Bikini Beach (1964)

Bikini Beach: Directed by William Asher. With Frankie Avalon, Annette Funicello, Martha Hyer, Don Rickles. A millionaire sets out to prove his theory that his pet chimpanzee is as intelligent as the teenagers who hang out on the local beach, where he is intending to build a retirement home.

“Bikini Beach (1964) u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003e** 1/2 (out of 4) u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe third film in the BEACH PARTY series has Frankie (Frankie Avalon) and Dee Dee (Annette Funicello) having to deal with a millionaire (Keenan Wynn) trying to prove that teenagers are beyond dumb and getting dumber by the day. This is because he believes his pet chimp is smarter than your average teenager, which leads to a wide range of events including a drag race.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eBIKINI BEACH is often considered one of the best of the series and for the most part I thought it was fairly entertaining and at least on par with the previous two. The u0026quot;highlightu0026quot; of this film is the fact that the title actually delivers during the opening credits as they have some fun showing off some female bodies in those new bikinis. The film also changes things up a bit by taking the kids away from the beach.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThis film is probably best remembered for Avalon playing a second role, that of a rock star from Britain, which was obviously a joke on The Beatles. I actually thought Avalon did a very good job in both of his roles and certainly helped make this film more entertaining. Funicello is also given more to do here as her character certainly developed a bit more from the previous films. Wynn is extremely entertaining as the researcher and weu0026#39;ve got Don Rickles and Harvey Lembeck back as well. Thereu0026#39;s also a nice cameo but I wonu0026#39;t ruin who it is.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eAs with the previous two films in the AIP series, this certainly isnu0026#39;t a masterpiece or even what youu0026#39;d consider a good movie but it is slightly entertaining as a product of its period.”