However, dissatisfied with her relationship and unwilling to be alone with Frankie, Dolores has invited several of the couple's friends to stay at the beach house with them.

Frankie is intensely upset at finding other people at the beach house and feels betrayed that Dolores misled him.

Frankie, on the advice of his friends, decides to begin flirting with Ava, a Hungarian waitress at the local restaurant.

Upset by his flirting, Dolores accidentally stumbles into the lap of Eric Von Zipper, the leader of the local outlaw motorcycle club, The Rats.

Von Zipper and his gang plot to bring down Sutwell, but accidentally sneak into Dolores's room where she is home alone.

After the surfers win, Sutwell offers to take Marianne with him to study in the North Pacific, and Frankie and Dolores reaffirm their love for one another.

In the summer of 1962 Samuel Arkoff and Jim Nicholson were watching films in Italy with a view to purchasing some for release in the US.

It was shown to William Asher who agreed to make the movie if it became more of a musical comedy about teenagers having a good time and not getting in trouble.

He was asked not to take credit by Samuel Arkoff who told them that Lou Rusoff was dying of brain cancer.

[15] Annette Funicello was always first choice for the female lead, although Asher says they were worried because she was under contract to Walt Disney: We had thirty pages of material.

[17] Arkoff says that AIP tried to get Fabian Forte to play opposite her but he was under contract to 20th Century Fox so Frankie Avalon was cast instead.

[14] John Ashley had made a number of movies for American International and was cast to play Avalon's best friend.

Films of him surfing in Hawaii on the Ken Murray's Hollywood television show feature a muscular young Bob cruising along comfortably on an old style long board.

[22] William Asher had directed Robert Cummings earlier in his career but says during Beach Party he noticed the actor "had changed".

The music in Beach Party was written specifically for the film and directed by Kaylen Mandry and featured a score that picked up several cues from the songs used – a common move for most musicals, but a rarity for a B-grade studio teen film filled with pop songs – even today.

[24] Les Baxter composed this score, as well as most of the films that followed, including Sergeant Deadhead, Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine and Fireball 500.

[citation needed] Beach Party was the highest-grossing film AIP had made to that date, earning more during its opening weekend than any of its competition.

[27] Howard Thompson of The New York Times wrote "The real trouble is that almost the entire cast emerges as the dullest bunch ever, with the old folks even sillier than the kids—a nice looking lot, too.

"[28] Variety described the film as "a bouncy bit of lightweight fluff" with "the kind of direct, simple-minded cheeriness which should prove well nigh irresistible to those teenagers who have no desire to escape the emptiness of their lives.

"[29] Philip K. Scheuer of the Los Angeles Times called it "a rather harmless little effort, really, which may amuse the stomp set which it is about, while the older folks do a sit-along that isn't too painful.

"[30] The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote "Bob Cummings and Dorothy Malone, in particular, underplay with a nice relaxed edge, and the teenagers are slightly less awful than usual.

But perhaps the film's main virtue lies in its friendly, lightly satirical tone; there is no heavy moralising, the potential violence of Eric von Zipper's gang is turned into farce (rather messy, this, with an over-abundance of custard pies) and the pop numbers are pleasantly handled.

In the film, the fictional singing group called The Wonders star as "Cap'n Geech and The Shrimpshack Shooters."

Filmink wrote "Avalon’s warm persona and slightly cartoonish vibe were ideal for the beach party movies, with their in-jokes, double-takes, songs and silliness.