CommentsXp Best movie ever!

Huievest Instead, you get a movie that's enjoyable enough, but leaves you feeling like it could have been much, much more.

Ogosmith Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

Myron Clemons A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.

George Redding This was definitely Sandra Dee's signature movie, and as a teen-age boy growing up in the sixties I was really taken with her. (Of course, I was not an aberration.) I saw this movie for the first time in the summer of 1959. I liked the beautiful California beach scenery, and the Four Preps music, and I was reasonably impressed with the acting. The cast was well-chosen. The cuddlesome-looking Sandra Dee was drawing, but she did not receive as much acclaim, as an actress. as she deserved; she was not only a cute bumess, but that little girl was strong-willed and outspoken in this movie. James Darren was a sharp-looking actor and singer, but his character was disgusting, since he was a bitter teen-ager with a big chip on his shoulder. If Arthur O'Connell was supposed to be serious in this movie, he did not do a good job of it as he played the role of Gidget's laughable high-strung father. Mary LaRoche was a beautiful, appealing lady who was wonderful as Gidget's mother. Jo Morrow, beautiful California beach scenery herself, was drawing in her minor role. Tom Laughlin, here about a dozen years before his "Billy Jack" days, seemed to click well with Dee in what was here his minor role. The story was more than what it appeared to be initially on the surface. It was about a teen-age girl who was at a crucial age, namely 16, and thus was in an identity crisis, and it was also about a girl who was, again, strong-willed as well. This movie was also a character study: she was infatuated with Mahuna, (Robertson)- an ex-Korean War vet in his middle thirties who lived only to surf and stay on the beach in a small hut there-, but she also was very up-front when she intonated to him that that was no way for him, nor anyone else, to live, and she thus had a pressing effect on him. (Only recently when I saw the movie on a DVD did I really notice the more serious aspect of the story.) Again, Sandra Dee was as cute as cute could be, but the movie did have a serious side. For more than one reason is it worth the time to see it.

Mark Turner If you grew up in the sixties there is no doubt that you were exposed to the genre of film known as the beach movie. The most notable stars of the genre were Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello but there were others who dipped their toes in the salty waters of the Pacific as well. One of those was Sandra Dee in a little film called GIDGET.The movie opens with the early teen Francie Lawrence (Dee) and her friends preparing for a trip to the beach. The other girls are just interested in meeting boys but Francie hasn't quite been bitten by the bug for male companionship just yet. While the others display themselves a bit suggestively, Francine keeps more of herself covered.Swimming in a mask and snorkel she gets caught in some kelp and one of the surfers on the beach named Moondoggie (James Darren) rescues her on his board. Having experienced riding the board now Francine wants to try as well. Told she needs a board of her own she negotiates with the guy on the beach making them.The next day she arrives with her money but the guys joke about not wanting to teach her. The main beach bum, The Big Kahuna (Cliff Robertson), takes her under his wing and begins instructing her. She takes to it naturally and is soon a sort of mascot for the rest of the gang, given the nickname of Gidget. While they view her as their "kid sister" things begin to change for Francine.She begins to notice Moondoggie more and falls for him. Her summer at the beach that began with no intention of looking for romance is slowly changing. The question that comes to mind though is does Moondoggie have the same thing in mind as well or does he still see her as the kid he saved from drowning?Like most beach movies the film takes a simplistic look at the times and the people involved offering little depth to them. The lone exception is Robertson's character, an older man who left the world behind to surf the waves of the world and who the rest, mainly Moondoggie, look up to as an example of what they want to become, free and easy without a care in the world. Except that not all is as it seems.The movie also differs from most in the genre in that it doesn't play things strictly for laughs like the Frankie and Annette films did. There are no broadly played characters here on display. These seem like real people, as real as a beach movie can get, with real issues they're trying to resolve. At the same time it is a time capsule for the period, a time when mom and dad were an integral part of their children's lives while at the same time not understanding them or being there 24/7. It's that wholesome style of film that many deride as far too fake but that makes for an enjoyable movie none the less.Dee is wonderful here as the innocent young girl who is growing up while we watch. She has a charm and an appeal about her without being thought of as sexy. She's the girl next door who you liked that would eventually blossom into a young woman. Darren does a fine job as well, playing the well to do son of a businessman who wants move in his future. And Robertson as the beach bum with a past shows why he was such a good actor.The film resulted two sequels, neither of which starred Dee but both having Darren return. It also spawned a TV series with a young Sally Field in the title role. Later there were TV movies made with the character as well.Twilight Time is offering this in their usual high quality style with a great picture on display here. Again, extras are limited. They include an isolated music track and the original theatrical trailer. As always they are limiting this to just 3,000 copies so if you're a fan of beach movies or of Gidget then make sure you pick one up today.

bkoganbing The Gidget franchise gets its start with this 1959 starring Sandra Dee as the original Gidget. Dee never got to repeat the role which probably more than anything else established her image as the squeaky clean teen dream of the era.In fact Francie Lawrence as she's originally known is something of a tomboy, but she's slowly discovering an opposite sex is useful in more ways than beating them in sports. Her friends persuade her to go to the beach and see if they can attract some of the opposite sex. But young Francie Lawrence takes up with some surfer kids after one of them, James Darren, saves her life. She becomes a mascot for them and in the process learns how to surf, how to love surfing, and what boys are really for.She even picks up the nickname of Gidget where forever afterward she will be known except when her parents Arthur O'Connell and Mary Roche in this film are mad at her. Presiding over the surfing kids is surfing bum Cliff Robertson known as Kahuna. I'm wondering if it was in that film that the term Kahuna entered the English language to denote someone who was the kingpin in whatever field, besides surfing. He and Darren have a bit of a rivalry over Dee.The same things that made America for a generation check out Baywatch is present in abundance in Gidget. Nice Malibu scenery, gorgeous beach and scantily clad young and nubile females. Especially young and nubile Sandra Dee. We've grown up a bit since Gidget, but the film and its successors are still good, light, very light entertainment.

Lechuguilla What a time capsule! A film that hearkens back to a cultural era of innocence, "Gidget" screams 1950s, with clothes, lingo, attitudes, and characters that now seem quaint. Gidget (Sandra Dee), that "pint size" sixteen-year-old who lives in Southern California, scampers down to the beach and takes an instant liking to surfing. In the process, she meets a fraternity of youthful, shirtless beach bums. Surfing, fun, and romantic complications ensue.All fluffy and frothy in the first half, the film's plot and characters reek of bubble-gum shallowness, with dialogue to match. But the plot turns more dramatic in the second half, and characters show at least some degree of depth. Gidget comes across as smart, determined and, given her age, dubiously skilled at psychology, with words that make a big impression on The Big Kahuna (Cliff Robertson), surfers' de facto leader. Ultimately, the film conveys the theme that events and people ... change.Visuals feature bright, splashy colors and a photogenic cast. Rear-screen projection and cast doubles, for the surfing scenes, look hokey now, but were the norm in those days. Music trends romantic and lively. Naturalistic sound of ocean waves enhances a relaxed, carefree tone.Although perhaps needed for story balance, plot sequences that involve Gidget's parents seem stodgy, and detract from the main focus on the relationship between Gidget and her beach pals.Sandra Dee, despite her squeaky voice, gives a performance that was better than I had expected. James Darren and Cliff Robertson add competent support.If ever there was a film that captures the carefree, innocent life of kids in the 1950s, this is surely it. Undeniably nostalgic to older viewers, and prehistoric to younger viewers, "Gidget" will continue to fascinate, emblematic of an era that will never return.