Frankie and Annette reunite once again (barely) and show us HOW TO STUFF A WILD BIKINI, the sixth of American International Pictures’ (AIP’s) “Beach Party” flicks, now arriving on Blu-ray looking better than ever, courtesy of Olive Films.

Frankie (an uncredited Frankie Avalon, SKIDOO) is on naval-reserve duty in Tahiti, and although he himself is smooching it up with a local native girl (Irene Tsu, WOMEN OF THE PREHISTORIC) he fears that his gal Dee Dee (Annette Funicello, THUNDER ALLEY) isn’t remaining loyal to him back home. He seeks out the help of witch doctor Bwana (silent film legend Buster Keaton, IT'S A MAD, MAD, MAD, MAD WORLD) who conjures up a floating leopard skin bikini, which then materializes with stacked decoy Cassandra (Beverly Adams, TORTURE GARDEN) to lure all the sex-starved boys on the beach (in typical 1960s comedy fashion, a pelican is also sent to watch over Dee Dee, interfering with any possible romantic interludes). Advertising exec Peachy Keane (Mickey Rooney, THE SECRET INVASION) shows up on the beach looking for the “girl next door” for a big campaign and enlists Cassandra. In the meantime, his young playboy assistant Ricky (Dwayne Hickman, DR. GOLDFOOT AND THE BIKINI MACHINE) has sights on Dee Dee, and he even manages to get her back to his swinging seaside bachelor pad. With Cassandra being extremely shy with boys, Eric Von Zipper (Harvey Lembeck, STALAG 17) trades in his leather duds for a three-piece suit in hopes of being her proper suitor.

Not counting Paramount’s 1987 summer comedy BACK TO THE BEACH, this would be the final time Frankie and Annette would appear in a “Beach Party” epic together; Avalon’s screen time is very limited and he and Funicello are only seen briefly on-screen together. Funicello trades in her two-piece bathing suit for an array of tunics, as she was pregnant at the time of filming (she’s usually seen sitting in the sand with a product-placement prop in front of her or strolling alongside the tide in an unconvincing back-screen projection effect). This entry has (or at least it seems to have) more musical numbers than usual, with most of the cast partaking in this. Aside from the presence of Frankie and Annette, the film has a number of the “Beach Party” cast fixtures including John Ashley (he of course sings), Jody McCrea, Mike Nader and statuesque Bobbi Shaw (in a black wig) as Bwana’s alluring sidekick. Most of Von Zipper’s usual madcap “Rat Pack” motorcycle gang is there and also representing the veterans is a slumming and toupeed Brian Donlevy (THE QUATERMASS XPERIMENT) as advertising agency bigwig B. D. (Big Deal) McPherson, and he gets to play off an animated Rooney as best as he can. The great Len Lesser (BLOOD AND LACE) plays pool hall meanie and “Rat Pack” crony North Dakota Pete, the brother of South Dakota Slim (a character played by Timothy Carey in several previous entries) and has a fun bit where he invades Ricky’s Japanese-decored abode during his date with Dee Dee.

Shot by AIP’s dependable Floyd Crosby with the usual zany score by Les Baxter, this is one of the more odd (and more cheaper-looking than usual) entries, and it concludes with a big motorcycle race which furnishes Von Zipper and company with a number of sight gags right out of an old Warner Brothers cartoon. With previous “Beach Party” films featuring such prominent music acts as Dick Dale and the Del-Tones, Donna Loren and Stevie Wonder, this one has an appearance by The Kingsmen (best known for their hit rendition of “Louie Louie”) who perform "Give Her Lovin'" and "How To Stuff A Wild Bikini". Avalon’s limited screen time accounts for him shooting Norman Taurog’s astro-nut comedy SERGEANT DEAD HEAD (of which there is a big plug for here during the closing credits). "Gumby" creator Art Clokey is responsible for the opening credit’s animation and Elizabeth Montgomery (married to director William Asher at the time) has a cameo, doing her famous Samantha “nose twitch” as Witch Doctor Bwana’s daughter. The next and final stop for the “Beach Party” series was 1966’s THE GHOST IN THE INVISIBLE BIKINI, a haunted house comedy (no beach in sight) with the most prominent link to previous entries being the presence of Von Zipper and the “Rat Pack” clan.