Freewheelin' (1976)

Director:

Scott Dittrich

Writer:

George Van Noy (screenplay)

Release Date:

12 November 1976 (USA)

Genre:

Documentary | Drama | Sport

Tagline:

Ride with Stacy and Camille as they share a new lifestyle ... in the most radical skateboard picture of them all!

Plot Keywords:

Contest | Skateboarder | Girlfriend | Travel | Narration

Cast

Stacy Peralta	...	Himself - Skateboarder
Camille Darrin	...	Herself
Russell Howell	...	Himself - Skateboarder (as Russell Wayne Howell)
Kenny Means	...	Himself - Skateboarder (as Ken Means)
Tom Sims	...	Himself - Skateboarder
Mike Weed	...	Himself - Skateboarder
Amy Fitzgerald	...	Narrator
Robin Alaway	...	Additional Skater
Jamie Budge	...	Additional Skater
Steve Cathy	...	Additional Skater
Jose Galan	...	Additional Skater
Marty Grimes	...	Additional Skater
Dodi Hackemack	...	Additional Skater
Henry Hester	...	Additional Skater
Garrison Hitchcock	...	Additional Skater

Runtime:

80 min | USA:54 min (video version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:G | Canada:PG (Ontario)

Filming Locations:

California, USA

Trivia:

The skater doing slalom in the opening scenes is former Zephyr team skater, Paul Constantineau.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Dogtown and Z-Boys (2001)

Soundtrack:

Rollin' With You

Skateboard History, Important in context with Lords of Dogtown

What is sad about this documentary is that it isn't recognized as what it is... a historical view into the skateboard revolution of the late 1970's. People seem to want to compare it to the Stacy Peralta film "Lords Of Dogtown", which is a cool movie about skateboarding "life", but "Lords" fails to reveal the fact that Orange County, California, was the real source of skateboarding innovation, news, and growth.

Skaters in this film, obviously 30 years before Stacy decided to do his own film, is real footage of skateboard pioneers and pros like Skitch Hitchcock, Mike Weed, Ty Page, Kevin Means, Bob Jarvis and others. These guys didn't live rebel lives breaking into people's homes to skate anonymously in empty pools, but they worked their magic and pushed it out for millions of kids to see through contests, exhibitions, and offhanded shoots with Skateboard Magazine, which was published in Orange County.

In skateboard contests, magazine coverage, and overall presence, the skateboard heroes of Orange County, Calif. actually helped create the movement to make skateboarding what it is today. They are featured in this film. If they don't say something deep and inspirational, that's because they were kids focused on trying to do a full revolution in a cement pipe 20 feet in diameter. They were trying to beat each other in stand alone 360 spins, testing skateboard designs, competing in contests, and contributing to skateboarding in positive ways. Stacy Peralta's film is a tragedy of the collapse of the personal lives of Tony Alva, Stacy Peralta and Jay Adams. Nice plot line, but not the truth of the growth of skateboarding.

Skateboarding's roots were in South Orange County, California, not Santa Monica, California. FreeWheelin' is a movie that shows what is was like, raw, no drama, just the REAL players in skateboard history making the moves to push skateboarding to what it is today.

Anyone who watches this film and compares it to the professionally edited, drama-enhanced scripting of Lords of Dogtown are being fooled into thinking that a poignant biography of a few screwed up kids who skateboarded were the driving force behind the skateboard revolution. They weren't.

The guys you see skateboarding in Freewheelin', as boring as it might look to guys who weren't there, are the real pioneers of skateboarding and how it has transformed into the powerhouse sport it is today. This film is a study in history and is a must-see for all skateboarding fans.