The Beach Boys Movies

This video contains four German television appearances by the Beach Boys dating from 1969. The band plays four songs including "Do It Again," "California Girls," "Breakaway," and "Surfin' USA." Previews of other titles featuring other bands are available on the DVD release of this program. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide

Wild Thing: The Sixties DVD Jukebox is a 90-minute compilation of live performances from '60s rock and pop superstars, including the Who, the Kinks, the Beach Boys, and the Small Faces. Presented with a standard full-frame transfer and Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound in English. Special features include optional pop-up video-style trivia facts and promos for other releases from Classic Pictures. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide

The Beach Boys changed the shape of rock & roll in the 1960s, first with their initial string of hit singles (which combined catchy tunes, clever lyrics about cars and girls, and the group's superb vocal harmonies) and later with the groundbreaking concept album Pet Sounds (where Brian Wilson's gifts as a songwriter, producer, and arranger reached their full flower). While a version of the group remains active to this day, off stage the Beach Boys were touched by scandal, tragedy, and internal discord, and this documentary (first aired on the VH1 cable television network) examines the peaks and valleys of the group's personal and professional fortunes. The Beach Boys: Endless Harmony features footage of the group performing most of their biggest hits, as well as unreleased versions of "California Girls," "Sloop John B.", "God Only Knows", and "Heroes and Villains"; the DVD edition features additional performances not included in the broadcast or VHS editions, as well as special 5.1 Surround Sound remixes of seven songs, including "California Girls", "God Only Knows," "Surf's Up," and "Sail On Sailor." ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

In 1996, the Beach Boys took a new approach to their music with the album Stars and Stripes, in which the great harmony group (with founder Brian Wilson once again in the lineup) went to Nashville to re-record some of their best-known songs with some of the biggest names in country music, including Willie Nelson, Rodney Crowell, Tammy Wynette, Lorrie Morgan, and Ricky Van Shelton. Nashville Sounds: The Making of Stars and Stripes takes a look at the studio sessions for this historic album, and also offers footage of the Beach Boys performing with several of their new Nashville friends in concert. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Trying to put the 1960s into a documentary is difficult at best, but this video depicts the '60s through the music of the Beatles and through news milestones like the Vietnam War and Neil Armstrong's walk on the moon. ~ All Movie Guide

This documentary was authorized by the Beach Boys (and their lawyers, more than likely), so the film steers clear of the band's already well-publicized internal problems, focusing solely on their music. The band is covered (via live concert footage and clips from TV variety shows and specials) from their early years up until the mid-'80s. Also shown are some clips from the movies they appeared in, such as Girls on the Beach, and some footage that was cut from The T.A.M.I. Show. Brian Wilson is interviewed (in his bed) from a 1976 television special, and there is also some footage from a German and a Czech concert tour. ~ Brian Gusse, All Movie Guide

One of a series of volumes containing tapes of live performances as seen on the fab British rock 'n roll TV show so popular in the 60s. ~ All Movie Guide

The American beauty-contest ritual is skewered by screenwriter Jerry Belson and director Michael Ritchie in Smile. The film takes place during an annual pageant in Santa Rosa, CA. The event is supervised by local mover and shaker Brenda DiCarlo (Barbara Feldon), to whom the contest is the most important thing on earth. Nothing -- not even the violent backlash of her neglected husband, Andy (Nicholas Pryor) -- is allowed to interfere with her pet project. Choreographer Tommy French (Michael Kidd), outwardly nasty and cynical, takes money out of his own pocket to insure the safety of the contestants as they parade down a rickety stage runway; chief judge "Big Bob" Freelander (Bruce Dern) discovers that his son is a budding voyeur, information which leads to a silly "politically correct" consequence; and the various contestants scheme to upstage one another through a variety of means (one girl puts Vaseline on her teeth to assure a gleaming smile). Among the contestants are such stars-to-be as Colleen Camp, Denise Nickerson, Annette O'Toole, and Melanie Griffith. Though not a hit itself, Smile has developed a fervent cult following, which led to a Broadway musical version of the property in 1986, with songs by Marvin Hamlisch. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The Beatles are coming! The Beatles are coming! Or so the members of the Alpha Beta sorority who are trying to raise $10,000 during Spring Break to save their sorority house believe. When the Fab Four do not show, the ingenious girls must create a passable imitation by imitating them themselves. The Beach Boys also appear in this film with an especially choice scene of Brian Wilson singing around a campfire. Songs in this musical comedy include: "Leave Me Alone," "It's Gotta Be You," "I Don't Want to Be a Loser" (sung by Lesley Gore), "Lonely Sea, La Bamba" (performed by the Crickets), "Girls On the Beach," and "Little Honda" (sung by the Beach Boys). ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

A 6 volume rock 'n' roll video series with Volume 6 featuring artists Frankie Lyman, The Five Satins, Jerry Lee Lewis, Beach Boys, Carl Perkins, Elvis Presley and Ricky Nelson. ~ All Movie Guide