I have been wanting to do an episode on American International Pictures’ beach party series with Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello FOR YEARS. I absolutely love these films and I’m so grateful to my pal Keith Allison, a film and pop culture writer, for going on this long and very sandy journey with me. We talk about what I consider the main films in the series — Beach Party (1963), Muscle Beach Party (1964), Bikini Beach (1964), Beach Blanket Bingo (1965), How to Stuff a Wild Bikini (1965), and Ghost in the Invisible Bikini (1966) — and a lot of related topics like teen culture, surfer music, the innovations of American International Pictures, America in the ’60s, the ARKOFF formula, why Frankie and Annette do not remotely belong on a beach in California, and much much more.
Keith wrote a great book that you should check out, Cocktails and Capers: Cult Cinema, Cocktails, Crime, & Cool, and you can find him here on Instagram.
Here’s an obligatory reminder that my upcoming book Revolution in 35mm is up for preorder through PM Press and will be out in the world next week (!!!), so please spread the word! Thanks as always to Cinepunx and since this is a brand new show and it needs all the help it can get, please rate, review, follow, and share!