Surprisingly incoherent and boring

Purely Joyful Movie!

Best movie ever!

A brilliant film that helped define a genre

Muscle Beach Party (1964) ** 1/2 (out of 4) Frankie (Frankie Avalon), Dee Dee (Annette Funicello) and the gang show up to their beach when they realize that a trainer (Ddon Rickles) has his muscle men training on it. Not only does the gang have to worry about this but rich girl Julie (Luciana Paluzzi) has her eyes set on Frankie.MUSCLE BEACH PARTY was the second film in the series and I honestly couldn't say if it was any better or worse than BEACH PARTY. It's clear that neither film is Oscar-worthy but both of them do a decent enough job appealing to the intended target. That target was of course teenagers spending their weekends at a local drive in.As with the first film, this one has a fairly simple plot, which gets a few simple laughs throughout the running time. Both Avalon and Funicello are good enough in their roles and while neither delivers an excellent performance they're at least appealing enough. Rickles brings some entertainment as the whistle-blowing coach and Paluzzi and John Ashley are good as well.MUSCLE BEACH PARTY isn't a masterpiece by any stretch of the imagination but it's a decent time killer for fans of the series.

DRIVE IN MOVIES, Saturday nights and American-International Pictures all contributed to the genesis of this particular genre of teen-age formula comedies. Extreme frugality, quick production schedules and the carefully calculated selection of casts, all made for an assured profit margin.THE CAST MEMBERS, in particular, were a very important commodity in the success of one of these productions. The rosters were a mixed bag of the over the hill and the up and coming. Comic relief was supplied by the likes of Buster Keaton, Buddy Hackett and Don Rickles; but not in the same film. That would only serve to bloat budgets.THE SERIES OF comedies featuring Annette Funicello and Frankie Avalon seemingly being eternally at the Beach,had essayed many a situation; when the idea struck someone that there could be a yet another installment of the Beach Saga. This time it would center on Muscle Beach and members of the Bodybuilding Fraternity.* AS FOR THE 'plot', we can only say that it's paper thin and exists to move the action to the next set-up of gags. So, It rapidly goes from huge, sandy dance ensembles, to surfing, bodybuilding and to the obligatory bad guys. Nothing really "Classic", but at least mildly amusing, albeit old and obvious.AS FOR THE handling of the Bodybuilding and its Practicioners, we must launch a formal protest.WHILE THE ATHLETIC Activity known as Competitive Bodybuilding would make a definite move toward the mainstream with PUMPINHG IRON (1977), in 1964 it was still viewed as being a sort of sub-culture phenomenon. It was even less understood than today, with the Bodybuilders' being categorized as narcissistic, homosexual, muscle bound beach athletes.THE HANDLING OF the participation weight men only added to any misconceptions that the public may have had. Moving mutely on command, the impression is that these strength athletes were intellectually the equivalent of a trained seal or that of a robot.NOTE: Paramount Pictures' BACK TO THE BEACH (Paramount, 1987) neatly parodies this "genre" and even stars Annette & Frankie; as well as a slough of Guest Stars.

This has to be the weakest entry in the entire series. Even though the muscle heads make great adversaries for our favorite beach bums they aren't as interesting as Eric Von Zipper and his gang, the Rats. The main story has been done a thousand times in many other pictures. Also, the music in this film isn't as good as it was. Dick Dale's scenes are a waste and the rest of the songs are just filler. One saving grace for this film is Don Rickles.He really is the one saving grace of this film. To me the next two films in the series, "Bikini Beach" and "Beach Blanket Bingo", were much better than this one. However, this film isn't as bad as the final Avalon/Funicello film in the series, "How to Stuff a Wild Bikini".

Perhaps unappreciated in its time, William Asher's 1964 saga about the tribulations of living jobless and care-free on California's sunny coast, surfing whenever "Surf's up," and dancing for no apparent reason at all (whether it be on the beach or in some restaurant), really captures teen angst during the sixties. Frankie Avalon shines as "Frankie," the glossy-haired, young, ambitious, and maybe a little naive, leader of the beach gang. His counterpart, "Dee Dee," played by Annette Funicello, gave an Oscar-caliber performance. Through a heartbreaking scene that opens with Frankie surfing at night, Dee Dee loses Frankie to an older, richer woman. During the entire film, when I wasn't laughing hysterically at the shear absurdity or chuckling over the image of a producer actually signing on to such golden garbage, I was cheering for Annette. Why Frankie ever decided to ditch his one true love is a mystery. Also noteworthy is Don Rickles' performance as a man-breeder, Buddy Hackett's role as the sensible accountant, and an introductory appearance by "Little" Stevie Wonder. This film comes highly recommended.