Muscle Beach Party [Blu-ray]

Director: William Asher William Asher

Overview

The Beach Party Gang meets a coterie of muscle-men who try to take over their spot on the beach in Muscle Beach Party. Surfing sensations Frankie (Frankie Avalon) and Dee Dee (Annette Funicello) have their security threatened when Flex Martian (Rock Stevens) and a collection of well-oiled weight-lifters invade their turf. While tensions heat up on the beach, wealthy contessa Julie (Luciana Paluzzi) arranges for her business manager S.Z. Matts (Buddy Hackett) to entice Flex into becoming the latest in her long line of boyfriends. Julie's feelings change when she meets Frankie, who, honored by Julie's amorous attentions, returns her affections, causing a rift not only between Dee Dee and himself, but a further collapse in relations between the surfers and the body-builders, which is assuaged only by the music of Dick Dale and the Del Tones and Little Stevie Wonder.

Product Details

Release Date:	02/17/2015
UPC:	0887090091008
Original Release:	1964
Rating:	NR
Source:	Olive
Language:	English
Time:	1:34:00
Sales rank:	5,832

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Frankie Avalon	Frankie
Annette Funicello	Dee Dee
Luciana Paluzzi	Julie
John Ashley	Johnny
Don Rickles	Jack Fanny
Peter Turgeon	Theodore
Jody McCrea	Deadhead
Dick Dale	Dick
Candy Johnson	Candy
Stevie Wonder	Himself
Morey Amsterdam	Cappy
Buddy Hackett	S.Z. Matts
Peter Lupus	Flex Martin
Dolores Wells	Sniffles
Donna Loren	Donna
Valora Noland	Animal
Alberta Nelson	Lisa
Amedee Chabot	Floe
Larry Scott	Biff,Muscle Man
Bob Seven	Rock
Dan Haggerty	Muscle Man,Riff
Steve Merjanian	Tug
Chester Yorton	Sulk
Gene Shuey	Mash
Gordon Cohn	Clod
Luree Holmes	Beach Girl
Laura Nicholson	Beach Girl
Lorie Summers	Beach Girl
Darlene Lucht	Beach Girl
Duane Ament	Beach Boy
Gary Usher	Beach Boy
Roger Christian	Beach Boy
Guy Hemric	Beach Boy
Mary Hughes	Surfer Girl
Kathy Kessler	Surfer Girl
Maureen O'Connor	Beach Girl
Salli Sachse	Surfer Girl
Linda Opie	Surfer Girl
Linda Benson	Surfer Girl
Patricia Rane	Surfer Girl
Butch Van Artsdalen	Surfer Boy
Mike Diffenderfer	Surfer Boy
Bill Graham	Surfer Boy
Charles Hasley	Surfer Boy
Duane King	Surfer Boy
Mike Nader	Surfer Boy
Ed Garner	Surfer Boy
John Fain	Surfer Boy
Mickey Dora	Surfer Boy
Peter Lorre	Mr. Strangdour
Larry Shaw	Surfer Boy

Technical Credits

William Asher	Director
Robert Dillon	Producer
James H. Nicholson	Producer

Editorial Reviews

American International's series of "beach" movies were among the most successful independent pictures of the 1960's, a fact which strikes many modern audiences as unbelievable. A staple of drive-in theatres, they basically existed merely to show Annette Funicello and Frankie Avalon in various swimming attire and to showcase a number of not-always-inspired musical sequences. Muscle Beach Party is typical of the series, evincing a strange mix of naivete and sexuality that nowadays provokes howls of derisive laughter. Adding to the extensive camp content is the presence of the body builders that give the film its title. Never taking itself too seriously (and how could it?), Muscle's script pays only lip service to its announced plot, preferring instead to serve as filler between numbers and as an excuse to showcase "hip" dialogue and to set up jokes that even at the time were shopworn. Avalon and Funicello are their usual selves; some will find them appealing, others appalling, but like the film itself, they simply are what they are. Luciana Paluzzi is on hand to add some spicy humor, and Buddy Hackett is actually pretty amusing. The score, some of which is performed by a young Stevie Wonder, includes Funicello's "classic" "A Girl Needs a Boy," as well as such typical fare as "Surfin' Woodie" and "Surfer's Holiday." For those with an appreciation for a certain style of camp, Muscle is a treasure trove, but even for those not tuned into that wave, it still is kind of fun.

All Movie Guide - Craig Butler