Muscle Beach Synopsis
Muscle Beach was shown in competition at Cannes in 1949 and won a prize at the Edinburgh International Film Festival in 1951. The short became a cult favorite, screening at film clubs around the world. Strick used an army surplus movie camera to shoot the film during weekends in the fall of 1948. The songs in “Muscle Beach,” composed and sung by political folk singer Earl Robinson, with lyrics by screenwriter and poet Edwin Rolfe, accent the film’s three-movement structure as it transitions between soaring gymnastics shows, flirty beachgoers and children playing near the now-demolished pier at Ocean Park. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2009.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Is Muscle Beach worth watching?
Muscle Beach has received mixed reviews with a 5/10 rating. It might be worth watching if you're a fan of Documentary movies.
Is Muscle Beach hit or flop?
Muscle Beach has received average ratings (5/10), performing moderately with audiences.
What genre is Muscle Beach?
Muscle Beach is a Documentary movie that Muscle Beach was shown in competition at Cannes in 1949 and won a prize at the Edinburgh International Film Festival in 1951. The short became a cult ...
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Critic Reviews
"Think like an athlete, cut them apron strings, starve on your own..." This is essentially a very early music video. A vehicle for a 10 minute musical appreciation of the beach. It's all actuality - fit young people using gymnastics apparatus, people sunbathing, kids playing, ice cream, soda pop - all to an accompaniment from Earl Robinson under the gaze of a seagull. At times the lyric is quite observational and witty, but after about four of these nine minutes, it all becomes a bit repetitive. Proof, if it were ever needed, that gym babies were alive and well in the 1940s too!