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Wild on the Beach
(1965 Film)
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About This Film/Cast/Music
Cast
Music Acts
Photos
Cast:
Frankie Randall as Adam Miller
Sherry Jackson as Lee Sullivan
Gayle Caldwell as Marsie Lowell
Jackie Miller as Toby Carr
Booth Colman as Dean Parker
Justin Smith as Mort Terwilliger
Russ Bender as Shep Kirby
Music Acts:
Astronauts
Russ Bender
Jackie & Gayle
Cindy Malone
Sandy Nelson
Frankie Randall
Sonny & Cher
Wild on the Beach (1965): A better title would've been "House on the Beach" or "Beach House". I say this because there really isn't much of the beach shown in this movie. Most of it is filmed inside the beach house or pertains specifically to the beach house. Also, the opening song is called "House on the Beach". It seems a given, but for some reason it's called "Wild on the Beach", which is also a good title.
This is a fun movie to see and I encourage anyone who is a fan of great music and light-hearted silliness to watch it. Released in 1965 by Twentieth Century Fox, this movie was filmed in black-and-white. It's basically a concert movie with a wacky plot involving a boys vs. girls battle over a beach house mixed in. There's a lot of music, and if you like 1960s music (like I do), you'll love this film.
I enjoyed the whole movie, but the highlights for me would definitely be Jackie & Gayle singing "Winter Nocturne" and Gayle's acting, specifically with housing inspector Mort Terwilliger (played by Justin Smith). Gayle's got a lot of spunk and she's quite good as an actress. The Marsie vs. Terwilliger scenes (Marsie is the name of her character) is very reminiscent of Laurel & Hardy slapstick comedy.
Frankie Randall-
Plays the male lead in this good-time movie: Adam Miller. He's every bit the gentleman, but finds he has to be a little sneaky when it comes to Lee Sullivan (played by Sherry Jackson). Adam's the leader of the boys; Lee, the girls. A friend of Adam's father by the name of Captain Sullivan lends Adam his beach house while he's going to college: a gentleman's agreement. What Adam doesn't know is that Captain Sullivan died in a car accident and his niece Lee inherited the beach house. The boys don't have a place to stay, and the girls need one. Lee hopes to make money by renting the beach house out to girls, and girls generally don't like boarding with boys, so according to Lee the boys must go! Lee and Adam race each other to get the housing permit and control of the beach house. Eventually they fall in love, but they still rival each other throughout the film. It's a cute rivalry, though, and it doesn't get too extreme...which is good. After all, this is meant to be a lighthearted, fun film.
Sherry Jackson-
Sherry plays the female lead: Lee Sullivan. I think she's pretty, but her character gets kind of annoying after a fashion. Why is she so bent on kicking the boys out of the house? They need a place to stay, too! I don't understand why the boys and girls couldn't share the house. Apparently, she must think that there can be no such arrangement without hanky panky, which is kind of sad. But if she didn't have this quirk, there wouldn't be a movie.
Gayle Caldwell-
I think she's great in this movie! Definitely funny. Marsie Lowell (Gayle's character) is one tough mama always beating up on some guy, plus she's a Home-Ec major! She can bake cakes and pies and still whoop up on people! I like it when she throws the nearsighted college kid into the luggage at the beginning after he accidentally feels her up. But her best scenes (acting-wise) are when she's battling Terwilliger (played by Justin Smith). Over all, I think she's just a fun, lively person that is perfect for good-time beach movies, such as "Wild on the Beach" and "Wild Wild Winter".
Jackie Miller-
She didn't have too many of her own scenes in this movie, but you almost always saw her with Gayle (when Gayle wasn't beating up on Smith). A funny scene she has on her own is when she disguises herself as a freshman college boy shaving in the bathroom in order to fool the housing inspector, Mort Terwilliger. "Hold it, Mac!". Plus, I think it's cute that her name was Toby in this show. Toby has always struck me as a really funny name...right up there with Corky! By the way, her character's complete name was Toby Carr.
Booth Colman-
Plays the "crusty-old-dean" stereotype to perfection in this film. As Dean Parker, he's cantankerous, crude, and perpetually a pain-in-the-butt for our college kid heroes. Plus he treats his underling Mort Terwilliger like garbage. Parker is always up to something just to cover his own backside because the school board has him on a probation of sorts (for screwing up in the past). In other words, you get the idea that the Dean is not on the straight-and-narrow. But he gets what's coming to him by the end of the film. Watch it. I'm not going to spoil it for you!
Justin Smith-
In beach-party movies such as this, there is usually a really unlikeable character (such as Dean Parker, played by Booth Colman) and a really goofy, likeable, but not too hip character that's everyone's foil. Justin Smith plays that character in this film, by the name of Mort Terwilliger. Throughout the course of the movie, Terwilliger takes a lot of abuse and he does so pretty much good-natured. I don't think I'd keep my cool as well if I tripped over weights, got beat up by a Home-Ec major, or sprayed in the eyes with hair spray. He's funny throughout the whole movie, always bumbling, but some of his best scenes here would have to be with Marsie Lowell (Gayle Caldwell) when they get into mishaps in the kitchen.
Russ Bender-
Russ plays down-on-his-luck music producer Shep Kirby, who is kind of the "dirty-old-man" character in the film. He's a girl-chaser and likes them young. When we first see him, he's trying to get into singer Cindy Malone's good graces. She sees right through him, though, and is less-than-enthusiastic. The loud sound effects from Lee's beach house ruins his recording session with Cindy and he becomes too broke to be a manufacturer. However, he accidentally discovers the music of the Astronauts group and teams up with the kids to get them on tape recorder. He hopes to sell a tape of the Astronauts to the highest bidder and regain his fame and fortune. Kirby actually helps the kids with their beach house problem and gets everything settled with the college. All in all, a really cool "swinger" character for this film.
The Astronauts-
This band is fantastic! They also appear in Gayle's other movie "Wild Wild Winter"! In this movie they play two songs on their own: "Rock The World" and "Little Speedy Gonzales". The first song sounds like 1950s Elvis Presley rockabilly, and the singer for this song even sounds a lot like early Elvis! "Little Speedy Gonzales" is the swan-song of this movie, a nice way to cap it off. It's a real, 1960s a-go-go type rocker. Plus, Speedy Gonzales is a cool cartoon character that you'd like to be reminded of when you hear this song ("the fastest mouse in all of Mexico!"). They also play the music for Sonny & Cher's number "It's Gonna Rain" (their music is quite good, here) and for Jackie & Gayle's "Winter Nocturne".
Russ Bender-
It was surprising to me at first when Russ Bender started singing in this film, because one doesn't usually think of him as a singer. He was in a lot of war and sci-fi movies where he played military leaders and such. Then he starts singing "The Yellow-Haired Woman" and is really quite good (backed by Sandy Nelson and his band). It's a funny, feel-good song with clever lyrics. Plus, the song really fits in with this movie. You wouldn't think an old man would be cool around a bunch of young kids, but he is!
Jackie & Gayle-
I LOVE the "Winter Nocturne" song. It's slow and somber, but optimistic at the same time, even as they sing about leaves falling and winter coming...because they also talk about springtime coming again! It kind of reminds me of something the Mamas and the Papas group would do (or similar artists). They're both perfect singers and the harmonizing is amazing! The fact that the Astronauts is their back-up band is another good thing.
Cindy Malone-
Cindy sings "Run Away From Him" which is a good song, especially for the reverb they use. It has that neat echo effect. I don't know if I'd like the song as well without the reverb, because it would sound like any ordinary pop song, but with reverb it's good. Cindy's a great singer, but she acts like a total b-word to Shep Kirby (which is the comedy part of her performance). I like it when she slaps him, "You said it was a record you were trying to make!". Classic!
Sandy Nelson-
I've been a fan of Sandy Nelson long before I first saw this movie. For those who don't know, Sandy was a very popular rock and roll drummer in the 1960s with hugely popular tunes "Let There be Drums" and "Teen Beat" to his credit. He didn't just play surf-drums, though. Sandy has played all kinds of music in his career. An album I'd like to recommend to you is his "Rebirth of the Beat" which is very psychedelic. I'd almost have to say that the tunes he plays in this movie aren't strictly surf, either. "Drum Dance" and "Pyramid Stomp" both are tinged with psychedelic sounds. They're extremely good, in any case.
Frankie Randall-
Sings "House on the Beach" at the beginning of this film and later in the film "The Gods of Love". "House on the Beach" is definitely a party song, while "The Gods of Love" is more like 1940s crooner/Frank Sinatra style. "The Gods of Love" is meant to be romantic when he's serenading Sherry Jackson's character on the beach. A very talented singer, no doubt.
Sonny & Cher-
This film was Sonny & Cher's debut. The Astronauts as their back-up band was terrific. There are two things that really stand out in this performance. One, Cher never looks at Sonny once during the entire song. Two, this is about the most clothes Cher has ever worn while singing. Ironically, most people who know about this film or seek it out do so because it was the debut of Sonny & Cher. Actually, I bought this movie because I wanted to see Gayle Caldwell in it.
Photos:
Frankie Randall as Adam Miller
Sherry Jackson as Lee Sullivan
Gayle Caldwell as Marsie Lowell
Jackie Miller as Toby Carr
Booth Colman as Dean Parker
Justin Smith as Mort Terwilliger
Russ Bender as Shep Kirby
Music Acts:
Astronauts
Russ Bender
Jackie & Gayle
Cindy Malone
Sandy Nelson
Frankie Randall
Sonny & Cher
Wild on the Beach (1965): A better title would've been "House on the Beach" or "Beach House". I say this because there really isn't much of the beach shown in this movie. Most of it is filmed inside the beach house or pertains specifically to the beach house. Also, the opening song is called "House on the Beach". It seems a given, but for some reason it's called "Wild on the Beach", which is also a good title.
This is a fun movie to see and I encourage anyone who is a fan of great music and light-hearted silliness to watch it. Released in 1965 by Twentieth Century Fox, this movie was filmed in black-and-white. It's basically a concert movie with a wacky plot involving a boys vs. girls battle over a beach house mixed in. There's a lot of music, and if you like 1960s music (like I do), you'll love this film.
I enjoyed the whole movie, but the highlights for me would definitely be Jackie & Gayle singing "Winter Nocturne" and Gayle's acting, specifically with housing inspector Mort Terwilliger (played by Justin Smith). Gayle's got a lot of spunk and she's quite good as an actress. The Marsie vs. Terwilliger scenes (Marsie is the name of her character) is very reminiscent of Laurel & Hardy slapstick comedy.
The Cast:
Frankie Randall-
Plays the male lead in this good-time movie: Adam Miller. He's every bit the gentleman, but finds he has to be a little sneaky when it comes to Lee Sullivan (played by Sherry Jackson). Adam's the leader of the boys; Lee, the girls. A friend of Adam's father by the name of Captain Sullivan lends Adam his beach house while he's going to college: a gentleman's agreement. What Adam doesn't know is that Captain Sullivan died in a car accident and his niece Lee inherited the beach house. The boys don't have a place to stay, and the girls need one. Lee hopes to make money by renting the beach house out to girls, and girls generally don't like boarding with boys, so according to Lee the boys must go! Lee and Adam race each other to get the housing permit and control of the beach house. Eventually they fall in love, but they still rival each other throughout the film. It's a cute rivalry, though, and it doesn't get too extreme...which is good. After all, this is meant to be a lighthearted, fun film.
Sherry Jackson-
Sherry plays the female lead: Lee Sullivan. I think she's pretty, but her character gets kind of annoying after a fashion. Why is she so bent on kicking the boys out of the house? They need a place to stay, too! I don't understand why the boys and girls couldn't share the house. Apparently, she must think that there can be no such arrangement without hanky panky, which is kind of sad. But if she didn't have this quirk, there wouldn't be a movie.
Gayle Caldwell-
I think she's great in this movie! Definitely funny. Marsie Lowell (Gayle's character) is one tough mama always beating up on some guy, plus she's a Home-Ec major! She can bake cakes and pies and still whoop up on people! I like it when she throws the nearsighted college kid into the luggage at the beginning after he accidentally feels her up. But her best scenes (acting-wise) are when she's battling Terwilliger (played by Justin Smith). Over all, I think she's just a fun, lively person that is perfect for good-time beach movies, such as "Wild on the Beach" and "Wild Wild Winter".
Jackie Miller-
She didn't have too many of her own scenes in this movie, but you almost always saw her with Gayle (when Gayle wasn't beating up on Smith). A funny scene she has on her own is when she disguises herself as a freshman college boy shaving in the bathroom in order to fool the housing inspector, Mort Terwilliger. "Hold it, Mac!". Plus, I think it's cute that her name was Toby in this show. Toby has always struck me as a really funny name...right up there with Corky! By the way, her character's complete name was Toby Carr.
Booth Colman-
Plays the "crusty-old-dean" stereotype to perfection in this film. As Dean Parker, he's cantankerous, crude, and perpetually a pain-in-the-butt for our college kid heroes. Plus he treats his underling Mort Terwilliger like garbage. Parker is always up to something just to cover his own backside because the school board has him on a probation of sorts (for screwing up in the past). In other words, you get the idea that the Dean is not on the straight-and-narrow. But he gets what's coming to him by the end of the film. Watch it. I'm not going to spoil it for you!
Justin Smith-
In beach-party movies such as this, there is usually a really unlikeable character (such as Dean Parker, played by Booth Colman) and a really goofy, likeable, but not too hip character that's everyone's foil. Justin Smith plays that character in this film, by the name of Mort Terwilliger. Throughout the course of the movie, Terwilliger takes a lot of abuse and he does so pretty much good-natured. I don't think I'd keep my cool as well if I tripped over weights, got beat up by a Home-Ec major, or sprayed in the eyes with hair spray. He's funny throughout the whole movie, always bumbling, but some of his best scenes here would have to be with Marsie Lowell (Gayle Caldwell) when they get into mishaps in the kitchen.
Russ Bender-
Russ plays down-on-his-luck music producer Shep Kirby, who is kind of the "dirty-old-man" character in the film. He's a girl-chaser and likes them young. When we first see him, he's trying to get into singer Cindy Malone's good graces. She sees right through him, though, and is less-than-enthusiastic. The loud sound effects from Lee's beach house ruins his recording session with Cindy and he becomes too broke to be a manufacturer. However, he accidentally discovers the music of the Astronauts group and teams up with the kids to get them on tape recorder. He hopes to sell a tape of the Astronauts to the highest bidder and regain his fame and fortune. Kirby actually helps the kids with their beach house problem and gets everything settled with the college. All in all, a really cool "swinger" character for this film.
The Music:
The Astronauts-
This band is fantastic! They also appear in Gayle's other movie "Wild Wild Winter"! In this movie they play two songs on their own: "Rock The World" and "Little Speedy Gonzales". The first song sounds like 1950s Elvis Presley rockabilly, and the singer for this song even sounds a lot like early Elvis! "Little Speedy Gonzales" is the swan-song of this movie, a nice way to cap it off. It's a real, 1960s a-go-go type rocker. Plus, Speedy Gonzales is a cool cartoon character that you'd like to be reminded of when you hear this song ("the fastest mouse in all of Mexico!"). They also play the music for Sonny & Cher's number "It's Gonna Rain" (their music is quite good, here) and for Jackie & Gayle's "Winter Nocturne".
Russ Bender-
It was surprising to me at first when Russ Bender started singing in this film, because one doesn't usually think of him as a singer. He was in a lot of war and sci-fi movies where he played military leaders and such. Then he starts singing "The Yellow-Haired Woman" and is really quite good (backed by Sandy Nelson and his band). It's a funny, feel-good song with clever lyrics. Plus, the song really fits in with this movie. You wouldn't think an old man would be cool around a bunch of young kids, but he is!
Jackie & Gayle-
I LOVE the "Winter Nocturne" song. It's slow and somber, but optimistic at the same time, even as they sing about leaves falling and winter coming...because they also talk about springtime coming again! It kind of reminds me of something the Mamas and the Papas group would do (or similar artists). They're both perfect singers and the harmonizing is amazing! The fact that the Astronauts is their back-up band is another good thing.
Cindy sings "Run Away From Him" which is a good song, especially for the reverb they use. It has that neat echo effect. I don't know if I'd like the song as well without the reverb, because it would sound like any ordinary pop song, but with reverb it's good. Cindy's a great singer, but she acts like a total b-word to Shep Kirby (which is the comedy part of her performance). I like it when she slaps him, "You said it was a record you were trying to make!". Classic!
Sandy Nelson-
I've been a fan of Sandy Nelson long before I first saw this movie. For those who don't know, Sandy was a very popular rock and roll drummer in the 1960s with hugely popular tunes "Let There be Drums" and "Teen Beat" to his credit. He didn't just play surf-drums, though. Sandy has played all kinds of music in his career. An album I'd like to recommend to you is his "Rebirth of the Beat" which is very psychedelic. I'd almost have to say that the tunes he plays in this movie aren't strictly surf, either. "Drum Dance" and "Pyramid Stomp" both are tinged with psychedelic sounds. They're extremely good, in any case.
Frankie Randall-
Sings "House on the Beach" at the beginning of this film and later in the film "The Gods of Love". "House on the Beach" is definitely a party song, while "The Gods of Love" is more like 1940s crooner/Frank Sinatra style. "The Gods of Love" is meant to be romantic when he's serenading Sherry Jackson's character on the beach. A very talented singer, no doubt.
Sonny & Cher-
This film was Sonny & Cher's debut. The Astronauts as their back-up band was terrific. There are two things that really stand out in this performance. One, Cher never looks at Sonny once during the entire song. Two, this is about the most clothes Cher has ever worn while singing. Ironically, most people who know about this film or seek it out do so because it was the debut of Sonny & Cher. Actually, I bought this movie because I wanted to see Gayle Caldwell in it.
Photos:
The Astronauts
Russ Bender
Gayle Caldwell
Booth Colman
Jackie & Gayle
Sherry Jackson
Cindy Malone
Sandy Nelson
Frankie Randall
Justin Smith
Sonny & Cher
Russ Bender
Gayle Caldwell
Booth Colman
Jackie & Gayle
Sherry Jackson
Cindy Malone
Sandy Nelson
Frankie Randall
Justin Smith
Sonny & Cher