Hollywood Surf and Beach Movies: The First Wave, 1959-1969 [Hardcover]

Tom Lisanti (Author), Aron Kincaid (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 2005

Surfers loathed them, teenagers flocked to them, critics dismissed them, and producers banked on them. They were surf and beach movies—which were Hollywood's interpretation of the surf culture. For a short period in the 1960s these films were extremely popular with younger audiences—mainly because of the combination of sand and surf, the musical performers, the shirtless surfer boys and bikini-clad beach girls, and the wild surfing footage.

This lavishly illustrated work features profiles on 32 sizzling fun-in-the-sun teenage epics from Gidget to the Beach Party movies with Frankie and Annette to The Sweet Ride plus a few offshoots in the snow. It offers an introduction with an overview of the surf movie genre; film entries with credits, plot synopses, DVD availability, memorable lines, reviews and awards; and biographies of actors and leading actresses who made their marks in the genre. The work also includes behind-the-scenes commentary from such actors as Aron Kincaid of The Girls on the Beach, Susan Hart of The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini, Peter Brown of Ride the Wild Surf, Chris Noel of Beach Ball, and Ed Garner of Beach Blanket Bingo. Catch the wave!

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Thomas Lisanti is the author of McFarland's Drive-in Dream Girls: A Galaxy of B-Movie Starlets of the Sixties (2003), Film Fatales: Women in Espionage Films and Television, 1962–1973 (2002, coauthored with Louis Paul) and Fantasy Femmes of Sixties Cinema: Interviews with 20 Actresses from Biker, Beach, and Elvis Movies (2001). He lives in New York.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 456 pages
• Publisher: Mcfarland & Co Inc Pub (April 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786421045
• ISBN-13: 978-0786421046
• Product Dimensions: 10.1 x 7.1 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #894,101 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Tom Lisanti is an award winning author and "starlet stalker" documenting the actresses and drive-in movie genres (beach, Elvis, biker, alienated youth, horror) of sixties cinema. His interviewees have included Carol Lynley, Pamela Tiffin, Francine York, Celeste Yarnall, Deanna Lund, BarBara Luna, Lana Wood, Sue Ane Langdon, Laurel Goodwin, Lori Williams, Diane McBain, Shelley Fabares, Linda Harrison, Aron Kincaid, Peter Brown, William Wellman, Jr., Jody McCrea, Lee Meredith, Victoria Carroll, Gail Gerber (pictured with me), and Thordis Brandt, among many others. He is a regular contributor to Cinema Retro Magazine (print and online editions) and Blogs regularly on his web site www.sixtiescinema.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Lisanti gets the dirt on the beach scene, July 4, 2005

By 

James E. Bagley "Jim Bagley" (Sanatoga, PA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Hollywood Surf and Beach Movies: The First Wave, 1959-1969 (Hardcover)

Tom Lisanti - the author of "Drive-In Dream Girls," "Fantasy Femmes of Sixties Cinema," and "Film Fatales" - expands his horizons from '60s sexpots to covering the entire Beach Film genre which catered to teenagers between 1959 and 1968.

Lisanti profiles the following movies in depth: Gidget and its sequel Gidget Goes Hawaiian; the Elvis films Blue Hawaii and Girl Happy; the Frankie & Annette classics Beach Party, Muscle Beach Party, Bikini Beach, Beach Blanket Bingo, and How To Stuff A Wild Bikini; plus Where The Boys Are, For Those Who Think Young, The Horror Of Party Beach, Pajama Party, Ride The Wild Surf, Surf Party, Beach Ball, The Beach Girls And The Monster, Daytona Beach Weekend, The Girls On The Beach, One Way Wahine, A Swingin' Summer, Wild On The Beach, The Endless Summer, The Ghost In The Invisible Bikini, Out Of Sight, Catalina Caper, Don't Make Waves, It's A Bikini World, and The Sweet Ride. There's also the winter off-shoots Ski Party, Winter A Go-Go, and Wild Wild Winter which merit inclusion due to their use of beach film regulars, musical guest stars, and inane plots which merely substitute a ski slope for the beach. My own favorite beach films are Beach Blanket Bingo (probably the most fun) and Ride The Wild Surf (definitely the best made and owner of the best beach film theme song: the title cut by Jan & Dean).

Lisanti interviewed several of the stars of these films (including Peter Brown, Dave Draper, Shelley Fabares, Susan Hart, Aron Kincaid, Jody McCrea, Chris Noel, Quinn O'Hara, and William Wellman, Jr) and it is their frank and often bitchy comments about the filmmakers and their co-stars in the Behind the Scenes section of each film's chapter that makes this book must reading. I especially enjoyed the commentary supplied by Jody McCrea who played Deadhead/Bonehead in the Frankie & Annette Beach Party series. McCrea has a strong opinion on seemingly everyone he ever worked with, and his high opinion of himself is quite humorous.

After profiling the movies, Lisanti offers substantial bios of several of the stars of these films: actors John Ashley, Frankie Avalon, Peter Brown, James Darren, Sandra Dee, Don Edmonds, Shelley Fabares, Annette Funicello, Ed Garner, Aron Kincaid, Tommy Kirk, Jody McCrea, Yvette Mimieux, Mike Nader, Chris Noel, Quinn O'Hara, Bart Patton, Pamela Tiffin, Deborah Walley, William Wellman Jr., plus surfers Mickey Dora and Johnny Fain. The other female stars of the beach films that aren't profiled here - like Mary Hughes and Salli Sachse - are covered in Lisanti's other books so make sure you check those out as well if you haven't already.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars BINGO!, August 1, 2006

By 

catthomas "catthomas" (Knoxville, Tn) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hollywood Surf and Beach Movies: The First Wave, 1959-1969 (Hardcover)

All of you land-lubbers will love this one; surfers are warned not to swim. Anyone who loved watching these moronic movies while necking in a drive-in or doing your homework will be glad to realize that he or she is not missing big plot points! But no one watched beach movies for storylines; fans wanted to see the hunks and honeys shaking like a bee victims to an annoying bonga beat while resisting physical intimacy. All of them are here ... Gidget, Nancy Sinatra, James Darren, Elvis, and, of course, Annette and Frankie! The text is frank about the movies' lifeless plots or mediocre musical talents, but the author is unapologetically enthusiastic about this genre. One complaint: no color pictures!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Even better than I thought it would be, June 26, 2009

By 

Reader "toronto-reader" (Toronto, Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Hollywood Surf and Beach Movies: The First Wave, 1959-1969 (Hardcover)

This book is an excellent reference guide to the surf and beach party movies of the 1960's. For each movie it gives details like release date, box office gross (if known), dvd release date, cast, etc., plot synopsis, and behind the scenes story.

What I especially like is the fact that the author is obviously fond of the subject matter and that comes through in the writing.