SURF'S UP!

TCM is on a roll this weekend and on Sunday 4/2 at 6:15pm they are airing one of the best Hollywood surf movies of all time, Gidget (1959). The story of a teenage tomboy who doesn’t fit in with her landlubbing girlfriends and who just wants to surf with the guys is extremely entertaining. It makes a sincere effort to capture the surfer culture of the time albeit toned down for movie audiences. The film has lots of exciting surfing footage, beautiful Malibu scenery, and a wonderful cast headed by the sweet Sandra Dee as the “girl-midget” nicknamed Gidget, Cliff Robertson as the manly surf bum Kahoona, and James Darren as the wave-riding heartthrob Moondoggie.

Catch the movie and read more about it in my book, Hollywood Surf and Beach Movies: The First Wave, 1959-1969.