Dr.Goldfoot And The Bikini Machine!

Being a big fan of Vincent Price, I have to admit this title has long been one I wanted to lens at some point. I finally did, and it was a weird experience to say the least.

Dr.Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine is a spoof of course, a send up of several genres, most notably the spy movies of the 60's. To that end Frankie Avalon plays a hapless junior spy who has to fight the evil machinations of Dr.Goldfoot played to the hilt by Vincent Price. And thank goodness Price does his over-the-top best in this movie or it would have almost nothing to recommend it to viewers save for some handsome girls in gold bathing suits.

This is a shambles of a story in which the vile Goldfoot sends out robotic women programmed to seduce and quickly defraud as many rich guys as they can across the globe. One such rich guy played by Dwayne Hickman falls victim to the scheme and soon joins forces with Avalon and the pair seem to simultaneously battle and swoon in the path of Goldfoot's forces. The movie ends with an overlong hair-brained chase scene.

Clearly the movie is going for zany with more than a few fourth-wall breaking gags and cameos. It's not a movie that takes itself seriously, so there's no point in dumping on it excessively. Save that I'll point out it's only when the always charming Price is on screen is anything interesting much happening. He's so good that he sells it, even in this vehicle which was designed to fall short.

Watch this, if you must, for Vincent's greatness. Otherwise give it a pass. There's a sequel called Dr.Goldfoot and the Girl Bombs. That one made in Italy where the original did good box office, looks mildly better, maybe.

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