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Camp alert!
Attack of the gold-digging fembots
By Melissa Campbell
What’s great about “Dr. Goldfoot” is that Price and Avalon play caricatures of their own niche characters.
When life or school is overstressing, there is nothing quite like a light-hearted flick from the 1950s or 1960s to lift your spirits. Enter “Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine.”
Much like the detective story spoof “Murder by Death” I talked about in my last column, “Dr. Goldfoot” puts a campy spin on this familiar movie genre. This time it is “Dr. No” mixed with “Goldfinger,” with a splash of “Beach Party.” Norman Taurog, better known for directing Elvis Presley films like “Blue Hawaii” and “Girls! Girls! Girls!” brought the same pop rock sensibility to this film, which manages to be delightfully of that genre, while at that same time making fun of it.
Critic Susan Sontag once wrote, “You can’t do camp on purpose.” I agree. You can be intentionally funny, but camp comes from something being so bad that it is actually good. In a sense, a camp film becomes a mockery of itself and other films like it. This flick with its bad dialogue, exaggerated acting, and ridiculous plotline, rises to the level of camp, becoming a critique of the blockbusters that were coming out of Hollywood at the time.
“Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine” tells the story of evil mastermind Dr. Goldfoot (Vincent Price) who has created a machine that manufactures women in gold bikinis (why they need to wear bikinis and why they need to be gold is immaterial). He sends these women off to seduce the richest men in the world and steal all their money. The bikini-clad vixens are the perfect cronies: they obey unquestioningly and never want anything in return.
Number 11, Diane (Susan Hart) accidentally crosses paths with bumbling young sleuth Craig Gamble (Frankie Avalon) on her way to meet millionaire Todd Armstrong (Dwayne Hickman). When Diane disappears, Craig, clearly smitten, tries to find her. In the meantime, he discovers Dr. Goldfoot’s secrets, and teams up with Todd to defeat the villain.
What’s great about “Dr. Goldfoot” is that Price and Avalon play caricatures of their own niche characters. Price, after all, is no stranger to the dark side—he has played the lead role in Edgar Allen Poe adaptations like “The Fall of the House of Usher” and “The Tell-Tale Heart.” Likewise Avalon made his fame by starring in summer beach flicks with Annette Funnicello (who happens to make a hilarious cameo in the film) like “Beach Party” and “Bikini Beach.”
Both take their ridiculous roles at face value, and clearly have fun playing them. Price’s voice is perfect for playing a villain, and he interjects maniacal laughter spontaneously for the perfect campy touch. Likewise, Price recognizes that he can’t handle the physical comedy like his costar Avalon; therefore, Price sticks to dry wit, quite successfully. Some of the flick’s funnier moments come when Price is slewing insults at his dimwitted assistance Igor (Jack Mullaney).
Avalon’s attempts at physical comedy are admirable. And while he has nothing on Jerry Lewis, he brings the same lovable charm of his beach movies to this film. He fits into the role of a bumbling fool with ease. According to Price, “Dr. Goldfoot” was originally supposed to be a musical comedy, along the lines of “Little Shop of Horrors.” Some of the original songs appeared in the 1966 TV special called “The Wild Weird World of Dr. Goldfoot.”
Other highlights of the film come from the wacky claymation title sequence, designed by Gumby creator Art Clokey. Title sequences have by and large disappeared from modern films, to my dismay. They serve two important functions: they act as a sort of overture, giving the viewer a sample of what is to come, and they really celebrate the actors and filmmakers. Recent departures in modern titlehood include “The Nines” and “Gattaca.” The title song, “Dr. Goldfoot and His Bikini Machine” performed by the Supremes, is also worth mentioning. It’s clever, fun, and infectious—it’s the kind of song that gets stuck in your head. The film is of course, parodying the title songs from the Bond films.
It appears that Mike Myers’s borrowed heavily from this film when he wrote “Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery,” though I would argue that “Dr. Goldfoot” is better, mainly because it manages to be funny without an arsenal of penis jokes in site.
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