Dwayne Hickman

(On Cable TV, October 2022) Oh wow—Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine popped up on the TCM schedule as the only film in their “Stars of the month: Robots” monthly feature that I hadn’t already seen, and I’m glad I made a point out of recording it. It’s the kind of bright, funny, energetic film that could only come out of the mid-1960s, it’s dated and a delicious heap of pure fun. Focused on the concept of female robots designed to seduce and rob rich men, the film happens to star Vincent Price as the mad scientist controlling the robots, Frankie Avalon as a secret agent investigating the fembots, Dwayne Hickman as a swindling target and the beautiful Susan Hart as an android designed to break hearts and empty bank accounts. This being said, Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine is not big on plot—the focus here is on jokey moments and one absolutely terrific chase sequence in and around mid-1960s San Francisco. Thanks to veteran director Norman Taurog, the film is broad goofy low-budget comedy whose misogyny is so pronounced that it becomes satirical. I liked it a lot: it’s a poppy piece of cinema with unexpected delights (including a rather amazing Claymation credit sequence with a title song by The Supremes!), an incredibly carefree atmosphere, Connery-era James Bond spoofing, and a premise that links to Austin Powers. I’m repeating myself, but the San Francisco car chase here is utterly terrific, and only finds an equivalent in What’s Up Doc? a decade later. It’s great good fun, despite a bit of a middle lull and some social assumptions that are bound to offend modern viewers, Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine nearly ranks as a must-see if you’re interested in 1960s cinema: it captures something very specific about the pre-hippie clichés of the decade.