Although it's hard to figure out the attraction of the films today, beach movies were immensely popular among young people in the mid-1960s. After all, they cost little to make and teens and young adults flocked to drive-ins to see these silly pictures. So, it's not surprising that companies other than American-International would make their own beach movie knock-offs, such as "A Swingin' Summer".
Unlike other beach films, this one is set at a lakefront resort. So, you get to see a lot of Lake Arrowhead instead of the Pacific. And, instead of Frankie and Annette, you have a variety of lesser-known talent...including the then unknown Raquel Welch in a very silly role. And, like most beach films, this one features some hip musical acts...and much better ones than normal with The Righteous Brothers, Gary Lewis and the Playboys as well as The Rip-Chords.
The film is about a couple guys who want to put on a concert for the young folks...and at first, they have little success with a local promoter (Allan Jones). However, the girlfriend of one of the guys, Rick, is able to convince them to put on the concert and the boyfriend is a giant butt-head and is upset she helped him because he's apparently a macho idiot. What a fool, as she adores him and she is a gorgeous and rich young lady!
In addition to this plot in this highly episodic film, you have the super-sexy brainiac (Welch) who sports nerd glasses and talks as if she's reading from a physics textbook! Clearly, she's one dimensional and a bit of a caricature...albeit an amazingly beautiful one. Despite her beauty, most every scene with her was poorly written and dumb. The only highlight is the dopey scene where she takes off her glasses and lets down her hair to reveal she's a hot babe(?)...as the song she then sings is pretty memorable and cute.
I mention words like 'beautiful' and 'gorgeous' because like every beach film, this one is jam-packed with incredibly pretty young women...probably MORE than you'd find in most of these movies. I am sure guys back in 1965 appreciated this and it helped with the box office receipts.
So is it any good? Well, despite the excellent musical acts and pretty girls and color film, there is a definite cheapness to the look of the picture. The camerawork is sloppy as are some of the edits (which are very abrupt) and the acting and writing are pretty broad as well. But, it wasn't like any of the beach films were all that good when it came to production values...they didn't need to be better in order to make money. Overall, I'd give this one a 3...which is about average for a beach film and at least it's not terrible like such beach offerings as "The Horror of Party Beach"!
