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Beach Party

Beach Party

Comedy · Music · 1963

Anthropology Professor Robert Orwell Sutwell and his secretary Marianne are studying the sex habits of teenagers. The surfing teens led by Frankie and Dee Dee don't have much sex but they sing, battle the motorcycle rats and mice led by Eric Von Zipper and dance to Dick Dale and the Del Tones.

Movie details

Beach Party

“Surfs up and the Beach is really swinging!”

1963 Comedy · Music 1h 41m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

6.0 / 10

Community rating

Anthropology Professor Robert Orwell Sutwell and his secretary Marianne are studying the sex habits of teenagers. The surfing teens led by Frankie and Dee Dee don't have much sex but they sing, battle the motorcycle rats and mice led by Eric Von Zipper and dance to Dick Dale and the Del Tones.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over Beach Party?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

William Asher

Written by

Lou Rusoff

Robert Cummings

Robert Cummings

Professor Sutwell

Dorothy Malone

Dorothy Malone

Marianne

Frankie Avalon

Frankie Avalon

Frankie

Annette Funicello

Annette Funicello

Dolores

Morey Amsterdam

Morey Amsterdam

Cappy

Harvey Lembeck

Harvey Lembeck

Eric Von Zipper

Eva Six

Eva Six

Ava

Court is in session

Put Beach Party on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Sentimental Softie

“Sincerity is not manipulation.”

The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.

The prosecution The Cool Ironist

“The strings are showing.”

Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.