Gidget
Tags: romantic

Plot synopsis:
Frances Lawrence (Sandra Dee) is about to turn 17 years old and is on her summer break between her junior and senior years of high school. She resists the pressure to go "manhunting" with her girlfriends and laments the days when the girls had fun together without boys. Frances also rejects her parents wishing to fix her up on a date with the son of a friend of the family, Jeffrey Matthews.
On a jaunt to the beach with her bikini-clad girlfriends, flat-chested tomboy Frances meets surfer Moondoggie (James Darren). She quickly becomes infatuated with him, but he shows no romantic interest, however Frances is more attracted to surfing than man hunting.
At home, Francie importunes her parents for $25 for a used surfboard. Russ and Dorothy Lawrence (Arthur O'Connell and Mary LaRoche) grant their daughter's request as an early birthday present and the excited youngster returns to the beach to surf. The gang dubs their female associate "Gidget", a portmanteau word based on 'girl' and 'midget'.
She associates with an all-male surfer gang led by the worldly beach bum, The Kahuna (Cliff Robertson). Kahuna is a Korean War Air Force veteran twice the age of Frances who was fed up with all the rules he had to live by when he flew combat missions and dropped out of normal society. He travels the hemisphere surfing with his pet bird. Moondoggie admires Kahuna and wants to emulate him by joining Kahuna in working his way on a freighter to go surfing in Peru at summer's end instead of going off to university as his self-made father planned. Kahuna and Gidget enjoy each other's company with Gidget questioning how he can survive an aimless and lonely existence without a job. She questions whether if Kahuna knew then what he knew now would he still make the same lifestyle choice after leaving the Air Force. Kahuna later reflects on Gidget's words after the death of his only friend, the pet bird.
Hoping to make Moondoggie jealous, Gidget hires one of the other surfers in the gang to be her date to a luau party on the beach. Her plan backfires when the surfer she hired pawns the job off on none other than Moondoggie, unaware that he was the one Gidget wanted to make jealous. Gidget lies and tells Moondoggie that it is Kahuna that she wants to make jealous, and they have a romantic evening at the luau. Eventually Moondoggie says something that upsets Gidget and, as she flees the luau, she runs into Kahuna and agrees to take him to a nearby beach house. Alone with Kahuna, Gidget tries to make Kahuna take her virginity. Amused, Kahuna attempts to call Gidget's bluff by pretending to take her up on her offer but finds himself falling under her spell. Realizing what he was about to do and angry at the situation he's been put in, Kahuna throws her out of the beach house just as Moondoggie arrives. Gidget is mortified and escapes out the back of the beach house as Moondoggie confronts Kahuna. The cops are called to break up the fight between Kahuna and Moondoggie and, after leaving the beach house, they find Gidget stranded with a flat tire and without her driver's license. They bring her in to the police station. Gidget's father, having heard about the incident decides to take over control of her social life, and orders her not to see the surfer gang again. She falls into a depression, to which mother shows her a tapestry from her grandmother reading "A Real Woman brings out the best in a Man".
In the end, Mr. Lawrence arranges a date for Gidget with Jeffrey Matthews that Frances grudgingly accepts. To her surprise, Matthews turns out to be Moondoggie. The two return to the beach to find Kahuna tearing down his beach shack and find out that he's taken a job as an airline pilot. Moondoggie and Gidget realize how they feel about each other and, as an act of romantic devotion, Moondoggie asks Gidget to wear his class pin. Kahuna cheerfully warns Moondoggie that Gidget is quite a woman.

Review: The slight, but very perceptive story concerns a plucky teenage girl nick-named Gidget(contractions of the words Girl and Midget) who mostly just wants to have fun in the sun.
She begins to fall for a more "mature" surf bum(Cliff Robertson), but then finally settles for Moon-doggie(James Darren) who is closer to her own age.
Maybe I'm being slightly sentimental, but to me GIDGET is a beautiful coming-of-age story that can still teach the teenagers of today a valuable lesson about first love.
For those of you who didn't already know it, GIDGET was played by the beautiful young Sandra Dee who was a hot item in her day.
I may only be a simple 21-year-old boy from cincinnati, but I really enjoy and appreciate older films like this.
My grandmother, Mary, was 15 years old when she first saw the first Gidget (1959) movie with Sandra Dee and James Darren, in The New Bell Theatre in Bellflower California.
My grandmother explained as we watched this film together, that this movie was what "made me look at those things in a different way.
"Oh, James Darren is such a hunk!" and "I had such a crush on him..."and "what cute clothes she wears!" She commented that after this movie she made it a point to make her wardrobe similar to Sandra Dee's.
It sticks in my mind to this day." During the scene where Gidget gets dressed to go to the luau, my grandmother interrupts the movie to tell me something else.
I don't even like orange, in fact, I hate the color orange...but that's a very special dress to me." This movie was filmed in vibrant color and shot on the beach in Malibu.
This movie was memorable to my grandma and to her friends of the fifties because of a combination longing to be on a beach surfing with hunky surf bums and the excitement for the beginning of love stories made especially for teens.
Sandra Dee was the perfect teenage girl in the eyes of the youth in the fifties, because she was pretty, sweet, innocent, and smart, yet she still had the sense of adventure, rebellion, and need for sex in which the kids of the fifties were becoming more and more interested..
That song Gidget I had on 45rpm as did all the girls after we all got a load of Sandra Dee and James Darren together.
This movie was legendary in 1959 and it made alot of girls want to be a surfer like Sandra Dee in the movie.
Cliff Robertson plays the Kahuna and the wisest of the group of surfers who sit on the beach all day sunning themselves and goofing off.I liked this movie so much!.
I don't think you can get much further away from the stuff I usually watch like Cannibal Holocaust or Zombi 2 than Sandra Dee and Gidget.
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.
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.
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.
Gidget is about a fun loving girl who gets involved with a group of surfers and has the summer of her life!.
If I want to see sex and violence all I have to do is watch the news.Gidget takes us all back to a simpler time and place where we can relive the memories of our youth or imagine how it might have been.
Just cause someone has short hair doesn't make them a lesbian in my mind and I think the person who made that comment was way off base and didn't really follow the conversations of the movie closely.I love all of the Gidget movies, however to me Sandra Dee will always be the ultimate Gidget and I am sad that we have lost her recently..
Gidget is a really cute story.It shows the teens of today like myself what the teen movies we love today were like as they were just getting popular...it shows what the teens enjoyed before American Pie,She's All that and Cruel Intentions etc.
Squealing Sandra Dee is an underdeveloped sixteen-year-old in Southern California who is prodded by her friends into finding a man; she ingratiates herself to a bunch of good-hearted surfing boys, but only because she's genuinely interested in learning to surf (they soon realize she's different, but that doesn't stop romance from happening!).
But as entertainment this is sure a lot better than scores of movies (think Waterworld or Ishtar) that believed they were a good way for people to spend a couple hours of their lives.
Gidget may not aim high but it hit the exact spot it was aiming for.With a daughter about to turn 21, I sure wish girls spent their teenage years interacting with boys the way Gidget did.
Listening to the Four Preps instead of that damn rap music today.Sandra Dee does a great job of playing a teenager (which shouldn't have been a stretch for her in 1959 unlike James Darren or the other surfers).
And while Arthur O'Connell does a good job as her father, I've never been able to picture him as anything other than a determined bachelor after his role in Picnic.So if you have a couple of hours that you just want to veg out on the couch and give your brain a rest, you could do a lot worse than spend it with Gidget.
I believe this is the film that made Sandra Dee a big star, but her lack of acting skill really grated on me several times, especially when she was supposed to be bubbling over with enthusiasm, though several people here (not to mention contemporary fans) obviously thought she did a great job.
As for the movie itself, the obviously fake surfing shots annoyed me, and Gidget's first near-drowning made me think of the saying "When you're really drowning, you don't make much noise, because there's too much water coming in".
Anyway, this film does have a bit more substance than some of the other "teen" movies of the time, and it's a pleasant way to spend 95 minutes..
Dee is spunky teen (only 15 when this was filmed!) who gets in over her head, in more ways than one, hanging out with the older guy surfers.
There's only one real Gidget - this one - which was followed by several inferior movie and television productions, none involving Dee. Frankie Avalon stole Robertson's character name, the Big Kahuna, for his 1987 beach blanket reprise "Back to the Beach"..
On the one hand, "Gidget" looks like an intelligence-challenged flick, as the cute teenage girl goes to the beach to possibly meet boys.
Sandra Dee gets to play the first "Gidget" (combining "Girl and Midget").
At different times, Ms. Dee's Gidget seems to want to: have fun, have sex, grow up, grow out, stay young, and/or learn to surf (which is not at all unusual).
**** Gidget (4/10/59) Paul Wendkos ~ Sandra Dee, James Darren, Cliff Robertson, Arthur O'Connell.
Likable teenage soap about a tomboy (Sandra Dee) who falls for a beach bum (James Darren) while discovering her love for surfing.
As someone who lived the dream of being a California surf bum, I was pleasantly reminiscing about those years while watching this movie.
I've heard it said that "surfing makes you feel like a kid again." So there are therapeutic qualities surfing gives to someone who has experienced tragedy as Robertson's character has in the Korean War.The Gidget character, played by Sandra Dee, is a delightful dichotomy as she seems at once a woman and a girl.
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.
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.
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..
Gidget, er, Frances Lawrence (Sandra Dee) is a teenage girl who is not yet into boy chasing.
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.
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.
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.
the charming James Darren, the profound Cliff Robertson, the innocence of Sandra Dee 's character and few footage are pillars of a comedy not different by many other from period, mixture of romanticism, nice music and children - parents relation.
Whenever I watch an older Hollywood movie like Gidget, I can't help but think about the scene in the latest remake of King Kong where Jack Black's character is meeting with a group of producers.
Sex sells, even in a purportedly innocent film like Gidget.In the opening scenes, Gidget is shown wearing a sloppy one piece woolen swimsuit, but as the movie progresses, she wears increasingly revealing outfits that accentuate Dee's wasp waist--in one later scene Dee's erect nipples are clearly visible, something that I'm sure zoomed right over the heads of the censors.I may be cynical, but I can imagine that one of the producers whispered in the ear of the costumers that we need to give the (adolescent boy) fans a little something extra--and Dee was given a bra that was a little sheerer, and a slightly thinner top for that scene.
The authenticity of the innocent charm is the best thing about it, though titchy Sandra Dee (Gidget = girl-midget) is cute enough, and the good-natured sexual liberation is remarkable - a sixteen year-old is basically out to lose her virginity.
I Liked the plot: 7/10, but I didn't like some of the main characters (one including Gidget a.k.a "Frances" --Sandra DEE), or Moondoggie or even the guy with the big surf house he took Sandra into.
Sixteen year-old Francis Lawrence (Sandra Dee at her most innocent) is the film's title character; girl plus midget equals Gidget.
Rescued by a boy named Moondoggie (James Darren who was never much of an actor but would also develop into quite a teen idol), Francis is introduced to the surf culture (watch for "Billy Jack's" Tom Laughlin).
the fact that "Moondoggie" is also the boy Gidget's father has been trying to get her to meet and date all summer is a bitter irony: these boys and girls will become what they are "supposed" to become by the world in which they live..
We totally identified with Gidget (the adorable Sandra Dee, God rest her soul), who summed up the innocence and longing of teenage love.
Our favorite lines were, "Yeah, but what if the young man doesn't know you're alive?" and, " 'To be a real woman is to bring out the best in a man.' Tell that to the boys today." We, of course, couldn't help but remark, "More like today!" It's easy to see why this film inspired so many beach movies of the 60s.
Gidget then pretends that it's the Big Kahuna (a young, buff, and tanned Cliff Robertson) she's out to get, and ends up getting in a little deeper than she planned to.Of course, it all works out in the end.
Here's a prayer that Sandra Dee's other great teen movie classic from 1959, "A Summer Place" (through Warner Brothers) due for a DVD release in a few days as of this writing, will be restored to widescreen, recapturing its theatrical glory that enchanted and captivated moviegoers way back when..
'Gidget' - 'girl midget' - Sandra Dee was born to play this role..
Sandra Dee was 14, or maybe barely 15, when 'Gidget' was filmed, but she comes across as much more mature.
One day at the beach, some somewhat older boys, and one 30-something beach bum, ignore the girls, but 'Moondoggie' goes out and saves 'Gidget' when she becomes entangled in seaweed.
Not Earth-shaking, just a sweet, innocent movie, and so much fun to see Sandra Dee in it..
Sandra Dee is perfect as the original Gidget, a teenager trying to sort out her feelings about boys and being popular during the summer between her junior and senior years in high school.
James Darren is Moondoggie, the spoiled college beach bum who idolizes the carefree surfer's lifestyle illustrated by the big kahuna played by Cliff Robertson.
There is also less music and dancing in this original version than in the films that follow it.As the summer draws to a close, Moondoggie and the big kahuna face some tough decisions regarding their futures, and Gidget inadvertently plays a role in influencing both of them.
Gidget (1959): Dir: Paul Wendkos / Cast: Sandra Dee, James Darren, Cliff Robertson, Yvonne Craig, Arthur O'Connell: High spirited surfer comedy about innocence in that Gidget is all about fun and enjoying life.
Sandra Dee holds the film together with her innocence.
Time travel back with this fun GIDGET 1950s movie!.
Sandra Dee's "Gidget" is too naiive to be real by teen standards today, but what a fun trip to the late 50's past it is!
She is determined to surf with the slightly older teen boys...and along the way she meets the grown "Big Kahuna"...a beachcomber guy who has no job but just surfs and leads a pack of teen boys to surf all day long...And she bumps heads with "Moondoggie" a boy near her age...Of course, she ends up with Moondoggie...and even the cynical "Big Kahuna" shapes up his act...because of little Gidget's influence!I love the 50's shirtwaist dresses, crop tops and original capri style pants...and the great old cars!The only slightly creepy thing is Gidget thinks she's not a woman because she came home "as pure as the driven snow".
Hmmm Somehow Gidget never read that little sampler!That said, the movie is fun to watch.
RELEASED IN 1959 and directed by Paul Wendkos, "Gidget" is a beach drama about a 16 year-old tomboyish girl (Sandra Dee) who gravitates toward a group of surfing males in Southern Cal, specifically Malibu.
Kahuna (Cliff Robertson), a surf "bum" and leader of the group, becomes her figurative big brother as she tries to attract the attentions of Kahuna's mentee, Moondoggie (James Darren).The film is iconic and influential, leading to two sequels and a TV series, not to mention scores of 60's beach flicks, most inferior because they lack the depth and went the zany route.
The film scores high marks in the female department in general with curvy Yvonne Craig (aka Batgirl) notable in the first act, but there are several others in the periphery.The movie's iconic because it's about way more than girl-meets-boy frolics, although there's some of that.
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 main beach bum, The Big Kahuna (Cliff Robertson), takes her under his wing and begins instructing her.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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..
"Francis Lawrence" (Sandra Dee) is a 16-year old teenager who hasn't quite developed an attraction for boys yet even though all of her close friends are head over heels for them.
Soon one thing leads to another and before she knows it she falls in love with one of the surfers named "Moondoggie" (James Darren).
Sandra Dee had talent however as movies such as "Imitation of Life" and "A Summer Place" attest.