Pajama Party (1964)

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

The story-telling is good with flashbacks.The film is both funny and heartbreaking. You smile in a scene and get a soulcrushing revelation in the next.

True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

Pajama Party (1964) ** (out of 4) The fourth film in the BEACH PARTY series goes into a different direction. This time out a Martian named Go Go (Tommy Kirk) lands on Earth where he strikes up a friendship with an elderly woman (Elsa Lanchester) renting him a room as well as the beautiful Connie (Annette Funicello) who he begins to have a flame with.PAJAMA PARTY, as you can tell, really gets away from the previous three films by switching directors, the setting as well as the lead actor. I've heard several people call this their favorite of the series, which is a little surprising because I found it to be the least entertaining of the first four films but at the same time I still thought it was mildly entertaining in its own way.What works best with this film is that film buffs will enjoy seeing some vets getting pretty good roles. Lanchester will always be remembered for her role in BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN and I thought she was quite goofy and charming here. Then you've got Buster Keaton playing an Indian and he gets to showcase some of his comic skills. There's also Dorothy Lamour in a small part and even Don Rickles shows up playing yet another character. It was fun getting to see all of them even if the screenplay didn't give them any great material.As for Kirk, he really doesn't bring too much to the film and even worse is the fact that he and Funicello have zero chemistry together. The story itself is really lame and there's not even an attempt to make it work better as a sci-fi spoof. PAJAMA PARTY is worth watching if you're a fan of the various stars in the picture but as an entry in the series it really doesn't stand out.

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".

I LOVE this film, particularly the scene at the dress store, with Dorothy Lamour.Yes, the 2nd model out, IS the one and only Terri Garr. The last dancer out - the one doing the INCREDIBLE 'Swim,' is Ms. Toni Basil.These two women have a combined history (which might've started here. Does anyone know?), as, it was shortly after this film, that Terri became a dancer on the late, great ShInDiG!, with Toni as both a dancer and choreographer.I saw some reviews here which were practically out for blood in their negativity, their dislike of this film. The one that stuck in my craw, was the person who said they were in high school (in LA) at the time, and this film was so bad, they couldn't sit through it - 'FIVE(?!?!) times.'O - kaaaaay.While it's true, it's not the best, it does have things going for it, starting with Tommy Kirk, who I've always liked. I can only imagine how he felt, to basically be given the 'beach movie mantle' - ALONE. That had to be a little unnerving tonhave that weight put on you. But, he did have the help of Annette, and a truly fun cast, with everyone from Buster Keaton, through to Dorothy ('poor me, pour me another drink') Kilgallen (huh?).Yes, it's stupid, but, it's fun. It's not supposed to be anything other than lightweight fluff, and, it does it's job admirably.Every time this film comes on, I'm front-and-centre, waiting up for that terrific dance at the dress store.And, again, to the person who hates this - but, keeps seeing it: you keep saying you leave after only the 1st few minutes. There are very few films that are great after only a few minutes.Next time you 'force' yourself to (try and) watch PAJAMA PARTY...just try to at least see Dorothy, Terri, and Toni? You might end up with a smile.

One slightly odd thing about this one is that it looks ahead to a lot of little or big things. In one scene, Tommy Kirk (meaning it literally) says, "I'm from Mars." Annette Funicello says facetiously, "Really? I'm from Venus." When you see that scene now, you can hardly help thinking of self-help books. Also, it has a wall safe that works just like an ATM (though this idea has probably appeared elsewhere ; I don't know). When Elsa Lanchester "withdraws" a lot of money from it, she looks at her late husband's portrait, and says very sweetly, "You always were a thoughtful husband." Then for just a moment, she gives a "knowing" look at the camera. Also, ages before "observational" comedians (as far as I know) seized on this, it had a scene about a perfume saleswoman bothering someone by spraying perfume at them. Buster Keaton and the actress in the scene (I can't think of her name) had perfect "timing" (hardly surprising in his case) when they acted out this relatively tiny joke. The movie even has a tiny bit of what would have to be called satirical humor. In each of the "Beach Movies", the motorcycle gang didn't wear those "Wehrmacht" items, like so many movie Hell's Angels, but each movie showed, at their hangout, pictures of Hitler and Mussolini, and in between them, a picture of "Von Zipper" (evidently to make him look extra scary). When Ben Lessy goes looking for teenagers to plant in the wealthy widow's home (as part of their scheme), he finds the "Rats and Mice." He says something like, "You look like typical wholesome kids," and as he says this, you see them in their leather jackets and those photos on the wall behind them. And on a completely different level, there's Susan Hart's dancing scenes. I don't know about the rest of the movie, but I would challenge anyone to find anything remotely "dated" about the titillation in those. And of course, instead of "AIP" horror actors, this movie's cameo at the end was even more of an inside joke - Frankie Avalon himself. Even if I weren't completely prejudiced IN FAVOR of beach movies, I would still say this one has a lot going for it.