''Beach Ball'' is a 1965 American

beach party ''Beach Party'' is a 1963 American film and the first of seven beach party films from American International Pictures (AIP) aimed at a teen audience.Smith, Gary A. Smith (2009) ''The American International Pictures Video Guide'', McFarland p.2 ...

movie starring

Edd Byrnes Edward Byrne Breitenberger (July 30, 1932 – January 8, 2020), known professionally as Edd Byrnes, was an American actor, best known for his starring role in the television series '' 77 Sunset Strip.'' He also was featured in the 1978 film '' Gr ...

and partly financed by

Roger Corman Roger William Corman (born April 5, 1926) is an American film director, producer, and actor. He has been called "The Pope of Pop Cinema" and is known as a trailblazer in the world of independent film. Many of Corman's films are based on works t ...

.Ed. J. Philip di Franco, ''The Movie World of Roger Corman'', Chelsea House Publishers, 1979, p. 145 It features appearances by

The Supremes The Supremes were an American girl group and a premier act of Motown Records during the 1960s. Founded as the Primettes in Detroit, Michigan, in 1959, the Supremes were the most commercially successful of Motown's acts and the most successf ...

The Walker Brothers The Walker Brothers were an American pop group of the 1960s and 1970s which included Noel Scott Engel (eventually known professionally as Scott Walker), John Walker (born John Joseph Maus, but using the name Walker since his teens) and Gary Le ...

, and

The Righteous Brothers The Righteous Brothers are an American musical duo originally formed by Bill Medley and Bobby Hatfield but now comprising Medley and Bucky Heard. Medley formed the group with Hatfield in 1963. They had first performed together in 1962 in the Lo ...

. Tom Lisanti called it "arguably the breeziest and most enjoyable ''

Beach Party ''Beach Party'' is a 1963 American film and the first of seven beach party films from American International Pictures (AIP) aimed at a teen audience.Smith, Gary A. Smith (2009) ''The American International Pictures Video Guide'', McFarland p.2 ...

'' clones. It is also the most blatant rip off."

Plot

Dick Martin manages a rock and roll group, The Wigglers (Bango, Jack and Bob). They are told by music store owner Mr Wolf that the group owes him $1,000 for their instruments and have to raise money. Martin tries to convince Susan, the credit union manager for a local college,

Cast

as Dick Martin *

Chris Noel Chris Noel (Sandra Louise Noel, born July 2, 1941) is a retired American actress and entertainer. Noel is best known for her appearances in beach party movies in the 1960s, and for her work on the Armed Forces Radio And Television Servic ...

as Susan * Robert Logan as Bango *

Gail Gilmore Gail Gilmore (born Gail Gerber, October 4, 1937 – March 2, 2014) was a Canadian television and film actress and ballet dancer. She was from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. She was sometimes known as Gail Gibson. Dancing career In 1952, at age 15, s ...

as Deborah *

Aron Kincaid Aron Kincaid (born Norman Neale Williams II; June 15, 1940 – January 6, 2011) was an American actor, known for voicing Killer Croc on '' Batman: The Animated Series'' and Sky Lynx on '' The Transformers''. He also voiced characters for ''T ...

as Jack *Mikki Jamison as Augusta *Don Edmonds as Bob *

Brenda Benet Brenda Benet (born Brenda Ann Nelson; August 14, 1945 – April 7, 1982) was an American actress. She is best known for her roles on the soap operas ''The Young Marrieds'' (1965–1965) and ''Days of Our Lives'' (1979–1982). She was also fea ...

as Samantha *Anna Lavelle as Polly *James Wellman as Mr. Wolf *

(

Florence Ballard Florence Glenda Chapman (''née'' Ballard; June 30, 1943 – February 22, 1976) was an American singer and a founding member of the Motown vocal female group the Supremes. She sang on 16 top 40 singles with the group, including ten number-o ...

Diana Ross Diana Ross (born March 26, 1944) is an American singer and actress. She rose to fame as the lead singer of the vocal group the Supremes, who became Motown's most successful act during the 1960s and one of the world's best-selling girl groups ...

and Mary Wilson) * The Four Seasons *

The Hondells The Hondells were an American surf rock band. Their cover of the Beach Boys' "Little Honda" went to No. 9 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1964. History The Hondells were a band manufactured by Gary Usher, originally consisting of session musicia ...

Dick Miller Richard Miller (December 25, 1928 – January 30, 2019) was an American character actor who appeared in more than 180 films, including many produced by Roger Corman. He later appeared in the films of directors who began their careers with Cor ...

as a cop *

Sid Haig Sidney Eddie Mosesian (July 14, 1939 – September 21, 2019), known professionally as Sid Haig, was an American actor, film producer, and musician. He was known for his roles in several of Jack Hill's blaxploitation films from the 1970s, as we ...

as Drummer for Righteous Brothers (

Uncredited role In general, the term credit in the artistic or intellectual sense refers to an acknowledgment of those who contributed to a work, whether through ideas or in a more direct sense. Credit in the arts In the creative arts, credits are an acknowledg ...

)

Production

The film was produced by Bart Patton, an actor who did some production work for Roger Corman. Corman gave him $100,000 to make a beach party movie, of which $22,000 was already earmarked to Edd Byrnes. Patton wanted to direct but Corman did not let him having already hired comic Lennie Weinrib to make his debut as director. (Patton and Weinrib would later form a production company.)

Stephanie Rothman Stephanie Rothman (born November 9, 1936, in Paterson, New Jersey) is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter, known for her low-budget independent exploitation films made in the 1960s and 1970s, especially ''The Student Nurses'' (1 ...

worked on the movie as a production assistant, shooting second unit for the car chase scene with Aaron Kincaid.

Gary Kurtz Gary Douglas Kurtz (July 27, 1940 – September 23, 2018) was an American film producer whose list of credits includes ''American Graffiti'' (1973), ''Star Wars'' (1977), ''The Empire Strikes Back'' (1980), ''The Dark Crystal'' (1982) and ''Retu ...

was assistant director. In November 1964

Tommy Kirk Thomas Lee Kirk (December 10, 1941 – September 28, 2021) was an American actor, best known for his performances in films made by Walt Disney Studios such as '' Old Yeller'', '' The Shaggy Dog'', ''Swiss Family Robinson'', '' The Absent-Minded ...

was originally announced as male star along with Noel Edmonds. In December 1964 Chris Noel signed and Kirk was still attached. Kirk eventually dropped out of the film and was replaced by Edd Byrnes. Noel says Byrnes was "a jerk" during the making of the film although the two of them later became friends.

were paid $2,500 to appear in the film.

got $500 and the

Hondells The Hondells were an American surf rock band. Their cover of the Beach Boys' "Little Honda" went to No. 9 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1964. History The Hondells were a band manufactured by Gary Usher, originally consisting of session musicians ...

$400.Lisanti, p. 166

Reception

Corman pre sold the film to Paramount for $350,000 and it made $1 million at the box office.

References

External links

*
Beach Ball
at BFI
Beach Ball
at

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