Frankie & Annette: MGM Movie Legends Collection

The sun will never set on Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello, the recording star from Philadelphia and the former Mouseketeer, who give a master class in chemistry in the five Beach Party films that make up the bulk of this swinging eight-film (on four extra-less discs) boxed set. Beach Party (1963) helped to usher in a new wave of teen exploitation films that were far more fun and frolicsome than the rock ‘n' roll and juvenile delinquent films that came before. Frankie (Avalon) rents a beach house for himself and Dolores (Funicello), but is stunned to learn that she has gotten cold feet and allowed the whole gang to hang out there. So Frankie decides to "dig somebody else," and Dolores takes up with Robert Cummings, an anthropologist studying the sex lives of teens. All ends happily, and—of course—chastely. Harvey Lembeck, whose credits include Billy Wilder's Stalag 17, introduces his recurring series role as bumbling biker Eric Von Zipper, surf guitar god Dick Dale provides accompaniment, and Vincent Price pops up as Big Daddy to say, "Bring me my pendulum, kiddies. I feel like swinging." Beach Blanket Bingo (1965) is the magnum opus of the series: Frankie goes skydiving, Bonehead (Jody McCrea) falls in love with a mermaid, Linda Evans sings, Paul Lynde is snide, Don Rickles insults, and Frankie and Annette sing their classic, "I Think, You Think." Bikini Beach (1964) takes a swipe at the upstart Beatles with Frankie in a dual role as British pop star Potato Bug. Muscle Beach Party (1964) was Stevie Wonder's first film, and Peter Lorre's last. And How to Stuff a Wild Bikini (1965) marks the end of an era, with Frankie, off in the Naval Reserves, enlisting the aid of witch doctor Buster Keaton to help keep interloper Dwayne Hickman away from Annette. Annette's absence is keenly felt in Ski Party (1965), but James Brown performs "I Feel Good" and Lesley Gore sings her top-40 hit "Sunshine, Lollipops and Rainbows." Frankie and Annette reunite at the racetrack in Fireball 500 (1966), with Fabian as a third wheel rival for Annette, and 1967's Thunder Alley (from Richard Rush, director of the cult classic The Stunt Man), another car-racing vehicle, pairs Annette and Fabian, but by then as B.B. King says, the thrill is gone. Frankie and Annette are as indelible a screen couple and as inseparable in the public's imagination as Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers or Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy. What is the secret to their enduring appeal? The last line of Back to the Beach (1987), an unsung gem that unfortunately not included in this set, sums it up. Frankie and Annette walk together along the beach for the last time. Frankie turns to the camera and asks, "Are we the corniest couple in the world, or what?" Recommended. (D. Liebenson)