Well it took over 30 years but Sherwood Schwartz finally sold and Warner Bros. has greenlighted a big screen remake of Gilligan’s Island. Now everybody is playing the casting guessing game even Dawn Wells, the original Maryann. But leave it to a jealous Dawn to once again stick it to Tina Louise with her choice of a recast Ginger. Click here to read. Get over it Dawn!
On Sunday night March 14, TCM is doing a Tina Louise tribute. First up at 8PM is Tina in her Golden Globe award winning movie debut as sexy farm nymph Griselda in God’s Little Acre (1958) from the novel by Erskine Caldwell. This is followed by the Beach Party knockoff For Those Who Think Young (1964) starring James Darren and Pamela Tiffin standing in for Frankie and Annette with Tina as a sexy singing stripper who also moonlights as a math tutor.
When I asked Pamela about Tina, she exclaimed (in Fantasy Femmes of Sixties Cinema), “Tina Louise was one of the most beautiful females I’ve ever seen in my life. Her beauty was unearthly and just a miracle of nature.”
For Those Who Think Young‘s director Leslie H. Martinson remarked (in Hollywood Surf and Beach Movies), “Strangely enough, I have a wonderful relationship with Tina Louise. Tina had her own way of working and was very smart but she could be considered a bit difficult at times. She had her own ideas but somehow we were on the same beat.”
Lana Wood was in the news once again regarding the mysterious death of her sister Natalie Wood over 20 years ago. Click here to read the latest in the controversy.
WLIW21 is airing for the first time on TV the uncut 1964 rock and roll concert The T.A.M.I. Show, the second movie filmed in Electronovision from producer Bill Sargent. The movie was shot live at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium in front of a crowd of 5,000 screaming teenagers. T.A.M.I. stood for Teen-Age Music International a foundation known for granting music scholarships. Popular singing duo Jan and Dean who topped the charts in 1963 with their huge hit “Surf City” were tapped to host and they sneak in a few songs including “The Little Old Lady from Pasadena” and “Sidewalk Surfin.”
The eclectic array of rock acts assembled to perform come from the music worlds of R&B, Motown, surf music, the British invasion, garage rock, and girl groups. The concert opens with Chuck Berry and Liverpool rockers Gerry and the Pacemakers. They take turns performing and the crowd goes wild when Berry sings “Sweet Little Sixteen” and the Pacemakers match him with their hit “How Do You Do It?” They are followed on stage by Lesley Gore who sings some of her most popular tunes including “You Don’t Own Me” and then the #1 girl group at the time, The Supremes. Close-ups of Diana Ross singing “Baby Love” and “Where Did Our Love Go” are truly something to behold. They are followed by the British band Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas, garage band The Barbarians, the Beach Boys (who rock on “Surfin’ U.S.A.” and “I Get Around” amongst other songs), Smokey Robinson & the Miracles, and Marvin Gaye.
The fabulous James Brown & the Famous Flames is the second to last act to perform and they tear the house down with three songs including “Please Please Please.” The closing act is the incomparable Rolling Stones who had not yet hit big in the U.S. Even still they drive the audience into a near frenzy singing such songs as “Time Is on My Side” and “It’s All Right” closing the show on a high note.