Underplayed Gems

Gidget (1959)

Gidget poster
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
The 3D catalogue: film cases on wooden shelves, with the cat sitting at the counter next to its greeting.

The catalogue in 3D

The film shelves have a room of their own that you can walk around in. The cat behind the counter is the AI Catbot, and they pick real films from the same catalogue when you tell them what you feel like watching. Nothing is for sale, here or in there. Go in from here and this film is already out on the counter, with more like it waiting on the shelf next to it.

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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)

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