Pajama Party (film)

''Pajama Party'' is a 1964 beach party film starring Tommy Kirk and Annette Funicello. This is the fourth in a series of seven beach films produced by American International Pictures. The other films in this series are ''Beach Party'' (1963), ''Muscle Beach Party'' (1964), ''Bikini Beach'' (1964), '' Beach Blanket Bingo'' (1965), ''How to Stuff a Wild Bikini'' (1965), and ''The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini'' (1966).

This fourth entry has not always been considered a follow-up to the three films that preceded it. Several sources have noted, however, that while it is not a proper sequel, it is indeed a part of what is now termed AIP's ‘Beach Party series.’ Moreover, AIP marketed it as a sequel in its trailer, stating "The ''Bikini Beach Party'' Gang is Warming Up! – For the ‘Party’ that Takes Off – Where others Poop Out!" and "All the ‘Beach Party’ Fun ... in Pajamas!"

Additional links that tie this film to the others are the return of Eric von Zipper and his Rat Pack (who previously appeared in ''Beach Party'' and ''Bikini Beach'') and the return of Candy Johnson as Candy for the fourth time in as many films.

Regulars Frankie Avalon, Don Rickles, Annette Funicello, Jody McCrea and Donna Loren all appear (albeit with character name changes – not the first time this happens in the series, nor the last); Susan Hart makes the first of three appearances in the AIP brand of the genre; Buster Keaton makes the first of four appearances, and Bobbi Shaw makes the first appearance of five. In addition, several background players in this film (Patti Chandler, Mary Hughes, Johnny Fain, Mike Nader, Salli Sachse, Luree Holmes, Ronnie Dayton, Ed Garner, Ray Atkinson, Linda Benson, and Laura Nicholson) also appear in three or more films in the AIP brand of the genre.

The film is not to be confused with the 1963 novel ''Pajama Party'' about lesbian activities among college girls, which was banned on the grounds of obscenity.

Plot

A teen-aged intelligence officer from the planet Mars named Go Go (Tommy Kirk) is ordered to Earth to prepare the way for a Martian invasion. Right from the start, he encounters problems. The power-pack he wears on his back malfunctions and he is suspended several feet above ground. However, he is saved by the first Earthling he meets, Aunt Wendy (Elsa Lanchester), an eccentric widow with problems of her own. Her shady neighbor, J. Sinister Hulk ( Jesse White) – alongside Chief Rotten Eagle (Buster Keaton) and his Swedish sex-bomb partner Helga (Bobbi Shaw) – concocts a scheme to separate Aunt Wendy from her million-dollar inheritance.

A subplot involves a motorcycle gang led by Eric von Zipper (Harvey Lembeck), a leather-jacketed, middle-aged delinquent with an irrational hatred for buxom beach-babes and their surfer-dude boyfriends. One such character, Connie ( Annette Funicello), has a crush on a volleyball nut named Big Lunk (Jody McCrea). Inexplicably, he responds with disinterest. So Connie transmits a few subtle signals toward Go Go, and he gets the message. But later, when she discovers Go Go is a hostile Martian scout, she pouts and calls the whole thing off.

In the meantime, Go Go teleports a squad of Martians from the Red Planet, but he is emotionally depressed by the absence of Connie. At a climactic pajama party, he thus turns informer and prevents Earth from being overrun. He is reunited with Connie, and the world is made safe.

Cast

Production notes

Famed animator Joseph Barbera wrote a romantic comedy play which debuted on stage in Los Angeles in 1952 called ''The Maid and the Martian''. It was about Captain Derro, a scout from Mars, who goes to Earth to help plan an invasion, but falls in love with a girl from Earth. The ''Los Angeles Times'' said the play "has strong elements and might even go to Broadway... provided it gains more completeness in plot and situation." The production was directed by Gordon Hunt and starred Pat Priest (who would later become a regular on TV's ''The Munsters''). It ran successfully for seven weeks. The play was revived in 1954 with James Arness in the lead.

In 1961 AIP announced they would make ''The Maid and the Martian'' from a script by Al Burton and Gordon Hunt, based on the play. Stanley Frazen was to produce. However none of those people are credited on ''Pajama Party'' despite the fact the plot shares strong similarities with the final film.
Annette Funicello even recorded an upbeat song titled "The Maid and the Martian" for her Vista album "Pajama Party", leading many to conclude the film and the play are clearly one and the same.

Script

This was the first movie Louis M Heyward worked on for AIP. He wrote the script in two weeks, saying he tried to do it as a cartoon "and if you look at it, it's done almost in cartoon cuts, in four-strips."Weaver, Brunas & Brunas, p 157 Heyward says the film was firmly aimed at the 15- to 25-year-old demographic. "These youngsters have the numbers, the buying power and the discrimination to make or break any film product."

Heyward went on to write several other films for the studio, and became a leading executive for them.

Director

''Pajama Party'' is one of only two Beach Party films not directed by William Asher. ''Pajama Party'' and ''The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini'' were both directed by Don Weis.

Cast

Frankie Avalon appears in the film in all the scenes with Don Rickles, but only the back of Avalon's head is seen until the final moments. During the entire Beach Party series, this was the one and only time Donna Loren was seen in a speaking role.

Syndicated newspaper columnist Dorothy Kilgallen's son, Kerry Kollmar, has a recurring role throughout the film as a little boy who declares disgustedly "Mush!" whenever he spies romance in action. Kilgallen herself, whose newspaper column was not accessible in Los Angeles and who was better known there as a TV game show panelist, has a tiny cameo as a woman who falls on J.D.'s motorcycle during the car chase sequence. She introduces herself saying, "My name is Dorothy – what's yours?"

Cheryl Sweeten, who was the 1963 Miss Colorado and played Francine in this film, made only this one film, but she received prominent billing in the end credits.

This was the first movie Susan Hart made for AIP under her four-picture contract with the studio. She was one of a number of young players in the film who were under a long-term deal with AIP, the others including Donna Loren, Bobbi Shaw, Cheryl Sweeten, Mary Hughes, Michael Nader and Edward Garner.

It was also the first movie Buster Keaton made for AIP. Louis M Heyward claims casting Keaton was his idea as they had worked together previously on ''The Faye Emerson Show''. and the first movie for Bobbi Shaw, playing her "ya, ya" Swedish bombshell and Keaton's partner.

It was the first film Tommy Kirk made for AIP.

Dorothy Lamour makes her last musical appearance in a film, singing "Where Did I Go Wrong?"

Choreography

The dances for this film were choreographed by David Winters of ''Shindig!

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