Ronnie Swais

Beach Party? - Yes Please!

Guilty pleasure alert, tonight I watched 1963's Beach Party on TCM. If you've never heard of it I'm happy to give a you a crash course, 'cause it isn't summer unless Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello have entered the room!

Credit: IMDb

I wasn't even born when this movie came out - but I do remember when I was a teen, these types of movies would be on TV on Saturday afternoons and I loved them!

Cheesy, fun, and great music - they still make me smile whenever they come on - if you get a chance I highly recommend you take the time and just enjoy!

We are bombarded with so much negativity these days a little cotton candy is a welcome treat.

Some Fun Facts about the movie*

Part of AIP's policy was "mass entertainment on a frankly escapist level"
In July 1962 it was announced Avalon would play the lead- originally they wanted Fabian to play the part
Annette Funicello was always first choice for the female lead, though there was concern she couldn't do it because she was under contract to Walt Disney
Walt Disney was concerned about Annette's image
Annette Funicello said she had constant pressure to show her navel. She refused and later argued she felt audiences responded positively to her character because they could sense her determination
The film was shot over three weeks starting in March 1963
Filming locations included Newport, Balboa, Laguna and Malibu Beach
Beach Party was the highest-grossing film AIP had made to that date, earning more during its opening weekend than any of its competition
Annette Funicello says this film was her personal favorite of the beach movie series she starred in
William Asher said that "the key to these pictures is lots of flesh but no sex. It's all good clean fun. No hearts are broken and virginity prevails"
The Rat Pack motorcycle gang is largely a parody of 1953 The Wild One.
This film, created a new sub-genre for AIP– the beach party film