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.

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.

Gidget was noteworthy for being one of the first beach/surf movies. 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. Dee exudes beauty, charm, determination, energy, and innocence as the peppy Gidget. 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. Robertson hardly stretches his range as the big kahuna, a mentor to Gidget and the rest of the surfers.Mary Laroche and Arthur O'Connell play Gidget's parents as strictly from squares-ville. O'Connell especially fits the mold of a typically overreacting parent, circa 1959, chasing after Gidget one night when he discovers that Gidget might be alone with a man, gasp! Laroche is more reserved and proper as Gidget's mother who dispenses no shortage of homespun advice about being a teenage girl to Gidget. Gidget's girlfriends play a much smaller role in this film than in the sequels that followed. 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. The film balances the fun and innocence of being 1950's teenagers with the larger message of being responsible and patient about one's future. Although Moondoggie initially rescues Gidget from getting caught in some kelp, the film does a good job of making Gidget a well-rounded person instead of just another helpless female waiting to be rescued by her male co-star throughout the picture. Doug McClure and Tom Laughlin have bit roles as fellow surfer bums. The film was followed by two theatrical sequels, a television series, a few more made for television movies, and still another brief series in the mid 1980's. **1/2 of 4 stars.

I remember enjoying this movie when I saw it years ago on TV, so I decided to rent it on DVD, but it didn't register as well this time around. 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. On the other hand, she really was cute as a button, and the right age for her role (17), or perhaps even 2 years younger, if it's true about her birth date being falsified. I was surprised that Gidget's parents would be so concerned about her date not coming to her home to pick her up, but had no problem with their daughter spending all day, every day with an older, all-male crowd whom they never met! 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". I would have been more impressed with Moondoggie if he'd noticed something was wrong without a lot of fuss! 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.