Gidget (1959)

Directed by

Paul Wendkos

Genre

romantic comedy, teen film

Country

United States

Runtime

1h 35m

Rated

NR

Rating

6.0 of 10 from 43 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

A teenage girl gets introduced to the California surf scene. She falls for a young surfer while navigating new friendships and adventures.

lightheartedromanticwhimsicalupbeatsunnynostalgicinnocentenergetic

What happens

Gidget is a 1959 American CinemaScope comedy film directed by Paul Wendkos and starring Sandra Dee, Cliff Robertson, James Darren, Arthur O'Connell, and the Four Preps. The film is about a teenager's initiation into the California surf culture and her romance with a young surfer. The film was the first of many screen appearances by the character Gidget, created by Hollywood writer Frederick Kohner (based on his daughter Kathy). The screenplay was written by Gillian Houghton, who was then head writer of the soap opera The Secret Storm, using the pen name Gabrielle Upton. This would be Upton's sole contribution to the Gidget canon. The story was based on Kohner's 1957 novel Gidget, the Little Girl with Big Ideas. The film, which received one award nomination, not only inspired various sequel films, a television series, and television films, but is also considered the beginning of the entire "beach party film" genre. Gidget is credited by numerous sources (Stoked! A History of Surf Culture by Drew Kampion; The Encyclopedia of Surfing by Matt Warshaw; and Riding Giants, a documentary film by Stacy Peralta—to name just three) as the single biggest factor in the mainstreaming of surfing culture in the United States. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

Trailer

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