Pajama Party

Pajama Party

November 11, 1964
AIP
Comedy, Musical, Sci-Fi
VHS
B+

The first question is, is this a Beach Party movie?  The answer is yes and no.  On the yes side:

• It's from AIP.
• It shares much of its cast with performers who are in unquestionable BP movies.
• One of the portraits from Bikini Beach (I think of H. H. Honeywagon II) is on the wall.
• One of the guest stars, Elsa Lanchester, is a horror veteran (the Bride of Frankenstein herself).

But then consider this:

• Some of the recognizable cast who are named are not playing the characters they usually do-- notably Annette as "Connie," Jody McCrea as "Big Lunk," and Donna Loren as "Vikki."
• The relationships are not what they usually are, with Connie dating Big Lunk, who used to date Vikki.
• And what of Frankie?  Well, he's playing a Martian named Socum.  Wait, it gets weirder.
• Since Big Lunk cares about volleyball more than romance, Connie falls for Gogo/George, who's played by Annette's Disney pal Tommy Kirk.  He's a Martian, too.
• Oh, and there's no John Ashley.

Most importantly, the movie has a very different feel from its three predecessors.  This is not just due to the introduction of the sci-fi element but also to greater naughtiness than usual.  Not only do we hear a toilet flush, but when a motorcycle crashes, cartoony objects fly by, including a toilet seat!  And instead of Candy's relatively wholesome shimmying, we've got the slow undulations of a new character Jilda (who wears fringe on her bathing suit bottom, while Candy was formerly fringed all over).  When Jilda dances, flowers wilt, candles melt, punch bubbles, marshmallows burst into flame, volcanoes explode, and Dr. Pepper bottles lose their caps.  (I'm sure Donna Loren's sponsors were thrilled.)  You might think that Frank Tashlin had taken over, but actually the director is Don Weis, who would be back for the even more not-in-the-official-series The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini, while writer Louis M. Heyward would do the equally offbeat Sergeant Dead Head.

The other thing about this movie is, well, it's crazy.  Not just because there are Martians-- Don Rickles plays one, too, with the sarcasm more natural to him than his Jack Fanny/ Big Drag wimps-- but because, well, it makes no sense and lots of random things happen in it.

• Socum (which is pronounced "Sucum," making it "mucus" backwards) and Big Bang (Rickles) send Gogo to Earth because he's too stupid to be threatening.
• So the first thing Gogo does when he meets an Earthling, Aunt Wendy (Lanchester), is tell her he's a Martian.  (Shades of Chicolini blithely announcing he's a spy in Fredonia.)
• She, and later Connie, have to be told this repeatedly though, because they're skeptical and/or poor listeners.
• Gogo's "raygun" looks more like a wand but is able to freeze/stun people, yet when it's time to confront the bad guys (not the Martians, there are three sets of bad guys), he leaves it behind and instead uses a sword, which gets stuck in the floor.
• He has a transporting device that conveniently attaches to a freestanding wardrobe (ironically not unlike the one Mork slept in before moving up to the attic), so when things need to disappear, he closes the door and presto!
• One of the Earth greats Gogo has studied is Frankie Avalon.
• When Gogo first arrives he's dressed as a movie usher, yet later he wears Big Lunk's clothes "from last year" (ascot and everything, perfect fit).  
• He borrows Big Lunk's "goofy broad-billed red baseball cap," which leads to farce and makeouts for him, Big Lunk, and Eric Von Zipper.
• Oh yeah, the Ratz & Mice are back (I just had to narrow down my tags, so I couldn't tag Lembeck this time), and they resent this beach crowd as much as Frankie's bunch, for putting footprints all over the beach, "except where they've been sitting."  Late in the movie, they pass as "typical cleancut American youts" (influencing My Cousin Vinny?), and go to a pajama party in red p.j.s.
• A more definite Duck Soup reference, Von Zipper, instead of having his own "sickle," now rides in a sidecar, which of course gets left behind.
• The other set of bad guys (besides the Martians and the Rat Pack) are made up of Jesse "Maytag" White, his idiotic sidekick Ben Lessy, Buster Keaton as a cowardly "Red Indian" who says "cowabunga" a lot (sort of an in-joke, for anyone who remembered Howdy Doody, which in '64 would've been a lot of people, especially the target audience of Baby Boomers), and what I still remember the 1964 or '65 Esquire article (which I read in college more than 20 years later) described as "a bosomy blonde Swedish girl who doesn't speak any English."  She's played by Bobbi Shaw, who would become such a fixture in the second half of the series that she would write a fan letter to MAD Magazine when they satirized the films.  
• White, as J. Sinister Hulk, is supposed to be the king of the conmen, and he's trying to steal from Aunt Wendy by the following schemes:
• Getting Helga to seduce Wendy's nephew Big Lunk into telling her where his aunt hides her money;
• Throwing a pajama party with Wendy as chaperone, to get everyone out of her house.
• Wendy owns a very expensive dress shop for teens but is losing $2500/month.  (Too expensive? high overhead?  After all, does it really need a volcano?)  She keeps her money in a wall safe with a very elaborate code.
• The dress shop is run by Dorothy Lamour, who sings as her models, including Toni "Oh, Mickey" Basil and Teri Hope (later Garr), twist, frug, swim, etc.  Her song is "Where Did I Go Wrong?", another of those AIP songs inspired by dialogue.
• Annette serenades a winking stuffed animal.
• After the Rat Pack ends up in the pool and then Wendy throws a potted plant at Von Zipper's head (no "the Finger" this time), Gogo senses that Helga wants to tell him something through mental telepathy, i.e. Sinister's sinister scheme.
• Did I mention that Gogo chooses Connie's love over the conquest of the Earth?
• Sinister, Lessy, and Chief Rotten Eagle (but not Helga, who's reformed through love of Big Lunk) get teleported to Mars, much to Big Bang's annoyance.
• All the Mars scenes are shot with a red filter.
• Frankie's face isn't shown till the end, when he wonders where he went wrong.
• He and Rickles are "special guest stars" who would soon be in Beach Blanket Bingo, which would be relatively sane.  Oh, except for the mermaid falling in love with Deadhead.
• Uncredited is Dorothy Kilgallen, the What's My Line panelist who would die mysteriously a year later.  She was the mother of Kerry Kollmar, the little boy who shows up everywhere (even in the dress shop) to protest all the "mush."  Dorothy (playing "Dorothy") has a brief ride on a motorcycle.

Luree Nicholson Holmes is featured prominently this time, as the perfume girl, and her three-year-old daughter Joi is the "Topless Baby Model."  If that isn't enough nepotism, James H. Nicholson's new wife Susan Hart plays the sultry Jilda.

Members of the Beach Party crowd include Frank Alesia, Roger Bacon, Linda Benson, Patti Chandler, Ronnie Dayton, Johnny Fain, Ed Garner, Guy Hemric, Mary Hughes, Mike Nader (not given much to do this time), Laura Nicholson, Linda Opie, Salli Sachse, and Ned Wynn.  And there are a few new "teens" on the beach: Ray Atkinson; Carey Foster, who'd appear in Winter A-Go-Go; and Ronnie Rondell, Jr., who was Dannie/Donnie Kettle in a few of the Ma and Pa movies.  (He was 27 at this point.)

This time, besides Von Zipper of course, some of the Ratz & Mice are addressed by name, mostly their real-life names: Bob Harvey, the slightly craggy-faced one, here called Robert; Jerry Brutsche (the young blond who has Von Zipper's sidecar), referred to as both Jeromey and Jerome; and Alberta (Nelson of course).  Allen Fife, Linda Rogers, and as always Andy Romano (still called J.D.) also return.

Renie Riano, here a maid, dances with Candy Johnson a bit, though not in the credits as they did in Bikini Beach.  (The credit-dancers are Hart, Keaton, and Lanchester, to an instrumental version of Donna/Vikki's "Among the Young.")  This was Candy's last appearance, in any movie, AIP or not, although she'd live till 2012.  The Nooney Rickett 4, who must be one of the more obscure bands in these movies, somehow manage to show up in both Beach Ball and  Winter A-Go-Go.

"This is a pajama party?"

Bikini Beach

Bikini Beach
July 22, 1964
AIP
Comedy, Musical
DVD
B

This is one of the most enjoyable of the Beach Party movies, even if there's a bit too much drag-racing, and the older couple of Martha Hyer as pro-teen teacher Miss Clements and Keenan Wynn as publisher (of The Bikini Bugle) H. H. Honeywagon III don't have plausible chemistry in the way that Cummings and Malone did in Beach Party.  (A "honeywagon" is a mobile toilet unit near a film set.)  The music is generally better, not just Little Stevie Wonder making a brief return, but also the Pyramids, probably the only bald interracial band of the mid-'60s.  Donna Loren sings "Love's a Secret Weapon," which is the first of several songs in the series that seem inspired by dialogue in previous movies.  Frankie and Annette get their first romantic duet, "Because You're You," and it's very sweet.  Most memorably, Frankie, in his role as the British pop star the Potato Bug, a weak but likable Beatles parody, sings a couple songs, with "yeah, yeahs" and McCartneyesque oos.

Instead of Frankie trying to make Dee Dee jealous, Annette casually makes him jealous with, yes, the Potato Bug.  Partly for this reason, and partly for her relatively revealing and polka-dotted wardrobe, she seems to be having more fun than in previous entries, where she too often sat sulking at a table at the teen hangout as Frankie frolicked with other girls.  This time the hangout is Big Drag's Pit Stop, with Don Rickles as Big Drag.  ("I used to be in the fanny business, but that's all behind me now.")  He paints Jackson-Pollock-ish modern art, which catches the eye of an art dealer, played by this film's horror vet guest star, Boris Karloff.

This movie marks the return of Von Zipper and his gang, and we see that a year later (this is set in the summer, while Muscle BP was set over Easter vacation), he's still affected by the "Himalayan suspenders trick," able to accidentally give himself "the finger."  Frankie remarks that Von Zipper is stoned again, I think in the earlier sense of "drunk" or maybe "unconscious," although you can't be sure with these movies.  There are also cops (played by actors who've done a ton of TV although probably not any other of my movies) who are suspected of drinking on the job.  And there's the sound of a toilet flushing.  (Pajama Party would outdo this though.)  Also, there seem to be more shots than usual of the California coast, as well as a not too convincing small town that the chase scene goes through.  (One street is full of New-York-like brownstones.)

With a talking bird, a surfing "chimp" (Janos Prohaska in a costume, as he'd appear on Gilligan's Island, among other TV shows), and a "teenage werewolf monster," the movie verges on sci-fi/fantasy, but doesn't clearly cross over as later entries would.  Asher again cowrote the script with Robert Dillon, so I'm guessing that it's the addition of Leo Townsend that made the overall difference.  (Asher and Townsend would team up for Beach Blanket Bingo, without Dillon.)

Frank Alesia, Patti Chandler (the girl who keeps walking by the camera in a bikini and heels), and Keenan's 23-year-old son Ned join the Beach Party crowd, while John Ashley, Jody McCrea, Linda Benson, Roger Christian, Mickey Dora, Johnny Fain, Ed Garner, Guy Hemric, Luree Holmes, Mary Hughes, Duane King, Darlene Lucht, Meredith MacRae (as the new "Animal," and getting to utter one of the first onscreen uses of the word "groovy" since the '30s), Linda Opie, Salli Sachse, Gary Usher, Dolores Wells (still "Sniffles"), and of course Mike Nader return.  (Here, Nader really establishes his role as the guy who has mishaps happen to him.  You just know that he'll be the one whose chair is yanked right out from under him when he's smooching a girl, and it's of course his surfboard that Clyde borrows.)

Allen Fife joins the Rat Pack of Andy "J.D." Romano (who we learn has to read to Von Zipper, who never went past the 3rd grade), Jerry Brutsche, Bob Harvey, John Macchia, Alberta Nelson, and Linda Rogers.  Ronnie Dayton, who plays the Potato in the shots he shares with Frankie, would become one the Beach Party crowd in subsequent films (and had done stunts in the earlier two entries).

Old Lady #2 Renie Riano would play a maid in Pajama Party.  Timothy Carey would reprise his role as South Dakota Slim in Beach Blanket Bingo.  Meredith MacRae's mother Sheila plays a secretary here, as she would in How to Stuff a Wild Bikini.  Elizabeth Montgomery, whose Bewitched would premiere that fall, was Asher's new wife and she does the French-accented voice for the Lady Bug.  She would have a cameo in a later entry.

Muscle Beach Party

Muscle Beach Party
March 25, 1964
AIP
Comedy, Musical
DVD
C+

Released the same day as Merlin Jones, this shows Annette's hair looking closer to its usual black, although still with strong red highlights, in some scenes more than others.  It also shows Annette/Dee Dee surfing with Frankie, which is a rarity in these films.  (Annette hated the beach in real life.)  And we see Frankie smoking again, including right after he surfed and as he's singing.  (The Surgeon General's Report on Smoking and Health came out in January of that year, and we will see a gradual decrease in onscreen smoking, but not yet.)

The songs, including the very weak retread of "Don't Stop Now," "Running Wild," as a tribute to Cappy's Place, are for the most part less memorable in this entry, except for "Happy Street" sung twice by 13-year-old Little Stevie Wonder, who'd had a hit with "Fingertips" but was not yet the star he'd become.  If I could use more tags on these posts, I'd tag him, since he'd appear in the follow-up, Bikini Beach.  And I'd tag Morey Amsterdam, who's back as Cappy, although given less to do this time.  Instead of Vincent Price as Big Daddy, we've got Peter Lorre as Mr. Strangdour, one of his last roles, although the credits promise him in Bikini Beach.

Instead of Bob Cummings and Dorothy Malone, we've got Luciana Paluzzi as an Italian contessa and Buddy Hackett seriously miscast as her sarcastic business manager S. Z.  I can't help wondering if the movie might've been improved if Hackett had swapped roles with Don Rickles, who plays wimpy Jack Fanny, manager of a group of musclemen.  This is a parody of Vic Tanny, although everyone calls the character by his full name, so that they can say, "Fanny."  (This naughtiness seems mild compared to the scene where one of the beach guys says either "Let's bug out of here" or "Let's get the f*** out of here.")

This time William Asher not only directed the movie, but he cowrote the script with Robert Dillon, and they'd team up for Bikini Beach as well.  There's some de ja vu here, with jokes being recycled (some not for the last time, as with "You can say that again"), not to mention redone situations like a fight scene at the local teen hangout, but the movie is most notable for what's missing: Eric Von Zipper.  The musclemen just aren't as interesting as the "carbon monoxide commandos."  I'm still using the "Ratz & Mice" tag though, because Alberta Nelson appears as a muscle girl and Bob Harvey (the slightly craggy-faced guy) as a sound-man.

Jody McCrea is still Deadhead, but John Ashley is now known as Johnny instead of Ken.  Candy returns as Candy, now a "secret weapon" who knocks men off their feet and/or surfboards with her fringed go-going.  Donna Loren is introduced as Donna, helping to make the last third of the movie better than the first hour.

Other new additions to the Beach Party crowd include Linda Benson, Guy Hemric, Mary Hughes, Duane King, Darlene Lucht, Linda Opie, and Salli Sachse.  Duane Ament, Roger Christian, Mickey Dora, John Fain, Ed Garner, Ashlyn Martin, Valora Noland (changing from "Rhonda" to "Animal"), Luree Nicholson (now using her married name of Holmes), Lorrie Summers, Gary Usher, Delores Wells (with her character's name changed from "Sue" to "Sniffles"!), and my fave Mike Nader (he this time with a few slangy lines) return.

Future Grizzly Adams star Dan Haggerty plays muscleman Biff, and he'd show up in Girl Happy the next year.