Gidget (1959) Review

Gidget (1959)

cinema

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My Review

“Gidget” introduced the Hawaiian sport of surfing into American pop culture, creating a wave of beach movies and music that would wash over the 1960’s. (An interesting side note is that 1959 was also the year Hawaii was admitted to the Union as the 50th state.)

Director Paul Wendkos adeptly assembled a cast headed by Sandra Dee and James Darren as Francine “Gidget” Lawrence and her boyfriend Jeffrey “Moondoggie” Matthews. Darren also contributed musically with a group called The Four Preps. Co-stars include Cliff Robertson, Arthur O’Connell, Yvonne Craig, Doug McClure, Mary LaRoche, Joby Baker, Tom Laughlin, Sue George, Robert Ellis, Jo Morrow, Patti Kane, and Burt Metcalfe.

The watchable “Gidget” is light entertainment that was successful with movie-goers of 1959, thanks to good production values from producer Lewis J. Rachmil and Columbia Pictures. The screenplay by Gabrielle Upton was based on a 1957 novel “Gidget” by Frederick Kohner. Two sequels followed: “Gidget Goes Hawaiian” (1961) starring Deborah Walley and “Gidget Goes to Rome” (1963) featuring Cindy Carol. A television series of the same name ran on ABC for one season (1965-1966) with Sally Field.

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