Foreshadowing Mike Nichol's "The Graduate", William Asher's "Bikini Beach" explores the angst of adolescent life in Southern California, though, perhaps, not quite as well as he already had in his outstanding "Muscle Beach Party" and "Beach Party". Written as a vehicle for the Beatles, this film also presages later classic Beatles films.
I did not see these films on their initial release because of my aversion to such popular fare—at the time. I suppose it seemed one-dimensional, though that word is possibly an anachronism. However, Martha Hyer is beautiful here and that provides sufficient dimensionality to see the film. The music is the weakest element.
Added later: I am not quite certain what to say about the Beach Party movies. I did not see them at the time of their release. I was quite serious about watching movies by that time and, for the most part, I would not have seen these movies; I am not certain that I would have even been particularly aware of them. During this time, I was exploring European modernist works. As for sex, my father had introduced me to Bardot movies around the time I was twelve, I think. Yet, these are not bad movies. They are much better than some Bob Hope comedies from that time, though without the witty dialogue one finds in the Hope films.
These movies appear often on the "this" network. I have now seen all of them, a least, in a glancing way. They seem to have provided many gifted people with some income. I suppose a film scholar would find some way to reveal something profound about our society from reviews of the films. The camera work never seems to enter the scene. We are always somehow aware not our not being within the frame or involved in what is happening.
The movies are not bad. They are trite in a way but not entirely mindless. The iconography might be the most important aspect of the films but that would require a long discourse I am not able to provide. They probably do not deserve a lot of attention but probably some attention.
The frantic dancing in most of them is the most dated part. I know that Ms. Funicello was a gifted dancer but you would not know that from these works. I would not have appreciated them when they were released but I was in the wrong demographic at that time.
No one was ever the way characters in the Beach Party films are. And I doubt anyone had fantasies that relate to these stories. But they seem to have done well and made money. They must have meant something so
I think that the films were on the edge of something that the Beatles finally did. The Beatles and the movie "The Knack". I have upgraded my rating. I do love Ms. Funicello. I suspect she had a latent talent for romantic comedy that might have flowered in a better world.
I agree with the positive train of reviews here.
I did not see these films on their initial release because of my aversion to such popular fare—at the time. I suppose it seemed one-dimensional, though that word is possibly an anachronism. However, Martha Hyer is beautiful here and that provides sufficient dimensionality to see the film. The music is the weakest element.
Added later: I am not quite certain what to say about the Beach Party movies. I did not see them at the time of their release. I was quite serious about watching movies by that time and, for the most part, I would not have seen these movies; I am not certain that I would have even been particularly aware of them. During this time, I was exploring European modernist works. As for sex, my father had introduced me to Bardot movies around the time I was twelve, I think. Yet, these are not bad movies. They are much better than some Bob Hope comedies from that time, though without the witty dialogue one finds in the Hope films.
These movies appear often on the "this" network. I have now seen all of them, a least, in a glancing way. They seem to have provided many gifted people with some income. I suppose a film scholar would find some way to reveal something profound about our society from reviews of the films. The camera work never seems to enter the scene. We are always somehow aware not our not being within the frame or involved in what is happening.
The movies are not bad. They are trite in a way but not entirely mindless. The iconography might be the most important aspect of the films but that would require a long discourse I am not able to provide. They probably do not deserve a lot of attention but probably some attention.
The frantic dancing in most of them is the most dated part. I know that Ms. Funicello was a gifted dancer but you would not know that from these works. I would not have appreciated them when they were released but I was in the wrong demographic at that time.
No one was ever the way characters in the Beach Party films are. And I doubt anyone had fantasies that relate to these stories. But they seem to have done well and made money. They must have meant something so
I think that the films were on the edge of something that the Beatles finally did. The Beatles and the movie "The Knack". I have upgraded my rating. I do love Ms. Funicello. I suspect she had a latent talent for romantic comedy that might have flowered in a better world.
I agree with the positive train of reviews here.