Beach Party Film - End of The Genre

End of The Genre

As early as 1965 Sam Arkoff was concerned about the future of the genre, due to rising costs and diminishing returns.

The final entry in the original AIP series was The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini, released in 1966. The end credits for the 1965 AIP spy-spoof Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine (starring Frankie Avalon and Vincent Price), advertises this film with its original title (The Girl in the Glass Bikini) and intended stars, Funicello and Avalon.

However, both actors passed on this film, appearing instead in AIP's car-racing themed Fireball 500. The lead roles were given to Tommy Kirk and Deborah Walley, with an almost all-new supporting cast (including singer Nancy Sinatra). This time the "formula" did not work. The movie—which was more of a haunted-house comedy than a proper beach film—bombed at the box office and the series was retired by AIP. Fireball 500 was followed by another racing film, Thunder Alley, also starring Funicello.

Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine also featured Susan Hart, Alberta Nelson, and Deborah Walley. A dungeon scene includes brief cameos by Annette Funicello and Harvey Lembeck as Eric Von Zipper.

Avalon and Funicello starred in Paramount Pictures' Back to the Beach in 1987, playing off their original roles and subsequent careers. The movie became a hit, and there was talk of making a sequel, but with the beginning of Funicello's trouble with multiple sclerosis, this never came to be.