AIP and William Asher (his day job doing 'Bewitched') grab those Beach Blanket Bores Annette & Frankie and put them into the stock racing milieu. Surprise: Frankie romances Julie Parrish instead of Annette, while Annette stays true to Fabian. No surprise: both Frankie and Annette sing. Blah. Then there is Harvey Lembeck dropping the Erich Von Zipper-shtick in order to play an ordinary villain; in this case a race car shop owner doing some roughhouse bootlegging on the side. There's a weird intro of claymation cavemen (who also reappear at the end) and lots of race car footage (appealing, I guess, to nostalgic stock car aficionados). As usual, the other women strut their stuff while Annette remains smothered in clothing up to her chin. The only funny thing in this carbon monoxide-weary enterprise is watching Frankie Avalon try and play it tough. The sight of this tiny man with a huge foamy thatch of hair thicker than his body engaging in fight scenes and tough talk is a hoot.
Review of Fireball 500
