Catalina Caper (1967)

The death of the beach movie, 13 February 2005

As with most other beach movies, the plot in Catalina Caper is paper thin. The whole thing can be condensed into one sentence: (from IMDb) A group of swingin' teens take time out from having fun in the sun to try to foil a group of crooks searching for a stolen scroll.

Beyond the terrible plot and script, the biggest single problem I have with the movie is the star, Tommy Kirk. He seems like a nice enough fellow and I've seen him give decent performances as a supporting player in some of the earlier beach movies, but he is completely unable to carry Catalina Caper as the lead. It doesn't help that he is surrounded by a group of no names with no talent.

The highlight of the movie has to be the song performed by Little Richard. It's an absolute hoot. He looks so stoned that I don't know how he was able to stand upright.

I watched the Mystery Science Theater 3000 version of Catalina Caper. While not the best I've seen from MST3K, there were a few laughs here and there. My favorite bit from the MST3K crew had to be the "burn witch burn" chant during the opening night time bonfire dance scene.

4/10