Férias no Havaí

Three movies with that beach loving California teen baptized Francine Lawrence, but known to one and all as Gidget were made in the Eisenhower/Kennedy years. And with three different Gidgets. Gidget Goes Hawaiian, a title which explains all, has Deborah Walley introduced as the surfing crazed teen dream.

In the first Gidget film Gidget learns to surf and gets involved with James Darren, AKA Moondoggie who was also in the crest of his teen idol years. Parents Carl Reiner and Jeff Donnell surprise Gidget with a family trip to Hawaii which should have been a dream come true for one into surfing. But she's less than enthusiastic because she'll have to leave her Moondoggie. Then they fight and Walley goes off with her parents.

Reiner and Donnell buddy it up with Eddie Foy, Jr., and Peggy Cass and their daughter Vicki Trickett who is a vixen with a jealous streak. She's a teen queen in her own right and doesn't like Walley moving in on all the available boys which includes Michael Callan. She spends the rest of the film scheming against Walley. Eventually Darren being the surfer dude he is goes to Hawaii and I think you know where this is all going.

Gidget Goes Hawaiian is all good clean teen fun circa 1961 with a couple of songs for Darren, a couple of dances for Callan and lots of curves and waves on the beach. You can't make a bad picture in a Hawaiian location I've always maintained, some are just better than others.

"Gidget Goes Hawaiian" (1961) was the first Gidget (girl plus midget) sequel. James Darren continued as love interest Moondoggie but Sandra Dee was replaced by Deborah Walley. This role made Walley (a serious and talented actress) into a sudden teen sensation and probably insured that her acting would never be taken seriously. She was my first really big crush although not from this movie (I was too young to care about teen movies) but from "Summer Magic", a children's film she did for Disney several years later.

Walley, who did many of her own surfing sequences for the film, was super cute back then and had a great smile. She looks a lot like a pre-starvation diet Lindsey Lohen. She was only 5'2" and in this film looks a bit dumpy; in part because the clueless costume people gave her a particularly unflattering wardrobe and in part because she was cast opposite Vicki Trickett who would make almost any girl look bad in comparison. But Walley does an excellent job with the role and it is not hard to believe that all the boys would go for Gidget over Abby (Trickett's character).

"Gidget Goes Hawaiian" was released the same year as Elvis's "Blue Hawaii" and if you chopped up the two films and edited them together it would be difficult to tell their sequences apart. Trickett even looks like Elvis movie regular Shelley Fabares. Trickett was the first actress to use the term "best friends for life" (BFFL) in a movie; little realizing its future as a mainstay of text messaging.

The film gave teen girls pop singing star Darren. Darren sings the excellent title song along with a much weaker track titled "Wild About You". Teen girls also got a dancing Michael Callan ("Cat Ballou"). Watch for his impromptu dance sequence with Eddie Foy, Jr.

"Gidget Goes Hawaiian" is short on beautiful Hawaiian scenery and clever scripting but its target audience got plenty of Darren, Callan, and Hollywood's cutest redhead.

Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.

RELEASED IN 1961 and directed by Paul Wendkos, "Gidget goes Hawaiian" chronicles events when Gidget (Deborah Walley) breaks up with Moondoggie (James Darren) and goes to Hawaii with her parents. By the time Moondoggie eventually shows up, Gidget is making time with a celebrity singer/dancer (Michael Callan) and soon has a rep as an "easy" girl.

Walley has better curves than Sandra Dee in the original 1959 movie and she's generally fine as the new Gidget, but her annoying facial expressions paint a (seemingly) weaker, whinier protagonist. Dee was underdeveloped at 16 when "Gidget" was shot, but there was something precious, dynamic and strong about her version of Gidget; moreover, the way the surf dudes cherished her was heartwarming.

This sequel comes up with its own group of five guys and five girls in Hawaii. The first half is entertaining as a fun early 60's beach drama, but the second half devolves into zany "mistaken situation" shenanigans (think Three's Company). Thankfully, this is made up by a commentary on the destructiveness of low-life gossip/slander.

Miscellaneous observations: The beautiful Vicki Trickett is a highlight as Abby, which is contrasted by her two-faced, ignoble character. Trickett was 22 during shooting while Walley was 19. Callan has a remarkable song & dance sequence with a couple of masked females. The guy who plays Gidget's dad (Carl Reiner) is reminiscent of Nicolas Cage. There's an amusing bit on the Hawaiian moo moo dress, which is actually spelled muumuu or mu'umu'u.

THE MOVIE RUNS 1 hour, 41 minutes and was shot in Malibu, California; Honolulu, O'ahu, Hawaii; and 90 Mile Beach, Northland, New Zealand. WRITERS: Ruth Brooks Flippen & Frederick Kohner.

GRADE: B-

That's what I basically did during the second half of the film.James Darren's songs are the only ones that are even halfway interesting (and they aren't that good!) Deborah Walley is a TERRIBLE actress and her voice is sooo annoying.Sandra Dee should have really considered doing the sequel (and a Better one!!)

Two years after the original comes this sequel, with Deborah Walley replacing Sandra Dee in the titular role of Francie Lawrence/Gidget. Like the first film, this one is nothing highbrow: just some teen-based comedy and drama revolving around the exploits and misadventures of Gidget.

Gidget and family go to Honolulu for vacation, an excellent excuse for plenty of shots of Hawaiian culture, wrapped around the usual surf and sand center.

The best parts of this film are the Hawaiiana, the dance sequences (surprisingly), and the presence of some adult actors known more for their TV work: like Peggy Cass (who had previously acted in "Auntie Mame") and Carl Reiner (known best, perhaps, for the "Dick Van Dyke Show").

Watch for Vickie Trickett---whose film career spanned only two years---in her thankless role as Abby Stewart, Gidget's main rival and a passive-aggressive gossip.

As the film goes on, it gets better, but it never rises above the level of mildly amusing.