Back to the Beach (1987)

User Rating:

5.0/10   

Director:

Lyndall Hobbs

Writers:

James Komack (story) and
Bill L. Norton (story) ...

Release Date:

7 August 1987 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

Fasten your seatbelts and get ready for a totally NEW WAVE motion picture experience.

Plot:

Frankie and Annette grow up and have kids in the midwest. They return to LA to visit their daughter...

Plot Keywords:

Surfing | Beach | Product Placement | Beach Party | Actor Shares First Name With Character

Cast

Frankie Avalon	...	Annette's Husband
Annette Funicello	...	Annette
Lori Loughlin	...	Sandi
Tommy Hinkley	...	Michael
Demian Slade	...	Bobby
Connie Stevens	...	Connie
Joe Holland	...	Zed
John Calvin	...	Troy
David Bowe	...	Mountain
Laura Urstein	...	Robin
Linda Carol	...	Bridgette
Marjorie Gross	...	Airline Hostess
Hartley Silver	...	Fleishman (as Hartly Silver)
Alan Barry	...	Salesman
Thomas David Parker	...	Salesman

Also Known As:

Malibu Beach Girls (USA)

Runtime:

92 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Ultra Stereo

Certification:

Australia:PG | Iceland:L | UK:PG | USA:PG

Filming Locations:

Paradise Cove - 28128 Pacific Coast Highway, Malibu, California, USA

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

Annette opens a kitchen cabinet and replaces two jars of peanut butter on a shelf filled with nothing but Skippy peanut butter (10 jars). Annette Funicello was the star of a series of television commercials for Skippy peanut butter at the time. (The other shelves are similarly strangely stocked: the top shelf is nothing but Heinz ketchup (16 bottles), while the next is nothing but Campbell's soup (29 cans)).

Goofs:

Continuity: During the Big Beach Bonfire Party, Annette starts out wearing a red sweater over a gold top and gold pants. A minute later, she's wearing a bright pink outfit with a polka-dot skirt, and in the very next scene she's back in the original outfit.

Quotes:

Frankie, the Big Kahuna: But what does "we" mean?
Bobby: [impossibly sarcastic] I think it's the plural form, meaning "more than one." Would you like me to conjugate that for you, Pop? Do you know what "conjugate" means, Dad?

Movie Connections:

Spoofs The Breakfast Club (1985)

Soundtrack:

As Beauty Does

Back to the Beach for Frankie and Annette!

Back to the Beach (1987) was an interesting movie that was produced during the 80's. The Big Kahuna (Frankie Avalon) is a family man now who's wife (Annette) is a preppy housewife who has a kitchen cabinet full of Skippy's peanut butter (creamy) with a 50's housewife aura. She's always smiling and just so happy. The kids are at the rebellious age and are weirded out by their strange behavior. That's until the family heads back to the beach and the kids discover their parents lively background!

You can't go wrong with this movie if you're a big fan of the 60's films that starred Annette and Frankie. A true nostalgia flick filled with several older stars (The Skipper and Gilligan) and new ones (i.e. Pee-Wee Herman). What keeps this from being a real keeper is the way the film ends, but if you're a fan of the stars it wont matter. A nice reunion picture.

Recommended for Beach Blanket Bingo fans. Others yield caution before viewing!