After an interesting credit sequence (a bunch of drawings – a technique that Roger Corman used to employ for his credits), the gang arrive at the beach singing. It’s kind of a sluggish song, and the film doesn’t really get into top gear for a while. The girls are all mooning over Frankie, including Annette and “Animal” (who is implied to be the slut of the group). Frankie’s a free spirit who talks about the philosophy of surfing while Annette (whose breasts seem unusually emphasised in this film) rubs lotion into his back and talks about settling down.
Frankie’s not very likeable in this one, snapping at Annette and being up himself – actually none of our regulars are really likeable: Annette nags, John Ashley flirts with Annette and rejects Frankie just because he gets a recording contract (as do all the friends).
In contrast, Lucia Palluzzi is fun (and sympathetic) though as the stunning bored rich girl who first sets her eyes on a muscle man (Peter Lupus) then goes for Frankie. Paluzzi is so beautiful, rich and sexually available – she says she can offer him a wave that he can ride “as far as he wants” - you can’t believe Frankie wouldn’t have more of a fling with her. But the script has him turn her down because he might be a kept man. Get a real problem, Frankie!
(NB the women are a bit more sexually aggressive in this one, with man-hunting Paluzzi and the horny eyes of Animal – plus a woman body builder who bashes a man constantly in the stomach. Also Frankie has a cigarette after a night surf – naughty!)
Don Rickles is fine as the manager of the muscle men and Peter Lorre’s cameo is fun, but Buddy Hackett isn’t really used well as Paluzzi’s manager. There are musical appearances from Dick Dale, Donna Loren and Stevie Wonder, but this movie features some weaker songs in the series. (It should be said some of the numbers are good, though.)
There’s a lot of surfing metaphor going on in the dialogue – not only from Frankie, but also Paluzzi, and John Ashley (who has a meaty scene, effectively dumping Frankie from the group). There’s no Von Zipper in this one – the final battle is between the kids and the muscle men, who are a poor substitute. An all-round fairly average entry.
No comments:
Post a Comment