Muscle Beach Party
Encyclopedia
Muscle Beach Party is the second of seven beach party film
s produced by American International Pictures
. It was made in 1964 and was directed by William Asher
, who also directed four other films in this series. Dick Dale and the Del-Tones
and Stevie Wonder
appear in musical numbers, the latter aged thirteen and making his film debut, billed as "Little Stevie Wonder."
). All the while, a bored Italian Countess (Luciana Paluzzi
, perhaps best known as SPECTRE assassin Fiona Volpe in the fourth James Bond
film Thunderball
) is trying to steal Frankie from Dee Dee and, much to everyone's surprise, he seems more than happy to go along with it. She's going to turn him into a teen idol, not unlike Frankie Avalon
's real-life persona. Fortunately, due to some razzing from his former surfing buddies and sage advice from Buddy Hackett
, Frankie sees the error of his ways and goes back to his American beach bunny, Dee Dee.
before it, was composed by Les Baxter
.
Roger Christian, Gary Usher
and Brian Wilson
(of The Beach Boys
) wrote six songs for the film: "Surfer's Holiday" performed by Frankie Avalon, Annette Funicello and the cast; "Runnin' Wild" performed by Frankie Avalon; "My First Love" and "Muscle Beach Party", both performed by Dick Dale and His Del-Tones; "Muscle Bustle" performed by Donna Loren with Dick Dale and His Del-Tones; and "Surfin' Woodie" performed a cappella
by Dick Dale with the cast.
Guy Hemric and Jerry Styner wrote two songs for the film: "Happy Street" performed by Little Stevie Wonder; and "A Girl Needs a Boy" first performed by Annette Funicello, then reprised by Frankie Avalon as "A Boy Needs a Girl".
's character, previously called "Ken," is now known as "Johnny." Harvey Lembeck's Eric von Zipper character and his Rats gang from Beach Party are absent in this film, although they appear in Bikini Beach
, Pajama Party
, Beach Blanket Bingo
, How to Stuff a Wild Bikini
, and The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini
. Lembeck as von Zipper (but sans Rats gang) also appears in a cameo in Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine
.
Larry Scott, who played Rock, was well known in the bodybuilding world at the time and became the first Mr. Olympia
. A piece of gym equipment he frequently used, which is now standard in commercial gyms today, is known as the Scott Curl Bench. Gene Shuey who played Riff, and Chester Yorton
who played Hulk, were also well known in the bodybuilding circuit. Peter Lupus
(aka "Rock Stevens
") was also a champion bodybuilder himself, holding the titles of Mr. Indianapolis, Mr. Indiana, Mr. Hercules, and Mr. International Health Physique.
; Buddy Hackett's clothes were from Mr. Guy of Los Angeles; and the hat that Deadhead wears was designed by Ed "Big Daddy" Roth.
The surfboards used in the film were by Phil of Downey, California - aka Phil Sauers, the maker of "Surfboards of the Stars." Sauers was also the stunt coordinator for another beach party film
that used his surfboards, Columbia Pictures
' Ride the Wild Surf
, which was released later the same year. Sauers was even portrayed in that film as a character by Mark LaBuse.
The "globe" telephone cover on Mr. Strangdour's desk is the same one in Norma Desmond's home in the film Sunset Blvd.
, whose surfer cartoon character, "Hot Curl
" can also be glimpsed throughout the film.
.
Beach Party film
Beach party movies were an American 1960s genre of feature films created by American International Pictures with their surprise 1963 hit, Beach Party, and copied by virtually every other studio...
s produced by American International Pictures
American International Pictures
American International Pictures was a film production company formed in April 1956 from American Releasing Corporation by James H. Nicholson, former Sales Manager of Realart Pictures, and Samuel Z. Arkoff, an entertainment lawyer...
. It was made in 1964 and was directed by William Asher
William Asher
William Asher is an American television and film producer, film director, and screenwriter. He was one of the most prolific early directors in the budding television industry, producing or directing over two dozen of the leading television series.With television in its infancy, he introduced the...
, who also directed four other films in this series. Dick Dale and the Del-Tones
Dick Dale
Dick Dale is an American surf rock guitarist, known as The King of the Surf Guitar. He experimented with reverberation and made use of custom made Fender amplifiers, including the first-ever 100-watt guitar amplifier.-Early life:Dale was born in South Boston, Massachusetts and lived in nearby...
and Stevie Wonder
Stevie Wonder
Stevland Hardaway Morris , better known by his stage name Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer and activist...
appear in musical numbers, the latter aged thirteen and making his film debut, billed as "Little Stevie Wonder."
Synopsis
Frankie, Dee Dee, and the beach party gang hit Malibu Beach for another summer of surfing and no jobs only to find their secret surfing spot threatened by a gang of bodybuilders, led by the dim-witted coach Jack Fanny (Don RicklesDon Rickles
Donald Jay "Don" Rickles is an American stand-up comedian and actor. A frequent guest on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, Rickles has acted in comedic and dramatic roles, but is best known as an insult comic....
). All the while, a bored Italian Countess (Luciana Paluzzi
Luciana Paluzzi
Luciana Paluzzi is an Italian actress. She is best known for playing SPECTRE assassin Fiona Volpe in the fourth James Bond film, Thunderball.-Career:...
, perhaps best known as SPECTRE assassin Fiona Volpe in the fourth James Bond
James Bond
James Bond, code name 007, is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. There have been a six other authors who wrote authorised Bond novels or novelizations after Fleming's death in 1964: Kingsley Amis,...
film Thunderball
Thunderball (film)
Thunderball is the fourth spy film in the James Bond series starring Sean Connery as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. It is an adaptation of the novel of the same name by Ian Fleming, which in turn was based on an original screenplay by Jack Whittingham...
) is trying to steal Frankie from Dee Dee and, much to everyone's surprise, he seems more than happy to go along with it. She's going to turn him into a teen idol, not unlike Frankie Avalon
Frankie Avalon
Frankie Avalon is an American actor, singer, playwright, and former teen idol.-Career:By the time he was 12, Avalon was on U.S. television playing his trumpet. As a teenager he played with Bobby Rydell in Rocco and the Saints...
's real-life persona. Fortunately, due to some razzing from his former surfing buddies and sage advice from Buddy Hackett
Buddy Hackett
Buddy Hackett was an American comedian and actor.-Early life:Hackett was born in Brooklyn, New York, New York, the son of a Jewish upholsterer. He grew up on 54th and 14th Ave in Borough Park, Brooklyn, across from Public School 103...
, Frankie sees the error of his ways and goes back to his American beach bunny, Dee Dee.
Music
The original score for this film, like Beach PartyBeach Party
Beach Party was the first of several beach party films from American International Pictures aimed at a teen audience. It was directed by William Asher and written by Lou Rusoff. The main actors included Robert Cummings, Dorothy Malone, Frankie Avalon, and Annette Funicello...
before it, was composed by Les Baxter
Les Baxter
Les Baxter was an American musician and composer.Baxter studied piano at the Detroit Conservatory before moving to Los Angeles for further studies at Pepperdine College. Abandoning a concert career as a pianist, he turned to popular music as a singer...
.
Roger Christian, Gary Usher
Gary Usher
Gary Usher was an American surf rock musician, songwriter, and record producer.-Biography:Usher's early life was spent in Grafton, Massachusetts. He attended Norcross Grammar School with his sister, Sandra, who was in the same class and was likely his twin. Gary was kiddingly called "Chicken Feed"...
and Brian Wilson
Brian Wilson
Brian Douglas Wilson is an American musician, best known as the leader and chief songwriter of the group The Beach Boys. Within the band, Wilson played bass and keyboards, also providing part-time lead vocals and, more often, backing vocals, harmonizing in falsetto with the group...
(of The Beach Boys
The Beach Boys
The Beach Boys are an American rock band, formed in 1961 in Hawthorne, California. The group was initially composed of brothers Brian, Dennis and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and friend Al Jardine. Managed by the Wilsons' father Murry, The Beach Boys signed to Capitol Records in 1962...
) wrote six songs for the film: "Surfer's Holiday" performed by Frankie Avalon, Annette Funicello and the cast; "Runnin' Wild" performed by Frankie Avalon; "My First Love" and "Muscle Beach Party", both performed by Dick Dale and His Del-Tones; "Muscle Bustle" performed by Donna Loren with Dick Dale and His Del-Tones; and "Surfin' Woodie" performed a cappella
A cappella
A cappella music is specifically solo or group singing without instrumental sound, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. It is the opposite of cantata, which is accompanied singing. A cappella was originally intended to differentiate between Renaissance polyphony and Baroque concertato...
by Dick Dale with the cast.
Guy Hemric and Jerry Styner wrote two songs for the film: "Happy Street" performed by Little Stevie Wonder; and "A Girl Needs a Boy" first performed by Annette Funicello, then reprised by Frankie Avalon as "A Boy Needs a Girl".
Cast
- Frankie AvalonFrankie AvalonFrankie Avalon is an American actor, singer, playwright, and former teen idol.-Career:By the time he was 12, Avalon was on U.S. television playing his trumpet. As a teenager he played with Bobby Rydell in Rocco and the Saints...
.... Frankie - Annette FunicelloAnnette FunicelloAnnette Joanne Funicello is an American singer and actress. She was Walt Disney's most popular cast member of the original Mickey Mouse Club, and went on to appear in a series of beach party films.-Early life and early stardom:...
.... Dee Dee - Luciana PaluzziLuciana PaluzziLuciana Paluzzi is an Italian actress. She is best known for playing SPECTRE assassin Fiona Volpe in the fourth James Bond film, Thunderball.-Career:...
.... Contessa Juliana ("Julie") Giotto-Borgini - John AshleyJohn AshleyJohn Ashley may refer to:*John Ashley *John Ashley *John Ashley *John Ashley *John Ashley *John James Ashley , organist...
.... Johnny - Don RicklesDon RicklesDonald Jay "Don" Rickles is an American stand-up comedian and actor. A frequent guest on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, Rickles has acted in comedic and dramatic roles, but is best known as an insult comic....
.... Jack Fanny - Peter Turgeon .... Theodore
- Jody McCreaJody McCreaJoel Dee "Jody" McCrea was an American film and television actor; son of veteran film actors Joel McCrea and Frances Dee, who were married from 1933 until Joel McCrea's death in 1990. The eldest of three, his brothers are David McCrea and Peter McCrea.-Career:Jody McCrea served in the United...
.... Deadhead - Dick DaleDick DaleDick Dale is an American surf rock guitarist, known as The King of the Surf Guitar. He experimented with reverberation and made use of custom made Fender amplifiers, including the first-ever 100-watt guitar amplifier.-Early life:Dale was born in South Boston, Massachusetts and lived in nearby...
.... Himself - Candy JohnsonCandy JohnsonCandy Johnson is an American singer and dancer who appeared in several films in the 1960s.She was born in San Gabriel, and graduated from San Gabriel High School...
.... Candy - Rock StevensPeter LupusPeter Lupus is an American bodybuilder and actor of Syrian ancestry. He attended the Jordan College of Fine Arts at Butler University, where he also played football and basketball, graduating in 1954...
.... Flex Martian - Valora NolandValora NolandValora Noland is an American actress, notable for her 1960s movie and television work.-Biography:Valora Noland was born in Seattle, Washington December 8, 1941. Her mother had not yet decided upon a name for her new boy or girl, and caught up in the concerns of the hour , let it go for the moment...
.... Animal - Delores Wells .... Sniffles
- Donna LorenDonna LorenDonna Loren is a singer and actress. A very prolific performer in the 1960s, commenciong while still attending Venice High School in western Los Angeles, she was the Dr Pepper spokesperson from 1963–1968, prolific vocalist on ABC-TV’s Shindig, and a cast member of the American International...
.... Donna - Morey AmsterdamMorey AmsterdamMorey Amsterdam was an American television actor and comedian, best known for the role of Buddy Sorrell on The Dick Van Dyke Show in the early 1960s.-Early life:...
.... Cappy - Little Stevie WonderStevie WonderStevland Hardaway Morris , better known by his stage name Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer and activist...
.... Himself - Buddy HackettBuddy HackettBuddy Hackett was an American comedian and actor.-Early life:Hackett was born in Brooklyn, New York, New York, the son of a Jewish upholsterer. He grew up on 54th and 14th Ave in Borough Park, Brooklyn, across from Public School 103...
.... S.Z. Matts (rich business manager) - Dan HaggertyDan HaggertyDan Haggerty is an American actor, best known for the title role in The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams....
.... Biff - Larry Scott .... Rock
- Gordon Case .... Tug
- Gene Shuey .... Riff
- Chester Yorton .... Hulk
- Bob Seven .... Sulk
- Steve Merjanian .... Clod
- Alberta NelsonAlberta NelsonAlberta Nelson was an American television and film actress. She was born on August 14, 1937, and attended Villa Maria Academy and later graduated from Andrews High School for Girls in Willoughby, Ohio...
.... Lisa, Jack Fanny's assistant - Amadee Chabot .... Flo, Jack Fanny's assistant
- Peter LorrePeter LorrePeter Lorre was an Austrian-American actor frequently typecast as a sinister foreigner.He caused an international sensation in 1931 with his portrayal of a serial killer who preys on little girls in the German film M...
.... Mr. Strangdour
Cast notes
Funicello reprises her character from Beach Party, although in this film (and three others that follow) she is referred to as "Dee Dee," as opposed to "Dolores." John AshleyJohn Ashley
John Ashley may refer to:*John Ashley *John Ashley *John Ashley *John Ashley *John Ashley *John James Ashley , organist...
's character, previously called "Ken," is now known as "Johnny." Harvey Lembeck's Eric von Zipper character and his Rats gang from Beach Party are absent in this film, although they appear in Bikini Beach
Bikini Beach
Bikini Beach is a 1964 teen film directed by William Asher and starring Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello. The film belongs to the beach party genre of movies, popular in the 1960s. This is the third in a series of seven films produced by American International Pictures .-Plot:School is out and...
, Pajama Party
Pajama Party (film)
Pajama Party is a 1964 beach party film starring Tommy Kirk and Annette Funicello. This is the fourth in a series of seven beach films produced by American International Pictures...
, Beach Blanket Bingo
Beach Blanket Bingo
Beach Blanket Bingo is an American International Pictures beach party film, released in 1965 and was directed by William Asher. It is the fifth film in the beach party film series...
, How to Stuff a Wild Bikini
How to Stuff a Wild Bikini
How to Stuff a Wild Bikini is a 1965 beach party film from American International Pictures. The sixth entry in a seven-film series, the movie features Mickey Rooney, Annette Funicello, Dwayne Hickman, Brian Donlevy, and Beverly Adams...
, and The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini
The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini
The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini is the seventh of the American International Pictures beach party films and was released in 1966. The entire film takes place in and around a haunted house with no beach in sight, with the teenage gang instead cavorting in and around it and the adjacent swimming...
. Lembeck as von Zipper (but sans Rats gang) also appears in a cameo in Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine
Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine
Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine is a 1965 American International Pictures film directed by Norman Taurog and starring Vincent Price, Frankie Avalon, Dwayne Hickman, Susan Hart and Deborah Walley...
.
Bodybuilder cast
In the above-cited paperback adaptation, the Jack Fanny character introduces his bodybuilders as 'Biff, Rock, Tug, Riff, Sulk, Mash and Clod,' whereas in the film he calls them Biff, Rock, Tug, Riff, Hulk, Sulk, and Clod. In two separate sequences, the latter version of these names is seen printed on their shirts.Larry Scott, who played Rock, was well known in the bodybuilding world at the time and became the first Mr. Olympia
Mr. Olympia
Mr. Olympia is the title awarded to the winner of the professional men's bodybuilding contest at Joe Weider's Olympia Weekend - an international bodybuilding competition that is held annually by the International Federation of BodyBuilding & Fitness . Joe Weider created the contest to enable the...
. A piece of gym equipment he frequently used, which is now standard in commercial gyms today, is known as the Scott Curl Bench. Gene Shuey who played Riff, and Chester Yorton
Chester Yorton
Chester Yorton is a bodybuilder. He defeated Arnold Schwarzenegger at the 1966 NABBA Mr. Universe held in London. He is one of three men in the world to have beaten Arnold Schwarzenegger in competition....
who played Hulk, were also well known in the bodybuilding circuit. Peter Lupus
Peter Lupus
Peter Lupus is an American bodybuilder and actor of Syrian ancestry. He attended the Jordan College of Fine Arts at Butler University, where he also played football and basketball, graduating in 1954...
(aka "Rock Stevens
Peter Lupus
Peter Lupus is an American bodybuilder and actor of Syrian ancestry. He attended the Jordan College of Fine Arts at Butler University, where he also played football and basketball, graduating in 1954...
") was also a champion bodybuilder himself, holding the titles of Mr. Indianapolis, Mr. Indiana, Mr. Hercules, and Mr. International Health Physique.
Costumes and Props
The swimsuits were designed by Rose Marie ReidRose Marie Reid
Rose Marie Reid Rose Marie Reid Rose Marie Reid (born Rose Marie Yancey (September 12, 1906 in Cardston, Alberta, Canada - November 18, 1978 in Provo, Utah) was an American swimsuit designer....
; Buddy Hackett's clothes were from Mr. Guy of Los Angeles; and the hat that Deadhead wears was designed by Ed "Big Daddy" Roth.
The surfboards used in the film were by Phil of Downey, California - aka Phil Sauers, the maker of "Surfboards of the Stars." Sauers was also the stunt coordinator for another beach party film
Beach Party film
Beach party movies were an American 1960s genre of feature films created by American International Pictures with their surprise 1963 hit, Beach Party, and copied by virtually every other studio...
that used his surfboards, Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production and distribution company. Columbia Pictures now forms part of the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. It is one of the leading film companies...
' Ride the Wild Surf
Ride the Wild Surf
Ride the Wild Surf is romantic drama in the beach party style. It was filmed in 1963 and distributed in 1964. Unlike most films in the genre, it is known for its exceptional big wave surf footage – a common sight in surf movies of the time, but a rarity in beach party films...
, which was released later the same year. Sauers was even portrayed in that film as a character by Mark LaBuse.
The "globe" telephone cover on Mr. Strangdour's desk is the same one in Norma Desmond's home in the film Sunset Blvd.
Opening title art
The colorful, hand-painted mural that is shown in full and in detail as background during the opening credits is by California artist Michael DormerMichael Dormer
Michael Dormer is an American artist, cartoonist, writer, songwriter, entrepreneur, and creator of famed cartoon personalities Hot Curl and 1960s' TV star Shrimpenstein....
, whose surfer cartoon character, "Hot Curl
Hot Curl
Hot Curl is a cartoon character created in 1963 by Michael Dormer and Lee Teacher.In 1963, Dormer and his friend, Lee Teacher, sculpted Hot Curl a 400-pound concrete statue, and installed it on the rocks near the surf shack at La Jolla's famed Windansea Beach in San Diego, California. The sculpture...
" can also be glimpsed throughout the film.
Deleted scene
Although the end titles provide a credit reading, "Muscle Mao Mao Dance Sequence Choreographed by John Monte, National Dance Director, Fred Astaire Studios", no such sequence is found in the film's release prints.Reception
The Golden Laurel, which had no ceremony but published its award results in the trade magazine Motion Picture Exhibitor from 1958 to 1971, nominated Annette Funicello for “Best Female Musical Performance” for this film in 1965.Cultural references
- Don Rickles' character name "Jack Fanny" is based on then-popular bodybuilder and gym entrepreneur (and usually sharp-dressed) Vic TannyVic TannyVictor "Vic" Tanny was a pioneer in the creation of the modern health club.In 1935 he opened his first club in his hometown of Rochester, New York. In 1939 he sold the club and opened a new one in Santa Monica, California...
. The forename "Jack" might also be a reference to another popular fitness instructor, bodybuilder, and gym-entrepreneur, Jack LaLanneJack LaLanneFrancois Henri "Jack" LaLanne was an American fitness, exercise, and nutritional expert and motivational speaker who is sometimes called "the godfather of fitness" and the "first fitness superhero." He described himself as being a "sugarholic" and a "junk food junkie" until he was 15...
.
- Julie's remark to an angry Dee Dee, "Have you tried Miltown?" is in reference to the drug Miltown by Wallace Laboratories, a carbamateCarbamateCarbamates are organic compounds derived from carbamic acid . A carbamate group, carbamate ester, and carbamic acids are functional groups that are inter-related structurally and often are interconverted chemically. Carbamate esters are also called urethanes.-Synthesis:Carbamic acids are derived...
derivative used as an anxiolyticAnxiolyticAn anxiolytic is a drug used for the treatment of anxiety, and its related psychological and physical symptoms...
drug - it was the best-selling minor tranquilizerTranquilizerA tranquilizer, or tranquilliser , is a drug that induces tranquility in an individual.The term "tranquilizer" is imprecise, and is usually qualified, or replaced with more precise terms:...
at the time.
- Cappy's Place in this film (and Big Daddy's club in the preceding Beach PartyBeach PartyBeach Party was the first of several beach party films from American International Pictures aimed at a teen audience. It was directed by William Asher and written by Lou Rusoff. The main actors included Robert Cummings, Dorothy Malone, Frankie Avalon, and Annette Funicello...
) is a reference to Southern California beach coffeehouses in general and Cafe FrankensteinCafe FrankensteinThe Café Frankenstein was a coffee house in Laguna Beach, California, USA.From 1958-62, the Café Frankenstein was seen as sort of a "den of iniquity" amongst the semi-conservative Orange County, California art community of Laguna Beach...
in particular.
- This is the second and last time Avalon or any other "teenager" in the cast smokes cigarettes onscreen in the series - the Surgeon GeneralLuther Leonidas TerryLuther Terry was an American physician and public health official. He was appointed the ninth Surgeon General of the United States from 1961 to 1965, and is best known for his warnings against the dangers of and the impact of tobacco use on health.-Early years:Luther Leonidas Terry was born in Red...
's report on smokingSmoking and Health: Report of the Advisory Committee to the Surgeon General of the United StatesSmoking and Health: Report of the Advisory Committee to the Surgeon General of the United States was a landmark report published on January 11, 1964 by the Surgeon General's Advisory Committee on Smoking and Health, chaired by then-Surgeon General of the United States Luther Terry regarding the...
was released on January 11, 1964, while Muscle Beach Party was being filmed.
Novelization
A 141-page paperback adaptation of the screenplay, written by Elsie Lee, was published prior to the release of the film by Lancer BooksLancer Books
Lancer Books was a series of paperback books published from 1961 through 1973 by Irwin Stein and Walter Zacharius. While it published stories of a number of genres, it was noted most for its science fiction and fantasy, particularly its series of Robert E. Howard's Conan the Barbarian tales, the...
.