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Undescribable Perfection

A different way of telling a story

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

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.

I taped this hoping to be something to show my high school video classics students. But while watching it, maybe I will call it "What NOT to watch as a classic". I think they made some better ones, than this one, I am just not sure which one those are. Annette was cute. Frankly is hot. It was fun to see some of the stars when they were so much younger. Buddy Hackett and Stevie Wonder, wow that was a while ago. I never did figure out who the girl in the white frilly dress was thou? I laughed at how silly it was at times. I then realized that this was the extent of comedy at that time. So all and all it was OK. I would not put it on my top 100 but it was fun to watch.

Despite lots of musclemen in the supporting cast, "Muscle Beach Party" could maybe use some steroids. The first follow-up to "Beach Party" is a bit lackluster and talky, and the pacing drags. Frankie (Frankie Avalon) and Dee Dee (Annette Funicello, no longer 'Dolores') feud over another woman who's out to snare the cocky surfer-boy (when Dee Dee tells Frankie how selfish he is and that all he ever does is 'take', the movie touches on some surprisingly prickly teen emotions). But the witty lines and funny repartee of "Beach Party" have mostly been replaced by wan slapstick and too many characters (and too much of Don Rickles). Candy Johnson does her version of dancing ("Man, she's really got the power!"), "Little" Stevie Wonder sings "Happy Street", and the surfing footage is fun, but Harvey Lembeck's Eric Von Zipper is AWOL (there wasn't room for him, what with Luciana Paluzzi as a millionairess, Buddy Hackett as her manager, and a dozen musclemen lining the beach). Annette is lovely singing forlornly as Frankie paddles out to sea, but she's far too patient with him (in one scene alone, he makes up with her, then drops her, then makes up again!). Not the strongest entry in the series, but with a few colorful compensations. **1/2 from ****

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.