The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini (1966)
Synopsis: After amassing a fortune in the carnival business via less-than-honest means, Hiram Stokeley has died and learns he has just 24 hours to commit a good deed if he wants to regain his youth, get into Heaven and spend eternity with his long-dead girlfriend, Cecily. With Cecily's help, he tries to fulfill that requirement by preventing his attorney, Reginald Ripper, from stealing his heirs' inheritance.
Who's in it? The movie stars Susan Hart, Boris Karloff, Basil Rathbone, Tommy Kirk, Nancy Sinatra and Quinn O'Hara.
Review: I came across The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini about a month or so ago and added it to my library because it sounded somewhat interesting and because there were a lot of recognizable names I wouldn't normally expect to see in a musical comedy. I finally got around to watching it this morning and, my opinion of it was mixed.
The film has an interesting premise, and I especially liked how there was a slight mystery surrounding why Stokeley (Karloff) picked three heirs he hadn't met before and where his money was hidden. At first, I wasn't really sure how much help Cecily (Hart) would be in all of it, but she was able to manipulate both inanimate objects and people in a way that kept the plot moving.
Rathbone, meanwhile, made a great villain as Reginald Ripper. He played the character in a way that made him clearly evil while still remembering it was a comedy and keeping him just lighthearted enough to not seem out of place.
I also did enjoy the comedy throughout the film, whether it was from Reginald's daughter, Sinistra (O'Hara) failing to commit murder whenever she took off her glasses or the bumbling biker gang leader, Eric Von Zipper (Harvey Lembeck) that wasn't anywhere near as intelligent as he seemed to think he was. I wasn't expecting to laugh nearly as much as I did.
My biggest complaint about the movie is it is what I would describe as very busy. There are multiple random song and dance numbers, a love triangle involving Sinistra, Bobby (Aron Kincaid) and Vicki (Sinatra), dozens of people who are just there to be background dancers and even an escaped gorilla because, of course, the movie needed that too.
While some of those extra things did add to the comedy, they also were somewhat of a distraction from the main plot. In fact, it if weren't for the added filler, that main story might have only taken about thirty minutes to tell.
The ending also left a lot to be desired. It was entertaining at first but got repetitive very fast. Plus, I'm not so certain it resolved the main plot since, while the heirs did find the money, so did some of the bad guys who could have just as easily left with at least some of that money. I was, however, willing to overlook some of that because the final twist was unexpected enough to make me chuckle.
Final Opinion: It's a movie that probably could have cut out some of the filler (especially the gorilla) and spent more time on the main plot. However, it did prove to be entertaining so I would still recommend it.
My Grade: B
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Here are some reviews of other Boris Karloff movies:
Movie Review: Dick Tracy Meets Gruesome (1947)
Movie Review: The Walking Dead (1936)
Movie Review: Abbott and Costello Meet Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1953)
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