rapport of, say, Rick and Ilsa in "Casablanca."
Yes, Annette *is* there and much in evidence, but because of her condition she's on low mobility and mostly in close-ups. She seems to be less important to the bike race climax in this movie than she was in the skydiving or race cars of the previous outings.
However, Frankie and Annette proved they aren't necessary. The movie has lots of nearly-naked young people; and an extended role for Harvey Limbeck's biker, Eric von Zipper (be honest: hands up who watch these flicks more for von Zipper). The movie is full of music and I like the bikers' songs best.
This movie also has Mickey Rooney (overacting) and Brian Donleavy (a long way from "Beau Geste"). Len Lesser is an adequate replacement for Timothy Carey (though previous guest stars like Paul Lynde and Don Rickles are sorely missed).
While not as good as "Bikini Beach" or "Beach Blanket Bingo" (which is sort of the "Citizen Kane" of Beach movies) "How to Stuff a Wild Bikini" both signaled that genre was over (audiences do grow up and change in generations), and made a fitting capper to that "Beach Movie" trilogy (actually, they made more movies in the series than those three, but ignore them: only these three are worth your time).
So, overall, how does "How To Stuff A Wild Bikini" stack up, if I may phrase it like that? I wouldn't class it with "Star Wars," 'Lawrence of Arabia" or . . . Well, lots of other things, so I'll borrow a few words from Douglas Adams and say it's 'mostly harmless."
BTW, stay til the bitter end. The closing credits have some interesting music.
Meanwhile, Frankie's out of town, having a ball in short cameos on a Pacific island with nothing but beautiful women and Buster Keaton. I wouldn't mind that, myself.
How do you replace Frankie? Easy. Call for Dwayne Hickman (Dobie Gillis). He's a better actor, anyway. Avalon and Hickman would go on to co-star in the cult classic buddy movie "Doctor Goldfoot and His Bikini Machine" with Vincent Price. Good stuff. Unfortunately, fine as he is, in the later flick Hickman would prove to have better chemistry with Frankie than he has here with Annette. The two are a far cry from the rapport of, say, Rick and Ilsa in "Casablanca."
Yes, Annette *is* there and much in evidence, but because of her condition she's on low mobility and mostly in close-ups. She seems to be less important to the bike race climax in this movie than she was in the skydiving or race cars of the previous outings.
However, Frankie and Annette proved they aren't necessary. The movie has lots of nearly-naked young people; and an extended role for Harvey Limbeck's biker, Eric von Zipper (be honest: hands up who watch these flicks more for von Zipper). The movie is full of music and I like the bikers' songs best.
This movie also has Mickey Rooney (overacting) and Brian Donleavy (a long way from "Beau Geste"). Len Lesser is an adequate replacement for Timothy Carey (though previous guest stars like Paul Lynde and Don Rickles are sorely missed).
While not as good as "Bikini Beach" or "Beach Blanket Bingo" (which is sort of the "Citizen Kane" of Beach movies) "How to Stuff a Wild Bikini" both signaled that genre was over (audiences do grow up and change in generations), and made a fitting capper to that "Beach Movie" trilogy (actually, they made more movies in the series than those three, but ignore them: only these three are worth your time).
So, overall, how does "How To Stuff A Wild Bikini" stack up, if I may phrase it like that? I wouldn't class it with "Star Wars," 'Lawrence of Arabia" or . . . Well, lots of other things, so I'll borrow a few words from Douglas Adams and say it's 'mostly harmless."
BTW, stay til the bitter end. The closing credits have some interesting music.