It's a Bikini World

Skateboarding champion Tommy Kirk (as Mike Samson) poses as his own bookworm brother "Herbert" in order to woo pretty bikinied Deborah Walley (as Delilah Dawes). "It's a Bikini World" begins with a great instrumental opening and graphics sequence, which was usually a strong suit in American International's "Beach Party" movies. That series was sputtering to an end, and this film follows the formula well enough, but audiences were moving on...

The Animals, The Toys, The Gentrys, and The Castaways are lip-syncing highlights...

Although Mr. Kirk performs well fully clothed, he is obviously not in shape to play the muscle-toned, athletic "Samson" on the beach. As his "Delilah", Ms. Walley (still) fills her bikini well. Kirk and Walley had appeared in original "Beach Party" spin-offs. The second-tiered players fall in line: Bobby "Boris" Pickett (as Woody) provides Kirk with a foolish-looking, older beach pal. Suzie Kaye (as Pebbles) is a shapely sidekick for Walley.

*** It's a Bikini World (4/14/67) Stephanie Rothman ~ Tommy Kirk, Deborah Walley, Bobby Pickett

I caught this movie on cable one day and actually really enjoyed it. I even looked for the movie to buy but I'm assuming it's not out on DVD.

Mike is your stereotypical male chauvinist. He has to be the best at everything and when a girl comes along and challenges him at different events, he feels he must beat her. He also ends up falling for her and pretends to have a dweeby twin brother named Herbert. The girl falls for Herbert and Mike has to figure out how to tell her who he actually is.

There is also a cameo by The Animals and a groovy skateboard race scene.

I enjoyed this one, but not as much as the Frankie and Annette beach movies. This one has The Animals singing one of their hits, so that made it worth watching to go back to a different era. Lots of bikinis and Tommy Kirk just seemed older than I expected...lol. I guess it's my memories of him from the Disney movies. Anyway, this movie delves into how women can do whatever men can do...Deborah Walley, whom I always thought was so cute, trying to successfully complete and beat Tommy Kirk's character...and of course doesn't because at the time women were still considered "the weaker sex". However, she did manage to outsmart him, proving women are smarter than men...lol.

I just found this cheesy film enjoyable to watch, as I had never seen it before. I wouldn't rank this as one of my favorites. It simply cannot compare to the earlier, more carefree and fun loving beach movies. IMO it's worth watching....once. If you enjoy beach movies, stick to the earlier ones and Elvis movies.

It's Christmas in Los Angeles, and yet there are still kids hitting the beach in the early morning hours! Brrrr. Tommy Kirk plays the local Lothario who gets put down by the new girl on the block; he dons nerdy glasses and attempts to woo her Clark Kent-style, but she's more interested in showing up his alter-ego at skateboarding and speedboat racing. Stephanie Rothman directed, and though she doesn't cut back on the cheesecake factor, neither does she seem to know where exactly to point the camera. We get glimpses of behinds and legs and exposed tummies, but without faces and personalities it's all a beach blur. The skateboard race around local side streets is fun, and Deborah Walley twinkles and giggles pleasantly enough, but the quasi-pop art look is scuttled by the low budget and the musical numbers are lethargic. In fact, nearly everyone here seems to be dragging their feet, as if benumbed by the whole enterprise. *1/2 from ****

"It's A Bikini World" was a production of famed B movie studio American- International Pictures, but was released under their Trans American Films label. A.I.P. used that label on movies they handled that they thought might tarnish their reputation, and it's easy to see why they were probably uneasy about this movie. Unlike their other beach party movies, this movie is sorely lacking in energy. Scene after scene goes by that immediately falls on the ground with a thud. There's also not much of a story on display here, resulting in a lot of padding. Even the music (save for when The Castaways perform their hit "Liar, Liar") is nothing special. Sid Haig is kind of fun in his scenes, but he doesn't get a lot of screen time. A beach blanket bomb!