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Gidget (film)
Encyclopedia
Gidget is a 1959 Columbia Pictures
CinemaScope
feature film
. It stars Sandra Dee
, Cliff Robertson
, and James Darren
in a story about a teenager's initiation into the California
surf culture
and her affiliated romance with a young surfer
. The screenplay was written by Gabrielle Upton, a nom de plume of Gillian Houghton who was then head writer of the soap opera
The Secret Storm
. It was based upon Frederick Kohner
's 1957
novel Gidget, the Little Girl with Big Ideas
. The film was directed by Paul Wendkos
. Gidget was the precursor to the "beach party film
" genre and was followed by two sequel films, various television series, several telemovies, and the spoof Psycho Beach Party
. Gidget received one award nomination.
Gidget is credited by numerous sources (Stoked! A History of Surf Culture by Drew Kampion; The Encyclopedia of Surfing by Matt Warshaw; Riding Giants
documentary film by Stacy Peralta
- to name just three) as being the single main influence to bring surfing and the surfing subculture into the American mainstream.
(Sandra Dee
), is about to turn 17 years old and is on her summer break between her junior and senior years of high school. She resists the pressure to go "man hunting" with her girlfriends and laments the days when the girls had fun together without boys. Francis also rejects her parents wishing to fix her up on a date with the son of a friend of the family, Jeffrey Matthews.
On a jaunt to the beach with her bikini-clad girlfriends, flat-chested tomboy Francis meets surfer Moondoggie
(James Darren
). She quickly becomes infatuated with him, but he shows no romantic interest, however Francis is more attracted to surfing than man hunting.
At home, Francie importunes her parents for $25 for a used surfboard
. Russ and Dorothy Lawrence (Arthur O'Connell
and Mary LaRoche) grant their daughter's request as an early birthday present and the excited youngster returns to the beach to surf. The gang dubs their female associate "Gidget", a portmanteau word
based on 'girl' and 'midget'.
She associates with an all-male surfer gang led by the worldly beach bum
, The Kahuna
(Cliff Robertson
). Kahuna is a Korean War
Air Force veteran twice the age of Francis who was fed up with all the rules he had to live by when he flew combat missions and dropped out of normal society. He travels the hemisphere surfing with his pet bird. Moondoggie admires Kahuna and wants to emulate him by joining Kahuna in working his way on a freighter
to go surfing in Peru
at summer's end instead of going off to university as his self made father planned. Kahuna and Gidget enjoy each other's company with Gidget questioning how he can survive an aimless and lonely existence without a job. She questions whether if Kahuna knew then what he knew now would he still make the same lifestyle choice after leaving the Air Force. Kahuna later reflects on Gidget's words after the death of his only friend, the pet bird.
Hoping to make Moondoggie jealous, Gidget hires one of the other surfers in the gang to be her date to a luau
party on the beach. Her plan backfires when the surfer she hired pawns the job off on none other than Moondoggie, unaware that he was the one Gidget wanted to make jealous. Gidget lies and tells Moondoggie that it is Kahuna that she wants to make jealous, and they have a romantic evening at the luau. Eventually Moondoggie says something that upsets Gidget and, as she flees the luau, she runs into Kahuna and agrees to take him to a nearby beach house. Alone with Kahuna, Gidget tries to make Kahuna take her virginity
. Amused, Kahuna attempts to call Gidget's bluff by pretending to take her up on her offer but finds himself falling under her spell. Realizing what he was about to do and angry at the situation he's been put in, Kahuna throws her out of the beach house just as Moondoggie arrives. Gidget is mortified and escapes out the back of the beach house as Moondoggie confronts Kahuna. The cops are called to break up the fight between Kahuna and Moondoggie and, after leaving the beach house, they find Gidget stranded with a flat tire and without her driver's licence. They bring her in to the police station. Gidget's parents ground
her for the rest of the summer for her disobedience. Her mother shows her a tapestry from her grandmother reading "A Real Woman brings out the best in a Man".
In the end Mr. Lawrence arranges a date for Gidget with Jeffrey Matthews that Francis grudgingly accepts. To her surprise, Matthews turns out to be Moondoggie. The two return to the beach to find Kahuna tearing down his beach shack and find out that he's taken a job as an airline pilot. Moondoggie and Gidget realize how they feel about each other and, as an act of romantic devotion, Moondoggie asks Gidget to wear his class pin. Kahuna cheefully warns Moondoggie that Gidget is quite a woman.
as Stinky, Tom Laughlin
as Lover Boy, Burt Metcalfe
as Lord Byron, and Doug McClure
as Waikiki. Sue George plays Gidget's girlfriend Betty Louise, and the musical group, The Four Preps
appear as themselves.
The studio wanted Elvis Presley to play the role of Moondoggie, but he was in the US Army at the time.
Malibu surfers Miki Dora
and Mickey Munoz
appear in the surfing scenes.
composed "Gidget" with lyrics by Patti Washington, and "The Next Best Thing to Love" with lyics by Stanley Styne. James Darren
sang both numbers on-screen while The Four Preps
sang "Gidget" over the opening credits. At the beach party scene, The Four Preps rendered "Cinderella", a number by two members of The Four Preps, Glen Larson and Bruce Belland.
but didn't.
Craig Butler
in Allmovie notes, "Although the very title prompts snorts of derision from many, Gidget is actually not a bad little teenaged flick from the '50s. Great art it definitely isn't, but as frivolous, lighthearted entertainment, it more than fits the bill. Those who know it only by reputation will probably be surprised to find that it does attempt to deal with the problems of life as seen by a teenager—and that, while some of those attempts are silly, many of them come off quite well. It also paints a very convincing picture of the beach-bum lifestyle, much more so than the Frankie Avalon
–Annette Funicello
beach party movies."
The popularity of the film led to a "Miss Gidget" contest which was won by Barbara Bouchet
in 1959.
(1961) starring Deborah Walley
, and Gidget Goes to Rome
(1963) starring Cindy Carol
. In 1965, Sally Field
played Gidget
in an ABC television series that was canceled after one season. In 1969, a telemovie Gidget Grows Up
starring Karen Valentine
was aired.
The adult Gidget character then appeared in the telemovies Gidget Gets Married
(1972), and Gidget's Summer Reunion
(1985). Another television sitcom was produced in 1986, The New Gidget
starring Caryn Richman
. Although the original Gidget was blonde, subsequent Gidgets sported a variety of hair colors.
. Written by and starring Charles Busch
, the play follows a Gidget-like character called "Chicklet" as she copes with a series of bizarre murders among her surfer crowd. In 2000, a film was released based on the play. Rather than reprising his off-Broadway "Chicklet" role for the film, Busch created and appeared as a new character for the production called Monic Stark, a female police officer.
Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production and distribution company. Columbia Pictures now forms part of the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. It is one of the leading film companies...
CinemaScope
CinemaScope
CinemaScope was an anamorphic lens series used for shooting wide screen movies from 1953 to 1967. Its creation in 1953, by the president of 20th Century-Fox, marked the beginning of the modern anamorphic format in both principal photography and movie projection.The anamorphic lenses theoretically...
feature film
Feature film
In the film industry, a feature film is a film production made for initial distribution in theaters and being the main attraction of the screening, rather than a short film screened before it; a full length movie...
. It stars Sandra Dee
Sandra Dee
Sandra Dee was an American actress. Dee began her career as a model and progressed to film. Best known for her portrayal of ingenues, Dee won a Golden Globe Award in 1959 as one of the year's most promising newcomers, and over several years her films were popular...
, Cliff Robertson
Cliff Robertson
Clifford Parker "Cliff" Robertson III was an American actor with a film and television career that spanned half of a century. Robertson portrayed a young John F. Kennedy in the 1963 film PT 109, and won the 1968 Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in the movie Charly...
, and James Darren
James Darren
James William Ercolani , known by his stage name James Darren, is an American television and film actor, television director, and singer.-Career:...
in a story about a teenager's initiation into the California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
surf culture
Surf culture
Surf culture includes the people, language, fashion and life surrounding the art of surfing.The culture began early in the 20th century, spread quickly during the 1950s and 1960s, and continues to evolve. It affected fashion, music, literature, films, jargon, and more...
and her affiliated romance with a young surfer
Surfing
Surfing' is a surface water sport in which the surfer rides a surfboard on the crest and face of a wave which is carrying the surfer towards the shore...
. The screenplay was written by Gabrielle Upton, a nom de plume of Gillian Houghton who was then head writer of the soap opera
Soap opera
A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...
The Secret Storm
The Secret Storm
The Secret Storm is a soap opera which ran on CBS from February 1, 1954 to February 8, 1974. The series was created by Roy Winsor, who also created the long-running soap operas Search for Tomorrow and Love of Life...
. It was based upon Frederick Kohner
Frederick Kohner
Frederick Kohner was an Austrian-born writer....
's 1957
1957 in literature
The year 1957 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:* Lawrence Durrell publishes the first volume of The Alexandria Quartet. The final of the four volumes will be published in 1960....
novel Gidget, the Little Girl with Big Ideas
Gidget
Gidget is a fictional character created by author Frederick Kohner in his 1957 novel, Gidget, the Little Girl with Big Ideas. The novel follows the adventures of a teenage girl and her surfing friends on the beach at Malibu. The name Gidget is a portmanteau of "girl and midget"...
. The film was directed by Paul Wendkos
Paul Wendkos
Paul Wendkos was an American television and film director....
. Gidget was the precursor to the "beach party film
Beach Party film
Beach party movies were an American 1960s genre of feature films created by American International Pictures with their surprise 1963 hit, Beach Party, and copied by virtually every other studio...
" genre and was followed by two sequel films, various television series, several telemovies, and the spoof Psycho Beach Party
Psycho Beach Party
Psycho Beach Party is a 2000 Comedy horror film based on the off-Broadway play of the same name, directed by Robert Lee King. Charles Busch wrote both the original play and the screenplay...
. Gidget received one award nomination.
Gidget is credited by numerous sources (Stoked! A History of Surf Culture by Drew Kampion; The Encyclopedia of Surfing by Matt Warshaw; Riding Giants
Riding Giants
Riding Giants is a 2004 documentary film directed and narrated by Stacy Peralta, a famous skater/surfer who helped define modern skateboarding. The movie traces the origins of surfing and specifically focuses on the art of big wave riding...
documentary film by Stacy Peralta
Stacy Peralta
Stacy Peralta is an American director and entrepreneur. Peralta was previously a professional skateboarder and surfer with the professional skateboarding group, the Z-Boys.-Early life:...
- to name just three) as being the single main influence to bring surfing and the surfing subculture into the American mainstream.
Plot
Francis LawrenceFrancis Lawrence
Francis Lawrence is an American music video and film director.-Life and career:Lawrence was born in Vienna, Austria. His father is a physicist who taught at California State University, Northridge and his mother is V.P. Technology at a PR agency. He moved to Los Angeles at the age of three...
(Sandra Dee
Sandra Dee
Sandra Dee was an American actress. Dee began her career as a model and progressed to film. Best known for her portrayal of ingenues, Dee won a Golden Globe Award in 1959 as one of the year's most promising newcomers, and over several years her films were popular...
), is about to turn 17 years old and is on her summer break between her junior and senior years of high school. She resists the pressure to go "man hunting" with her girlfriends and laments the days when the girls had fun together without boys. Francis also rejects her parents wishing to fix her up on a date with the son of a friend of the family, Jeffrey Matthews.
On a jaunt to the beach with her bikini-clad girlfriends, flat-chested tomboy Francis meets surfer Moondoggie
Moondoggie
Moondoggie is a fictional character created by Frederick Kohner in his novel Gidget, The Little Girl with Big Ideas. He appears as a principal character in five of the eight Gidget novels, but is a minor character or is only mentioned in passing in Cher Papa, The Affairs of Gidget and Gidget Goes...
(James Darren
James Darren
James William Ercolani , known by his stage name James Darren, is an American television and film actor, television director, and singer.-Career:...
). She quickly becomes infatuated with him, but he shows no romantic interest, however Francis is more attracted to surfing than man hunting.
At home, Francie importunes her parents for $25 for a used surfboard
Surfboard
A surfboard is an elongated platform used in the sport of surfing. Surfboards are relatively light, but are strong enough to support an individual standing on them while riding a breaking wave...
. Russ and Dorothy Lawrence (Arthur O'Connell
Arthur O'Connell
Arthur O'Connell was an American stage and film actor. He appeared in films in 1941 and television programs...
and Mary LaRoche) grant their daughter's request as an early birthday present and the excited youngster returns to the beach to surf. The gang dubs their female associate "Gidget", a portmanteau word
Portmanteau word
A portmanteau or portmanteau word is a blend of two words or morphemes into one new word. A portmanteau word typically combines both sounds and meanings, as in smog, coined by blending smoke and fog. More generally, it may refer to any term or phrase that combines two or more meanings...
based on 'girl' and 'midget'.
She associates with an all-male surfer gang led by the worldly beach bum
Beachcombing
Beachcombing and beachcomber are words with multiple, but related, meanings that have evolved over time.A beachcomber is someone who "combs" the beach, and the intertidal zone in general, looking for things of value, interest or utility....
, The Kahuna
Kahoona
The Kahoona is a character created by Frederick Kohner in his 1957 novel, Gidget, the Little Girl with Big Ideas...
(Cliff Robertson
Cliff Robertson
Clifford Parker "Cliff" Robertson III was an American actor with a film and television career that spanned half of a century. Robertson portrayed a young John F. Kennedy in the 1963 film PT 109, and won the 1968 Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in the movie Charly...
). Kahuna is a Korean War
Korean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
Air Force veteran twice the age of Francis who was fed up with all the rules he had to live by when he flew combat missions and dropped out of normal society. He travels the hemisphere surfing with his pet bird. Moondoggie admires Kahuna and wants to emulate him by joining Kahuna in working his way on a freighter
Cargo ship
A cargo ship or freighter is any sort of ship or vessel that carries cargo, goods, and materials from one port to another. Thousands of cargo carriers ply the world's seas and oceans each year; they handle the bulk of international trade...
to go surfing in Peru
Surfing in Peru
For travelers from all over the World, Peru offers waves for everyone: beginners, intermediate, and advanced longboard riders alike surfers. Máncora, the largest left hand point break in the world, located in the northern coast of Peru, deserves special mention...
at summer's end instead of going off to university as his self made father planned. Kahuna and Gidget enjoy each other's company with Gidget questioning how he can survive an aimless and lonely existence without a job. She questions whether if Kahuna knew then what he knew now would he still make the same lifestyle choice after leaving the Air Force. Kahuna later reflects on Gidget's words after the death of his only friend, the pet bird.
Hoping to make Moondoggie jealous, Gidget hires one of the other surfers in the gang to be her date to a luau
Luau
A luau is a Hawaiian feast. It may feature food, such as poi, kalua pig, poke, lomi salmon, opihi, haupia, and beer; and entertainment, such as Hawaiian music and hula...
party on the beach. Her plan backfires when the surfer she hired pawns the job off on none other than Moondoggie, unaware that he was the one Gidget wanted to make jealous. Gidget lies and tells Moondoggie that it is Kahuna that she wants to make jealous, and they have a romantic evening at the luau. Eventually Moondoggie says something that upsets Gidget and, as she flees the luau, she runs into Kahuna and agrees to take him to a nearby beach house. Alone with Kahuna, Gidget tries to make Kahuna take her virginity
Virginity
Virginity refers to the state of a person who has never engaged in sexual intercourse. There are cultural and religious traditions which place special value and significance on this state, especially in the case of unmarried females, associated with notions of personal purity, honor and worth...
. Amused, Kahuna attempts to call Gidget's bluff by pretending to take her up on her offer but finds himself falling under her spell. Realizing what he was about to do and angry at the situation he's been put in, Kahuna throws her out of the beach house just as Moondoggie arrives. Gidget is mortified and escapes out the back of the beach house as Moondoggie confronts Kahuna. The cops are called to break up the fight between Kahuna and Moondoggie and, after leaving the beach house, they find Gidget stranded with a flat tire and without her driver's licence. They bring her in to the police station. Gidget's parents ground
Grounding (punishment)
Grounding is a form of punishment given to children, preadolescents or adolescents by their parents for misbehavior....
her for the rest of the summer for her disobedience. Her mother shows her a tapestry from her grandmother reading "A Real Woman brings out the best in a Man".
In the end Mr. Lawrence arranges a date for Gidget with Jeffrey Matthews that Francis grudgingly accepts. To her surprise, Matthews turns out to be Moondoggie. The two return to the beach to find Kahuna tearing down his beach shack and find out that he's taken a job as an airline pilot. Moondoggie and Gidget realize how they feel about each other and, as an act of romantic devotion, Moondoggie asks Gidget to wear his class pin. Kahuna cheefully warns Moondoggie that Gidget is quite a woman.
Cast
The surfer gang includes Robert Ellis as Hot Shot, Joby BakerJoby Baker
Joby Baker is a Canadian born actor and painter.He was born in Montreal, Quebec. In the early 1960s he made guest appearances in TV series including Dr. Kildare and The Dick Van Dyke Show and appeared in the Elvis Presley movie Girl Happy...
as Stinky, Tom Laughlin
Tom Laughlin
Tom Laughlin is an American actor, director, screenwriter, author, educator and political activist. Laughlin is best known for his series of Billy Jack films. He has been married to Delores Taylor since 1954. Taylor has also co-produced and acted in all four of the Billy Jack films...
as Lover Boy, Burt Metcalfe
Burt Metcalfe
Burt Metcalfe is a Canadian American television and film producer, director, and writer.-Biography:...
as Lord Byron, and Doug McClure
Doug McClure
Douglas Osborne "Doug" McClure was an American actor whose career in film and television extended from the 1950s to the 1990s...
as Waikiki. Sue George plays Gidget's girlfriend Betty Louise, and the musical group, The Four Preps
The Four Preps
The Four Preps are an American popular music male quartet. In the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, the group amassed eight gold singles and three gold albums...
appear as themselves.
The studio wanted Elvis Presley to play the role of Moondoggie, but he was in the US Army at the time.
Malibu surfers Miki Dora
Miki Dora
Miki "Da Cat" Dora, a.k.a. Mickey Dora, a.k.a. "The Black Knight," was an iconic Malibu surfer of the 1950s and 1960s. He had a unique style, in and out of the water, and was generally considered rather iconoclastic...
and Mickey Munoz
Mickey Munoz
Mickey Munoz, born in New York City in 1937, is one of the early pioneers of surfing but is perhaps more famous for his work as a surfboard shaper. Munoz, a historical figure in the surfing world, has been featured in many popular surfing documentaries such as the 2004 film Riding Giants...
appear in the surfing scenes.
Soundtrack
Fred KargerFred Karger
Fred S. Karger is an American political consultant, gay rights activist and watchdog, former actor, and candidate for the Republican nomination for the 2012 US Presidential election...
composed "Gidget" with lyrics by Patti Washington, and "The Next Best Thing to Love" with lyics by Stanley Styne. James Darren
James Darren
James William Ercolani , known by his stage name James Darren, is an American television and film actor, television director, and singer.-Career:...
sang both numbers on-screen while The Four Preps
The Four Preps
The Four Preps are an American popular music male quartet. In the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, the group amassed eight gold singles and three gold albums...
sang "Gidget" over the opening credits. At the beach party scene, The Four Preps rendered "Cinderella", a number by two members of The Four Preps, Glen Larson and Bruce Belland.
Production
The film was shot during the winter of 1959 at Leo Carrillo State Park. Sandra Dee originally was going to film the sequel Gidget Goes HawaiianGidget Goes Hawaiian
Gidget Goes Hawaiian is a 1961 musical romantic comedy film starring Deborah Walley and James Darren. Released by Columbia Pictures, the film is a sequel to the 1959 Sandra Dee "beach movie" vehicle Gidget....
but didn't.
Reception
Howard Thompson wrote in the New York Times of April 23, 1959, "[The film] is enough to make anybody leave one of the neighborhood theatres, where it opened yesterday, and light out for Long Island Sound. Pictorially, this mild little Columbia frolic, about a teen-age girl with boy trouble, seems an ideal way to usher in the beach season." He praised performers Dee, Robertson, and La Roche.Craig Butler
Craig Butler
Craig Butler is a professional Canadian football defensive back in the Canadian Football League for the Saskatchewan Roughriders. He was drafted 12th overall by the Riders in the 2011 CFL Draft and signed with the team on June 1, 2011. He played CIS football for the Western Ontario Mustangs.-...
in Allmovie notes, "Although the very title prompts snorts of derision from many, Gidget is actually not a bad little teenaged flick from the '50s. Great art it definitely isn't, but as frivolous, lighthearted entertainment, it more than fits the bill. Those who know it only by reputation will probably be surprised to find that it does attempt to deal with the problems of life as seen by a teenager—and that, while some of those attempts are silly, many of them come off quite well. It also paints a very convincing picture of the beach-bum lifestyle, much more so than the Frankie Avalon
Frankie Avalon
Frankie Avalon is an American actor, singer, playwright, and former teen idol.-Career:By the time he was 12, Avalon was on U.S. television playing his trumpet. As a teenager he played with Bobby Rydell in Rocco and the Saints...
–Annette Funicello
Annette Funicello
Annette Joanne Funicello is an American singer and actress. She was Walt Disney's most popular cast member of the original Mickey Mouse Club, and went on to appear in a series of beach party films.-Early life and early stardom:...
beach party movies."
The popularity of the film led to a "Miss Gidget" contest which was won by Barbara Bouchet
Barbara Bouchet
Barbara Bouchet, is a German-American actress and entrepreneur.She has acted in more than 80 films and television episodes and founded a production company that has produced fitness videos and books as well as owning a fitness studio...
in 1959.
Sequels and spinoffs
Within ten years of the film's release, two sequels, a television series, and a telemovie were produced. Theatrical releases included the sequel films Gidget Goes HawaiianGidget Goes Hawaiian
Gidget Goes Hawaiian is a 1961 musical romantic comedy film starring Deborah Walley and James Darren. Released by Columbia Pictures, the film is a sequel to the 1959 Sandra Dee "beach movie" vehicle Gidget....
(1961) starring Deborah Walley
Deborah Walley
Deborah Walley was an American actress.-Biographical Information:Deborah Walley was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut, to Ice Capades skating stars and choreographers Nathan and Edith Walley. She attended Central High School in Bridgeport. At fourteen she was playing summer-stock theatre. She...
, and Gidget Goes to Rome
Gidget Goes to Rome
Gidget Goes to Rome is a 1963 Columbia Pictures feature film starring Cindy Carol as the archetypal high school teen surfer girl originally created by Sandra Dee in the 1959 film Gidget. The film is the third of three Gidget films directed by Paul Wendkos and expands upon Gidget's romance with...
(1963) starring Cindy Carol
Cindy Carol
Cindy Carol is an American actress. She was credited as Carol Sydes before her starring role as Gidget in Gidget Goes to Rome ....
. In 1965, Sally Field
Sally Field
Sally Margaret Field is an American actress, singer, producer, director, and screenwriter. In each decade of her career, she has been known for major roles in American TV/film culture, including: in the 1960s, for Gidget or Sister Bertrille on The Flying Nun ; in the 1970s, for Sybil , Smokey and...
played Gidget
Gidget (TV series)
Gidget is an American sitcom about a surfing, boy-crazy teenager called "Gidget" and her widowed father Russ Lawrence, a UCLA professor. Sally Field stars as Gidget with Don Porter as her father. The series was first broadcast on ABC from September 15, 1965 through April 21, 1966...
in an ABC television series that was canceled after one season. In 1969, a telemovie Gidget Grows Up
Gidget Grows Up
Gidget Grows Up is a 1969 television film directed by James Sheldon and starring Karen Valentine, Paul Lynde and Edward Mulhare, freely adapted from the novel Gidget Goes New York by Frederick Kohner...
starring Karen Valentine
Karen Valentine
Karen Valentine is an American actress best-known for her role as the idealistic schoolteacher "Alice Johnson" in the television series Room 222.-Early life:...
was aired.
The adult Gidget character then appeared in the telemovies Gidget Gets Married
Gidget Gets Married
Gidget Gets Married is a 1972 television film produced by Screen Gems for ABC. It was written by John McGreevey and directed by E.W. Swackhamer and starred Monie Ellis as Gidget.-Plot:...
(1972), and Gidget's Summer Reunion
Gidget's Summer Reunion
Gidget's Summer Reunion is a 1985 television film produced by Columbia Pictures Television for television syndication. It was written by Robert Blees and George Zateslo and directed by Bruce Bilson and starred Caryn Richman as Gidget.-Plot:...
(1985). Another television sitcom was produced in 1986, The New Gidget
The New Gidget
The New Gidget is an American television sitcom that aired in syndication from 1986 to 1988. The series was produced by original Gidget series producer Harry Ackerman and was launched after the television movie Gidget's Summer Reunion starring Caryn Richman as Gidget aired in 1985...
starring Caryn Richman
Caryn Richman
Caryn Richman is an actress who primarily appeared in television series in the 1980s and early 1990s. Her roles include Elena Dekker on the soap opera Texas, Gidget on the television series The New Gidget, and Nora Brady in A Very Brady Christmas and The Bradys.-External links:...
. Although the original Gidget was blonde, subsequent Gidgets sported a variety of hair colors.
Legacy
In 1987, Gidget was spoofed in the off Broadway play, Psycho Beach PartyPsycho Beach Party
Psycho Beach Party is a 2000 Comedy horror film based on the off-Broadway play of the same name, directed by Robert Lee King. Charles Busch wrote both the original play and the screenplay...
. Written by and starring Charles Busch
Charles Busch
Charles Louis Busch is an American actor, screenwriter, playwright and female impersonator, known for his appearances on stage in his own camp style plays and in film and television. He wrote The Tale of the Allergist's Wife, which was a success on Broadway.-Early life:Busch was born in 1954 and...
, the play follows a Gidget-like character called "Chicklet" as she copes with a series of bizarre murders among her surfer crowd. In 2000, a film was released based on the play. Rather than reprising his off-Broadway "Chicklet" role for the film, Busch created and appeared as a new character for the production called Monic Stark, a female police officer.