What does it say about the way our society has progressed in the past 50 years that the titles of super-innocent ’60s beach-party movies—like How to Stuff a Wild Bikini and The Ghost In the Invisible Bikini—could also work as the names of modern late-night Cinemax softcore porn offerings? As odd as it may seem to contemporary audiences, these films were squeaky-clean, concerned more with spirited musical numbers and zany hijinks than baring flesh. The “Movie Mondays” summer outdoor film series at Segerstrom Center for the Arts is screening perhaps the most prominent entry in the genre, Beach Blanket Bingo—the last to star the famous pairing of Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello. The film also has a cameo from then-70 silent-movie icon Buster Keaton. (Thankfully, he’s not in a bikini.)
Mon., July 11, 5:30 p.m., 2011
