Beach Party (1963) was the first of several beach party films from American International Pictures (AIP) aimed at a teen audience. It was directed by William Asher and written by Lou Rusoff. The main actors included Robert Cummings, Dorothy Malone, Frankie Avalon, and Annette Funicello. This film is often credited with creating the beach party film genre.
One of the unique aspects of the AIP beach films is the absence of parents or any other authority figures. This gang of independent, fun-loving teenagers are free to do whatever they want and live on their own terms. This first film includes a romantic sub-plot about two adult characters (Cummings and Malone) that was only repeated once in subsequent films, in 1964's Bikini Beach.
Read more about Beach Party: Plot, Cast, Development, Production Notes, Music, Cultural References, Reception, Cultural Impact, Films in The Series
Famous quotes containing the words beach and/or party:
“There I was dragging the ocean, that knock-out,
in and out by its bottle-green neck, letting it chew
the rocks, letting it haul beach glass and furniture sticks
in and out.”
—Anne Sexton (1928–1974)
“When the doctrine of allegiance to party can utterly up-end a man’s moral constitution and make a temporary fool of him besides, what excuse are you going to offer for preaching it, teaching it, extending it, perpetuating it? Shall you say, the best good of the country demands allegiance to party? Shall you also say it demands that a man kick his truth and his conscience into the gutter, and become a mouthing lunatic, besides?”
—Mark Twain [Samuel Langhorne Clemens] (1835–1910)