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Friday April 15, 2011
Gidget (1959)
Directed by Paul Wendkos, screenplay by Gabrielle Upton from a book by Frederick Kohner. Starring Sandra Dee, James Darren and Cliff Robertson.
As the Bard wrote – “For never was a story of more woe, than this of Gidget and her Moondoggie.” Gidget wants to learn to surf in order to impress a boy. More bathing suits, tricking your boyfriend or girlfriend and partying on the beach. It’s nice, sweet and harmless until the “Give up your individuality and become a productive member of society” ending.
2.5 out of 5 stars.
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Saturday April 16, 2011
The Endless Summer (1966)
Written & Directed by Bruce Brown. Starring Mike Hynson and Robert August.
The quintessential surfing documentary. Two surfers travel the globe, chasing the summer season, trying to catch that perfect wave. Some of the narration is a little tiring, but great surfing footage (and fun to see locations used in Ride the Wild Surf and Blue Crush).
3.5 out of 5 stars.
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Sunday April 17, 2011
Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine (1965)
Directed by Norman Taurog, screenplay by Robert Kaufman, James H. Nicholson and Elwood Ullman. Starring Vincent Price, Frankie Avalon, Dwayne Hickman and Susan Hart.
Oops again! No surfing, but there are bikinis, Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello in a cameo. This is a James Bond parody about a mad scientist (love mad scientists!) that creates beautiful girl robots that marry rich men and take all their money. There’s a loooonnnngggg and wacky chase at the end that couldn’t hold my interest after the first fifteen seconds.
2 out of 5 stars.
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So there you have it, nine surf films in seven days (okay, three didn’t have any surfing). I suppose the high points were Blue Crush (which I expected to hate) and The Endless Summer (which I expected to enjoy, and I did).
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