Directed by William Asher
Starring Annette Funicello, Dwayne Hickman, Brian Donlevy, Buster Keaton, Beverly Adams, Harvey Lembeck, John Ashley, Jody McCrea, Mickey Rooney, Len Lesser, Bobbi Shaw, Michele Carey, The Kingsmen, Frankie Avalon, Elizabeth Montgomery
Okay, so maybe the whole Beach Party thing was starting to run out of steam by the time they got around to How To Stuff A Wild Bikini (1965). But who cares? All the elements are in place, from Frankie and Annette to Eric Von Zipper (Harvey Lembeck) and Bonehead (Jody McCrea) to the later addition Buster Keaton (as Bwana in this one).
It’s plenty stupid and tons of Pathécolor, Panavision fun. And I’m so stoked that it’s making its way to Blu-Ray from the folks at Olive Films. They did a tremendous job bringing Muscle Beach Party (1964) and Beach Blanket Bingo (1965) to high definition — let’s hope they get around to Bikini Beach (1964). Coming (in off the curl) in late June.
I’d like to see a release of the last in the series, IT’S A BIKINI WORLD, because it hasn’t been released on home video at all.
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Ha! I did break this news several threads back,but as you never mentioned it
I just thought ,Boy Surfer that you were,had now outgrown these things.
Happy to see it’s not so,these things were very much of their time and
as such have some great 60’s culture value,plus as I mentioned previously,
and you so rightly note Pathecolor and Panavision to boot.
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The delay was due to workload, certainly not lack of interest! Bikini Beach is the one I’m dying to have in HD — it remains one of my all-time favorite films.
The one I’m getting really stoked about is This Island Earth. Its release date has been pushed back a bit, and if it’s because of a little scoop I got the other day, it will certainly be worth the wait.
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Ah, yes. The wonderful days of just good fun movies. All you had to say was Annette and Frankie and everyone, for the most part, knew who they were and Knew to expect silly fun with a lot of sand and skin.
In addition to the fifteen bikini girls, we get Buster Keaton, Mickey Rooney, and Brian Donlevy. Watch out for Peachy Keane(Mickey Rooney), surrounded by the bikini girls, when he asks Sue Williams her name.
Believe it or not there is a behind, or should I say, after the scenes mystery involving Sue Williams. IMDb tells us that she killed herself in 1969. Apparently not, because whoever provided the undocumented information had the wrong Sue Williams Hamilton.
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