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Bikini Beach

Play trailer Poster for Bikini Beach Released Jul 22, 1964 1h 40m Musical Comedy Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
40% Tomatometer 5 Reviews 41% Popcornmeter 250+ Ratings
Dee Dee (Annette Funicello) and Frankie (Frankie Avalon) are primed to hit the beach for some fun in the sun. The only thing standing in the way of their good times is curmudgeonly developer Harvey Huntington Honeywagon (Keenan Wynn), who is intent on turning their teenage hotspot into a grazing ground for seniors. If that weren't bad enough, British rock 'n' roll singer Potato Bug (also Avalon) shows up to spark a summer romance with Frankie's main squeeze -- Dee Dee.
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Bikini Beach

Critics Reviews

View All (5) Critics Reviews
Eugene Archer New York Times A horrible juvenile comedy in which surfers fight cyclists and convert their elders to the pleasures of the bronzed physique. Rated: 1/5 Apr 2, 2012 Full Review Matt Brunson Film Frenzy You get a Famous Monsters of Filmland contest winner as a werewolf and Timothy Carey as the anti-Minnesota Fats, “South Dakota Slim.” Rated: 2.5/4 Jan 1, 2024 Full Review Tim Brayton Antagony & Ecstasy Bikini Beach isn't 'good'. It's just tremendously, wonderfully goofy. Rated: 6/10 Jul 19, 2013 Full Review David Cornelius Popcornworld If the first two Beach Party movies were anything goes, Bikini Beach is everything goes. Apr 3, 2013 Full Review TV Guide In an acting stretch, Frankie Avalon here plays both his usual surfing namesake and a vacationing mop-top English singer named the Potato Bug (the sort of British invader that sank Avalon's recording career)... Rated: 2/4 Apr 2, 2012 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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dave s Bikini Beach, yet another ‘beach' movie from American International, is pretty much the same as all of the others in the franchise. On the positive side of things, Annette Funicello and Frankie Avalon have a nice chemistry and are always fun to watch. The beach scenes are a bit silly, but you can't help but enjoy yourself when you watch a bunch of kids having a blast. And, to top it off, most of the songs, while totally forgettable, manage to be catchy. On the negative side, the plot (or, more accurately, plots) are so insignificant they are almost pointless. The secondary characters, including the idiotic, over-sized chimp, are generally annoying. The slapstick finale seems to go on forever and offers nothing in the way of laughs or entertainment value. And worst of all, Bikini Beach offers up what may be the most annoying character in the history of movies, the always cloying Eric Von Zipper. Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars 03/30/23 Full Review Audience Member Frankie and Annette hit the beach again. This time they are joined by millionaire Keenan Wynn who wants to prove that his pet monkey chimp is smarter than teenagers. There's also Timothy Carey as a scary dude, Boris Karloff in a cameo appearance, Little Stevie Wonder and series regulars Harvey Lembeck and Don Rickles. You can't really review these films separately. It's pretty hard to distinguish one from the other, so if you liked another one of the Beach Party films, you'll probably like this one too. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 01/31/23 Full Review Audience Member Classic. Parents liked these movies. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 01/31/23 Full Review Audience Member annette n frankie keep it going Rated 3 out of 5 stars 01/21/23 Full Review Audience Member The writer of this would be distaster needs to rethink everything put into this flim because not even alchole can make this film amazing,but there is still something there that makes it just slightly interesting. Maybe it's the cast, the music, or some combination, but it's hard to tell in all the predicatability and cliche lines. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 02/03/23 Full Review Audience Member This "Beach" movie has the worst plot of the series. It's still some fun to watch, but it's predictable and stupid, and my least favourite of the movies. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 01/22/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Bikini Beach

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Cast & Crew

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William Asher

Director

Frankie Avalon

Frankie

Annette Funicello

Dee Dee

Martha Hyer

Vivien Clements

John Ashley

Johnny

Don Rickles

Big Drag

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Bikini Beach

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Movie Info

Synopsis Dee Dee (Annette Funicello) and Frankie (Frankie Avalon) are primed to hit the beach for some fun in the sun. The only thing standing in the way of their good times is curmudgeonly developer Harvey Huntington Honeywagon (Keenan Wynn), who is intent on turning their teenage hotspot into a grazing ground for seniors. If that weren't bad enough, British rock 'n' roll singer Potato Bug (also Avalon) shows up to spark a summer romance with Frankie's main squeeze -- Dee Dee.
Director
William Asher
Producer
Samuel Z. Arkoff, James H. Nicholson, Anthony Carras
Screenwriter
William Asher, Leo Townsend, Robert Dillon
Distributor
American International Pictures
Production Co
American International Pictures (AIP)
Genre
Musical, Comedy
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Jul 22, 1964, Limited
Release Date (Streaming)
Apr 30, 2017
Runtime
1h 40m
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