Back to the Beach

Revisiting those zany beach party flicks from the mid-60s

Frankie & Annette are now married and living in Ohio. Frankie’s a workaholic business owner and neglecting Annette, so they decide to fly out to SoCal to visit their daughter and old haunts on their way to Hawaii.

“Back to the Beach” (1987) pays homage to those dozen AIP ‘beach party films’ that were released from 1963-1968, half of them starring Frankie Avalon and/or Annette Funicello. The movie is amusingly hammy, poking fun at those madcap 60’s flicks. Connie Stevens is on hand, looking great at 48, along with several cameos of familiar faces, like Bob Denver from Gilligan’s Island.

Siskel & Ebert praised the movie on their show (the episode is available on Youtube). And, sure, it’s entertaining to a point, but I was disappointed. It’s just no where near as great as they made it out to be. Still, if you’re in the mood for an innocuous musical with a goofy beach milieu, give it a watch.

The flick runs 1 hour, 32 minutes, and was shot in Malibu and Santa Cruz.

GRADE: C+