Pajama Party (1964)

This 4th movie in the beach film series is quite peculiar. It essentially begins with some Martians sending one of their agents named "Go Go" (Tommy Kirk) to Earth in order to gather some intelligence on the human race prior to a full scale invasion. As luck would have it he is transported to a house near the California coast where a group of young men and women are having fun on the beach playing volleyball during the day and participating in a pajama party during the night. The leader of the group is a young man known as "Big Lunk" (Jody McCrea) who has a girlfriend by the name of "Connie" (Annette Funicello) and a rich aunt by the name of "Aunt Wendy" (Elsa Lanchester). Because of her wealth some con-men led by "J. Sinister Hulk" (Jesse White) have devised a scheme to break in and steal Aunt Wendy's money from her safe. Throw in a motorcycle gang led by "Eric Von Zipper" (Harvey Lembeck) who love to cause chaos along with an assortment of other strange characters and things begin to get pretty hectic in no time at all. Now, while I thought there were some scenes which were somewhat entertaining I must admit that the abundance of characters and the various sub-plots caused the movie to lose focus and harmony. Even so, I liked the performances of Buster Keaton (as "Chief Rotten Eagle") and the aforementioned Annette Funicello. Likewise, having a beautiful and scantily-clad actress like Bobbie Shaw (as "Helga") certainly didn't hurt the movie in any way. Neither did replacing the typically frantic dance routine performed by "Candy" (Candy Johnson) with a more sensual performance by "Jilda" (Susan Hart). Unfortunately, these few good parts simply weren't enough to balance out the jumbled plot and lukewarm script. Accordingly, in comparison to its predecessors I feel compelled to rate this movie about the same as "Muscle Beach Party" but not as high as either "Beach Party" or "Bikini Beach".

Having recently discovered both Buster Keaton and Avalon/Funicello Beach movies, I decided to go on fancast.com and watch Pajama Party. Instead of Frankie, Annette is paired with first Jody McCrea-playing not Bonehead but a similarly characterized Big Lunk-and then her Disney co-star in the Merlin Jones pictures, Tommy Kirk, here playing a Martian named Go Go. Along the way there's Elsa Lanchester, Jesse White, Keaton with usual AIP partner Bobbi Shaw, Harvey Lembeck in his usual role as Eric Von Zipper, dancer Candy Johnson, singer Donna Loren in her usual single number, and Susan Hart-who was about to become Mrs. James Nicholson, co-founder of American International-in an alluring fringe-bikini role where objects explode or wither. Oh, and there's also Dorothy Lamour-a native of New Orleans from my current home state of Louisiana-in a number about old customs versus new with some choice words like "sarong". This movie is mostly a silly mess with some good songs and some funny moments like when Buster and a perfume lady (Luree Nicholson, James' daughter) keep spraying each other or when that chair keeps closing in on White or when Buster inadvertently gets onto Ms. Shaw's body (while she's wearing a towel, of course!). And how about all those alarms that Ms. Lanchester keeps turning off in order to get at her late husband's money? Or when Ms. Shaw keeps kissing different men with the red cap? Otherwise, not much makes sense and after a while, you want the whole thing over real quick. Still, Pajama Party is harmless and painless fun and the end credits, as always, provide some visual amusement.

American International Pictures at their goofy best, hitting a "Beach Party" high-point with this insane slapstick opus. Having seen all the "Beach Party" flicks (including "Ski Party" and "The Ghost In The Invisible Bikini"), I have to say this may be my favorite. Frankie Avalon is relegated to a cameo playing a Martian leader--in scenes tinted red!--but Annette Funicello is here, having trouble with a new beau who says he's from Mars. Annette is very appealing warbling the title cut poolside (she gets dunked!) or crooning "Stuffed Animal" to a colorful toy monstrosity who winks at her. There are some big laughs: Buster Keaton's battle with the perfume spritz girl, Dorothy Lamour getting a lesson in today's fashions, Susan Hart's slow shimmy making a volcano erupt, the kid who hates "mush!", and Elsa Lanchester flitting around the teenagers, casting caution to the wind (one of the bikers calls her an "older doll"). Fun stuff! *** from ****

With David Winters as a choreorgraher, Annette provesshe can really dance! The title song "Pajama Party" done at poolside reminds me of the old Hullabaloo series! Alot of catchy tunes! Candy Johnson is back with her wild go go dancig, and Susan Hart s very sexy! The DVD is crystal clear! The AIP studios must have used first rate film in these movies! A real winner!!!