Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine (1965)

1. Unforgettably hummable title song. 2. Clever clay-mation opening credits. 3. Babes in gold bikinis shaking their money-makers. 4. Susan Hart's over-bite. 5. Susan Hart's legs. 6. Price chewing the scenery. Dwayne Hickman equally up to the task. 7. ''They won't even let you carry a gun until you get a digit instead of a fraction.'' I mean, c'mon, that's comedy gold right there. 8. Frankie Avalon doing some decent physical comedy instead of just standing there grinning at Annette for the entire movie. That's worth 8 right there. This movie is a blast.

...is better than either of the two "Dr. Goldfoot" movies."Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine" (1965) and "Dr. Goldfoot and the Girl Bombs" (1966) are spoofs of the early James Bond flicks and, to a lesser degree, the early 60's beach movies with Avalon & Funicello (mainly because Frankie stars in the first one and it shares the harmless, fun-spirited flare of the beach flicks). They're innocuous mid-60's slapstick comedies in the style of "I Dream of Jeanie", but extended to a full movie. Their main attraction can be found in their titles -- the 60's bikini-clad babes and Vincent price in the title role. Since I love both (and "I Dream of Jeanie") I figured I'd like these movies way more than I did, but I found them pretty forgettable, not to mention lame. Yes, I know, they're supposed to be lame, but there's good lame and bad lame and the two Dr. Goldfoot movies are mediocre lame, verging on bad.The first movie takes place in San Francisco and the second one in Rome. These locations are highlights in addition to those already mentioned. These movies are also enjoyable as period-pieces as it's interesting to see the mid-60's styles, etc.As far as the women go, I was a little disappointed with the first one in this respect; the second one is much better, not to mention it was directed by Mario Bava (which many insist is his worst film, lol).At the end of the day, the Dr. Goldfoot movies are throwaway flicks, but they're worth catching for the highlights noted above, if you're in the right frame of mind.The first movie runs 88 minutes and the second one 82 minutes.GRADE: C-

Dr. Goldfoot (Vincent Price) has devised a plan that's either genius or completely stupid. He has an army of robot women, beautiful as can be, that he will send off to marry rich men and have the men sign over their fortunes. Soon, if all works out, Goldfoot will be the richest man alive! Let it be said that to enjoy this film, you need to like camp, 1960s sensibilities (go go dancing for no reason) and Vincent Price. If you like those things, this will be a treat for you. Made around the same time as his Corman-directed Poe stories (and for the same production company) here Price gets to be a little bit sillier...Although Price does a great job, and Frankie Avalon plays a good spy, the real credit should go to Susan Hart, who played Robot #11 (Diane). She wasn't just beautiful, but acted professionally and comically and delivered her lines as if she meant them (which may have been hard to do). None of the other robots get as much screen time ,and that's alright: Hart really has the performance nailed.I think this film has somewhat disappeared. Not being technically "horror", Price fans may overlook it. And they may be the key audience -- the spoof of the spy genre is evident, but there are better spy spoofs to be had. Having spawned two sequels (one directed by Mario Bava), this film has an important place in film history. I loved it and I suspect you will, too.

Taking advantage of the current craze over mad scientists, wacky world-domination schemes and kittenish bad girls, A.I.P. studios (rather smoothly) segues from the "Beach Party" flicks to this Bondian slapstick outing (with several "Beach" players in roles and cameos). Frankie Avalon mugs like a rubber-man playing ordinary Joe in San Francisco who stumbles upon intriguing scheme hatched by Vincent Price's Dr. Goldfoot: rob the world's wealthiest men by seducing them (and their checkbooks) with comely female robots. Price, in gold satin elf slippers, is relaxed and fun, and their are cute bits from Deborah Walley, Harvey Lembeck and a wordless Annette Funicello, but Avalon--attempting a bumbling, klutzy persona--single-handedly turns the proceedings into dim-witted camp. Dwayne Hickman isn't much better, and has to contend with some really sketchy writing (even after getting evidence that his wife is robot, he still wants to woo her in bed!). The movie isn't badly made, it has a cute theme song (with vocals by the Supremes!) and some minor-league laughs, but "Austin Powers" aficionados won't be thrilled with the girls (none with the exception of star Susan Hart are particularly gorgeous) nor the gold bikinis, which look shapeless by today's standards. ** from ****