cast

Frankie Avalon, Annette Funicello, Deborah Walley, John Ashley, Jody McCrea, Linda Evans, Marta Kristen, Paul Lynde, Don Rickles, Buster Keaton, Earl Wilson, Donna Loren, Harvey Lembeck, Alberta Nelson, and Mike Nader. Directed by William Asher.

Annette Funicello, Frankie Avalon, Deborah Walley, and John AshleyJohn Ashley and Deborah Walley

From American International's Beach Blanket Bingo, AIP's fifth beach party movie. LEFT: Annette Funicello, Frankie Avalon, Deborah Walley, and John Ashley in a promotional shot for the film. RIGHT: John Ashley and Deborah Walley as the bickering sky-diving team

plot synopsis

Big Valley star Linda Evans is at the heart of the plot of this fifth beach party film. Evans portrays Sugar Kane, a pop singer managed by Paul Lynde, who develops several publicity stunts for Sugar. She fakes a sky-diving stunt that is performed by Deborah Walley.

Sally Sachse, Earl Wilson, and Paul LyndeEarl Wilson, Paul Lynde, Frankie Avalon, and Linda EvansBeach Blanket BingoMary Hughes, Jody McCrea, and Patti ChandlerJody McCrea

LEFT: Earl Wilson and Paul Lynde watch the sky-diving stunt. CENTER A: Linda Evans is 'rescued' by Frankie Avalon while Paul Lynde and Earl Wilson look on. CENTER B: Mike Nader and fellow beach boys check out the bikini-clad girls on the beach. CENTER C and RIGHT: Stills featuring Jody McCrea, Mary Hughes, and Patti Chandler

Eric von Zipper (Harvey Lembeck) falls in love with Sugar and kidnaps her. Meanwhile, Bonehead (Jody McCrea) meets a mermaid (Marta Kristen) and falls in love. In the third subplot, Dee Dee (Annette Funicello) proves to Frankie Frankie Avalon) that women can do anything that men can do, which in this case is skydiving.

Annettte Funicello, Frankie Avalon, Linda Evans, Mike Nader, and Jody McCreaDeborah Walley and John AshleyAnnette Funicello, Frankie Avalon, Deborah Walley, and John Ashley

LEFT: Annette Funicello, Frankie Avalon, Linda Evans, Mike Nader, and Jody McCrea. CENTER: Deborah Walley and John Ashley portray a bickering couple. RIGHT: Near the end of the film, with Annette Funicello, Frankie Avalon, Deborah Walley, and John Ashley

music

Donna Loren

Photo of Donna Loren used for her Capitol album Beach Blanket Bingo

Donna Loren tackles her singing duties in this film with her usual professionalism. The Hondells also perform, as well as Linda Evans, who lip-syncs two songs. Of course, both Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello also contribute numbers.

beach blanket bingo trivia

  • Beach Blanket Bingo co-stars Deborah Walley and John Ashley were married from 1962 to 1966 and had a son born in 1963.
  • Marta Kristen portrayed Judy Robinson on TV's Lost in Space (1965-68).
  • This was Frankie Avalon's last starring role in the beach party series. He appears in How to Stuff a Wild Bikini, the sixth beach party film, for just a few minutes.
  • Shot in Malibu for three weeks in December 1964, this film was released on April 14, 1965.
  • Linda Evans' singing voice is dubbed by legendary vocalist Jackie Ward, who used the name Robin Ward when her hit Wonderful Summer charted in 1963. Ward's voice can be heard in hundreds of films, on numerous television shows and in commercial jingles, and in tons of session work in the 1960s and 1970s.
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This page premiered February 17, 1999.
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