Main Cast: Annette Funicello, Dwayne Hickman, Brian Donlevy, Harvey Lembeck, Beverly Adams, Buster Keaton
Release Year: 1965
Country: US
Run Time: 90 minutes
Plot
How to Stuff a Wild Bikini is considered to be the strangest of the "Beach Party" movies. Frankie (Frankie Avalon) is off in the navy, serving in the South Pacific, and nervous about all of the guys that will be hitting on Dee Dee (Annette Funicello) back at the beach. He makes a deal with an eccentric white witch doctor (Buster Keaton), who conjures up a woman named Cassandra (Beverly Adam) who is irresistible to all men, and she attracts all of the guys on the beach. But complications ensue when lunatic advertising man Mickey Rooney decides to try and make Cassandra a new national sex symbol, and she gets noticed by nutsy bike gang leader Erik Von Zipper (Harvey Lembeck), who vows to have her. With enough plot complications to rival A Midsummer Night's Dream, Wild Bikini is laced with satire and some surprisingly good music. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide
Review
For sheer in-joke references and pop-culture density, How to Stuff a Wild Bikini is the most rewarding entry in the entire "Beach Party" series. From the delightful Claymation opening credit sequence devised by Gumby-creator Art Clokey, one can tell that the producers were putting a little extra into this picture, probably because there was a lot less of both Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello onscreen than in prior films. Avalon, who was making other films at the time, is barely in it, except at the beginning and the end, and Funicello was several months pregnant at the time and director William Asher was doing his best to shoot around her condition. They made up for the two stars' relative non-appearances with a very busy, goofy plot that managed to satirize the advertising industry, early '60s youth culture, and even exploitation movies of this kind (Keaton looks at the camera after delivering some explanatory dialogue and says "And that's all the plot you're gonna get out of me!") The script and plot are also filled -- practically to the penultimate scene, a great comic cameo by Elizabeth Montgomery -- with lines and characterizations that were lifted right out of the television series Bewitched, no surprise since this movie was co-authored and directed by William Asher, the producer of Bewitched. The presence of Dwayne Hickman, TV's Dobie Gillis, in a prominent role, is also exploited to the fullest, even allowing the actor to address the camera (as in that television series). There are also some surprising bonuses in the music -- all good surf songs and girl-group numbers -- which are much better integrated into the plot than any of the earlier movies, advancing the story like a real musical rather than stopping it cold. Brian Wilson is on hand as an anonymous beach denizen, but the Kingsmen grab the onscreen musical glory with a superb punk number called "Give Her Lovin'." And in the middle is a line of dialogue -- "If you can't be with the girl you love, love the girl you're with" -- lifted in part from Finian's Rainbow, but anticipating Stephen Stills' pop-sexist anthem "Love the One You're With" by seven years. Anyone with a sharp eye or ear and a memory for the time will need a scorecard to sort it all out -- if they can stop chuckling long enough. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide
Jody McCrea - Bonehead; Mickey Rooney - Peachy Keane; John Ashley - Johnny; Marianne Gaba - Animal; Len Lesser - North Dakota Pete; Irene Tsu - Native Girl; Arthur Julian - Dr. Melamed; Bobbi Shaw - Khola Khola; Alberta Nelson - Puss; John Macchia - Rat Pack; Jerry Brutsche - Rat Pack; Bob Harvey - Rat Pack; Myrna Ross - Rat Pack; Sig Frohlich - Ad Man; Tom Quine - Ad Man; Hollis Morrison - Ad Men; George Boyce - Ad Man; Patti Chandler - Patti; Mike Nader - Mike; Luree Holmes - Beach Girls; Jo Collins - Beach Girls; Mary Hughes - Beach Girls; Ed Garner - Beach Boys; John Fain - Beach Boys; Mickey Dora - Beach Boys; Ned Wynn - Beach Boys; Ronnie Dayton - Beach Boy; Salli Sachse - Bookends; Marianne Gordon - Chickie; Sheila Stephenson - Secretary; Toni Harper - Barberette; Victoria Carroll - Shoe Shine Girl; Frankie Avalon - Frankie; Allen Fife - Rat Pack; Darryl Hickman; The Kingsmen - Themselves; Andy Romano - J.D.; Guy Hemric - Ad Man; Rick Jones; Brian Wilson - A Beachboy
Credit
Howard Campbell - Art Director, Jack Baker - Choreography, Anthony Carras - Co-producer, Richard Bruno - Costume Designer, William Asher - Director, Eve Newman - Editor, Les Baxter - Composer (Music Score), Guy Hemric - Songwriter, Jerry Styner - Songwriter, Floyd D.Crosby - Cinematographer, Samuel Z. Arkoff - Producer, James H. Nicholson - Producer, William Asher - Screenwriter, Leo Townsend - Screenwriter
The story begins with Frankie (Avalon) going to Tahiti on naval reserve duty. While cavorting with local girls, Frankie realizes that Dee Dee (Funicello) might be disloyal to him. When Frankie seeks help from a witch doctor (Buster Keaton), the witch doctor sends a sea beauty, Cassandra (Adams), to lure Ricky (Hickman), an advertising exec, away from Dee Dee. Upon Cassandra's arrival, the beach turns upside down, as all the surfers fall for her, an executive wants to make her a model, and Eric Von Zipper and his motorcycle gang add to the trouble.
Avalon's role was reportedly minimized as a "punishment" after he asked producers Arkoff and Nicholson for more money than they were willing to pay.[citation needed] Avalon appears on-screen for about six minutes. Avalon's small role could also be attributed to the fact that he was filming another AIP production, 1965'sSergeant Dead Head.[citation needed]
Annette Funicello was pregnant during shooting and was shot mostly wearing blousy tunics or with a prop in front of her (e.g., a bowl of popcorn, a bucket of Kentucky Fried Chicken).[1]
The film features the only big screen appearance by The Kingsmen, who performed "Give Her Lovin'".[1]
Elizabeth Montgomery made a cameo appearance as 'The Witches Witch' at the end of the film. Montgomery appeared in a parody of the character she played in Bewitched, which was also directed by her then-husband, William Asher, who also served as director on the film.[1]
Variety called it a "lightweight affair lacking the breeziness and substance of earlier entries."[2]
DVD release
In 2001, How to Stuff a Wild Bikini was released by MGM on Region 1 DVD.[3] Since its initial DVD release, the film has been included in two box sets, Frankie & Annette MGM Movie Legends Collection and Midnite Movies Double Feature, along with selected Beach Party films.[4][5]
