Watching movies like this today makes me realize I didn't miss anything by not catching them back in the day. I wouldn't have quite been a teenager yet when this film originally came out, but I would have considered it Harvey Lembeck stupid just the same.
Interestingly, this is the second movie in a row I've watched in which Kirk Douglas's dimple was brought up as a topic of conversation. The other one was "The War Wagon" in which Douglas appeared, explaining facetiously how he got it - he slept with his chin resting on a ring. So if it ever comes up in a trivia contest, now you know.
Prior to this film's showing on it's latest Turner Classic broadcast, Roger Corman offered his theory on why these beach movies were so popular in the Sixties - to please the kids, you had to infuriate the adults. With the hindsight of half a century, it doesn't seem to me that the teens in the film were all that rebellious; they were just out to have some fun. Although Professor Sutwell (Bob Cummings) had his own theory as well - the antics of the young men and women dancing on the beach were a 'definite jungle perversion'! Good grief.
Well I've seen a few of these beach films now, 1964's "Muscle Beach Party" and 1965's "Beach Blanket Bingo", and for me, picking a favorite would be a moot point. This one though, which jump started the genre is the one I think that has cured me from tuning into any more. I know I'm in the minority here, but hey, to each his own. My quest for nostalgia goes only so far.
Interestingly, this is the second movie in a row I've watched in which Kirk Douglas's dimple was brought up as a topic of conversation. The other one was "The War Wagon" in which Douglas appeared, explaining facetiously how he got it - he slept with his chin resting on a ring. So if it ever comes up in a trivia contest, now you know.
Prior to this film's showing on it's latest Turner Classic broadcast, Roger Corman offered his theory on why these beach movies were so popular in the Sixties - to please the kids, you had to infuriate the adults. With the hindsight of half a century, it doesn't seem to me that the teens in the film were all that rebellious; they were just out to have some fun. Although Professor Sutwell (Bob Cummings) had his own theory as well - the antics of the young men and women dancing on the beach were a 'definite jungle perversion'! Good grief.
Well I've seen a few of these beach films now, 1964's "Muscle Beach Party" and 1965's "Beach Blanket Bingo", and for me, picking a favorite would be a moot point. This one though, which jump started the genre is the one I think that has cured me from tuning into any more. I know I'm in the minority here, but hey, to each his own. My quest for nostalgia goes only so far.