As Good As It Gets

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

The first must-see film of the year.

A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

As Annette Funicello (as Connie) and the "Beach Party" gang strip into their bathing suits for a pool party, outer-worldly Tommy Kirk (as Go Go) dons a movie usher's uniform; then, he is transported to Earth. Mr. Kirk's mission is to prepare Earth for an invasion of Martians. He is sent to dresser Elsa Lanchester (as Aunt Wendy)'s home. Ms. Lanchester thinks young Kirk belongs on the beach. She renames him "George", and sends him out, in tight blue trunks, to have fun in the sun. On the beach, Kirk meets Ms. Funicello, and romance ensues… Not the best of the run, as it's missing some essentials; but, American International's "Pajama Party" is probably the series' sexiest entry. The cast is more often featured in swimwear than bedclothes, you should note. And, with the exception of Funicello, the cast is in their hottest beach attire. The exceptional Funicello shows off her assets in pink nightwear, during her "Stuffed Animal" song performance; and, she gets a dance number, too.Probably due to scheduling conflicts, it appears Frankie Avalon's role was moved over to Jody McCrea; and, Mr. Avalon appears in dubbed voice-over and cameo only. At one point, it's suggested that Kirk is borrowing Funicello boyfriend McCrea's clothes, which would have been believable with Avalon, but not the much larger McCrea. Other regulars get more to do, too, like Buster Keaton, Donna Loren, and Mike Nader. The cameos are way cool; like "My name is Dorothy" Kilgallen as a fun motorcycle mama.While the Frankie/Annette dynamic is missing; Kirk is a worthy substitute, and his meeting Funicello on the beach is a delight. Watch as Kirk explains how well-versed he is on Earth, mentioning, "George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Mickey Mantle, Frankie Avalon…" and, he tells Funicello, "You have a well-rounded…" By the film's end, his unfinished phrase can be filled in. **** Pajama Party (1964) Don Weis ~ Tommy Kirk, Annette Funicello, Buster Keaton

Walt Disney refugees Annette Funicello and Tommy Kirk star in this Beach Party sequel where you can tell by the title, the action moves in doors. No, not that kind of action, we were still under the influence of the Code.These plots almost defy description but Tommy Kirk is a Martian teenager named Gogo which seems like a perfectly good name to use in the California beach environment. Nevertheless when he teleports to Elsa Lanchester's house, she greets him with Gracie Allen type blasé and renames him George. She likes him better than her late husband's nephew Jody McCrea who cares about volleyball more than women and that's putting a crimp into a relationship with Annette.Add to this a trio of con-men living next door who know Elsa keeps her money, not in banks played by Jesse White, Ben Lessy, and Buster Keaton in an Indian suit. And of course Harvey Lembeck and his brain dead motorcycle gang and you've got a Beach Party film.Frankie Avalon appears here too, but only to communicate with Kirk with Don Rickles playing Avalon's assistant. Dorothy Lamour is here to, a women familiar enough with beach settings in her films as Lanchester's dress shop manager. Lanchester's only weakness is operating a dress shop where she sells the latest trendy teen styles at a loss.It's kind of fun to laugh at how dumb the Beach Party films are, but their enduring popularity is proved out by Baywatch and its long run in the Eighties and Nineties. And I'm sure we'll see something similar in the next generation.But this one will not tax the brain cells too much.

While none of them would qualify as brilliant film-making, this is easily the best of the drive-in "beach" movies produced by American International Pictures between 1963-67. This is the only beach movie I've ever sat all the way through without looking at my watch, and the IMDb rating of 3.0 it has as of today's date is unduly harsh.One of the reasons Pajama Party is more enjoyable than the rest is the absence of Frankie Avalon. We only see the back of his head throughout the film, his character only being revealed in the closing segment. For once, Annette (I believe her character is called Connie is this particular outing) is not subjected to Frankie's rather sexist treatment; in the other films he expects her to be chaste and faithful to him alone while he looks at other women and studiously avoids any kind of committed relationship until the finale'. In Pajama Party, the Frankie character has never existed, and Connie instead falls in love with Go-Go, with the biggest obstacle in their relationship presented by the fact that Go-Go is a Martian sent on a scouting mission to precede the invasion of earth by Don Rickles and some other Martians up to no good. Tommy Kirk does pretty well with the awfully shallow part of Go-Go, his only weak point being the unfortunate ballad he has to sing in the convertible with Connie (driving down the highway with the top down, yet there is no wind or noise…!).The entertainment value in these films today is their ability to provide us with escape into an easier, more innocent time. Those of you familiar with my Mrs. Astor reviews here on IMDb know this is usually my primary objective with any old movie. This film is one non-stop romp through an endless carefree teenage summer. The kids must fight for their right to party against invading Martians, con-artists, and of course quasi-Nazi Erick von Zipper and his Rat Pack, who in this film are outraged that the teens have left footprints on "their" beach (our writers must be running out of reasons to justify Von Zipper's existence by this point).Guest stars Dorothy Lamour and Buster Keaton add much to the movie. Ms. Lamour is wonderful as the manager of the local dress shop. Mr. Keaton frequently appears in these films as an Indian, he has a brilliant scene here with the perfume counter girl, which can be attributed more to his fifty years of comedic work than any fit of genius that might have been borne by the writers of 1960's beach movies. The real spark of life in Pajama Party is brought by guest star Elsa Lanchester, always an absurd delight, here she is the aunt of the Jody McCrea character…he's always named Chunk or Hunk or Junk, in this one he's named Lunk. Our third set of bad guys, headed by the Maytag Repairman, are out to steal Aunt Wendy's millions, and she is a delightful airhead who manages to continually foil their plots without ever really being aware of their presence.The film is further populated by the usual band of teens, all of the American International beach films have more or less the same cast, including Donna Loren, a singer far more talented than the material she is given, and Candy Johnson, who must surely be the most violent go-go dancer in the history of the world.TRIVIA NOTE: It's interesting how a bit of trivia can get out into the movie fan community and be repeated by dozens of folk who apparently don't verify it first. While numerous sources credit Teri Garr's first movie appearance as being in the 1968 film "Head" starring The Monkees, she does in fact appear in 1964's Pajama Party. I recently heard TCM Host Ben Mankowitz state that Ms. Garr "appears just to the right of Annette Funicello in every major scene", a comment that I have also seen repeated verbatim on other IMDb reviews. Interesting, but untrue. Ms. Garr plays the second model in the fashion show sequence (which begins approximately 37 minutes into the film), but the character of Connie does not even arrive at the dress shop until the fashion show is over. Teri Garr can be seen dancing to Annette's right in the final musical number, Pajama Party, but this is hardly "appearing to Annette's right in every scene of the movie". You may also spot Toni Basil. She is the girl in the red bikini in the first dance sequence, and the girl in the silver bikini at the fashion show. Slow it down, you can tell it's her pretty easy by the shape of her face. In summation, if you're interested in beach movies or just want some fun post-Camelot escapist entertainment, Pajama Party is the best of the lot. It will keep you smiling and tapping your foot and rooting for those clean wholesome kids. I wished I could just hop into my giant yellow convertible and tool down to the beach for the summer without a care in the world.

"Beach Blanket Bingo" reigns as the best of AIP's "Beach Party" series, but "Pajama Party" takes the runner-up spot. True, there's no Frankie, but Tommy Kirk does fine as a teenaged alien trying to understand the ways of Earthlings (the plot was obviously inspired by "Visit to a Small Planet"). Annette has one of her best songs with the hilarious "Stuffed Animals" number. The often under-used Susan Hart looks terrific, especially when her dancing causes a toy volcano to erupt. In short, "Pajama Party" is a very entertaining piece of nostalgia. It's a shame that Tommy Kirk and Susan Hart were both wasted in the later lame series entry "Ghost in the Invisible Bikini".