Surf Party (1964)

A young girl travels to California with a couple of friends in order to visit her brother, whom she hasn't seen for some time. After they arrive it doesn't take long for them to get into ... See full summary »

Director:

Maury Dexter

Writer:

Harry Spalding

Stars:

Bobby Vinton, Patricia Morrow, Jackie DeShannon

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Bobby Vinton	...	Len Marshal
Patricia Morrow	...	Terry Wells
Jackie DeShannon	...	Junior Griffith
Ken Miller	...	Milo Talbot (as Kenny Miller)
Lory Patrick	...	Sylvia Dempster
Richard Crane	...	Sgt. Wayne Neal
Jerry Summers	...	Skeet Wells
Martha Stewart	...	Pauline Lowell
The Astronauts	...	Themselves
The Routers	...	Themselves
Lloyd Kino	...	Casey
Mickey Dora
Johnny Fain	...	(as John Fain)
Pam Colbert
Donna Russell

Storyline

A young girl travels to California with a couple of friends in order to visit her brother, whom she hasn't seen for some time. After they arrive it doesn't take long for them to get into the swing of things and also to attract the attention of the local police sergeant, who is strictly anti-surfing. Pretty soon there is a falling out between the local surfers and it becomes clear that her brothers reputation is far greater than reality and his lifestyle is not all it appears to be.

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Plot Keywords:

california | gigolo | surf music | surf bum | pier | 

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Taglines:

When Beach Boys Meet Surf Sweeties - it's a Real Swingin' Splash of FUN, FUN, FUN!

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Genres:

Comedy | Musical

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

30 January 1964 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Associated Producers (API)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

68 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Goofs

As the film opens, the three female leads are driving on a highway in a 1964 Dodge convertible, towing a travel trailer, and there are no other vehicles in front of or behind them. In the next shot, taken from the next lane and in front of the Dodge, there is an early 1960s Studebaker Hawk two-door following behind them. In the following shot, taken from behind the Dodge, the Studebaker has disappeared and there are no other cars following them.

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Quotes

Terry Wells: [During Len and Skeet's fight, voiced off-camera] He's got a head injury. You might kill him.
[Skeet punches Len in the stomach]

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Connections

Referenced in The Secret Life of Bees (2008)

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Soundtracks

"Pearly Shells"
Written by Lani Kai, 'By' Dunham and Jericho Brown
Performed by Ken Miller

User Reviews

Here's sand in your eye...

Hey. Let's be honest: How can you NOT like a beach party movie from the mid-'60s? Nobody expects "Last Summer at Marienbad"... It's going to be free and breezy, some forgettable songs, more-forgettable comedy, and comely girls DARING to wear bikinis in a long-ago age when young American females were expected to be more abdominally modest in their attire. "Surf Party" is interesting on a couple of levels. It's one of the first rip-offs of the Frankie/Annette AIP beach-blanket bonanzas; those films, directed by William Asher, had just kicked off the previous year (1963) after Hollywood long toyed with the beach-party genre in romps like "Gidget", "Where the Boys Are" and the wonderfully obscure "Love in a Goldfish Bowl" from 1961. Somehow, though, none of the studios pulled the trigger before American International Pictures released "Beach Party" and thereby established what instantly became a turgidly static formula: Girl and boy meet on the sand, frolic without sex, break up and get back together, through it all sporadically grooving to some c-grade musical acts. (Many of these films relied, unfortunately, on hastily assembled side-men "groups" playing awful, tin-pan-alley stuff.) This one avoids that grating pitfall with legitimate musical talent on hand, although Jackie DeShannon's intractable acting style all-but negates her singing performances.

"Surf Party" is standard fare in that it's a movie aimed at young people but evidently made by middle-aged guys who know little about '60s youth. There's a smirky, bemused treatment of teen-age interests, serving only to freeze the movie in awkward, uninformed detachment - like a birthday-party performer trying to entertain kids by showing them the elements of algebra.

But this is different: "Surf Party" is in black and white - in fact, it may just be the only beach party movie not in Sea-and-Ski color. Worth a look, if only because its probable pre-Kennedy assassination (even pre-Beatles) filming gives it a lost-innocence appeal missing even from later Pepsi-Generation navel bombardments. Bobby Vinton is... well... Bobby Vinton. However, Patricia Morrow is quite watchable, and brings more acting "heft" than these movies generally demand.

Here's a double bill, in case you're sitting around without a life: Pair up "Surf Party" with "Catalina Caper", the late-1967 swan song of the surfin' safari flicks.