Un amour de vacances

What a time capsule! A film that hearkens back to a cultural era of innocence, "Gidget" screams 1950s, with clothes, lingo, attitudes, and characters that now seem quaint. 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. In the process, she meets a fraternity of youthful, shirtless beach bums. Surfing, fun, and romantic complications ensue.

All fluffy and frothy in the first half, the film's plot and characters reek of bubble-gum shallowness, with dialogue to match. But the plot turns more dramatic in the second half, and characters show at least some degree of depth. 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. Ultimately, the film conveys the theme that events and people ... change.

Visuals feature bright, splashy colors and a photogenic cast. Rear-screen projection and cast doubles, for the surfing scenes, look hokey now, but were the norm in those days. Music trends romantic and lively. 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. Undeniably nostalgic to older viewers, and prehistoric to younger viewers, "Gidget" will continue to fascinate, emblematic of an era that will never return.

Gidget was a movie I saw when I was just going into high school. After I saw it I wanted to be Sandra Dee so badly. She was so perky and pretty, and just so naive. It was a great film set on the beach at Malibu. Young juniors in high school going to the beach to get the attention of the college men. Woo who! And all the antics that go with it. Including when Gidget meets James Darren and he is so very dreamy. He took my breath away. Wow that most handsomest man next to John Saxon. Yep I was taken with this young actor. Who was not only handsome, but he could sing too. 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. The story is not too complicated, girl likes boy, girl chases boy who is a surfer, girl learns to surf and tries to make boy jealous, boy pretends he is not interested, then comes unglued when she is with someone else. In the end the prettiest girl Gidget gets Moondoggie. This movie was legendary in 1959 and it made alot of girls want to be a surfer like Sandra Dee in the movie. She even shoots the curl with Moondoggie on his board with him. She tells him it is the ultimate! 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!

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.

All right, so it's not a masterpiece of moviemaking, but the film is still widely shown today and adored by most of those who see it. 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. There's nothing wrong with that. But she's getting to that certain age where she's beginning to have deeper feelings, especially about the opposite sex. 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. Some people might dismiss GIDGET as standard studio corn, but I beg to differ! It's not your typical sixties teen beach movie about surfing, sand, and sex. GIDGET actually has a story to tell. 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. Dee was seventeen and at her liveliest when she made this film. I would also say she was at her most appealing. She's on the screen for most of the film's 95minutes, and she's an absolute joy to watch for the film's entire running. Needless to say, I thought Dee was irresistably charming in this film. It's easy to see why she was so popular and such an idol to teenage girls in the sixties. She's blonde, beautiful, spirited, and has a terrific personality. It's a pity she doesn't make more films today. Having seen most of her films, I must say that in addition to being a pretty face, she is also a good actress. I could watch her for hours and hours. I may only be a simple 21-year-old boy from cincinnati, but I really enjoy and appreciate older films like this. They're fun and teach a lesson without being too preachy. If you're at the local video store one night and want something that's not too complex and is just good, clean fun, then GIDGET is highly recommended!!!!! And yes, this is the film that spawned the equally popular hit TV series starring another fresh and exciting talent, Sally Field.

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. It's impossible not to enjoy Dee's performance. She's bubbly, spunky, and cute. What's not to like? Overall, Gidget is a sweet little movie that, for the most part, is entertaining. On the downside, far too often the sweetness turns into sappiness - something I cannot stomach.

Gidget is definitely a product of another time. Incidents that would automatically mean "sex" in a film made today are quite innocent and harmless in Gidget. A girl telling her mother that she wants to feel like a woman only means that she wants to fall in love and have a boyfriend. And watching with jaded 21st Century eyes, it's hard to imagine The Big Kahuna not being brought up on charges.