Ski Party (1965)

American International Pictures must have thought that if teenagers would flock to theaters to see Frankie Avalon at the beach, they’d happily watch him having fun in the mountains, and they weren’t wrong. Ski Party, released in 1965, was the snow-covered sibling of the sun-drenched Beach Party films. The Malibu shoreline was replaced with the frosty slopes of Sun Valley but, other than that, every zany ounce of the AIP teen-movie formula was kept intact from the jealous misunderstandings to the pop tune interludes to the inevitable “boys learn their lesson” finale. Like the Beach Party films, it's an unabashedly corny teen romp, but Ski Party is so dyed‑in‑the‑wool goofy that resisting its charm becomes downright impossible after a viewing or two. Or three. Or five. Honestly, this film gets more amusing each time we watch it!

Todd (Frankie Avalon) and his best pal Craig (Dwayne Hickman) are baffled by the eternal mystery of what girls want. Their girlfriends, the bubbly Linda (Deborah Walley) and the stylish Barbara (Yvonne Craig), seem to fall for the charms of the swaggering jock Freddie (Aron Kincaid). When Freddie's ski club and the girls all head to Sun Valley for the weekend, Todd and Craig decide to trade the sand for snow to make sure Freddie doesn't steal their sweethearts and to study the mysterious ways of the opposite sex. 

At the resort, Freddie swooshes down the slopes with the grace of a snowbound Apollo, so Todd and Craig decide that if they master the rudiments of skiing, it's a cinch that the girls will flock around them, just like they do with Freddie. Their plan? To disguise themselves as girls to infiltrate the female ski class. Donning floppy wigs and falsetto voices, they become British co-eds "Jane" and "Nora". Naturally, no one questions why Frankie Avalon in a wig still looks exactly like Frankie Avalon in a wig. Complications arise for the two Casanova wannabes when Freddie falls for "Nora" and Barbara gets jealous of Craig's attention to "Jane". 

Ski Party was allotted a larger budget than the Beach Party films and the usual director William Asher (known for his TV work) was replaced with Alan Rafkin (The Ghost and Mr. Chicken), an experienced comedy film director. His direction - and the better script - made Ski Party one of the most entertaining entries in the series. Plus, there was the added bonus of the beautiful location filming at Sawtooth National Forest and the Sun Valley Resort in Sun Valley, Idaho. 

While Annette Funicello's presence is missed (she has a brief cameo in the film), Dwayne Hickman more than makes up for her absence. Television's "Dobie Gillis" was a natural comic and he should have appeared in more of the Beach films in place of the wacky Harvey Lembeck. 

"And so we see the male becomes the most romantic between the ages of 17 and 19." - Professor Sonya Roberts (Annette)

[Sound of chalk on a chalkboard] "It sounds like my mating call." - Todd

"Mine's much noisier." - Craig

Ski Party also boasts some good musical breaks including Leslie Gore singing the catchy "Sunshine, Lollipops and Rainbows" on the bus enroute to the lodge, James Brown and the Famous Flames appearing as a ski patrol and singing "I Feel Good" and Frankie Avalon bopping with "Lots More Where That Came From" and "Painting the Town". 

Ski Party is definitely juvenile fare with lots of teenage hijinks but it's a fun winter romp so brightly colored and so shamelessly goofy that it becomes more endearing with each viewing.

Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea ( 1961 )

"Dive! Dive!"

Film producer/director Irwin Allen let audiences dive deep into the waters of adventure with Voyage of the Bottom of the Sea, his second of three feature films that he made at 20th Century Fox studios in the early 1960s. Prior to gaining a reputation as "The Master of Disaster" because of his disaster-themed films of the 1970s, Allen tried his hand at writing, producing and directing adventure pictures. His first production for Fox - Lost World ( 1960 ) - was co-written by Charles Bennett and its success at the box-office led to the two men collaborating on another Jules Vernes-like story. They took some inspiration from "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" and created a clever story about a modern era atomic submarine 

Walter Pidgeon stars as the cigar-chomping Admiral Nelson, inventor and commander of the newly-built atomic sub Seaview. The Seaview is on diving trials in the Arctic Ocean when they discover boulder-size pieces of ice crashing into the sea around them. They surface and find that temperatures are over 100 degrees and the sky is aflame. A meteor shower had pierced the Van Allen radiation belt and caused it to catch on fire. Admiral Nelson and his right-hand man, Commodore Emery ( Peter Lorre ) believe that the Earth can be saved from burn-up if a missile were to be shot into the Van Allen belt to create an explosion. According to their calculations, this missile can only be launched from the Mariana Islands, and so the Seaview races to the south to reach the islands before the entire world burns. 

Along for the ride is Dr. Susan Hiller ( Joan Fontaine ), a psychologist who is studying crews for their reaction to stress, Vice-Admiral B.J. Crawford ( John Litel ), and Congressman Parker ( Howard McNear ). The voyage progresses smoothly until doubts begin to arise in the mind of Captain Lee Crane ( Robert Sterling ) as to whether the admiral is making a sound and safe decision. Lt. Connors ( Barbara Eden ) has complete faith in the admiral but cannot explain the unusual happenings onboard the Seaview...acts of sabotage that appear to be of Admiral Nelson's doing. 

Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea is a fun adventure flick packed with action. The race-against-time element makes the story exciting enough, but Allen threw in a touch of mystery with the added story of the saboteur. There are also two octopus attacks and a great mine-field sequence. 

The Van Allen radiation belts had only recently been discovered when Irwin Allen began writing Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, and so much about them was still unknown. The idea of the Van Allen belt catching on fire was later proven to be impossible, but at the time, it probably sent shivers down audiences thinking about it being an actual possibility. 

Even though most of the film takes place within the confines of the Seaview, the film never feels stagebound. The sets, created by Herman Blumenthal, were very imaginative ( they were later reused for the television series ). The Seaview itself is an especially good design. 

Irwin Allen plunged $1.5 million dollars into the making of Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea and it paid off handsomely. Critics gave the picture mixed reviews but audiences loved it and the movie raked in over $8 million dollars. 

Teen singing-sensation Frankie Avalon helped to lure in the young female audience. His part was not very dramatic and, surprisingly, he didn't sing in the film but you can hear his voice crooning the opening credits. 

Also in the cast was Michael Ansara ( who fell in love with and married Eden after making the movie ), Regis Toomey, Henry Daniell, Skip Ward and Mark Slade. 

Back to the Beach ( 1987 )

Speakeasy and Silver Screenings have kicked off the cowabunga Beach Party Blogathon over at their sites and we staked our claim of hot turf with Back to the Beach ( 1988 ), one of the best of the Frankie Avalon beach party films which included Beach Party ( 1963 ), Bikini Beach ( 1964 ), Muscle Beach Party ( 1964 ), Beach Blanket Bingo ( 1965 ), and How to Stuff a Wild Bikini ( 1965 ). In most of the films, Frankie portrayed a young surfer who had to continually create schemes to protect his gal Dee-Dee ( Annette Funicello ) from other surfing suitors. They were zany teen films to be sure and Back to the Beach fits right in among them even though it was released 22 years after the last beach film. James Komack ( The Courtship of Eddie's Father ) dreamed up a plot as wild as the originals, this time telling the story of what happens to surfers after they curl their last wave. 

It was fairly easy for the audience to guess that Frankie and Dee-Dee tied the knot after their flings in the California sun. As their punk son Bobby explains in the beginning of the film: 

"25 years ago my parents were the most popular teenagers in America. It's true. My dad was a teen idol. Girls threw themselves at him, but it being 1962, he had to throw them back. When dad wasn't singing he spent his life on a surfboard. They called him the Big Kahuna. When I was born my dad wanted to call me the little Kahuna - luckily he settled for Bobby. As for mom, she joined that strange cult called the Mouseketeers. She became the first pin-up queen for boys under twelve. Anyway, they got married and moved to Ohio right after the accident....20 years ago, while surfing, this humongous wave knocked the Kahuna right out of dad and he's never been the same since. The closest he gets to the water now is to play the surf king in order to sell cars on TV. Yep, the Big Kahuna now owns Friendly Ford, the largest dealership in Ohio". 

Eventually, Frankie finds himself stressed out with work and the family decides to take a vacation in Hawaii. En route they make a stop in Los Angeles to check on their grown daughter Sandi, portrayed by Lori Laughlin ( Full House ) in a Kim MacAfee style role. While in LA, Frankie meets up with his former flame Connie ( Connie Stevens ) and the old Beach Party jealousy plot shifts into gear once again. 

What makes this beach bash so entertaining are all of the references to past films and Frankie and Annette's careers. It becomes a nostalgic - and highly amusing - look at the old California beach cult. To entice youngsters, the film explodes with New Wave color and characters. There is a sub-plot aimed at teens involving Sandi and her fiancee ( Tommy Hinkley ) who are shacking up on the pier, and one for the kids with Bobby getting himself initiated into a leather-clad surf gang. Also, Frankie has to take to the waves once again to prove that he isn't clucked and is still the true King of the Surf. 

"He'll be back. I know that in my heart."  - Annette
"You know, you're awful sweet Mom" - Bobby
"And then I'll make him suffer." - Annette

Great guest stars include Don Adams as the harbor patrol master, Bob Denver and Alan Hale Jr. reprising their Gilligan's Island roles, Ed "Kookie" Byrnes ( still valeting ), Barbara Billingsly, Tony Dow, and Jerry Mathers.

The film also features some hip-swinging musical numbers. Dick Dale and at least two of the Del Tones make an appearance performing "California Sun" with Frankie and "Pipeline" as a duet with Stevie Ray Vaughn; Pee-Wee Herman goes wild with the "Bird is the Word", and Annette gets to sing the best number - "Jamaica Ska" - along with Airhead. 

Back to the Beach was released on August 7, 1987, and was received with mild reception at the box office. Annette Funicello was diagnosed with MS shortly after filming wrapped and her part as the Skippy-loving mother in Back to the Beach became her final film role. It was also the final film appearance of Bob Denver and Alan Hale Jr.

"We tried to figure out where to take you last night, but you kept saying, 'Why oh, why oh, why oh, did I ever leave Ohio?'" - Michael
"That's a damn good question" - the Big Kahuna

For us, the film has a special place in our memory box. Growing up, we had no cable television and the only films we saw were those that were playing in the theatres, the drive-in ( suitable for youngsters ), and the VHS tapes that our parents rented from the local library. Two tapes our mother continually brought home for us from the library were Back to the Beach and Grandpa's Music Box. Even though the film was PG-rated and most of the wisecracks eluded us, we loved the feel of the film. It quickly became our favorite and within a few viewings we learned enough surf-talk to last us a lifetime. 

To us, Back to the Beach will forever conjure up memories of childhood, hot summer days, homemade popsicles, carefree Saturdays, and pink Barbie clothing. We live only two short miles from the beach but on days when we don't feel like burning in the sun, all we have to do is watch Back to the Beach and the surf will practically be washing into the house. 

Duuude, ready to get amped about the surf and sand?? Click here to check out rad posts on all of your favorite beach films of the past. Cowabunga!!