
Frankie Avalon had quite the run of films from 1963 to 1966. He did BEACH PARTY in 1963 and it with MUSCLE BEACH PARTY, BIKINI BEACH and PAJAMA PARTY all of which came out in 1964. Then in 1965 he did BEACH BLANKET BINGO, SKI PARTY, SERGEANT DEAD HEAD, HOW TO STUFF A WILD BIKINI and DR. GOLDFOOT AND THE BIKINI MACHINE. That's a whole lotta stuff - any youngster who attended the local drive-in with any regularity at all had to know Mr. Avalon quite well back then. And let's talk about director Norman Taurog for a second. You've probably seen one of his films at some point. He directed something like 180 of them in his 48-year career. That's a heck of an average per year. DR. GOLDFOOT AND THE BIKINI MACHINE was near the end of Taurog's career (he retired in 1968), but he was still going strong until he called it quits. He made prestigious movies, musicals, Martin and Lewis comedies and lots and lots of Elvis movies. In fact, BIKINI MACHINE is wedged I. Between several Elvis flicks on Taurog's timeline. He was kind if a journeyman for middle of the road comedies (especially the later stuff) that were pretty successful (I would imagine). Don't get me wrong, he made some good movies, but the 1960s was not necessarily his most fertile period. All that said, BIKINI MACHINE is a suitable distraction and would seen a possible influence on the AUSTIN POWERS movies. Transfer looks nice and it includes a cool and lively audio commentary from Film Historian David Del Valle (of sinisterimage.com) and David DeCoteau of RapidHeart.TV.
Also out from Kino Lobber Studio Classics is the sequel DR. GOLDFOOT AND THE GIRL BOMBS which also includes a commentary from Del Valle and DeCoteau. More wackiness in the same vein as BIKINI MACHINE, but I recommend picking up the pair for a double dose of Vincent Price!
You can get GIRL BOMBS here:
http://amzn.to/1MmxDSl
You can get GIRL BOMBS here:
http://amzn.to/1MmxDSl
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