Gidget (1959)

If you grew up in the sixties there is no doubt that you were exposed to the genre of film known as the beach movie. The most notable stars of the genre were Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello but there were others who dipped their toes in the salty waters of the Pacific as well. One of those was Sandra Dee in a little film called GIDGET.The movie opens with the early teen Francie Lawrence (Dee) and her friends preparing for a trip to the beach. The other girls are just interested in meeting boys but Francie hasn't quite been bitten by the bug for male companionship just yet. While the others display themselves a bit suggestively, Francine keeps more of herself covered.Swimming in a mask and snorkel she gets caught in some kelp and one of the surfers on the beach named Moondoggie (James Darren) rescues her on his board. Having experienced riding the board now Francine wants to try as well. Told she needs a board of her own she negotiates with the guy on the beach making them.The next day she arrives with her money but the guys joke about not wanting to teach her. The main beach bum, The Big Kahuna (Cliff Robertson), takes her under his wing and begins instructing her. She takes to it naturally and is soon a sort of mascot for the rest of the gang, given the nickname of Gidget. While they view her as their "kid sister" things begin to change for Francine.She begins to notice Moondoggie more and falls for him. Her summer at the beach that began with no intention of looking for romance is slowly changing. The question that comes to mind though is does Moondoggie have the same thing in mind as well or does he still see her as the kid he saved from drowning?Like most beach movies the film takes a simplistic look at the times and the people involved offering little depth to them. The lone exception is Robertson's character, an older man who left the world behind to surf the waves of the world and who the rest, mainly Moondoggie, look up to as an example of what they want to become, free and easy without a care in the world. Except that not all is as it seems.The movie also differs from most in the genre in that it doesn't play things strictly for laughs like the Frankie and Annette films did. There are no broadly played characters here on display. These seem like real people, as real as a beach movie can get, with real issues they're trying to resolve. At the same time it is a time capsule for the period, a time when mom and dad were an integral part of their children's lives while at the same time not understanding them or being there 24/7. It's that wholesome style of film that many deride as far too fake but that makes for an enjoyable movie none the less.Dee is wonderful here as the innocent young girl who is growing up while we watch. She has a charm and an appeal about her without being thought of as sexy. She's the girl next door who you liked that would eventually blossom into a young woman. Darren does a fine job as well, playing the well to do son of a businessman who wants move in his future. And Robertson as the beach bum with a past shows why he was such a good actor.The film resulted two sequels, neither of which starred Dee but both having Darren return. It also spawned a TV series with a young Sally Field in the title role. Later there were TV movies made with the character as well.Twilight Time is offering this in their usual high quality style with a great picture on display here. Again, extras are limited. They include an isolated music track and the original theatrical trailer. As always they are limiting this to just 3,000 copies so if you're a fan of beach movies or of Gidget then make sure you pick one up today.

The greatest social revolution of the 20th century was the emergence of the teenager. Before the mid-50s teenagers didn't exist - people went straight from childhood to middle age - from Disney to Bing Crosby, apparently. Teens were neither a subject nor a market until rock and roll gave them a voice and James Dean gave them a presence. Up until then Hollywood had been in the grip of the old guard who had set things up in the 20s, and as they got older, film output calcified into stock formats - epics, melodramas, noirs, westerns to keep the old folk happy.This preamble is just to put Gidget into context. Trite and trivial now, it must have been vibrantly original at the time, spawning a mini genre of beach films and beach music through the 60s - this film was made a couple of years before the Beach Boys formed and the music in it is, bizarrely, still closer to Frank Sinatra than rock and roll. The authenticity of the innocent charm is the best thing about it, though titchy Sandra Dee (Gidget = girl-midget) is cute enough, and the good-natured sexual liberation is remarkable - a sixteen year-old is basically out to lose her virginity. Corny back-projection surfing is a must, there's a luau (new to me) and a wholesome family that gives it a Happy Days feel. But most of all it feels like the beginning of things.

I remember enjoying this movie when I saw it years ago on TV, so I decided to rent it on DVD, but it didn't register as well this time around. I believe this is the film that made Sandra Dee a big star, but her lack of acting skill really grated on me several times, especially when she was supposed to be bubbling over with enthusiasm, though several people here (not to mention contemporary fans) obviously thought she did a great job. On the other hand, she really was cute as a button, and the right age for her role (17), or perhaps even 2 years younger, if it's true about her birth date being falsified. I was surprised that Gidget's parents would be so concerned about her date not coming to her home to pick her up, but had no problem with their daughter spending all day, every day with an older, all-male crowd whom they never met! As for the movie itself, the obviously fake surfing shots annoyed me, and Gidget's first near-drowning made me think of the saying "When you're really drowning, you don't make much noise, because there's too much water coming in". I would have been more impressed with Moondoggie if he'd noticed something was wrong without a lot of fuss! Anyway, this film does have a bit more substance than some of the other "teen" movies of the time, and it's a pleasant way to spend 95 minutes.

What? BL not a lesbian? Be real folks, even in my high school in SoCal in the very early 70s, we'd have wondered. And, it turns out, the people we wondered about? Turns out that at reunions they brought same sex spouses. Already, in this movie, this is a cultural "poke in our eye" to re-examine our ideas.Still, the movie is very fun. Very interesting, well written, and very well photographed. Malibu! Well, hell, yeah! Even better than the beaches in Orange County.For those who haven't seen the original movie (which this is), give it a shot. It holds up very, very well.