Tom Lisanti is an award-winning author/film historian specializing in1960s/1970s film and television. He began writing professionally in 1998. His newest book is Ryan’s Hope: An Oral History of Daytime’s Groundbreaking Soap from Citadel Press/Kensington Books released in October 2023. Look for his next book, Dueling Harlows: The Race to Bring the Actress’ Life to the Silver Screen from McFarland & Company in late spring 2024.
Gidget rode the tide into movie theaters for its theatrical opening. Based on the surfing adventures of the real Gidget, Kathy Kohner, the popular movie and the first (and still one of the best) Hollywood surf movie starred Sandra Dee, Cliff Robertson, and James Darren with support from Doug McClure, Joby Baker, Yvonne Craig, and Jo Morrow.
Gidget’s story of a teenage tomboy who doesn’t fit in with her female friends and who just wants to surf with the guys is extremely entertaining. It makes a sincere effort to capture the surfer culture of the time albeit toned down for movie audiences. The film has lots of exciting surfing footage, beautiful Malibu scenery, and a wonderful cast headed by the sweet Sandra Dee as the “girl-midget” nicknamed Gidget and the perfectly cast Cliff Robertson as the manly surf bum Kahoona. James Darren as the college-bound Moondoggie trying to ape the Kahoona but deeep down just a typical suburnan kid at heart is a fine contrast.
As hoped for from the first official Hollywood surf movie there is lots of surfing action, excellently photographed, featuring some of Malibu’s real life surfers such as Mickey Dora and Johnny Fain. However, a major drawback is the main stars’ lack of athletic ability. The only hindrance about Sandra Dee is that she looks like she can barely hold a surfboard let alone surf on one. The constant filming of her and James Darren in a tank on the studio lot or in front of the blue screen pretending to be riding the waves is a detriment to this movie especially to fans reared on Kate Bosworth in Blue Crush. Unfortunately, using the blue screen would become standard practice in most surf movies to follow during the sixties.
Despite the minor flaws, Gidget exudes a wonderful Southern California fun-in-the-sun feeling, and aided by the attractive cast, remains a memorable first look at the cult of surfing and the throngs who are attracted to it. Read more about it in my book Hollywood Surf and Beach Movies: The First Wave, 1959-1969.
The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini opened starring Tommy Kirk, Deborah Walley, Aron Kincaid, Nancy Sinatra, Quinn O’Hara, Harvey Lembeck, Bobbi Shaw, Piccola Pupa, Claudia Martin, and Susan Hart. Plus the regular cast of beach boys and girls including Ed Garner, Christopher Riordan, Salli Sachse, Mary Hughes, Patti Chandler, and Luree Holmes.
Financially the least successful of the Beach Party movies, The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini put the nail in the coffin for the genre at AIP. After six movies, seven if counting Ski Party, the beach films was getting tired. AIP tried to pump life into it by shifting the locale to a creepy mansion and mixing aspects of the beach-party formula with the horror genre and populating it with fresh faces. Three heirs (Kirk, Walley, and Patsy Kelly) to a fortune gather at Hiram Stokely’s mansion for the reading of his will unaware that his crooked lawyer (Basil Rathbone) with the help of his near-sighted but knockout of a daughter (O’Hara) and a bunch of bungling circus performers (Shaw, Jesse White, Benny Rubin replacing the ill Buster Keaton, and a gorilla) plans to off them so he can steal the inheritance. His nevarious plot goes awry due to the interference of a beautiful ghost in an invisible bikini (Hart) who is sent down by Hiram (Boris Karloff) to make sure the money winds up in the rightful hands. There’s nary a beach or a surfboard in sight, which greatly hurts the movie. Instead all the action takes place at a spooky old estate with a fair number of scenes around an in-ground swimming pool with boys in bathing trunks and girls in bikinis twisting to the sounds of The Bobby Fuller Four and Nancy Sinatra. The less said about that Italian “singing sensation” Piccola Pupa the better.
Commenting on the shoot, are a number of its stars from my books Talking Sixties Drive-In Movies; Hollywood Surf & Beach Movies: and Drive-In Dream Girls.
Bobbi Shaw on Harvey Lembeck:
“Harvey was amazing and always a joy. You could tell he just loved what he did waking up in the morning and showing up on the set. We always had fun. After we finished making the beach party movies, Harvey started a comedy group and asked me to join. I didn’t, but he was always sweet and friendly. His wonderful son Michael directed Friends for many years and we are buddies.”
Quinn O’Hara on Basil Rathbone:
“When I first met him I was so afraid I’d say, ‘Rasil Bathbone’ that I actually did! He was a charming man. I heard that during his heyday in Hollywood he and his wife would throw the most magnificent parties. I was just so happy to play his daughter.”
Susan Hart on playing the ghost in the invisible bikini while wearing a blonde wig:
“One day they sprayed the wig and turned on the big lights for a scene. The make-up girl came over to powder me and she turned her head away as she did it. Then the guy who measures the distance for the lights came near me and let out a, ‘whoa!’ I thought, ‘My gosh, what is the matter?’ The director [Don Weis] started to come over and he wouldn’t get close to me. I started to get upset. Finally, somebody came over and asked me, ‘What’s the matter?’ I answered, ‘I don’t know but something is wrong because everybody who comes over to me looks at me funny, turns around and walks away. Please what is it? Do I smell or something?’ Turns out that the damn sheep oil got so hot that I started stinking like a sheep. I couldn’t smell it because not only did I have it on all that time but they had those big fans blowing as well.”
Ed Garner on Aron Kincaid:
“Aron Kincaid is a fabulous guy. He was the most dedicated, serious guy I ever worked with who wanted to become a movie star. He actually lived, breathed, and ate show business. I was amazed. He couldn’t believe that I couldn’t give a hoot about it.”
Aron Kincaid on Quinn O’Hara:
“I adored Quinn O’Hara. I had known her for a few years prior to this. She was a wonderful girl and an actual beauty queen—Miss Scotland. She had been at Universal when I was there. I had always said that once they put her in color everything would change. She looked great in black and white but nothing like she did in person.”
Double Trouble one of the worst Elvis Presley movies opened with one of his least inspiring leading ladies, Annette Day making her film debut. The movie tried to cash in on swinging mod London and the popularity of spy movies of the time. Despite being set in Europe, this being another quickie production, the entire movie was shot on MGM’s massive soundstages.
In the movie, Presley is worldwide singing sensation Guy Lambert who meets mysterious teenage heiress Jill Conway (Day) while performing in a London discothèque surrounded by hip swaying go-go girls. Underage Jill becomes infatuated with the singer much to the chagrin of her uncle and guardian Gerald Waverly (John Williams) who sends her away to Belgium to keep the pair apart but to also stop Guy from discovering that he was trying to steal his niece’s inheritance. While searching for her, Guy gets involved with spies, jewel thieves, and foreign intrigue. Inexplicably Guy chooses the teenage twit over sophisticated playgirl Claire Dunham (Yvonne Romain) by fade-out, which ends with the pair’s wedding a rarity for an Elvis movie.
This was Christopher Riordan’s sixth movie with the King and commenting on Annette Day in my book Talking Sixties Drive-In Movies, he said, “You could tell this little girl who looked like some librarian was nervous and didn’t know what she was doing or where she was going. I remember the director was having a lot of trouble with Day. Elvis was very sweet and patient. He’d whisper in her ear, ‘We’re going to turn here and then look for your mark.’ Despite his kindness, I felt here was no chemistry between them. I kept thinking to myself, ‘Why do they keep doing this to Elvis—saddling him with weak leading ladies.’ Elvis was very sensual and had a lot of chemistry going for him. There were several actresses that he played opposite where I thought he did very well such as Marlyn Mason in The Trouble with Girls. They are wonderful together and just sizzled.”
Double Trouble had an interesting premise but was sunk by a confusing script and the inexperienced Annette Day. When an Elvis film is not populated with a strong young supporting cast as here, he needs a strong leading lady. Ann-Margret in Viva Las Vegas is a perfect example. Her talent and chemistry with Elvis elevated that movie despite the missing cadre of friends surrounding them and a very weak story. Double Trouble needed an “Ann-Margret” as well. You would have thought with all the talented young British actresses around at the time including Hayley Mills, Suzy Kendall, and Judy Geeson they could have found someone who at least knew their way around a soundstage. Obviously, they were doing the movie on the cheap and hoped the newcomer would deliver. Alas, Day did not.
It Happened at the World’s Fair opened starring Elvis Presley, Joan O’Brien, Gary Lockwood, and Yvonne Craig. This is a glossy musical comedy shot on location at the Seattle World’s Fair. Presley played Mike Edwards a pilot-for-hire who, after jilting a luscious small town girl (Craig) whose father chases him off with a shotgun, heads to the Fair with his gambling-loving partner Danny Edwards (Lockwood) to get work so they can earn enough money to reclaim their airplane that has been repossessed. There Mike becomes involved with a precocious seven-year-old Chinese girl Sue-Lin (Vicky Tiu) left in the boys’ care by her farmer father and a pretty nurse named Diane Warren (O’Brien) who he’d rather spend time with though she plays hard to get.
“The first day of filming was a madhouse. When I arrived at the World’s Fair, I saw Elvis whom I had never met before over the heads of all these people. You talk about crowds! It was unbelievable. People everywhere! After we finished the first morning’s sequences they had an electric car for Elvis and me to use. They had to set up barricades and use hundreds of policemen to hold back the crowds just to get us out of there. We then went for lunch to some building that had this huge empty exhibition hall. They dropped us off, locked the door, and posted more policemen outside.”
Though Elvis did serenade Joan throughout the film, she found these scenes to be “tedious and hard because he had all the action and I felt awkward. It was very difficult for me—I don’t know about other actresses—to be aware of the camera, pay attention to him, and try to look all dreamy-eyed and in love. I felt like I had egg on my face most of the time.”
Gidget rode the tide into movie theaters for its theatrical opening. Based on the surfing adventures of the real Gidget, Kathy Kohner, the popular movie and the first (and still one of the best) Hollywood surf movie starred Sandra Dee, Cliff Robertson, and James Darren with support from Doug McClure, Joby Baker, Yvonne Craig, and Jo Morrow.
As hoped for from the first official Hollywood surf movie there is lots of surfing action, excellently photographed, featuring some of Malibu’s real life surfers such as Mickey Dora and Johnny Fain. However, a major drawback is the main stars’ lack of athletic ability. The only hindrance about Sandra Dee is that she looks like she can barely hold a surfboard let alone surf on one. The constant filming of her and James Darren in a tank on the studio lot or in front of the blue screen pretending to be riding the waves is a detriment to this movie especially to fans reared on Kate Bosworth in Blue Crush. Unfortunately, using the blue screen would become standard practice in most surf movies to follow during the sixties.
