Beach Party Film
Beach party movies were an American 1960s genre of feature films created by American International Pictures (AIP) with their surprise 1963 hit, Beach Party, and copied by virtually every other studio. Precursors to the genre were Columbia Pictures 1959 release Gidget, starring Sandra Dee as teenage surfer girl Gidget and James Darren as her beau Moondoggie; 1961's Gidget Goes Hawaiian starring Deborah Walley as Gidget; and Gidget Goes to Rome (1963) starring Cindy Carol as Gidget. American International's films took the Gidget idea, added more music and far more bikinis, and removed nearly all references to parents.
Another precursor to the genre was Where The Boys Are, in 1960, which was significantly more serious but still aimed at the same audience. Elvis Presley's Blue Hawaii in 1961 is also the same basic architecture. These films helped popularize surfing and later, surf music, and they often included on-screen performances by well-known pop groups.
The films were originally intended as a low-budget imitation of both the Elvis Presley musical and the Doris Day bedroom farce, aimed at the teen market, but they ended up taking on a life of their own.
Although termed "beach party film genre," several films of the genre do not actually include surfing, or even scenes on the beach. Some critics define a "classic" AIP series of seven films produced by American International Pictures - whereas others, including Stephen J. McParland in his 1994 book, "It's Party Time - A Musical Appreciation of the Beach Party Film Genre," include the AIP films Ski Party, Sergeant Deadhead, Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine and Fireball 500 in the genre, along with non-AIP, non-beach product such as C'mon Let's Live a Little, Wild Wild Winter and Village of the Giants. In fact, The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini is defined here as a "classic" beach party film - although a beach is never seen onscreen.
Read more about Beach Party Film: Storylines, Running Gags, Cameo Actors, Musical Groups and Future Stars, Production, The "classic Series", Other Films of The Genre, End of The Genre, Influence On Popular Culture and Parodies
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