Review Of The Film Beach Blanket Bingo
The film I watched was Beach Blanket Bingo that was directed by William Asher and was released April 14, 1965. The film begins with Frankie and his group going to the beach when Sugar Kane plans a skydiving publicity stunt for her album. One of the guys fall in love with a mermaid while there is also a biker gang.
The film is overall funny while being childish at the same time but is very confusing to follow what's going on. Another key factor in this film is that it focuses on gender equality. There are nine different musicals in this film. Some are performed by the actual actors while others are sung by different people. “It Only Hurts When I Cry” was one of the songs that was inserted at a very random time which makes it very confusing to figure out why that happened. There are also songs that advance the plot of the film like “new love does in this film. This song shows the new found love between frankie and Dee Dee. Some of the characters are also performers like sugar kane is in this film. The song “beach blanket bingo” develops the characters in the film and shows how close there group is as friends.
In the film there are many stereotypes in this including the most common one of women getting themselves into trouble. During the skydiving stunt one of the girls pretend to fall out of the plane and Bonehead leans in and says “someone must’ve left the door open”. Which implies that he thinks all girls are dumb. Also when the boys go surfing the girls just stay on the sand and mind their own business instead of going to surf with the boys. The girls were also shown as just the typical blonde and were not aloud to break those traits that were seen in the past. Even though the movie focuses on gender equality it still follows old stereotypes.
There are many actors in this film but there are only two that do not sign their own songs. The songs that were sung off stage by Jackie Ward were “Rat Pack”, “New Love”, and “Fly Boy”. Although those songs were sung by a different person, “Beach Blanket Bingo” and “Follow Your Leader” were performed by all the actors on the stage. Jackie Ward is an extraordinary singer that makes the film come together.
In conclusion, I enjoyed watching the film because it is very childish which brings good humor to the film. My favorite scene from the film that inspired me the most was the very end of the movie. This influenced me because it shows Frankie's love for Dee and what he actually thinks of her. Although “Beach Blanket Bingo” was difficult to follow, I would still recommend it for people to watch for a family movie night.
