Gidget

Gidget is a 1959 American romantic comedy teen movie about living in California. It is about a teenage girl who goes surfing. She has a romance with a young surfer.

Gidget
Directed byPaul Wendkos
Produced byLewis J. Rachmil
Screenplay byGabrielle Upton
Based onGidget, the Little Girl with Big Ideas
1957 novel
by Frederick Kohner
StarringSandra Dee
James Darren
Cliff Robertson
Music byTheme:
Fred Karger (music)
Patti Washington (lyrics)
CinematographyBurnett Guffey, ASC
Edited byWilliam A. Lyon
Distributed byColumbia Pictures
Release date
  • April 10, 1959 (1959-04-10)
Running time
95 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Box office$1.5 million (est. US /Canada rentals)[1][2]

The movie stars Sandra Dee, Cliff Robertson, and pop singer James Darren. The movie was based on a novel by Frederick Kohner titled Gidget, the Little Girl with Big Ideas. The movie was directed by Paul Wendkos.

Legacy

Gidget was the first beach party" movie. It was followed by two sequel movies, various television series, several made-for-TV movies, and the parody Psycho Beach Party.

Gidget is credited by numerous sources, including a documentary movie by Stacy Peralta, as being the single main influence to bring surfing and the surfing subculture into the American mainstream.[3][4]

The movie received a 1960 Golden Laurel Award nomination for Top Female Comedy Performance for actress Sandra Dee.

References

  1. Tom Lisanti, Hollywood Surf and Beach Movies: The First Wave, 1959-1969, McFarland 2005 , 29
  2. "1959: Probable Domestic Take", Variety, 6 January 1960 p 34
  3. "A Generation of Gidgets" Archived 2016-03-03 at the Wayback Machine, by Jeff Spurrier, The Atlantic Monthly, April 2002 Retrieved 4 August 2009.
  4. "Surfer Girl, Forever" by Hugo Martin, The Los Angeles Times, June 17, 2006. Retrieved 4 August 2009.

Other websites