utgard14 Likable teenage soap about a tomboy (Sandra Dee) who falls for a beach bum (James Darren) while discovering her love for surfing. This is not at all a comedy and I'm not sure why it's listed that way, here and everywhere else you look. It doesn't even try to be funny outside of some of the surfer dudes' lines. It's a relic of its time and youth culture. Similar to the Frankie & Annette Beach Party movies, but without the singing and not as much fun. Sandra Dee's adorableness carries the whole movie. Inspired a later TV series starring Sally Field that I liked a lot as a kid.

John Penn As someone who lived the dream of being a California surf bum, I was pleasantly reminiscing about those years while watching this movie. The Big Kahuna, played by Cliff Robertson, was easy to identify with. I've heard it said that "surfing makes you feel like a kid again." So there are therapeutic qualities surfing gives to someone who has experienced tragedy as Robertson's character has in the Korean War.The Gidget character, played by Sandra Dee, is a delightful dichotomy as she seems at once a woman and a girl. This is a dilemma I'm sure many 16 and 17-year-old girls have dealt with. Gidget's friendships with the male characters make her "one of the guys" to them. In this regard, she is similar to the Mary character, played by Carmen Diaz, in "Something About Mary." While every man wants a romantic love partner, they are often happier with a woman who can be a friend. This revelation seems to be guiding Moondoggie as he pursues Gidget in the end.

Amy Adler Gidget, er, Frances Lawrence (Sandra Dee) is a teenage girl who is not yet into boy chasing. This leaves her closest friends miffed, because they want to charm the young men and Frances ends up spoiling the scene. So, the other gals run off and begin the hunt, leaving Frances to find her own fun. She does, at the beach, when a handsome surfer, Moondoggie, er, Jeff (James Darren), rescues her when she gets caught in some seaweed. From the moment she hitches a small ride on Moondoggie's surfboard, Frances wants to learn surfing. The "board" gang, several young males and their leader, Kahuna (Cliff Robertson) try to discourage her in every way. But, learn she does and quickly. Soon, she's almost one of the group, getting the nickname Gidget, for girl-and-midget. Also, Gidget soon finds herself falling for Moondoggie but he treats her like a little sister. How can she make him take her seriously? What if she goes after a more mature male, like Kahuna? This classic teenage film is welcome any and every day of the week, summer, winter, spring or fall. Dee and Darren are a great couple and the supporting cast, including Robertson, are great. So is the scenery, costumes, and everything else. Get Gidget. End of Discussion, haha.

Lechuguilla 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.