Search - How to Stuff a Wild Bikini on DVD

MPAA Rating: NR Content Advisory: Suitable for Children Movie Release: 1965 DVD Release: 03/28/2000 Format: DVD - Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV,Pan and Scan Audio Tracks: English Subtitles: English, French, Spanish SwapaDVD Credits: 1 Number of Discs: 1 Run Time: 1 hrs 33 mins Studio: MGM Members Wishing: 3 Genres: Comedy, Teen Movie, Beach Film

How to Stuff a Wild Bikini is considered to be the strangest of the "Beach Party" movies. Frankie (Frankie Avalon) is off in the navy, serving in the South Pacific, and nervous about all of the guys that will be hitting on Dee Dee (Annette Funicello) back at the beach. He makes a deal with an eccentric white witch doctor (Buster Keaton), who conjures up a woman named Cassandra (Beverly Adam) who is irresistible to all men, and she attracts all of the guys on the beach. But complications ensue when lunatic advertising man Mickey Rooney decides to try and make Cassandra a new national sex symbol, and she gets noticed by nutsy bike gang leader Erik Von Zipper (Harvey Lembeck), who vows to have her. With enough plot complications to rival A Midsummer Night's Dream, Wild Bikini is laced with satire and some surprisingly good music. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide

Annette Funicello - Dee Dee
Dwayne Hickman - Ricky
Brian Donlevy - B.D.
Harvey Lembeck - Eric Von Zipper
Beverly Adams - Cassandra
Buster Keaton - Bwana

How to Stuff a Wild Bikini is an atypical entry in the "Beach Party" series. One can guess that from the delightful claymation opening credit sequence devised by Gumby-creator Art Clokey, which is a great moment in movie opening credits, and the most inventive material seen in the entire series. The movie itself plays like a mix of Bye Bye Birdie, Bewitched, and a bad James Bond rip-off, all built around Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello -- but even that is deceptive, because for all of their importance to the "plot," such as it is, Avalon is barely in the movie, and Funicello, who was several months pregnant at the time (and doesn't really conceal her condition completely), has so little to do on screen that she's almost a supporting player for the first hour. The film also makes use of music in a more sophisticated fashion than the earlier entries, integrating the production numbers better into the action and building them around songs that refer to and advance the plot, almost in the manner of Bye Bye Birdie. If the score isn't remotely as appealing as the latter, then at least the late Harvey Lembeck (playing nutty bike gang leader Erik Von Zipper) had fun doing his number. Timothy Carey doesn't get a musical sequence, but he has a lot of fun in a totally deadpan, comically sinister role. Frankie (Frankie Avalon), off in the navy, makes a deal with Bwana, a befuddled witch doctor (Buster Keaton), to help keep his girlfriend Dee Dee (Annette Funicello) faithful while he's away, and ends up conjuring up a woman (Beverly Adams) that no man can resist. This leads to complications when advertising man Mickey Rooney decides to turn her into the nation's next hot sex symbol. Okay, so we're not exactly dealing with Citizen Kane here, but How to Stuff a Wild Bikini is still a '60s pop-culture maven's paradise, as well as entertaining in its own snide way. A good chunk of the plot is a satire of the advertising and television industries, mid-'60s youth culture, and the way the two exploited each other. The film is also a transitional work in the history of American International Pictures, which produced it; made two years after the first Beach Party movie, it contains motorcycle racing scenes that anticipate elements of the biker movies that AIP and other B-studio rivals began making later in the decade. The pop culture influences go much deeper than that, however. How to Stuff a Wild Bikini was co-authored and directed by William Asher, who was also the producer of the television series Bewitched, and the movie is filled little references to the latter program. Bwana the witch doctor (Buster Keaton), who keeps popping in and out with spells, is practically the model for Dr. Bombay from Bewitched, and if the use of little phrases like "witch's honor" doesn't seal the deal, then a certain gag cameo by the director's wife at the end does. The DVD is a marvel on the technical side, especially the letterboxed presentation of the movie in its original 2.35:1 aspect ratio, apparently made from an exceptionally sharp 35 mm print. The photography by Floyd Crosby (father of David Crosby) looks stunning, the color radiant, so much so that one can enjoy looking at the movie without necessarily "watching" it, and the detail is stunning -- the full-screen version of the movie on the other side of the disc isn't as enjoyable or easy to watch. Equally important, the sound is loud and full, which helps one appreciate the score. The girl-group numbers are pleasing enough in a generic way, and The Kingsmen show up playing a solid garage punk number, "Give Her Lovin''". Both sides contain the same letterboxed trailer. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide