Catalina Caper (1967) User Reviews

Simply awful

[jiffy-2 · 2/10 · 15 July 1999]

I could not imagine watching this without Joel and the bots.

Tommy Kirk acts like he'd prefer to be anywhere else. A cameo by Little Richard does nothing for his career. The music is awful, the dialogue terrible, and the plot (something about a stolen painting and a lot of young girls in bikinis) was incoherent. A real stinker.

Beach Party knock-off with Tommy Kirk, but minus the fun

[a_chinn · 2/10 · 6 May 2018]

Tommy Kirk was signed to a four-picture deal with Executive Pictures Corporation and "Catalina Caper" was the first picture of that deal. Kirk subsequently did not make any further films with Executive Pictures, which should be an indication as to the quality and financial success of "Catalina Caper." A group of teens, led by Kirk, find themselves sucked into international intrigue over a forged and stolen scroll. The film is a bizarre hybrid of a Beach Party and Flint comic spy picture, but lacks the fun of either of those films. The Beach Party films were not exactly big budget musicals, but those films look like lavish MGM musical productions in comparison to the bottom of the barrel production values of "Catalina Caper." Outside of a few catchy musical numbers from surf bands you've never heard of, there's nothing to make this film worth watching. It wasn't even all that enjoyable on a camp level. Go ahead and skip this one.

Everyone in the movie deserves a slap in the face!

[bat-5 · 1/10 · 6 August 2000]

You'd have to be out of your mind or detached from all common sense to find some redeeming value in this clunker. The plot seems to concern guys, girls, sand, a scroll and Mork & Mindy's Exidor doing pratfalls. Oh, and there are musical numbers, many musical numbers. These elements are strung together very loosely to form some sort of plot, but what's there on screen will make you scratch your head. Little Richard pops up and sings a catchy little dittie and shows everyone else involved what talent is. Best part of the film is when all the girls slap all of the guys and storm off. The next scene is a musical number and then everything is forgotten! Oh to be young and foolish and working on a beach picture. Mary Wells sings the title song "Never Steal Anything Wet."

I wanted to push them all into a bonfire.

[DragonMasterHiro · 26 June 2003]

Catalina Caper is relatively painful. The plot, if you can call it that, involves a group of kids hanging around the beach for some summer fun. A piece of artwork (aka "the scroll") is stolen by this guy who looks like Drew Carey for his boss Duval, who talks like Al Capone. He tries to keep said scroll from this other crime boss Lakapolous. The kids get involved in the case, so that's where all the exciting action takes place. Don Pringle is the main hero of the story. He spends most of his time chasing after this weird dark haired girl. Oh and then there's this other guy in a suit running around trying to expose Duval and he gets into all these slapstick situations that are really, really dumb.

In between the little tidbits of story, you get little music breaks. This includes an appearance by Little Richard! You also get to see some...guys sitting around singing and then this other chick singing a song called "Book of Love". Yeah...not much else to say about that. Not only to you get to hear their great songs, you get to watch all the kids dance too! The way they move looks really painful at times. Makes you just want to jump right into the movie and dislocate a hip with them! They danced like fools in the 60's. Mindless zombie beach goers.

This movie is best viewed in the MST3K version, lots of great jokes there. Joel & the 'bots do a beautiful job of tearing this one apart. See it for a lot of good laughs. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a rockin' scuba party to get to. I feel a dance number comin' on!

What the hell happened with the plot?

[[e-mail] · 1/10 · 5 December 2005]

For starters, I usually don't watch Tommy Kirk movies. Most of us who have seen this piece of celluloid dung saw it on MST3K. When Volume 1 came out and included the films without the running commentary, I decided to see how bad some of these things actually are. My God what a fool I was.

The "plot" here is that some thieves decided to pull a bait and switch using a stolen scroll on some rich guy. The scroll gets lost due to incompetence while they're showing the goods to the rich guy's lackey. This could be a poor plot (not good, but would suffice to make a B movie) except for the fact that they decided to throw in a bunch of kids who get mixed up in the whole thing. Between the lousy music (Little Richard did OK, but the others were terrible), dancing, scuba footage, and attempts to develop love interests there should be something holding this together besides bad jokes and a loose caper "plot." On top of all of this, the "talent" seemed to not really care what was going on, so the results are predictably crappy.

For God's sake, don't watch without MST3K.

Ideal MST3K Fodder!

[dtb · 4/10 · 20 August 1999]

By itself, CATALINA CAPER is a fourth-rate beach party flick with a few pleasant but forgettable rock songs (including one by Little Richard, of all people!) and a lame art heist plot grafted on. As an episode of MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATER 3000 with ribbing by Joel Hodgson & Co. that's far more funny and clever than anything screenwriter Clyde Ware came up with, it's a scream! Just goes to show you *can* satirize comedy if you're talented enough! Tommy Kirk tries real hard to act like a romantic leading man, but even Cary Grant would have a tough time in this melted marshmallow of a movie. And hey, is Del Moore, The Man Who Would Be Jack Benny, actually durable character actor Max Showalter, a.k.a. Casey Adams? Sure looks like him! Anyway, this movie has some nifty eye candy in the form of babes of both genders in show-stopping swimsuits (swimsuit designer Anne Cole is the *real* star of this movie, if you ask me), but it's best seen and enjoyed accompanied by the MST3K gang's zingers.

The death of the beach movie

[bensonmum2 · 4/10 · 13 February 2005]

• As with most other beach movies, the plot in Catalina Caper is paper thin. The whole thing can be condensed into one sentence: (from IMDb) A group of swingin' teens take time out from having fun in the sun to try to foil a group of crooks searching for a stolen scroll.

• Beyond the terrible plot and script, the biggest single problem I have with the movie is the star, Tommy Kirk. He seems like a nice enough fellow and I've seen him give decent performances as a supporting player in some of the earlier beach movies, but he is completely unable to carry Catalina Caper as the lead. It doesn't help that he is surrounded by a group of no names with no talent.

• The highlight of the movie has to be the song performed by Little Richard. It's an absolute hoot. He looks so stoned that I don't know how he was able to stand upright.

• I watched the Mystery Science Theater 3000 version of Catalina Caper. While not the best I've seen from MST3K, there were a few laughs here and there. My favorite bit from the MST3K crew had to be the "burn witch burn" chant during the opening night time bonfire dance scene.

another movie made watchable by "MST3K"

[lee_eisenberg · 1/10 · 22 May 2005]

By now, everyone should know that the beach movies in the mid '60s were at the bottom of the cinematic barrel. Little more than excuses to have a bunch of sexually inactive teenagers party, they make you gag time and again.

Which brings us to "Catalina Caper". It is actually possible to like this movie. All that you have to do is rent it and go straight to the Little Richard scene. If you watch only that scene, then the movie is rather admirable. But if you watch any other scenes, then you see that the movie is pure flotsam. A jumbled story of muscle men and big-breasted women foiling a Greek millionaire's heist, "Catalina Caper" will make you roll your eyes. But let's face it: Tommy Kirk never starred in any good movies.

If you really want to watch this flick, then watch the "MST3K" episode where they mock it. Joel and the 'bots have a marvelous time with this one. Servo even sings a song about the woman whom he calls "Creepy Girl". I believe that it was Crow who made a joke pertaining to the Greek guy's name.

26 Miles Out to Sea

[bkoganbing · 2/10 · 2 June 2012]

There are only three things that I can say complimentary about Catalina Caper, one was that it offered some nice scenery of Catalina beach and the beach city of Avalon, Little Richard sang a number and Tommy Kirk got a needed paycheck. After his exile from Disney Studios and mainstream Hollywood, he probably needed the work and as we know he was taking work from wherever.

I'm sure it was the tourist board of Catalina Island that commissioned Catalina Caper, just make lots of nice cinematography of our island and then put some kind of story on it. Kirk plays a kid from Arizona where they don't have beaches, he's a self described 'desert rat' and he's there with buddy Peter Duryea to learn the beach scene.

Little does he know that he gets himself innocently involved in the stealing of an ancient Chinese scroll from the Ming dynasty by the parents of one of the beach kids. Despite his parentage the kid is honest and the beach gang unite to return the scroll and save the parents from jail. It's all frighteningly dumb.

A few laughs from Robert Donner who rivals some of the great slapstick comedians of the day in number of pratfalls he takes as an inept insurance investigator. The songs which are just grafted into the film are all right. Kirk and Ulla Stromstedt are clearly too old for the parts they play.

Catalina is a beautiful place from which dumb stories are located.

Like a lobotomized Disney movie...utterly disposable, but relatively harmless

[lemon_magic · 3/10 · 22 January 2006]

I'll admit that my feelings about "Catalina Caper" (also known as "Never Steal Anything Wet") are colored by the fact that this was one of the very first MST3K episodes I saw some years ago, and I was so delighted by the cotton candy giddiness and whimsy dispensed by Joel and the Bots that I probably made some sort of Pavlovian/Garcia effect association with that delight and this movie. Maybe not though, since I still think "Lost Continent" is an utter dog.

Anyway, I watched the 'original' version (on the 'back' of the MST3K DVD in their first big collection) just to be fair, and well, it's pretty lame. The plot is just an excuse to string together a series of musical numbers and dancing scenes, and the filmmakers make the big mistake of using Little Richard's contribution 5 minutes in. Even when he's obviously high as a kite and phoning it in, he's still way better than anything else in the film, and it's all downhill from there; every other singer and performance suffers by comparison. It's like having Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band open for Ace Of Bass, Kajagoogoo and Mister Mister. You keep looking at your watch and wondering - will the real star will make another appearance, or was that it for good music in this film? Nope, that was it...

As for the acting performances...oh geez, it's probably not fair to take issue with the performances when the direction and the script obviously forced all these actors to perform as if their frontal lobes had been surgically removed. Casey Adams, who was decent enough in a 2nd-rate-Republic-serial way in "Indestructible Man" is utterly annoying here, and poor Tommy Kirk (whose career was in a death spiral by this point) flounders hopelessly without his Mouseketeer posse. Even the guy who played "Exidor" in "Mork And Mindy" is wasted here, forced to perform one uninspired pratfall after another in an disastrous attempt at comic relief. And anyway, wasn't that what the chubby guy in the Crayola hat was for?? Of course, he wasn't funny either...

But the girls are pretty in their bikinis, and they shake their hinders with enthusiasm. Some of the incidental music is appropriate, and there's plenty of sunshine and sea and beautiful scenery. If you'd never seen a beach party movie with Frankie and Annette, or never watched a Disney juvenile romantic comedy like "The Monkey's Uncle" or "Flubber", you might enjoy the mood and the sentiments. As it is, if you pound several shots and squint a little and don't think about it too hard, "Catalina Caper" goes down reasonably smoothly. I would never watch it again without the MST3K coverage, but at least I didn't want to gouge out my eyes.

If it's hip, then it's the 60s!!

[InzyWimzy · 2/10 · 4 November 2000]

Yes...there's a caper, but it's not the major part of the film. There's a plethora of teen dancing to ear bleeding 60s grooving music, loser kid Jimmy Kirk who pulls off the biggest caper by wooing "Creepy Girl", some guy who excels in physical comedy (by a moron), and Lawrence and Larry the degenerate never spoken about, black sheep duo of comedy.

There's no need to boring any attention to this movie. There's a lot of annoying pink guys running around on beaches, acting real hip and cool, girls fawning and prancing, a lot of "on boat" shots, cheesy diving footage, and search for a baton. For the final dagger, add a cameo by Little Richard who looks like he took one too many hookah hits before his scene.

Classic pain.

Time Machine

[lairdg · 10/10 · 8 July 2013]

Everybody seems to be missing the point.

Of course the movie is bad. You were expecting maybe Casablanca?

There were an awful lot of awful movies, but that's no reason not to watch them, as long as you understand the premise.

Bad as it is, it must be taken within its context and its time. I was there. No one went to see these movies for anything more than guys and girls in what was then the minimum of clothing, dancing in that 60's way that has never been duplicated. That's what we went for and that's what we got.

And what riches! Impossibly blonde guys who in real life were nothing of the sort, the mid-leg bathing trunks that I still consider some of the most attractive for men ever designed. (Spare me the droopy "jams".)

Most of the girls are at least believably blonde, buxom and healthy. No stick figures here. These girls EAT.

And on that subject, so do the boys. They're not sloppy, but neither are they gymmed to death, waxed and shaved to perfection. When we watched these kids, we felt we could hang out with them on a equal basis.

That's the real secret of this movie, and scores of others like it. It was fun; it was relatable; it was entertainment. Plot, schmot.

You sort of had to be there, and I'm glad I was.

A Must Watch For The Creepy Girl Segments

[aimless-46 · 4/10 · 26 January 2020]

Although "Catalina Caper" (1967) was made more entertaining by the MST3K treatment, it is no worse or any more moronic than a lot of the teenage genre trash of the early and mid 1960's.

Style-wise what this reminded me of the most is "Out of Sight" (1966), a teenage/secret agent/musical comedy about Big Daddy who's been "driven mad by rock 'n' roll".

In both films the real attraction was the assortment of hot babes in revealing or erotic outfits (Catalina even includes girls in scuba gear). Both films have several of the most sizzling actresses of the era. In Catalina the best two are Venita Wolf and Ulla Strömstedt; and they both get the most screen time as rivals for the affections of former Disney child star Tommy Kirk.

"Out of Sight" definitely had better music by an assortment of relevant performers. "Catalina" has a throw away number by Little Richard and then showcases "The Cascades", a band of San Diego Naval Base sailers whose one-hit wonder status was from their one hit: "Rhythm of the Rain"; which came out five years before the movie and is not included in the soundtrack. The Bots have a lot of mockfest moments at their expense.

The best of the MST3K added material is Tom Servo doing an "Earth Angel" style tribute to Strömstedt's character, who he has fallen for and nicknamed the "Creepy Girl". You don't fully appreciate former figure skater Strömstedt until she hits the beach midway though the film in a bikini. Before that she appears creepy because of her Swedish accent and really horrible wig, in a movie full of blondes for some reason they turned her into a brunette. Go figure.

The again, what do I know? I'm only a child.

In praise of Robert Donner

[Mike Sh. · 30 July 2000]

This movie has very little going for it besides the performance of Tommy Kirk, the funny hat that chubby comedy-relief guy wears, and the cinematography of Ted V. Mikels. But it does has an ace up its sleeve - Robert Donner!

Yes, Robert Donner, that renowned character actor justly beloved for his roles as Yancey Tucker on "The Waltons" and Exidor on "Mork and Mindy". However, the movie's makers, apparently afraid that Mr. Donner, with his overwhelmingly dignified presence, would steal the show from the "stars", forced him to make a series of embarrassing and incredibly forced pratfalls. Oh, the ignominy of it all!

Oh boy

[BandSAboutMovies · 3/10 · 31 March 2021]

Tommy Kirk appeared in four other beach movies*: Village of the Giants, Pajama Party, The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini and It's a Bikini World. This was part of a four-movie deal with Executive Pictures Corporation, but this was the only one that got made. It also had two great AKA titles: Scuba Party and Never Steal Anything Wet.

This was directed by Lee "Roll 'Em" Sholem, a man who shot 1,300 movies and TV shows, including Ma and Pa Kettle at Waikiki and several episodes of Superman, Captain Midnight and Maverick. He was assisted by cinematographer Ted V. Mikels, the man who would one day make The Astro-Zombies and The Doll Squad.

An ancient Chinese treasure gets stolen and makes its way to Catalina Island, along with Don Pringle (Kirk) and a ton of bikini-wearing ladies, as well as Carol Connors, The Cascades and Little Richard. There's also a beautiful girl named Katrina Corelli (Ulla Strömstedt) who is engaged to the wrong man (Lyle Waggoner (Love Me Deadly, Surf II).

Robert Donner, who was Mork's boss on Mork and Mindy, is in this, as are Sue Casey (The Beach Girl and the Monster), July 1967 Playboy covergirl Venita Wolf, Michael Blodgett (Lance Rocke!) and Dan Duryea's son Peter.

*He was also known for being in Disney films, but a marijuana charge ruined all that.

Okay so yeah it's bad.....

[terryterrystone · 5/10 · 2 September 2018]

But it's just a goofy 50's/60's beach blanket bingo type caper movie so you can't take it seriously. Just slapstick jokes, music of the era (early rock and roll era and beach party music), and a silly story holding everything together. It's just goofy fun... and a must see for any fans of Little RIchard! Not his best music or performance but it's neat to see him performing in an actual movie... and a young him at that!

It's a "teen" beach boogie flick

[tedew · 5/10 · 21 June 2022]

Just what can you say about a flick with s bunch of pier boogie hopping mid twenties teens getting involved in mystery? Just sit back and let it run. Sure it's not ever going to get the Criterion treatment but I rather enjoyed having it on in the background. Just some harmless fun with lots of eye candy no matter what your persuasion be!

The only thieves in this film are the lousy producers who generated this dull film

[Ed-Shullivan · 5/10 · 4 November 2021]

You have an animated opening musical score which is decent, and then when the film starts to roll the film put me to sleep. A cat burglar steals a scroll, places it in a tube and tries to sell a fake copy by doing a last minute switcheroo. A bunch of so-called teens that are definitely more looking like they are in their mid to late twenties age group are suckered into skin diving to try and locate the original scroll.

You have a bunch of hot girls singing and dancing on the beach with child actor Tommy Kirk now all grown up leading the band of horny guys swinging to the music and chasing after the scroll.

The only thing that kept me watching to the very end of the film was to see if Little Richard would make a second appearance, as he sang a number in the first twenty minutes of the film, but much to my disappointment that was all Little Richard would sing.

I give the film a mediocre 5 out of 10 IMDB rating.

If Little Richard can't save your film, it's probably beyond help

[edwarddfrankenstein · 2/10 · 5 August 2019]

Generally speaking, I am someone who enjoys movies that other people consider bad; so if I have to struggle to get through your film (and it's not some kind of lame historical epic award bait thing), you're in trouble. I am likely the only person on earth who would place The Astro-Zombies in my list of top five favourite movies, when many other people find it unwatchable. Sit me down with some low budget horror film that no one has heard of, and I will probably enjoy it, even if I am the only person on earth who does. And knowing that this has one of my favourite musicians in it, I was expecting to enjoy it. Unfortunately, that was not the case. Little Richard was only in one scene (and was given a sub-par song to perform), and the rest was mostly a lot of dull scenes of teen-agers playing volleyball, which is not something that I have any particular interest in. I guess the beach party genre isn't for me.

MST3K Episode 38

[movieman_kev · 3/10 · 14 June 2005]

Original review: A group of teenagers stumble on a plot involving a stolen scroll that has been lost. But all that's secondary to the singing, dancing, and all other things beach party movie related. Maybe I'm not the best person to review the film, as I detest that whole "Beach Party" sub-genre that thankfully didn't last long (barring a film here and there trying to bring it back). This one is no better or worse than any of the other ones. I, of course didn't care for it in the least. However, if pressed to find something good about it I'll admit the Little Richard scene is OK

My Grade: D

MST Review: Episode 38 sees the bots of the Satellite of Love saying their prayers, Joel inventing a Tickle Bazooka and trying to explain the swinging 60's, and Servo singing. Meanwhile back on Deep 13 the scientist invent armored beachwear and TV's Frank throws a Tupperware party. The movie they are forced to watch is "Catalina Caper" It has been edited some for time constraints, After just watching the original movie, I didn't mind that in the least. The trio have some good riffs but it's not the best. However the wraparound segments are great in this episode. Servo's "Creepy Girl" song is hilarious. This episode can be found on Mystery Science Theater 3000 Collection Volume 1.

MST Grade: B+

Aiee! The hair! The music! The dancing!

[Rob_Taylor · 2/10 · 27 October 2003]

Its pretty awful around. No wonder MST picked it to rip apart. There's a guy who looks a bit like Al Bundy, doing stupid Jerry Lewis pratfalls, another guy with the most ridiculous hat ever who reminds me a little of a moronic Sgt Bilko. The kids all wear nothing but beachwear and have hair so heavily sprayed that it doesn't move even in a strong breeze. Meanwhile the adults all wear shirts and suits. The thin plot about an art theft vanishes after about ten minutes and doesn't really reappear until towards the end. In between its all sand and frolics and awful, awful songs. What the Hell was Little Richard doing in this? He really did looked drugged out of his head. The acting is pretty dire all around. Good grief! Was this ever considered a "good" movie?

Its only watchable in the MST3K format, really, in which case its amusing. Avoid it if any station is foolish enough to air it otherwise.

disaster in the shallows... (SPOILERS)

[quamp · 1/10 · 13 November 2000]

The plot is summed up thus: Some crooks steal a valuable painting, and put it in a watertight container. While on some dude's yacht, the container goes overboard, painting and all. So to retrieve the painting, they hire some local kids to retrieve it. Unfortunately, others want this painting too... This film also relies heavily on the formula of "We've got beautiful women in skimpy clothing, so we don't need great acting or a good adherence to the plot." It's no wonder Little Richard became a priest. After this film, I'd want to cloyster myself in a monistary too. I also have to wonder how Lyle Wagoner managed to recover his career after this movie.

Thank you, MST3K, for making us laugh at love again.

[JeffG. · 29 January 2000]

Even by 60's beach party movie standards, this is really cheesy. Actually, awful is a more accurate term. I guess this was intended to be a fun beach party movie but somewhere along the line, it turned out to be a physically and psychologically draining experience. Bad acting all around. Lots of awful music, including a little number in which Little Richard humiliates himself. And a lot of *ahem* comedy that falls flat on its face (quite literally in the case of the obnoxious pratfall guy who serves as the would-be comic relief). And to top it all off, thrown into this mess, making the movie even more convulted than it already was, is a subplot involving an ancient scroll stolen by a bunch of bungling jewel thieves.

This movie was turned into a classic episode of the dearly departed MST3K, so I can't really say this movie turned out to be a complete waste of film. But if you dare watch this soul-sucking movie without the company of Joel Hodgson and his robot pals, you might end up with the urge to jump out the nearest window to put yourself out of your misery.

This boat has sailed

[bobvend · 1/10 · 2 June 2012]

What astonished me most about this unbelievably inept turkey is that it was released in December 1967! This was long after the 'beach party' franchise- which was barely watchable even in its 1963-65 heyday- had long since run its mind-numbingly excruciating course.

For the admittedly brief time I actively sat and watched the movie, I just shook my head and wondered how ANYONE found this entertaining even back when it was first put out. This is the sort of film for which MST3000 exists, but I'm not sure I could even endure their expert harpooning of this disaster-piece. "Catalina Caper" was late for the party, one that was not worth being invited to in the first place!

Who is afraid of Venita Wolf?

[juliankennedy23 · 5/10 · 25 April 2017]

Catalina Caper is a lightweight piece of fluff. Overall, however, it is an enjoyable lightweight piece of fluff. It is a beach party movie taking place on Catalina Island (natch). The plot (for what it is) consists of a Jack Benny espy selling a stolen ancient Chinese scroll to a shady ethnic type. (A Greek tycoon). He brings his wife and teenage son along on the trip. The kid wants his parents to go straight and the Tycoon inexplicably wants to steal the scroll (even though he is there to buy it).

The kid meets up with some friends, runs into a strange depressed Swedish girl and the whole gang is serenaded by Little Richard looking about four drinks in.

Highlights include a very young Lyle Waggoner as depressed Swedish girl's boyfriend and main henchman for greedy Greek tycoon. The other highlight is the delightful Venita Wolf who would go on to be a guest actor on Star Trek and a Playboy model. She brightens up the movie with an overwhelming pixie cuteness. (She plays one of the gang's sisters and Betty to depressed Swedish girls Veronica). It is really a surprise she didn't do better as an actress.

Lowlights include horrible pratfall comedy and a plot that would be considered too lightweight for a first season Scooby Doo episode. I, of course, did not suffer alone as I had Joel and the bots along with me. They make good sport of the overwhelming whiteness of the film (Even for a Beach movie from the sixties) and the poor music choices and pratfalls. I have also read reports they cut a good chunk out of the movies running time making it much more watchable.

Overall a good time especially if you take Joel and the bots along for the ride.