Seven Things to Know About Miss Perpetual Motion (that'd be Candy Johnson!)

1. Candy Johnson gained fame as the fast-shakin' go-go dancer in the colorful fringe outfits in four Beach Party movies made in 1963-64: Beach Party; Bikini Beach; Pajama Party; and Muscle Beach Party (shown on right with "Little" Stevie Wonder in the background). Those are the only movies she made!

2. In the first film, Candy is aptly billed as the "perpetual motion dancer." In the other three films, her character's name is...Candy. Her character's hip gyrations are so dangerous that--if aimed properly--they could send a guy flying across a room without even touching him. Thus, Candy comes in handy when Frankie and the boys are fighting Eric Von Zipper's gang.

Candy's hips send Deadhead flying in Bikini Beach.

Candy doing her act in a nightclub.

3. Candy was discovered by Red Gilson, who managed a West Coast band called The Exciters. Gilson convinced her to join the band and she became its "frontman." The band, which became billed as Candy Johnson and Her Exciters, played lounges in Palm Springs and Las Vegas. That's where she attracted the attention of American International Pictures executives.

4. Candy could have made a fortune with her weight loss program; she allegedly burned off five to fifteen pounds a night when performing her lounge act. In Tom Lisanti's book, Drive-in Dream Girls: A Galaxy of B-movie Starlets of the 1960s, he mentions that Candy ate steak and potatoes every night to make up for the weight loss. He also included one of Candy's quotes to the press: "If your trouble is too much weight, just twist it off!"

5. Red Gilson started a small label called Canjo Records (the name being a truncation of Candy Johnson, of course). Canjo only released two albums: The Candy Johnson Show at Bikini Beach and Ray Ryan Presents The Candy Johnson Show. They're both very rare, but not pricey for collectibles. You can buy a near-mint copy of either album for around $40. Canjo Records also released 45s featuring Candy's Beach Party series co-stars Jody McCrea (Bonehead or Deadhead) and Meredith MacRae (Animal). The "A" side of McCrea's single was "Chicken Surfer" and the "B" side was "Looney Gooney Bird." Meredith MacRae, who later gained fame on My Three Sons and Petticoat Junction, sang "Image of a Boy" on her single.

A rare moment of stillness.

6. Candy performed at the World's Fair in New York in 1964-65. Allegedly, that's where the members of The Strangeloves saw her and were so inspired they wrote their #11 pop hit "I Want Candy."

7. Candy Johnson and Red Gilson married in the late 1960s and opened a New York City nightclub called The Candy Store. It didn't last long and neither did her marriage to Gilson. Candy subsequently retired from show business (some sources claimed she turned down the role on Rowan and Martin's Laugh-in that eventually went to Goldie Hawn). Candy kept a low profile for many years, but did make a rare public appearance at a special 2006 screening of Beach Party--where she received a standing ovation. Candy Johnson died in 2012 at the age of 68.

Seven Things to Know About Don Rickles

1. He appeared in four of American-International's Beach Party movies: Muscle Beach Party (1964); Bikini Beach (1964); Pajama Party (1964); and Beach Blanket Bingo (1965). So how did that happen? Rickles' agent was Jack Gilardi, who was then married to Annette Funicello! Our favorite is Muscle Beach Party, in which he played Jack Fanny, a fast-talking bodybuilding coach whose protégés include Peter Lupus (Willy in Mission: Impossible).

2. He originally aspired to be a serious actor and studied his craft at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in Manhattan. One of his classmates in the late 1940s was Grace Kelly. Rickles played dramatic film roles in Run Silent, Run Deep (1958), X--The Man With X-Ray Eyes (1963), and Martin Scorsese's Casino (1995).

Rickles as Crapgame in Kelly's Heroes.

3. Rickles, who served in the Navy during 1944-46, played a member of the armed services in several films and TV series: Run Silent, Run Deep; Gomer Pyle USMC (as a guest star); Kelly's Heroes (1970); and CPO Sharkey (1976-78).

4. Frank Sinatra became an early fan of Rickles' stand-up act. According to Rickles' web site, when the then-unknown comedian spotted Sinatra in the audience at a Miami nightclub, he quipped: "I just saw your movie The Pride and the Passion and I want to tell you, the cannon was great." Sinatra's affectionate pet name for Rickles was "Bullet Head."

5. Rickles attributes his fame to his TV appearances on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. Rickles appeared over 100 times on The Tonight Show, sometimes as guest host. It was Carson that gave him his most famous nickname: Mr. Warmth.

6. Rickles also appeared frequently on The Dean Martin Show, which subsequently led to his participation in numerous "celebrity roast" specials in which he "insulted" the likes of James Stewart, Milton Berle, Lucille Ball, Frank Sinatra (of course), Bob Hope, and many others.

7. At age 87, Don Rickles still tours regularly and appears on the late night shows with Jay Leno, David Letterman, and Jimmy Kimmel. In the recently-announced Toy Story 4, he will once again provide the voice for Mr. Potato Head.

The Beach Party Movies: A to Z

A – It’s for Annette, of course! (Though Avalon is a fine choice, too.)

B – Beach Party, the 1963 movie that started it all. Or, it can also be for Bonehead, Frankie’s dimwitted pal played by Jody McCrea (Joel’s son).

Candy Johnson.

C – Candy Johnson, the fringe-dressed dancer who shimmies through most of the closing credits.

D – Dick Dale, the “King of the Surf Guitar,” who appeared in Beach Party and Muscle Beach Party with his band The Del-Tones. Quentin Tarantino used Dale’s “Misirlou” as the theme to Pulp Fiction.

E – Eva Six, the Hungarian bombshell who tries to lure Frankie from Annette in Beach Party.

F – “The Finger,” a self-defensive maneuver, also known as the Himalayan Time Suspension Technique, employed originally by Professor Sutwell (Robert Cummings) in Beach Party. Sutwell would place his index finger on a “complex pressure point” on his opponent’s temple. The victim’s body would then go into a state of “time suspension” for several hours. The most frequent victim was Eric Von Zipper.

G – Go Go (Tommy Kirk), a Martian teen who falls in love with Connie (Annette) instead of preparing for the Mars invasion of Earth in Pajama Party.

H – Dwayne Hickman, TV’s Dobie Gillis, who wooed Annette in How to Stuff a Wild Bikini. Or, it could be Susan Hart, the beauty who starred as The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini after an earlier appearance in Pajama Party.

Harvey Lembeck as
Eric Von Zipper.

I – “I Am My Ideal” a reprise of Eric Von Zipper’s “Follow Your Leader” music number that first appeared in Beach Blanket Bingo and then How to Stuff a Wild Bikini.

J – Jack Fanny, the bodybuilding trainer played by Don Rickles in Muscle Beach Party.

K – Sugar Kane, a singer played by Linda Evans in Beach Blanket Bingo (the song vocals are by Jackie Ward). Or, it can be for Buster Keaton, who appeared in Beach Blanket Bingo, Pajama Party, and How to Stuff a Wild Bikini.

L – Lorelei (Marta Kristen), Bonehead’s mermaid girlfriend in Beach Blanket Bingo. It could also be for Donna Loren, who sings some of the best songs in the series, including “It Only Hurts When I Cry” (from Bingo).

M – Flex Martian, the bodybuilder played by Mission: Impossible's Peter Lupus (shown on right) in Muscle Beach Party. Or, it could be Dorothy Malone, the only Oscar winner in a BP movie (Beach Party).

N – The Nooney Rickett Four, an L.A. rock band that appeared in Pajama Party.

O – “O Dio Mio” a pre-Beach Party hit song for Annette.

P – The Potato Bug, a British rock singer played by Frankie Avalon in Bikini Beach (in addition to his regular role of Frankie).

Q – Quinn O’Hara, Scottish redhead who played Basil Rathbone’s homicidal daughter in The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini.

R – The Ratz, the name of Eric Von Zipper’s motorcycle gang. (The female members were known as the Mice.)

South Dakota Slim.

S – South Dakota Slim (Timothy Carey), the creepy pool shark from Bikini Beach and Bingo (where he kidnaps Sugar Kane). Or, it can for Bobbi Shaw, the curvaceous blonde with a fondness for taking baths in the final four Beach Party movies.

T – Toni Basil, one of the singer-dancers in Pajama Party. In 1982, she had a No. 1 hit song with "Mickey."

U – Gary Usher, the influential 1960s composer, who wrote tunes for four Beach Party movies when not collaborating with Brian Wilson, The Byrds, and others.

V – Vivian Clements, a teacher played by Martha Hyer in Bikini Beach.

Dick Dale and Stevie Wonder.

W – Little Stevie Wonder, who performed in Muscle Beach Party and Bikini Beach.

X - Francis X. Bushman, famous silent film actor and the first star labeled "King of the Movies." He had a supporting role in The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini.

Y – “Yoots,” which is how Eric Von Zipper pronounces “youths” as in the Ratz being a bunch of “good clean American yoots.”

Z – Eric Von Zipper (a bit of cheat to make it to “Z”). Eric’s most famous quote: “I like you. And when Eric Von Zipper likes someone, they stay liked.”

Buff Guys, Bikini Babes, and Rockin' Surf Music Abound in "Muscle Beach Party"

Julie, the Contessa, watches
as Flex flexes his muscles.

Contessa: You’re so strong. Flex: I’m the strongest.

Contessa: And so handsome.
Flex: I’m the handsomest.

Contessa: And so big.

Flex: Yes, ma’m.

Contessa: I want to be alone with you.

Flex: Did you see this tricep?

Contessa: I want to take you away with me.

Flex: The way I can make it ripple?

Contessa: Right now.

Flex: I haven’t had my lunch.

Jack Fanny (Don Rickles) motivates his bodybuilders,
led by Peter Lupus on the far right.

I have something in common with a Contessa. No, it’s not the wealth, nor the beauty. But we both think Peter Lupus, billed under the stage name Rock Stevens, is cute and fun. Muscle Beach Party gives Lupus’s character Flex Martian, also known as Mr. Galaxy, a chance to really show off his award-winning physique. Lupus became regular Willie Armitage on Mission: Impossible two years after this classic entry in the Beach Party series. Flex proudly wears a shiny purple bathing suit with a gold cape and is surrounded by seven shorter muscular men in shiny pink bathing trunks and pink capes (named Biff, Rock, Tug, Riff, Hulk, Sulk, and Clod) and their manager Jack Fanny, perfectly portrayed by Don Rickles.

Frankie explains to Dee Dee, a bit
condescendingly, that "girls don't fly."

Series regulars Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello are back in this second Beach Party entry as Frankie and Dee Dee, along with Jody McCrea as their friend Deadhead and shimmying Candy Johnson as Candy. The film opens with Frankie beginning to feel pressured by Dee Dee to make a commitment to settle down when he just wants to keep having fun with his beach friends.

Luciana Paluzzi before Thunderball.

Meanwhile, the Contessa Julie, played by the luminous Luciana Paluzzi (best known as Fiona Volpe in Thunderball), arrives in her luxury ocean liner. She proves to be indecisive, thinking she is in love first with Flex and then with Frankie, when she comes across him wistfully singing “A Boy Needs a Girl (He Can Count On)” on a moonlit beach. She decides she likes Frankie’s voice and boyish charms even more than the buff strongman’s--to the disgust of Dee Dee, who calls her the Bride of Godzilla at one point.

Annette surfing in her cute suit...
in front of a rear screen wave.

Annette plays the lovely girl next door and wears one of her prettiest two piece swimsuits, with a net draped across the top. We hear her sing “A Girl Needs a Boy (She Can Count On)” with an echo effect that came to be known as the "Annette sound." Part of the fun of Muscle Beach Party is hearing songs performed enthusiastically by Donna Loren, Little Stevie Wonder (who was 14 at the time), and Dick Dale and the Del-Tones.

Morey Amsterdam mugging
as Cappy.

Entertaining supporting performances abound, including Morey Amsterdam reprising the role of proprietor Cappy from Beach Party, Buddy Hackett as the Contessa's business manager, Peter Turgeon as Julie’s lawyer, and even a turn by Peter Lorre as the strong yet silent partner of Jack Fanny. Yet, despite the presence of such veteran funnymen, Harvey Lembeck is sorely missed as motorcycle gang leader Eric Von Zipper. Muscle Beach Party is the only one of the seven Beach Party movies without Lembeck.

The ending is not a surprise but viewers watch Beach Party films for the fun in the sun and the singing and dancing. There are lots of shots of surfing and even a “walls of Jericho” to separate the young women from the young men in their cramped lodging. It's a perfect movie for light summer viewing, with or without a beach.