12 best beach movies of all time

Traditionally, summer means two things: hitting the beach (preferably with a piña colada and a salty breeze) and kicking back in an air-conditioned movie theater. But there are certain

movies that allow you to do both at the same time: beach movies. These films can be swoony moonlit romances, giddy beach-blanket romps, Coppertone-kissed surfin’ safaris or even great white

fright flicks (you know the one we mean). These 12 titles, from that couple rolling in the Hawaiian surf to Meryl Streep getting her Greek islands on, are the best films with an irresistible

beach vibe. No sunscreen required! Burt Lancaster and Deborah Kerr in "From Here to Eternity." Columbia Pictures/Archive Photos/Getty Images _FROM HERE TO ETERNITY_ (1953) Adapted

from James Jones’ celebrated novel, this best picture Oscar winner can feel a bit like a WWII soap opera (in a good way). But it's also jam-packed with timeless performances from

Montgomery Clift, Frank Sinatra, Ernest Borgnine, Burt Lancaster, Deborah Kerr and Donna Reed. Set in Honolulu on the eve of Pearl Harbor (which amazingly feels like a vibrant paradise

despite being captured in black and white), _From Here to Eternity_ is arguably best known for the most famous beach scene of all time, as Lancaster adulterously rolls around in the lapping

surf with his commander's wife (Kerr). In the decades since, love scenes have gotten more explicit, but the sexiness of this one still smolders with swoony taboo heat. WATCH IT: _From

Here to Eternity_, on Amazon Prime, Fandango Now, Google Play, iTunes, Vudu, YouTube [embedded content] _BLUE HAWAII_ (1961) "The gateway to the South Pacific opens wide for … Elvis

Presley and you!” So promises the trailer of a sing-along tropical holiday brochure, which also just happens to be one of the more enjoyable romps from the King's hit-and-miss Hollywood

period. Full of chaste Technicolor flirting, cocked-eyebrow double entendres and the always-welcome sight of Presley getting down with a ukulele, _Blue Hawaii_ now feels like a trip to a

more innocent time. Plus, it features the smooth legend crooning one of his most honey-coated ballads: “Can't Help Falling in Love." WATCH IT: _Blue Hawaii_, on Amazon Prime,

Fandango Now, Google Play, iTunes, Vudu, YouTube [embedded content] _DR. NO_ (1962) Set in Jamaica, the first cinematic James Bond outing pits Sean Connery's suave 007 against a

fiendish villain (Joseph Wiseman in a natty Nehru jacket) out to sabotage an American space launch. Along the way there are lethal tarantulas, shadowy assassins and one of the most iconic

character introductions in Bond film history, as Ursula Andress’ beachcombing, bikini-clad Honey Ryder is snuck up on by 007 on the shoals of deadly Crab Key._ Dr. No_ may not be the very

best Connery installment (it's awfully good, but it's no _Goldfinger_), but still it's fun to see how surely it sets the template for the license-to-kill franchise going

forward. WATCH IT: _Dr. No_, on Amazon Prime, Fandango Now, Google Play, iTunes, Vudu, YouTube DON'T MISS THIS: Turn Your Living Room Into the Drive-In With These Classic Summer Movies

[embedded content] _BEACH BLANKET BINGO_ (1965) Following in the sandy footsteps of Sandra Dee's _Gidget_, Hollywood cranked out a string of wholesome beach movies catering to what was

then a new ticket-buying demographic: the carefree American teenager. _Beach Blanket Bingo_ remains, in its way, the best of the lot. Is it silly surfside fluff? You bet. Is bingo ever

actually played? Nope. Still, the movie is a giddy snapshot of a strange era when Don Rickles and Buster Keaton could appear in the same movie as Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello. Sure,

these films would become hopelessly square in just a couple of short years as the Summer of Love replaced the malt shop with the head shop. But seen today, Frankie and Annette's G-rated

hijinks feel like deliriously campy transmissions from a distant, naïve Baby Boom planet. WATCH IT: _Beach Blanket Bingo_, on Amazon Prime, iTunes, Vudu