by Stephen Vagg
The fourth and final part of a series on Beach Party movies examines the end of the cycle, and its legacy.
As mentioned in a previous piece in this series, movie studio AIP announced in late 1965 that its beach party cycle was essentially over – and this did prove to be the case. However, as for every movie, there were still a few interesting twists and turns to come before summer’s end.
Released in November 1965, Dr Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine was AIP’s attempt to mash up its two most popular genres to date: beach party musicals starring Frankie Avalon and Poe films starring Vincent Price. It also aimed to cash in on the James Bond spy craze, so essentially the movie was a triple threat.
The story for Goldfoot, written by none other than AIP’s co-founder, James H. Nicholson (under a pseudonym “James Hartford”), concerned villainous Dr Goldfoot (Vincent Price) and his sidekick Igor (Jack Mullaley, from TV’s My Living Doll); they have invented female robots to seduce and marry rich men, then steal their fortune.
Goldfoot’s best robot (Susan Hart) nabs one of the richest men in the world (Dwayne Hickman) only to be thwarted by a bumbling secret agent (Frankie Avalon).
Let’s give Nicholson his due: this is a fun story, offering plenty of chances for jokes, silliness, songs, and women in bikinis: the archetypal AIP beach party format. Louis Heyward, who worked on the film as an executive and writer, suggested unkindly that Nicholson devised the movie in part so that he could provide a decent but not challenging role for Hart, who he was dating at the time (and would soon marry).
The script, originally called Dr Goldfoot and the Sex Machine, was written by Robert Kaufman, who’d done Ski Party for AIP, which established Hickman and Avalon as a sturdy double act (indeed, Dr Goldfoot uses the same character names as the ones they used in Ski Party, only flipped). William Asher, who directed most of the Beach Party movies, was originally announced for Goldfoot but he was replaced by Norman Taurog, who’d just made Sergeant Deadhead for AIP with Avalon. Taurog brought in Ellwood Ullman to rewrite the script; Heyward says he had a pass at it too.
The budget was reportedly over $1 million, high for an AIP picture. The film was originally envisioned as a musical, but it was eventually decided to jettison the numbers. We’re not sure if they were filmed or if this happened at script stage – accounts vary. This frustrated Price, but it was the right decision… musical numbers would have slowed down the action too much.
I love Dr Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine. I know it’s dumb, and silly, and I’m loathe to recommend the movie to anyone, but for me, it works. Unlike Sergeant Deadhead, it feels tonally consistent and sure of itself. It’s bright and colourful, with location shooting in San Francisco (a city that always looks great on film), and is jam-packed full of gags, including a glorious Mack Sennett-style chase at the end that tops the one in Beach Blanket Bingo.
The opening title tune, sung by The Supremes, is catchy, and the casting is perfect: Vincent Price is having the time of his life, Jack Mullaley matches him in camp sniggers, Hart is an effective straight robot (unexpectedly sympathetic in scenes where Price and Mullaley bully her), and Avalon and Hickman have a marvellous double act.
The film is essentially a story of the Hickman-Avalon bromance (they meet, fall in “love”, and even go off into the sunset together), giving it an emotional core. There’s also a skilled performance from the ever-reliable Fred Clarke (as Avalon’s uncle).
Best of all are the AIP in-jokes. Dr Goldfoot has cameos from other AIP stars, including two Beach Party stalwarts – Annette Funicello and Harvey Lembeck – plus newer names Deborah Walley (Ski Party, Beach Blanket Bingo, Sergeant Deadhead) and Aron Kincaid (Ski Party). Goldfoot’s house is laid out like it’s in a Poe movie, complete with a torture chamber; there’s also a “coming soon” ad at the end for a new AIP film The Girl in the Glass Bikini (which was never made).
To promote the film, AIP made a half hour special for television called The Wild Weird World of Dr Goldfoot, which features Price, Hart, Lembeck (in the Jack Mullaney role), Kincaid, and occasional AIP star Tommy Kirk. There are a few songs in it, presumably written for the original movie, so Price did get to appear in an AIP musical after all. (Aside: around this time AIP announced it would make Robinhood Jones, a musical spoof based on the Robin Hood legends. Various studio stars were linked with it including Price, Avalon, Basil Rathbone and Aron Kincaid but it was never made. The idea sounds fun, but AIP were probably too gun-shy about musicals after Sergeant Deadhead to give it a go.)
AIP always hoped Dr Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine would result in a franchise – a sequel, Dr Goldfoot for President, was announced during filming – and though it was no Bikini Beach at the box office, the movie did well enough for a follow-up to eventuate. Dr Goldfoot and the Girl Bombs was shot in Italy, and cross-pollinated Goldfoot with an Italian comedy duo, Franco and Ciccio; Vincent Price returned but Frankie Avalon was unavailable and thus replaced by fellow Philadelphian pop star Fabian, who had just signed a long-term contract with AIP; Susan Hart and Jack Mullaney did not come back, which was a mistake. The film – directed by Mario Bava – is a mess. Tim Lucas’ definitive biography of Bava is the one to read if you want to know more.
The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini, released in 1966, began life as Pajama Party in the Haunted House, a follow-up to Pajama Party, discussed in part two of this series. It features Hervey Lembeck as Eric Von Zipper, so clearly takes place in the AIP Beach Party Universe, but the original Beach Party gang was mostly absent – no Frankie, Annette, John Ashley, Donna Loren, or Jody McCrea (although all were linked with the film at times). For a while, Paul Petersen, from The Donna Reed Show, was pencilled in as the lead, but he dropped out and replaced by Tommy Kirk. There were other old AIP faces in addition to Lembeck – Deborah Walley, Aron Kincaid, Nancy Sinatra, Bobbi Shaw. No Buster Keaton, he was off working in Europe, but Benny Rubin basically played Keaton, while Kincaid basically played Jody McCrea, Patsy White basically played Elsa Lanchester, and Piccola Pupa basically played Donna Loren.
According to Louis M. Heyward, when the movie finished shooting, the result was “unreleasable”, so AIP added an extra subplot plot where ghost Boris Karloff sends in ghost Susan Hart (who wears an invisible bikini) to intervene on the action. It was probably the right decision: beach party movies needed about six plots going on.
I can’t call Ghost in the Invisible Bikini a good movie by any stretch of the imagination, but it’s endearing in its goofiness – Nancy Sinatra sings “Geronimo”, it’s always fun to see Boris Karloff and Basil Rathbone (who plays the main villain), Quinn O’Hara is terrific as a short-sighted vixen constantly seducing statues thinking that they’re men, a small role is given to former silent star Francis X Bushman (it was very sweet how AIP gave all these jobs to old-timers), there’s a climax with Walley tied to a buzzsaw, the band is The Bobby Fuller Four; and the notion of this bus of kids, who drive around the countryside and stay at places where they dance at the drop of the hat for no reason other than to have a good time, is cute.
Aron Kincaid later recalled that a crew member died on set during filming – this had happened on Dr Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine as well (a crew member collapsed in the heat and plunged to his death). He thought this cursed Ghost in the Invisible Bikini, as six cast members were soon dead. It may be hyperbole on Kincaid’s part, but in fact, a number of actors associated with the film would not survive the 1960s – some because of old age (Francis X Bushman, Basil Rathbone, Boris Karloff), but others tragically young (Bobby Fuller, Phil Bent, Sue Hamilton, John Macchia). According to Variety, the film made $2 million which isn’t nothing, but AIP still called time on the series.
The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini was its last official Beach Party movie.
Studios other than AIP tried to keep the momentum going. Lew Wasserman at Universal was so impressed with Beach Ball (discussed in part three) that he signed the producer and director to a two-picture deal. This resulted in Wild Wild Winter and Out of Sight. Wild Wild Winter has basically the same story as Beach Ball, only set in a ski lodge and is fun and light. Out of Sight is far less successful – an attempt to combine beach movies with a spy spoof, it’s over-reliant on the charms of star Jonathan Daly, although I did like the three female assassins. (Daly was part of a comedy duo with Ken Delo that was popular in Australia – so much, they even had their own program, The Delo and Daly Show).
Roger Corman, who had financed Beach Ball, invested in a second beach party movie, It’s a Bikini World. This starred AIP/Disney alumni Tommy Kirk and Deborah Walley and features brazen rip-offs of Beach Party characters Deadhead (Bobby Pickett) and Big Daddy (Sid Haig). The film was directed by Corman’s protégé, Stephanie Rothman, making it the only Beach Party movie from a woman. It’s a Bikini World has some fun moments – and, once more, some terrific music, including The Animals – but lacks a few subplots. Shot in 1965, it wasn’t seen until 1967.
Kirk also appeared in Crown International’s Catalina Caper, which blended beach action with mystery. It’s not bad, kind of like a Disney film. There were a number of other low budget independent beach party movies around this time, like One Way Wahine and Daytona Beach Weekend. One I have seen is Ski Fever, a “beach party on the ski slopes” movie from Europe with American stars (Claudia Martin, Martin Milner) and a German-American director (horror specialist Curt Siodmak!). There’s some flirting, songs (sung in a German accent), a lot of skiing.
AIP didn’t abandon Beach Party movies entirely in 1966. Fireball 500 is one of the most transitional films you’ll see – it’s stuffed full of Beach Party elements like William Asher, Frankie Avalon, Annette Funicello, Harvey Lembeck, songs, and a Claymation credit sequence… only the story is set in the world of stock car racing. Fireball 500 is a conscious attempt to evolve the beach party style into a new genre – Avalon has sex, Funicello’s now with Fabian not Frankie (although the latter pursues her), there is a serious plot where people die… while the characters still periodically break out into song. Harvey Lembeck is very good in a serious role – actually, everyone is, and the film isn’t bad, it’s just that the mixture of cars, serious drama and musical numbers does not entirely work.
AIP announced Asher would direct Avalon, Fabian and Funicello in a film called The Hatfields and McCoys but it was never made, despite being on AIP’s schedule for years. Asher and AIP parted ways – after Fireball 500, the director didn’t make another feature until 1981, although he remained very active in television. As pointed out by Mark McGee in his history of AIP, if any one figure was responsible for Beach Party movies, it was William Asher.
Fabian and Annette went into another stock car film Thunder Alley (1967), a stronger work than Fireball 500, because it’s more stylistically coherent. The soundtrack is a complete banger. Thunder Alley was it for AIP and Annette Funicello – she basically retired from performing to focus on being a mother. Avalon saw out his AIP contract with The Million Eyes of Sumuru and The Haunted House of Horror; Fabian did The Wild Racers, Maryjane and Bullet for a Pretty Boy. After this, Fabian, Frankie and Annette essentially became “nostalgia stars” for the rest of their careers.
What killed the beach party movie for good at AIP was the success the studio had in 1966 with The Wild Angels. This Roger Corman-directed look at The Hell’s Angels – starring Beach Party alumni Nancy Sinatra – was a monster box office success, launching the biker cycle.
AIP started heavily investing in teen rebellion pictures – The Trip, Wild in the Streets, Three in the Attic, etc. The Poe film cycle came back (eg The Witchfinder General) but never beach party movies. Other studios occasionally dipped their toes in the water, if you’ll forgive the pun, with efforts such as Don’t Make Waves with Tony Curtis and Sharon Tate, and The Sweet Ride with Jacquline Bisset, but none of these sparked a revival.
James H. Nicholson left AIP in 1971; he signed a deal with 20th Century Fox for whom he made The Legend of Hell House before he died of a brain tumour in 1972. Arkoff ran AIP until he merged the studio with Filmways; the association was unhappy, and Arkoff resigned in December 1979. Arkoff made a few films as an independent producer, notably Q: The Winged Serpent and Up the Creek, but never quite got his old groove back; he died in 2001.
I am surprised that Sam Arkoff never tried again with the beach party movies in the 1970s. The movies depended on so many elements unique to their time – ‘50s pop stars, Hollywood veterans, love of silent era comedy, musical guest acts, anarchic comedy and in-jokes, not to mention being musicals: the bottom dropped out of the lower budgeted musical market in the late 1960s.
However, the films never stopped playing on television, earning such a devoted following that Frankie and Annette starred in Back to the Beach (1987), directed by Australia’ s own Lyndell Hobbs. Because the studio that financed it – Paramount – did not own the rights to AIP’s back catalogue, the film became more a general ‘60s nostalgia trip than a specific beach party movie. It has some enjoyable moments like Annette singing ‘Jamaica Ska’.
The influence of the films has lingered in ways – John Carpenter wrote a beach movie, Zuma Beach (1978) (although that’s more of a drama); horror and beach party shenanigans were mixed on Surf 2 (1984) and Psycho Beach Party (2000); and Disney paid homage with Teen Beach Movie (2013).
Could you make a beach party movie today? You definitely could do a Gidget/Where the Boys Are style story – these still pop up on a semi-regular basis. It’s harder to do in the style of AIP’s Beach Party instalments with their meta nature, songs, cartoon anarchy, multi-generation appeal, and five to seven plotlines. But it can be done – the ones that come closest are Bollywood musicals and/or Disney musicals made for the Disney Channel like the Descendents and Zombies franchises. They are very much in the spirit of what went down on Malibu Beach circa 1964. That’s the way to keep Beach Party alive – don’t try to recreate the un-recreatable… embrace the spirit.
Kowabunga!
