Gidget (film): Difference between revisions
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''Gidget'' was spoofed in the film ''[[Psycho Beach Party]]'' ([[2000 in film|2000]]) -- originally an off-Broadway production written by and starring [[Charles Busch]] as a Gidget-like character called "Chicklet". Rather than reprising his off-Broadway role, Busch appeared in the film as a female police officer investigating a series of bizarre murders among the surfer crowd. |
''Gidget'' was spoofed in the film ''[[Psycho Beach Party]]'' ([[2000 in film|2000]]) -- originally an off-Broadway production written by and starring [[Charles Busch]] as a Gidget-like character called "Chicklet". Rather than reprising his off-Broadway role, Busch appeared in the film as a female police officer investigating a series of bizarre murders among the surfer crowd. |
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==Reception== |
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[[Howard Thompson]] wrote in the ''[[New York Times]]'' of April 23, 1959, "[The film] is enough to make anybody leave one of the neighborhood theatres, where it opened yesterday, and light out for Long Island Sound. Pictorially, this mild little Columbia frolic, about a teen-age girl with boy trouble, seems an ideal way to usher in the beach season." He praised performers Dee, Robertson, and La Roche.<small><ref>[http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9D00E6DD1E3FE53BBC4B51DFB2668382649EDE ''New York Times'' Review]. '''Retrieved 1 October 2008.'''</ref></small> |
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==Trivia== |
==Trivia== |
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*The popularity of the film led to a "Miss Gidget" contest which was won by [[Barbara Bouchet]] in 1959. |
*The popularity of the film led to a "Miss Gidget" contest which was won by [[Barbara Bouchet]] in 1959. |
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*In the [[anime]] ''[[Eureka Seven]]'', the character Moondoggie's real name is James Darren Emerson, a reference to [[James Darren]]. The character Moondoggie is also dating the character Gidget in the anime. |
*In the [[anime]] ''[[Eureka Seven]]'', the character Moondoggie's real name is James Darren Emerson, a reference to [[James Darren]]. The character Moondoggie is also dating the character Gidget in the anime. |
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==References== |
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{{reflist}} |
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== External links == |
== External links == |
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[[Category:1959 films]] |
[[Category:1959 films]] |
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[[Category:Beach movies]] |
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[[Category:Columbia Pictures films]] |
[[Category:Columbia Pictures films]] |
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[[Category:Films based on novels]] |
[[Category:Films based on novels]] |
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Revision as of 16:42, 1 October 2008
| Gidget | |
|---|---|
 VHS cover | |
| Directed by | Paul Wendkos |
| Written by | Frederick Kohner (novel) Gabrielle Upton (screenplay) |
| Produced by | Lewis J. Rachmil |
| Starring | Sandra Dee James Darren Cliff Robertson |
| Cinematography | Burnett Guffey, ASC |
| Edited by | William A. Lyon |
| Music by | Fred Carger Patti Washington (lyrics) Stanley Styne (lyrics) Glen Larson Bruce Belland |
| Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
Release date | 1959 |
Running time | 95 min. |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Gidget (1959) is a Columbia Pictures feature film starring Sandra Dee, Cliff Robertson, and James Darren in a story about a teenager's initiation into the California surf culture and her romance with a young surfer. The screenplay by Gabrielle Upton was based upon Frederick Kohner's novel Gidget, the Girl with Big Ideas, and the film was directed by Paul Wendkos. Gidget was one the the earliest "beach movies" and was followed by two sequel films, various television series, several telemovies, and the spoof Psycho Beach Party.
Plot and cast
On a jaunt to the beach with her bikini-clad girlfriends, flat-chested, tomboyish Gidget (Sandra Dee) meets surfer Moondoggie (James Darren). Gidget takes a liking to him, but he shows no romantic interest.
At home, Gidget's parents (Arthur O'Connell and Mary LaRoche) give her a surfboard and Gidget returns to the beach to surf. She hangs out with an all-male surfer gang led by a beach bum called The Kahuna (Cliff Robertson).
Moondoggie pretends indifference but quietly keeps an eye on Gidget. She attends a beach party, hoping to attract Moondoggie's attention. When she tries to use The Kahuna to make Moondoggie jealous, her plan backfires and she feels foolish and outcast.
In the end, her father arranges a date for her with Jeffrey Matthews, the son of a friend. To her surprise, Matthews turns out to be none other than Moondoggie. He professes his love and asks Gidget to wear his class pin while he's away at college.
The surfer gang includes Robert Ellis as Hot Shot, Joby Baker as Stinky, Tom Laughlin as Lover Boy, Burt Metcalfe as Lord Byron, and Doug McClure as Waikiki. Sue George plays Gidget's girlfriend Betty Louise, and the musical group, The Four Preps appear as themselves.
Subsequent developments
Within ten years of the film's release, two sequels, a television series, and a telemovie were produced. Hitting the big screen were Gidget Goes Hawaiian (1961), starring Deborah Walley, and Gidget Goes to Rome (1963), starring Cindy Carol. In 1965, Sally Field played Gidget in an ABC television series that lasted one season and eventually became a cult classic. A telemovie Gidget Grows Up starring Karen Valentine was produced in 1969.
The adult Gidget then appeared in the telemovies Gidget Gets Married (1972), and Gidget's Summer Reunion (1985). Another television sitcom was produced in 1986, The New Gidget which starred Caryn Richman. Although the original film Gidget (Dee) was blonde, subsequent Gidgets sported a variety of hair colors.
Gidget was spoofed in the film Psycho Beach Party (2000) -- originally an off-Broadway production written by and starring Charles Busch as a Gidget-like character called "Chicklet". Rather than reprising his off-Broadway role, Busch appeared in the film as a female police officer investigating a series of bizarre murders among the surfer crowd.
Reception
Howard Thompson wrote in the New York Times of April 23, 1959, "[The film] is enough to make anybody leave one of the neighborhood theatres, where it opened yesterday, and light out for Long Island Sound. Pictorially, this mild little Columbia frolic, about a teen-age girl with boy trouble, seems an ideal way to usher in the beach season." He praised performers Dee, Robertson, and La Roche.[1]
Trivia
- The studio wanted Elvis Presley to play the role of Moondoggie, but his fees were too expensive.[citation needed]
- The popularity of the film led to a "Miss Gidget" contest which was won by Barbara Bouchet in 1959.
- In the anime Eureka Seven, the character Moondoggie's real name is James Darren Emerson, a reference to James Darren. The character Moondoggie is also dating the character Gidget in the anime.
References
- ^ New York Times Review. Retrieved 1 October 2008.