How to Stuff a Wild Bikini

How to Stuff a Wild Bikini
Directed by William Asher
Produced by Samuel Z. Arkoff
James H. Nicholson
Written by William Asher
Leo Townsend
Starring Annette Funicello
Dwayne Hickman
Brian Donlevy
Harvey Lembeck
Buster Keaton
Beverly Adams
Mickey Rooney
Music by Les Baxter
Cinematography Floyd D. Crosby
Edited by Eve Newman
Production
company
American International Pictures
Distributed by American International Pictures
Release dates
  • July 14, 1965 (1965-07-14)
Running time
 90 minutes
Country United States
Language English

How to Stuff a Wild Bikini is a 1965 Pathécolor 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. The film features brief, uncredited appearances by Frankie Avalon and includes Buster Keaton in one of his last roles.

Synopsis

Frankie (Frankie Avalon) goes to Tahiti on Naval Reserve duty. While cavorting with local girls, Frankie realizes that Dee Dee (Annette Funicello) might be disloyal to him. When Frankie seeks help from a witch doctor (Buster Keaton), the witch doctor sends a sea beauty, Cassandra (Beverly Adams), to lure Ricky (Dwayne Hickman), an advertising exec, away from Dee Dee.

Upon Cassandra's arrival, the beach turns upside down, as all the surfers fall for her, an executive wants to make her a model, and Eric Von Zipper (Harvey Lembeck) and his motorcycle gang add to the trouble.

Cast

Production

How to Stuff a Wild Bikini was the last "beach party" film to feature Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello.

Avalon appears on-screen for about six minutes; his small role was attributed to the fact that he was filming another AIP production, 1965's Sergeant Deadhead.[1]

Tommy Kirk was originally announced as the male lead[2] but shortly before filming he was arrested for possession of marijuana. He was dropped from the movie and was replaced by Dwayne Hickman. Mickey Rooney agreed to play a supporting role at $5,000 for one week's work in order to pay off some tax debts.[3]

Filming started in April 1965 and took 15 days.[4] Annette Funicello was pregnant during shooting and was shot mostly wearing blousy tunics or with a prop in front of her (e.g., a bowl of popcorn, a bucket of Kentucky Fried Chicken).[5]

The film features the only big screen appearance by The Kingsmen, who performed "Give Her Lovin'".[5]

Elizabeth Montgomery made a cameo appearance as Bwana's daughter who is known as 'The Witches Witch' at the end of the film. Montgomery appeared in a parody of the character she played in Bewitched, which was also directed by her then-husband, William Asher, who also served as director on the film.[5]

The opening credits were done using clay animation done by Art Clokey, the creator of Gumby.[5]

Reception

Variety called it a "lightweight affair lacking the breeziness and substance of earlier entries."[6] The critic from the Los Angeles Times called the movie a "breezy number".[7] The New York Times said it was "the answer to a moron's prayer".[8]

Soundtrack

How To Stuff A Wild Bikini
Soundtrack album
Released 14 July 1965
Recorded 1965
Genre Beach party
Length 23:58
Label Wand 671
Producer American International
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[9]

How To Stuff A Wild Bikini, the soundtrack for the film, was released in 1965. Most of the songs are performed by various cast members, with two numbers by The Kingsmen.[10] The album was released in both mono (WDM 671) and stereo (WDS 671) versions, with the latter being very scarce. The stereo release was reissued on CD by Real Gone Music in July, 2014.

Track listing

All songs written by Guy Hemric & Jerry Styner except "Give Her Lovin'" by Lynn Easton. Songs are in slightly different order from the movie.

No. TitlePerformer Length
1. "How To Stuff A Wild Bikini"  Cast 2:04
2. "That's What I Call A Healthy Girl"  Cast 1:56
3. "If It's Gonna Happen"  Lou Ann Simms[11] 2:00
4. "How About Us"  Mickey Rooney & Girls 2:00
5. "The Boy Next Door"  Harvey Lembeck & Cast 1:55
6. "After The Party"  Cast 2:12
7. "Better Be Ready"  Annette Funicello[12] 1:55
8. "Follow Your Leader"  Harvey Lembeck & Cast[13] 1:34
9. "The Perfect Boy"  Annette & Girls 2:30
10. "Madison Avenue"  Mickey Rooney & Brian Donlevy 2:15
11. "Give Her Lovin'"  The Kingsmen[14] 1:44
12. "How To Stuff A Wild Bikini"  The Kingsmen[15] 1:53

Production credits

DVD release

In 2001, How to Stuff a Wild Bikini was released by MGM on Region 1 DVD.[16] Since its initial DVD release, the film has been included in two box sets, Frankie & Annette MGM Movie Legends Collection and Midnite Movies Double Feature, along with selected Beach Party films.[17][18]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Lisanti, Thomas Hollywood Surf and Beach Movies: The First Wave, 1959-1969 McFarland
  2. ↑ Betty Martin, 'MOVIE CALL SHEET: 'ROUGE' HEADS FOR BROADWAY', Los Angeles Times (1923-Current File) [Los Angeles, Calif] 10 Apr 1965: 19.
  3. ↑ Richard Harland Smith, "How to Stuff a Wild Bikini", Turner Classic Movies accessed 3 January 2013
  4. ↑ MOVIE CALL SHEET: REVOLUTION TO BE FILMED BY THOMPSON Martin, Betty. Los Angeles Times (1923-Current File) [Los Angeles, Calif] 17 Apr 1965: B9.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Eder, Bruce. "How to Stuff a Wild Bikini". Allmovie. Retrieved 2007-12-19.
  6. ↑ 1965 Review from Variety
  7. ↑ 'Bikini' a Breezy Number Scott, John L. Los Angeles Times (1923-Current File) [Los Angeles, Calif] 06 Aug 1965: C10.
  8. ↑ The Screen: 'Wild Bikini' Appearing in Neighborhoods New York Times (1923-Current file) [New York, N.Y] 12 Jan 1967: 48
  9. ↑ "How To Stuff A Wild Bikini". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved February 17, 2014.
  10. ↑ The LP was issued with a sticker at the top of the record jacket with text, "The Kingsmen In Their First Motion Picture Soundtrack Album".
  11. ↑ Actually Lu Ann Simms, a well known 50s singer and performer on The Arthur Godfrey Show. In the film, "If It's Gonna Happen" is sung by four female cast members with Lu Ann Simms doing voiceover for Irene Tsu. Her original test dub for the song was included on the album instead of the movie version, and was subsequently released as a single on Wand 196 in 1965 with b-side "After The Party", another song from the movie.
  12. ↑ The Kingsmen back up Annette (visually) in the movie. Lynn Easton, the group's lead singer, has a line of dialogue introducing the song.
  13. ↑ Another song, "I Am My Ideal", is performed by Harvey Lembeck and cast in the movie but is not included on the soundtrack.
  14. ↑ Released as a single on Wand 189 in 1965 as a b-side to "Little Annie Fanny".
  15. ↑ This version is not performed in the movie. The song has never been released in any other format.
  16. ↑ How to Stuff a Wild Bikini DVD release info
  17. ↑ Frankie & Annette MGM Movie Legends Collection DVD release info
  18. ↑ Beach Blanket Bingo/How to Stuff a Wild Bikini (Midnite Movies Double Feature) DVD release info
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