THE MONKEY'S UNCLE

There's really only one reason to watch The Monkey's Uncle, unless you're a big fan of Annette's, Tommy Kirk's, or Monkeys. Luckily for those not interested in any of the aforementioned, you can catch the real reason to watch The Monkey's Uncle in the first few minutes of the movie. That's when Annette and The Beach Boys duet on the title song....heck you don't even have to watch the movie at all, since that clip is on Youtube. 

The title tune is a catchy little number written by The Sherman Brothers, who wrote many of Annette's songs. The Beach Boys look like they're having fun performing with Annette, and Brian Wilson has said it was a real thrill. Mike Love even gets to do a little bit of dancing with Annette. I'm not sure all of "the boys" thought it was as thrilling as Brian, if you check out the studio photo below. Dennis appears to be wishing he was somewhere else, while Carl studies the floor and Mike appears to be using his time to study the bored Dennis and Carl. Only Brian and Al Jardine appear to be engaged in the process.

The rest of the film is made up of what is basically three different movies. First, we have Tommy Kirk becoming the guardian for Stanley, the monkey, so he can raise him in his home. Kirk uses sleep learning on the monkey, which leads into the second part of the movie, where Kirk uses the same methods on some "not so bright" football players to enable them to pass their exams. After that The Monkey's Uncle moves into its third act, with Kirk trying to win a $10 million dollar endowment for the college, if he can prove a man can fly on his own power.

The movie isn't bad and some of the plot for the film was obviously taken from "the beach party films", which were still pretty popular at the time. Not only does The Monkey's Uncle have the club scene at the first, but the first part of the film also has Annette talking marriage, pouting when Kirk doesn't show her enough attention, and jealousy over the monkey's baby sitter becoming too chummy with Kirk....all of these things could have been part of the plot of any of Annette's "beach party films". About half way into the film, most of this is dropped and you get your basic Disney family movie. So check out the first of the movie for The Beach Boys and Annette's song, and if you've got nothing better to do and you're in the mood for some mindless entertainment, stick around for the rest of the film

DISORDERLIES

 

Anthony Geary (General Hospital's Luke) is deep in gambling debt, but if his uncle (Ralph Bellamy) dies, he can collect his inheritance. To speed his uncle's demise along, he hires three bumbling orderlies (Markie, Buffy & Cool - The Fat Boys). Much to Geary's chagrin, The Fat Boys total ineptness actually works in reverse and they have his uncle feeling better than ever, so Geary has to go to plan B, murder his uncle and blame it on the Disorderlies.

The Fat Boys only perform one number in the movie, "Baby You're A Rich Man". The only other song performance in the film is by Laura Hunter who sings "Work Me Down Down" during a roller rink segment. There are several cameo appearances: Ray Parker, Jr. is a pizza delivery guy; Helen Reddy appears as a socialite; Broadway's Linda Hopkins plays Buffy's mother; Rick Nielsen (wearing a Cheap Trick t-shirt) has his car hijacked by two of The Fat Boys; and The Beach Boys (Brian and Carl Wilson and Mike Love) show up near the end of Disorderlies.

The Fat Boys in Disorderlies are akin to The Three Stooges, but without the sophistication. Maybe in 1987 this movie was funnier, but I doubt it. I don't blame The Fat Boys, they were just stuck in a bad movie and appeared to be giving it their all. The best part of the film was when they performed "Baby, You're A Rich Man".  At least Ralph Bellamy got some practice being in a wheelchair, which came in handy when he played Roosevelt a couple of years later in the TV mini-series War and Remembrance. If only Bellamy as Roosevelt  could have used one of his lines from this movie and told Hitler "Step Off, Homeboy", WWII might have ended sooner.

THE BEACH BOYS and the SATAN

The Beach Boys and the Satan is a 1997 German documentary which definitely DOES NOT deliver on the title. The title leads you to believe it's going to be one of those Christian type exposes' of the evils of rock music. Instead the film is a recap of The Beach Boys career centering around Brian Wilson. Finally, at about 2/3 of the way into the movie the filmmakers discuss Dennis Wilson's brief association with Charles Manson. Then the film continues on with the history of The Beach Boys. Near the end of the documentary, the movie goes back to Manson and his followers. The Beach Boys and the Satan includes interviews with Brian Wilson, Kim Fowley, and Don Was. While the Brian Wilson interviews are fairly interesting, the Manson material is mostly a rehash of well known facts and I believe was only included so the title might peak viewers interest.

MUSCLE BEACH PARTY

Back once again are Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello in the second of the "beach party series", Muscle Beach Party (MBP). The movie opens with Frankie and Annette in one car followed by the rest of the gang in several more cars as they all sing "Surfer's Holiday". Not too long after their arrival at the beach the gang goes surfing and in MPB we not only "see" Frankie surfing, but also Annette and Dick Dale catching some waves.


After the surfing scene, we get to the two plot points of the movie. First up is the arrival of Jack Fanny (Don Rickles in his first of four "beach party" movies) and his stable of bodybuilders, featuring Mr. Galaxy (Peter Lupus of Mission Impossible fame who is listed in the credits as Rock Stevens, since he had been convinced by producer Samuel Z. Arkoff to come up with an "American" sounding name). Since Eric Von Zipper and his gang don't appear in MBP (although Alberta Nelson of The Mice has a role as Lisa - Muscle Girl), Don and his muscle men take the place of the antagonists.


The second part of the plot comes into play when we see a huge yacht anchored offshore and we find Buddy Hackett as the business manager of a spoiled heiress, Luciana Paluzzi. It seems Luciana is always looking for a man who will love her. She spots Mr. Galaxy and wants him for herself.


As usual in the plots of this series, Frankie and Annette have a spat. Annette is talking marriage but Frankie's not interested in settling down into a 9-5 routine. Frankie goes surfing and leaves Annette alone on the beach where she sings a wistful, "A Girl Needs A Boy". Once Frankie is back out of the surf, he sings his own version of the same song "A Boy Needs A Girl"


Luciana hears Frankie singing and decides she would rather have him than Mr. Galaxy. She decides she will make Frankie into a singing idol (what a concept!!) and will record him at Morey Amsterdam's (in his last "beach party" appearance) hangout Cappy's (called Big Daddy's in Beach Party). Before she arrives at Cappy's, Dick Dale (also making his last "beach party" appearance until 1987's "Back to The Beach") sings "My First Love" and this song either wasn't suited for him or he's just a better guitarist than vocalist. He also sings a very Beach Boyish sounding "Muscle Beach Party", which is understandable since Brian Wilson co-wrote this and four other songs in MBP.


Once Luciana arrives at Cappy's to record Frankie, he sings a really upbeat tune, "Runnin' Wild", while at the same time dancing with some of the beach gang girls. Back at the beach Dick Dale and The Del-tones with Donna Loren sing, what I assume the producers hoped would be a dance hit, (Do The) "Muscle Bustle". As you can tell this sequence of the movie is heavy on songs, but some of the plot line has developed at the same time.


We find the gang on the beach having a group sing-along with Dick Dale as they do an A cappella version of "Surfin' Woodie". When Frankie arrives, the gang lets him know how displeased they are with him if he is going to run off seeking fame as a singer. Between the gang putting him down and Buddy Hackett letting Frankie know what a "boy toy" he is is going to be, Frankie comes to his senses and goes back to Annette.


Back at Cappy's we are introduced to Little Stevie Wonder singing "Happy Street", which all of these years I thought was called "Clap Your Hands". When I originally saw Stevie Wonder in MBP in 1964, it had the same effect on me as when I saw James Brown later the same year in the T.A.M.I. Show. Both performances imprinted themselves into my grey matter and they're still lodged there to this day.


Don and his muscle men are still displeased about Mr. Galaxy being dumped for Frankie. They go to Cappy's to settle the score and a fight breaks out....well actually a slapstick fight. The fight is broken up by Don's silent partner, Mr. Strangdour played by Peter Lorre, who is the iconic film star of MBP, as Vincent Price was in Beach Party. The end credits announced Lorre would return in the next movie, but sadly he died soon after making this movie.


I think my main surprise with MBP is even though it featured comedians Don Rickles, Morey Amsterdam, and Buddy Hackett, they didn't get to do that much comedy or have that many comedic lines. Frankie Avalon actually has the best lines in the movie and a lot of those have to do with him breaking the "fourth wall" and talking to the audience.

THE BEACH BOYS STORY: - SUMMER DREAMS - ENDLESS HARMONY

Here are some facts you might like to know up front: I'm not that big of a Beach Boys fan. I think they were a great "singles" band at the first part of their career and I still like those earlier hits. I never bought into the whole "Brian is a genius" statement. All of Brian Wilson's later work just left me scratching my head and wondering what the big deal was.


On October 19, 1968 (remember The Beach Boys had become somewhat passé at this point in their career) I saw The Beach Boys in concert at Greenville Memorial Auditorium. It is one of my two biggest disappointments in concert going (I'll get to the other some day). They only sold a few thousand tickets in the 7500 seat hall and Mike Love acted like an ass and let it be known he was unhappy with the small crowd. I find this quite amusing since Love had just gotten into Transcendental Meditation earlier that year. Guess he hadn't perfected his mantra yet! Anyway, they did a 30 minute set and refused to do an encore.


Now you have an idea of where I'm coming from when I watched two different movies about The Beach Boys. First a biopic: Summer Dreams: The Story of The Beach Boys (SD) based on the Steve Gaines book "Heroes and Villains: the True Story of The Beach Boys" and second the documentary: Endless Harmony: The Beach Boys Story.


I liked the fact that SD lets the viewer know right up front that the movie added dialogue and created scenes, plus that the music in the film was not sung by The Beach Boys. At least that's giving you some sense of what's in store for you in this film. The first part of Summer Dreams is stronger than the second part and I think a lot of that has to do with facts. Since the first part is concerned with formation of the band and how they achieved success, it's much easier to base this part of SD on noted and known events. Although I'm sure, like any biopic, the facts have been condensed or re-arranged to fit into the short time span of a TV movie. In the second part of SD, we get more into the personal side of the Beach Boys and SD struggles some with showing the downside of success - especially Brian's drug use and mental illness and Dennis' drug use and philandering. Even though, SD may not be completely accurate, it still didn't shy away from some of the truths, even including a brief segment about Dennis getting tangled up with Charles Manson.


The movie starts with the accidental drowning of "down on his luck" Dennis Wilson and flashes back to show us how he got to that point in his life. SD mainly focuses on the relationship between brothers Brian (Greg Kean) and Dennis (Bruce Greenwood) with Carl (Bo Foxworth) playing only a secondary role in the movie, as do Mike Love (Casey Sander) and Al Jardine (Andrew Myler). Murry Wilson (Arlen Dean Snyder), their father, is shown to be a tough S.O.B. and from what I have read this is somewhat of an accurate portrayal of him. Man! it's no wonder the Brothers Wilson had such problems, because it appears Murry's terrible child rearing skills may have been a cause of Brian eventually becoming mentally ill (although drugs probably added some to this), Dennis being a wild child rebelling against his upbringing and although we don't get a full grasp on Carl, it appears he became withdrawn and that food was his friend.


Endless Harmony: The Beach Boys Story (EH) mainly focuses on the music and only briefly mentions any personal or band problems. It was interesting to see events in EH that correlated with the fictional events shown in SD. The main problem with EH is that is became quite repetitious hearing how great all the Beach Boys music was over and over. I would rather have seen a documentary that was more accurate and combined some true details that were incorporated in the fictional SD instead of just the mostly white washed version that is EH. Of course EH was authorized, so I imagine that The Beach Boys had a good bit of control over the final product. Two things that I definitely did come away with from watching both SD and EH, Mike Love was a much more integral and important part of The Beach Boys than I had imagined, and Mike Love must have the worst sense of fashion, since he appears in one sartorial disaster after another.