How to Stuff a Wild Bikini (1965) User Reviews

The Pelican Spy

[bkoganbing · 6/10 · 16 March 2007]

Frankie Avalon off doing his Naval Reserve training in those innocent days before Vietnam is wondering whether Annette is being true to him back at the beach with all those other hunks around. He's stationed on a tropical Pacific Isle with lots of other curvaceous cuties around. He asks one of them to bring him to the local witch doctor for help. The witch doctor sends a pelican out to spy on Annette back at the beach.

So help me this is the beginning of the story. But it's not a half bad film, in fact it gets down right satirical at times. In addition to Frankie, Annette and the rest of the beach crew, some Hollywood old timers got some work in this film and they get a chance to overact outrageously. They include Brian Donlevy and Mickey Rooney as a pair of scheming advertising executives along with Dwayne Hickman who's their schemer in training, Harvey Lembeck as a Marlon Brando type motorcycle gang leader and Buster Keaton as the witch doctor.

I'd try to see How to Stuff a Wild Bikini if for no other reason than to see all these players ham it up. Though in some spots the pelican gives the best performance in the film.

Did he just touch her boob?

[dkmharry · 4/10 · 22 October 2005]

My 12 year old watched this with me this morning (it was raining) and she was laughing at the old fashionedness of the movie. I would have rather watched a better example of the "beach movie" but we still had fun.

At one point Mickey Rooney tells one of the bikini clad girls how cute she is and goes to chuck her on her chin, and on the way to her chin, his hand clips her right breast. My daughter said, "Hey, did he just touch her boob?" Well, we have TIVO and rewound the movie. Yes he did. How'd that get by the censors?

But the musical scenes were hysterical for her, and we both agreed that Annette looked way too old to be hanging out with all of the bikini girls! And why wasn't she screaming when she took that motorcycle ride?

Dumb but harmless

[pmtelefon · 5/10 · 21 March 2020]

"How to Stuff a Wild Bikini" is almost a pretty good movie. It looks good and has a game cast. It's just a little too dumb to really enjoy. There aren't any real laughs. There are quite a few almost laughs. There are a lot of songs but they are all pretty bad. The only thing the songs have going for them is that they are short, very short. I managed to watch all of "How to Stuff a Wild Bikini" but I don't think I'll be revisiting it anytime soon.

The End of an Era

[Sargebri · 14 March 2003]

This is the final film to feature Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello as Frankie and Dee Dee, and it is also the worst. Avalon had grown weary of playing an over-aged teen-ager and wanted to do something more with his career and at the same time Annette Funicello had recently married and was starting a family. In fact, Ms. Funicello was very pregnant at the time the film was released. Also, Avalon was in the middle of filming Sgt. Deadhead and couldn't appear in the entire film. The solution, bring in Dwayne Hickman as Rick, an advertising executive, to keep Dee Dee busy while Frankie was off on military duty. This was a big mistake. These best thing about the "Beach Party" films was the chemistry between Avalon and Funicello and this film falls flat on its face because the two are on screen together for only a minute (not counting the duet they sang via split screen). After this film was completed, the two retired from the genre, Avalon to attempt more serious roles and Funicello to raise her family. However, Samuel Z. Arkoff tried to keep the series rolling a couple of more years before he finally gave up the ghost, and not the one in the invisible bikini.

Pretty desperate but kind of fun

[preppy-3 · 3/10 · 4 September 2007]

The second to last Beach Party movie. In this one Frankie Avalon is separated from Annette Funicello by being in the Naval Reserve. While on an island he gets a witch doctor (Buster Keaton!) to see if Annette is being faithful to him. Keaton sends a pelican (???) to spy on Annette. Meanwhile handsome, attractive Ricky (Dwayne Hickman) is hitting on her. Then there's Mickey Rooney looking for the boy next door and girl next door for an ad campaign.

Even for a beach party movie this is pretty desperate. Funicello looks way too old to be hanging out at the beach (and her pregnancy is clearly visible); the dialogue is more inane than usual; the songs are (to be nice) terrible; the jokes are stubbornly unfunny; Hickman is as bland as they come (even worse than Chris O'Donnell); Harvey Lembeck returns as the incredibly unfunny Eric von Zipper; the "comical" motorcycle race at the end is incredibly stupid; and it's kind of sad seeing Keaton and Rooney reduced to this. Still, this is kind of fun in a silly sort of way. It's not even remotely good but I kept watching. The Claymation opening is fun and I did laugh out loud at the "Bewitched" joke at the end. Also this is perfect for young kids. So it's not good but it's harmless. It's certainly better than the next (and last) beach party movie "Ghost in the Invisible Bikini"!

Stuffing the Turkey

[wes-connors · 2/10 · 30 August 2007]

Annette Funicello is always tempting and/or is a temptation when left alone, so sailor Frankie Avalon goes to Witchdoctor Buster Keaton and sends an enchanted Pelican to watch over her. That doesn't stop Dwayne Hickman as "Ricky". Mickey Rooney as "Peachey Keane" arrives on the beach to search for "The Girl Next Door", and he finds an eager ally in Harvey Lembeck's "Eric Von Zipper", naturally...

Is there such a thing as a "Cheap Beach Party" movie? This one could not wait for Ms. Funicello to either get in shape or have the baby. Mr. Avalon is hardly present at all; strangely enough, he is missed. The film is unimaginative in recycling ideas both good and bad. Astute observers will know the "twitch" in the ending cameo isn't even done correctly. On the plus side, Mr. Keaton has more to do this time around, and it's good to see he and Mr. Rooney in a film. The song material sounds better at the end, and the opening credits are the highlight. Still, the "Beach Party" film series looks more tired with every entry…

** How to Stuff a Wild Bikini (7/14/65) William Asher ~ Annette Funicello, Dwayne Hickman, Mickey Rooney

It's stuck in the sand

[moonspinner55 · 5/10 · 3 March 2002]

Fairly desperate "Beach Party" entry (the sixth in the series!) has Annette Funicello contemplating a new boyfriend while Frankie Avalon is overseas. Enter...Dwayne Hickman? Frankie actually has a rather large cameo role for not receiving a livelier billing, and there's a cute ending, but these kids are starting to look more mature and their hijinks are starting to get musty. Annette sings two solo numbers and a duet, and she's perky and attractive despite being covered up to conceal her real-life pregnancy. The rest is mediocre, particularly leading man Hickman (eternally bland) and supporting player Mickey Rooney (game but charmless). ** from ****

Was Buster Keaton This Hard Up?

[gavin6942 · 5/10 · 11 April 2013]

Frankie Avalon, on naval-reserve duty in Tahiti, does not trust Dee Dee (Annette Funicello) to stay faithful, so he hires Bwana (Buster Keaton), a witch doctor, to help. Bwana conjures up a floating bikini, "stuffs" it with Cassandra, and sends her to distract advertising executive Ricky from Dee Dee.

What to make of this beach movie from American International... it has Mickey Rooney, which is good... and Buster Keaton, which is very good (how AIP convinced him to play these roles is beyond me). And most interestingly, we have the Kingsmen performing.

I liked the running gag with the pelican, but was just confused by the "Healthy Girl" song. And why they even cast a pregnant Funicello is a mystery. I am not knocking her for being pregnant, but it is weird to cast someone pregnant in a beach movie -- she is sitting on the sand in baggy clothes, quite in contrast with everyone else.

great title and not much else

[SnoopyStyle · 4/10 · 19 August 2019]

Frankie (Frankie Avalon) is 'working' his Naval Reserve duty on the beaches of Guna Guna Islands with his island bunny. She brings him to witch doctor Bwana (Buster Keaton) with his concerns about Dee Dee (Annette Funicello) stepping out on him. Bwana creates a wild bikini and stuffs it with Cassandra (Beverly Adams) who entices all the men to her. Ad man Peachy (Mickey Rooney) arrives looking for the perfect girl. His assistant Ricky overlooks Cassandra and falls for Dee Dee. Eric Von Zipper (Harvey Lembeck) and his motorcycle gang are back once again.

Frankie Avalon is barely in this one. Annette Funicello has never been a great actress unless watching her eat KFC is appealing. What's the point of Funicello if she's not with Avalon. It would have been great to have her be the Queen of the beach alone teaching kids to surf. More than anything, Mickey Rooney seems to have the most screen time. The rest of the girls are little more than bikini models. Their greatest contribution is spelled out in the first song, their measurements. It's all very light weight. Only Mickey Rooney is capable of any comedy and he's treading water in a sea of clueless young people. This movie needs a younger couple who could take over the franchise. It's sad to see legend Buster Keaton playing a witch doctor. It's inherently sad to use him in such a questionable manner. The most fun aspect of the movie is the title. It is the pinnacle of cheesy beach movie titles.

Response to Solo's comments on Harlan Ellison

[funkyfry · 6/10 · 15 October 2002]

I already wrote comments concerning this fine film, but I had to write another comment to respond to the note on here about Harlan Ellison and his possible connection to Harvey Lembeck's Erich Von Zipper character (who the poster referred to simply as "the biker character"). I don't understand this poster's point; he says it was "wrong" of the producers to ridicule biker culture, but I can't see how it's "wrong" to make fun of anything. The whole point of the biker characters (who, incidentally, appear in all the beach movies) is to poke fun at the individualist "rebel" aesthetic that had dominated the 50s teen culture, and to replace these with mellow early 60s "heroes" like Fabian and Frankie Avalon (as opposed to the more Elvis/Gene Vincent styled Von Zipper). It has absoutely nothing to do with late 60s counterculture, except to make fun of it before the fact. As for Charles Manson and Erich Von Zipper, I suggest that there are no two characters more far apart (besides the fact that one is a fictional character and the other is a real, albeit insane, person).

I don't think the producers of this movie (James Nicholson, primarily) were even aware of who Harlan Ellison was, so I can't see that there's any connection here, and I suggest the person who posted those comments check his medication; might be time for a refill.

Silly and tame, but fun

[scm-84771 · 3/10 · 17 April 2018]

You would have had to have grown up with these incredibility corny movies to find them even mildly interesting. I did. But the one take-away was when the native girl says to Frankie " here on the island, we have a saying 'if you can't be with the one you love, love the one you're with". Now, did I hear that correctly? Sure enough, next scene, 'Cassandra" says the exact same line at the beach party. Now did Stephen Stills really get this line from Billy Preston for his first solo hit single? "Love the One You're With" Or did he watch this movie five years earlier and forget where he first heard this line?

Pretty good entry in the series

[Skragg · 8/10 · 27 May 2007]

Like Jackie19, it's nearly my least favorite of the beach movies, but luckily, that isn't much of an insult. Along with all the regular actors, there are the great guest actors. Buster Keaton's witch doctor (along with Bobbi Shaw's native girl) may not be the most enlightened image of a Polynesian, but he manages to be very funny in the part. (I'm sure plenty of people see these movies as a big, embarrassing step down for people like him, but I see no good reason why.) And of course, Irene Tsu as the girl who tries to tempt Frankie. Then, there's Len Lesser, who's just about as great a comical villain in this one as Timothy Carey is in Beach Blanket Bingo. And of course, Mickey Rooney. Someone mentioned the "touching her boob" bit that he gets away with, but one of his scenes also has a fairly funny gay joke. Rooney asks one of the surfers (someone in that scene alone) if he's seen the exciting girl that so much of the film is about, the one that all the boys are crazy about, and the character says in a lisping voice, "Certainly not!"

One of the better films in the series

[BogartsGhost · 7/10 · 12 December 2018]

How to Stuff a Wild Bikini is one of the later installments in a series of teen films produced by American International Pictures that used a number of recurring cast members and themes, starting with Beach Party in 1963 and ending with Thunder Alley in 1967. Despite the negative reviews, I feel like this is one of the better installments in the series, and it made me laugh more than most of the other films. It was also directed by William Asher, the same man who directed some of the most beloved films in the series, like Beach Party and Beach Blanket Bingo.

Buster Keaton is adorable as Bwana, the witch doctor. This is my favorite role of his in the beach party universe. Harvey Lembeck's Eric Von Zipper may be starting to get a little old, but he still has a number of great gags, like the scene where he enters North Dakota Pete's club as "the boy next door." Speaking of North Dakota Pete, Len Lesser is hilarious in the role. Dwayne Hickman is charming, and Annette Funicello, who was pregnant during filming, radiates a sense of grace and maturity, something a little different from previous entries in the series.

Frankie Avalon's role is pleasantly more substantial than expected. Some have referred to it as a cameo, but his part is pretty important to the plot, and he gets enough screen time that it feels like a proper "Frankie & Annette" movie.

Overall, How to Stuff a Wild Bikini recycles the same formula from previous films in the AIP series, but still manages to provide new laughs. In my opinion, it is one of the better films in the series, sporting a fantastic motorcycle action sequence and amusing appearances by Mickey Rooney and Brian Donlevy.

Fun movies for their time

[dealey52 · 5/10 · 19 November 2010]

The review above regarding Mickey Roony touching the actresses' breast was true. The actress was Sue Willliams and she was a Playboy playmate. She was the first Playmate to get breast implants, so I don't know if Mickey did it on purpose or not. In any case it should have been caught. If you watch her act her small part thru out the movie she really tried to be noticed and shine. Sadly she was also the first Playmate to take her own life, September 2,1969. She was only 23. She was called Peanut in the movie and in real life she was only 4' 11". Sue acted in several of these types of movies and then it seems the parts dried up which may have led to her depression.

Weak entry, but some minor interest

[SGriffin-6 · 9 November 2000]

This was the last of American-International's beach musicals that starred Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello (although they'd try to continue for a few films without these two). Frankie and Annette are barely together even in the film--Frankie is more of a cameo than a major character in the plot.

Intriguingly, this musical is filled with "book numbers"--where the characters sing when they should be talking. Usually, the beach party movies just had people asking Frankie or Annette to sing at a party or at a nightclub. So, that's a change. The problem is that the songs aren't anything to write home about.

Further, the film betrays why the beach movies were losing their popularity: the surfing fad was being supplanted by a renewed interest in motorcycle culture. Only a year or two later, American-International would be making films like "The Wild Angels." This is a problem for a series where the stock antagonist, Eric Von Zipper, is a parody of Marlon Brando's biker hood in "The Wild One" (1954). The film shows a renewed interest in cycles--Annette's romantic interest, Harvey Lembeck, is an avid motorcyclist. The film tries to deal with this by transforming Von Zipper from a biker into the stereotypical 60s junior executive (a la "How to Succeed in Business"). But, you can see the structure starting to fall apart here.

There are fun moments though--particularly the opening credits (clay animation done by Art Cloakey, the creator of Gumby), and the wacky motorcycle race at the end of the film. Lastly, there's a fun cameo at the very end of the film by producer William Asher's wife...

The first time I saw this I was very sad. Musical style numbers Yuck

[schlockfink · 4/10 · 27 December 2006]

I was very sad because after seeing the ending of Beach Blanket Bingo for so many years where it lists this film as an upcoming sequel I had High hopes for it! It started sucking right when John Ashley starting singing "Healthy Girl". What the hell John Ashley is not supposed to be singing!!. (Healthy Girl is actually one of the better cast songs in this film.) This film stopped sucking for 3 minutes while The Kingsmen sang "Give Her Loving" and then afterwards pretty much started sucking right up again. What ever gave the people who made this film the idea that Harvey Lembeck and Micky Rooney should sing a bunch of tunes? God Awful! I do like Dwane Hickman but I think he did a much better and funnier performance in Ski Party. I'd like to know who came up with the idea (and why) to add musical style numbers. Awful, awful, awful! Annette really stinks in this movie and she really aged quick from Beach Party (where she was super sexy, innocent, young, and hot!) to this movie where she looks like a mother of a 5 year old who bakes cookies and shops at Kmart.

OK so that's the bad now I'd like to talk about the good. The good Erik Von Zipper when he's not singing. The very hot Casandra, who needs Annette when you have Casandra! The Beach girls singing "How About me" because they are so yummy looking. The kingsmen of course is always good. And maybe The race at the end because it's goofy.

Over the years I have how ever grown to somewhat like this movie and I'll watch I'll sit through it now and then. I mean it's the worst AIP beach party movie but it still beats watching Murder She Wrote, plus Casandra is Hot. Maybe if Bone Head would of had more parts in this film it would of been better.

sophisticated?

[bluegreenbluegreen · 5/10 · 16 October 2007]

I watched it on tcm and enjoyed it. Minimizing Frankie and Annette is OK with me. I watched these movies as a kid, when they ran on LA TV, less than 10 years after they were made. F and A were the worst part.. I thought it was clever and about time to put frankie on a distant island.

I remembered Buster Keaton's witch doctor .. and the pretty island girl, and the torpedo juice gag.. and liked them just as well as I did back then.

I think it was a nice way to show kids a real actor, in the midst of this froth. And not in any way demeaning. A shaman, an old man with magic powers and mystery... whats wrong with that.. it's fitting. I loved the character then and now. He has his own set, his supporting players, and reccurs through-out the movie. At no point is he upstaged or interrupted by the youthful players.

But Elizabeth Montgomery's cameo was indulgent and bugged me then even as now.

Eric Van Zipper was great then, and even now a delight. One of the "mice" is a quite pretty blonde called "puss".. she's so serious- it plays well.

Some-one mentioned musical "book-numbers".. I thought that was kind of cool.. and the fun part- setting it up, moving from dialogue to song to number.. was there, while the bad part- the music itself- was mercifully truncated. It played fine by me.

Speeding up the race scenes was something borrowed from the greats of silent film... and made fun something that might have been tedious..

I'm reminded now of the courtship motorcycle ride with Annette and the male lead.. that Was tedious..

"Bonehead" is a wonderful character actor.. loved the girl sent by the witch doctor.. the clumsey gag was good..

I liked the way the race was previewed by the sabatour explaining to Van Zipper how it would go down, and then we recognize it, before it happens, and enjoy it more that way. We know there is a tiger in the pit.

By the way, no-one mentioned the gay innuendo involving the tiger. The blonde mouse says she's not OK with a woman being eaten by a tiger.. and the heavy says "well this tiger only likes to eat boys..." later, when Von Zipper is spared by the tiger, he exclaims.."I've never been so insulted..." Also, the island girl squeezes torpedo juice from a very phallic looking torpedo. The torpedo enters the screen nose first, with a shocking imagery.

What else.. Liked the suits on the beach... nice juxtaposition.. and Micky Rooney was fun, and has nothing to be ashamed of in this, either. Contrast it with his and Buddy Hacket's dreary bit in "It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World".

Yeah, it's sophisticated- and I liked it. I'd of rated it higher, but I didn't want to give you the wrong idea.

thought i was watching dopey gillis

[sandcrab277 · 5/10 · 9 December 2020]

I wonder how much it cost to clean up the sets after the bird scenes ... pelicans and peacocks make as many messes as sea gulls ... i also saw the runt mickey rooney in this film, although he was not as funny as buster keaton, he had more scene time ... surf isn't up anymore deadhead

Enjoyable, fast beach movie signals the cylce winding down

[funkyfry · 6/10 · 11 October 2002]

Mickey Rooney joins the beach scene for this outing as a businessman promoting his product through a cross-country race. For a beach party movie, there's very little surfing going on here, and Frankie appears in studio sequences where he's stuck on a South Seas island (surrounded by gorgeous babes). he's worried about Annette being faithful, so he enlists a witch doctor (Keaton), who sends a sea-bird to watch her, in exchange for "torpedo juice" which he drinks to great comical effect. Lembeck and the rest of the crew appear, but Harvey in particular has not been as well-written as usual in this one, and his bit is starting to feel really worn out (jumped the shark, in the modern vernacular). Hickman is strictly 2nd rate as a temporary replacement for Frankie (maybe he was busy in "Sgt. Deadhead" or "Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine). Donlevy is the head of the company hiring racers.

Last but perhaps least of Frankie/Annette beach party flicks

[keesha45 · 8/10 · 19 June 2007]

You know it had to end eventually, but this put the wraps on the Frankie Avalon/Annette Funicello team in the beach party series of pictures that defined the genre. Although far from the best of the series, it still had some pretty good parts. Buster Keaton had a memorable role as the witch doctor and his daughter, the witch, turns out to be Liz Montgomery, who was on hiatus from her BEWITCHED series, and put in an appearance as the nose-twitching witch she also played in her husband Bill Asher's sitcom. Besides those two actors and the always entertaining Harvey Lembeck as Von Zipper, there are some fairly good bits to recommend here. Beverly Adams stands out as the eye candy and the Kingsmen perform a couple of songs. The claymation credits in the opening was a nice touch and the climactic motorcycle race was mildly amusing. Actually, the musical numbers inserted into the plot made sense, but could have been performed better. Taken together, it wasn't half bad as a way to end what had been a pretty entertaining film series. Like most series that were cranked out by Hollywood, it has its pluses and minuses, but, generally speaking, the series as a whole rates a thumbs up from me and would be worthwhile to both see and to own. Dale Roloff

Some Pretty Good Humor

[Uriah43 · 6/10 · 21 November 2014]

In this 6th (but not last) movie of the beach series, "Frankie" (Frankie Avalon) has enlisted in the Navy Reserves and is stationed in the South Pacific on the island of "Guna Guna". Although his assignment is only temporary he has still managed to attract a lovely "Native Girl" (Irene Tsu) to keep him occupied. Although he sees nothing wrong in his fooling around he suddenly becomes worried that his girlfriend "Dee Dee" (Annette Funicello) might possibly find another boyfriend too. So to allay his concerns he pays a visit to a witch doctor named "Bwana" (Buster Keaton) to get him to concoct a spell to keep Dee Dee faithful. Bwana then creates a woman named "Cassandra" (Beverly Adams) who no man can resist and teleports her to the beach where Dee Dee hangs out. He also casts another spell which allows him to see through the eyes of a pelican and has it follow Dee Dee wherever she goes. Unfortunately, Bwana mixed up his ingredients when making the spell and because of that things begin to go a little haywire. Now as far as this particular film is concerned I personally believe that it is one of the better beach movies produced. It had a couple of interesting songs, fairly decent acting and some pretty good humor throughout. I especially liked the scenes involving "Eric Von Zipper" (Harvey Limbeck) and his motorcycle gang. Likewise, having two beautiful actresses like Beverly Adams and Irene Tsu certainly didn't hurt either. In any case, I rate this movie as slightly above average. On a side note, I should probably mention that even though this is the last movie to have either Frankie Avalon or Annette Funicello, American International Pictures (AIP) filmed one last beach movie titled "The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini" prior to halting production. How unfortunate.

Thank You MGM!!

[Jackie19 · 18 July 2000]

I purchased the DVD version of this movie and would like to inform other 'Beach Party' movie lovers that MGM has done a great job on the video and sound. I have in the past had to suffer through very low quality VHS copies of the Beach Party movies, where I wound up throwing away the tape and putting a VHS tape that I recorded off TV into the box. That won't be the case here! (even if I could record a DVD) As for the movie ... Well, it is my least favorite of the Frankie and Annette Beach Party movies ... And I think I'm in the majority there. But if you love the Beach Party genre of movies you have to have this one too and you don't need me to tell you about it.

<standing salute to MGM>

And the Series Ends with a Crash

[Michael_Elliott · 30 May 2016]

How to Stuff a Wild Bikini (1965)

* 1/2 (ouout of 4)

Frankie (Frankie Avalon) is serving in the Navy on a beautiful island when he gets worried that Dee Dee (Annette Funicello) might not be being faithful so he goes to Bwana (Buster Keaton) for a potion. Back in the states Dee Dee finds herself desired by a man while a bikini salesman (Mickey Rooney) is looking for the next big model.

HOW TO STUFF A WILD BIKINI would bring the original Beach Party series to an end and while it's better than SKI PARTY there's no doubt that the series had ran its course and the final two pictures were rather lame to say the least. In fact, this last installment only has a few scenes of Avalon who was apparently cut out of the original screenplay when he asked for a pay raise.

The film's biggest problem is that it really doesn't have much of a story and instead we've just got a bunch of half-brained scenes that don't add up to much. The Avalon stuff is just lame and the Funicello stuff isn't much better as they had to shoot her in full clothes (while everyone else is in bikinis) because she was pregnant in real life. Rooney gives an energetic performance but poor Keaton isn't given much to do.

For the most part this was a decent series but there's no doubt that the final two movies were made just to try and milk whatever success was left. Neither film were all that good so sadly the series came to a bad end.

Skip it

[movies40000 · 19 August 2019]

Skip it except as an historical document even if you ignore the racism, sexism, and homophobia, there are still no laughs