Big Wednesday
Encyclopedia
Big Wednesday is an American
coming of age
film directed by John Milius
. Milius co-wrote Big Wednesday with Denny Aaberg, and it is loosely based on their own experiences at Malibu and a short story Aaberg had published in a 1974 Surfer Magazine entitled "No Pants Mance." The picture stars Jan-Michael Vincent
, William Katt
and Gary Busey
as California surfers
facing life, the Vietnam War
, and uses the ever-changing surf
as a metaphor for the changes in life.
Surfing aficionados consider it to be one of the best surfing-related films made, in part because of the surfing sequences produced by Greg MacGillivray
and the appearance of several world champion surfers as stunt performers, plus its verisimilitude, especially when compared to the kitschy 1960s Beach Party film
s. The director, John Milius, had been a surfer in his youth.
The film also examines the extremes which some young men went to during the Vietnam years to avoid being drafted and shipped off to war, including: faking insanity
, homosexuality
, and all manner of medical ailments. The picture also illustrates the tough decision some made to enlist and the effects that decision had on their friends and families.
), a self-destructive type who has a devil-may-care attitude; Jack Barlowe (William Katt
), the calm and responsible one of the bunch; and Leroy "The Masochist" Smith (Gary Busey
), whose nickname
tells a lot about his personality.
Their surfing lives are traced from the summer of 1962 to their attempts of dodging the Vietnam War draft in 1965, and to the end of their innocence in 1968 when one of their friends is killed in Vietnam. The three make the difficult transition to adulthood with parties, surf trips, marriage, and the war.
The friends reunite years later after Barlowe has served time in Vietnam for the "Great Swell of '74." With this reunion the transitions in their lives becomes the end point of what the 1960s meant to so many as they see that the times have changed and what was once a time of innocence is forever gone.
, Milius made Big Wednesday as an homage to the time he spent in Malibu during his youth.
Other locations include: El Paso, Texas
; Hollister Ranch
, Santa Barbara
; Surfrider Beach
, Malibu; Ventura
, California
(all in the United States), El Salvador
.
on May 26, 1978.
The picture was screened at various film festivals, including: the Davao City Film Festival, Philippines
; the Turin Film Festival, Italy
; and others.
, film critic for The New York Times
, did not like the screenplay nor the performances of the actors and wrote, "The surprise is not that Mr. Milius has made such a resoundingly awful film, but rather that he's made a bland one...the movie often seems even more uneventful than material like this need make it, and Mr. Milius's attention to his actors focuses more closely on their pectorals than on their performances. He encourages such stiffness in his players that Barbara Hale, for instance, is quite unconvincing as Mr. Katt's mother. This is a faux pas of no mean eminence; after all, Miss Hale actually is Mr. Katt's mother."
Dave Kehr, writing for the Chicago Reader, was not as dismissive of the film, writing, "John Milius's paean to the art and discipline of hot dog surfing is marred by pushy philosophizing and a fair number of overripe lines, but its sincerity is deep and seductive...Milius can be faulted for reviving a number of ostensibly dead macho myths, but in the context of the subculture his film deftly re-creates, they take on the aura of eternal values. The breathtaking surfing footage, rather than the slightly stunted characters, makes his most eloquent argument."
The staff at Variety
wrote, "A rubber stamp wouldn't do for John Milius. So he took a sledgehammer and pounded Important all over Big Wednesday. This film about three Malibu surfers in the 1960s has been branded major statement and it's got Big Ideas about adolescence, friendship and the 1960s."
The review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes
reported that 63% of critics gave the film a positive review, based on eight reviews."
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
coming of age
Coming of age
Coming of age is a young person's transition from childhood to adulthood. The age at which this transition takes place varies in society, as does the nature of the transition. It can be a simple legal convention or can be part of a ritual, as practiced by many societies...
film directed by John Milius
John Milius
John Frederick Milius is an American screenwriter, director, and producer of motion pictures.-Early life:Milius was born in St. Louis, Missouri, the son of Elizabeth and William Styx Milius, who was a shoe manufacturer. Milius attempted to join the Marine Corps in the late 1960s, but was rejected...
. Milius co-wrote Big Wednesday with Denny Aaberg, and it is loosely based on their own experiences at Malibu and a short story Aaberg had published in a 1974 Surfer Magazine entitled "No Pants Mance." The picture stars Jan-Michael Vincent
Jan-Michael Vincent
Jan-Michael Vincent is an American actor best known for his role as helicopter pilot Stringfellow Hawke on the 1980s U.S. television series Airwolf .-Early life:...
, William Katt
William Katt
William Theodore Katt is an American film and television actor, best known as the star of The Greatest American Hero. He is also known for playing Tommy Ross, the ill-fated prom date of Carrie White in the film version of Carrie and Paul Drake Jr. in the Perry Mason TV movies...
and Gary Busey
Gary Busey
William Gary Busey , best known as Gary Busey, is an American film and stage actor and artist. He has appeared in a large variety of films, as well as making regular appearances on Gunsmoke, Walker, Texas Ranger, Law & Order, and Entourage...
as California surfers
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...
facing life, the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
, and uses the ever-changing surf
Ocean surface wave
In fluid dynamics, wind waves or, more precisely, wind-generated waves are surface waves that occur on the free surface of oceans, seas, lakes, rivers, and canals or even on small puddles and ponds. They usually result from the wind blowing over a vast enough stretch of fluid surface. Waves in the...
as a metaphor for the changes in life.
Surfing aficionados consider it to be one of the best surfing-related films made, in part because of the surfing sequences produced by Greg MacGillivray
Greg MacGillivray
Greg MacGillivray is an American film director and cinematographer. MacGillivray was first nominated for an Academy Award in 1995 for directing The Living Sea , and was nominated in the same category again for Dolphins in 2000.He has initiated the development of three cameras for the IMAX format...
and the appearance of several world champion surfers as stunt performers, plus its verisimilitude, especially when compared to the kitschy 1960s 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...
s. The director, John Milius, had been a surfer in his youth.
The film also examines the extremes which some young men went to during the Vietnam years to avoid being drafted and shipped off to war, including: faking insanity
Insanity
Insanity, craziness or madness is a spectrum of behaviors characterized by certain abnormal mental or behavioral patterns. Insanity may manifest as violations of societal norms, including becoming a danger to themselves and others, though not all such acts are considered insanity...
, homosexuality
Homosexuality
Homosexuality is romantic or sexual attraction or behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality refers to "an enduring pattern of or disposition to experience sexual, affectional, or romantic attractions" primarily or exclusively to people of the same...
, and all manner of medical ailments. The picture also illustrates the tough decision some made to enlist and the effects that decision had on their friends and families.
Plot
The film tells the story of three young friends whose passion in life is surfing. The friends include: Matt (Jan-Michael VincentJan-Michael Vincent
Jan-Michael Vincent is an American actor best known for his role as helicopter pilot Stringfellow Hawke on the 1980s U.S. television series Airwolf .-Early life:...
), a self-destructive type who has a devil-may-care attitude; Jack Barlowe (William Katt
William Katt
William Theodore Katt is an American film and television actor, best known as the star of The Greatest American Hero. He is also known for playing Tommy Ross, the ill-fated prom date of Carrie White in the film version of Carrie and Paul Drake Jr. in the Perry Mason TV movies...
), the calm and responsible one of the bunch; and Leroy "The Masochist" Smith (Gary Busey
Gary Busey
William Gary Busey , best known as Gary Busey, is an American film and stage actor and artist. He has appeared in a large variety of films, as well as making regular appearances on Gunsmoke, Walker, Texas Ranger, Law & Order, and Entourage...
), whose nickname
Nickname
A nickname is "a usually familiar or humorous but sometimes pointed or cruel name given to a person or place, as a supposedly appropriate replacement for or addition to the proper name.", or a name similar in origin and pronunciation from the original name....
tells a lot about his personality.
Their surfing lives are traced from the summer of 1962 to their attempts of dodging the Vietnam War draft in 1965, and to the end of their innocence in 1968 when one of their friends is killed in Vietnam. The three make the difficult transition to adulthood with parties, surf trips, marriage, and the war.
The friends reunite years later after Barlowe has served time in Vietnam for the "Great Swell of '74." With this reunion the transitions in their lives becomes the end point of what the 1960s meant to so many as they see that the times have changed and what was once a time of innocence is forever gone.
Cast
- Jan-Michael VincentJan-Michael VincentJan-Michael Vincent is an American actor best known for his role as helicopter pilot Stringfellow Hawke on the 1980s U.S. television series Airwolf .-Early life:...
as Matt Johnson - William KattWilliam KattWilliam Theodore Katt is an American film and television actor, best known as the star of The Greatest American Hero. He is also known for playing Tommy Ross, the ill-fated prom date of Carrie White in the film version of Carrie and Paul Drake Jr. in the Perry Mason TV movies...
as Jack Barlowe - Gary BuseyGary BuseyWilliam Gary Busey , best known as Gary Busey, is an American film and stage actor and artist. He has appeared in a large variety of films, as well as making regular appearances on Gunsmoke, Walker, Texas Ranger, Law & Order, and Entourage...
as Leroy "The Masochist" Smith - Patti D'ArbanvillePatti D'ArbanvillePatricia "Patti" D'Arbanville is an American actress and former model.-Early life:D'Arbanville, born May 25, 1951 in New York City, New York, is the daughter of Jean , an artist, and George D'Arbanville, a bartender, and attended PS 41 on Eleventh Street...
as Sally - Lee PurcellLee PurcellLee Purcell is an American actress and writer-producer who has starred in films including Mr. Majestyk, Big Wednesday, Stir Crazy, and Valley Girl. She has also appeared in numerous television and stage productions.-Early life:Purcell was born at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point in North...
as Peggy Gordon - Sam MelvilleSam Melville (actor)Samuel Gardner Melville was an American actor who appeared as a guest sar on many popular television programs of the 1960s and 1970s...
as Bear - Celia KayeCelia KayeCelia Kaye is an American former actress who appeared in a recurring role as Marnie Massey, daughter of the character Christine Massey played by Loretta Young, on the comedy-drama series, The New Loretta Young Show. The program aired for twenty-six weeks on CBS from 1962 to 1963...
as the Bear's bride - Darrell FettyDarrell FettyDarrell Kenneth Fetty is an American actor and screenwriter, born in Milton, West Virginia. A close friend of director John Milius, he worked in theater, film, and television...
as Waxer - Gerry LopezGerry LopezGerry Lopez , aka Mr. Pipeline, is an American surfer, shaper, journalist, and film actor.-Early life:Lopez was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, grew up in East Honolulu, Oahu, Hawaii and attended Punahou School. He frequented the semi secret reefs in and around Aina Haina as well as better known surf...
as Himself - Hank WordenHank WordenHank Worden was an American cowboy-turned-character-actor who appeared in many Westerns.-Biography:...
as Shopping Cart - Joe SpinellJoe SpinellJoe Spinell was an American character actor, who appeared in numerous films in the 1970s and 1980s.-Biography:...
as Psychologist - Steve KanalySteve KanalySteven Francis "Steve" Kanaly is an American actor, best known for his role as Ray Krebbs, foreman of the Southfork Ranch, on the television soap opera Dallas from 1978 to 1989. He reprised the role for the final episode of the series in 1991, and again for the made-for-TV reunion movie Dallas:...
as Sally's Husband - Barbara HaleBarbara HaleBarbara Hale is an American actress best known for her role as legal secretary Della Street on more than 250 episodes of the long-running Perry Mason television series and later reprising the role in dozens of made-for-TV movies....
as Mrs. Barlow - Fran RyanFran RyanFran Ryan was an American character actress featured in television and films. She was born in Los Angeles, California....
as Lucy - Dennis Aaberg as Slick
- Reb BrownReb BrownReb Brown is an American actor.Known as superhero Captain America in the TV pilot/movies, he's also known for the 1983 cult classic, Yor, the Hunter from the Future, as well as the scifi film, Space Mutiny, and for the collaborations with director Bruno Mattei in films Strike Commando and Robowar ...
as Enforcer - Arthur RosenbergArthur RosenbergArthur Rosenberg was a German Marxist historian and writer.-Life:Born into a German Jewish middle class family in Berlin in 1889, he excelled at the Gymnasium before studying at the Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität in Berlin with Otto Hirschfeld and Eduard Meyer. Soon, he established himself as an...
as Official - Janet JulianJanet JulianJanet Julian , also credited under her birth name Janet Louise Johnson, is an American actress who has starred in film and television.-Biography:...
as Party girl - Charlene TiltonCharlene TiltonCharlene L. Tilton is an American actress and singer. She is best known for playing Lucy Ewing in the television series Dallas.-Career:...
as Party girl - Frank McRaeFrank McRaeFrank McRae is an American actor and former professional football player.McRae was born in Memphis, Tennessee. McRae graduated from Tennessee State University with a double major in drama and history. He was a defensive tackle for the Chicago Bears in the 1967 NFL season.Among his acting roles are...
as Sergeant - Perry LangPerry LangPerry Lang is an American director, writer and actor.He has directed episodes of television series such as Arli$$, ER, Millennium, Dawson's Creek, NYPD Blue, Nash Bridges, Fantasy Island, Weeds, Gilmore Girls, Army Wives, The Twilight Zone, Alias, Las Vegas, Jack & Bobby and...
as Tall kid - Michael TalbottMichael TalbottMichael Talbott is an American actor who is perhaps best known for his co-starring role as Det. Stanley Switek in the 1980s series Miami Vice....
as Hog - Robert EnglundRobert EnglundRobert Barton Englund is an American actor, voice-actor and director, best known for playing the fictional serial killer Freddy Krueger, in the Nightmare on Elm Street film series. He received a Saturn Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor for A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors in...
as Narrator, Fly - Keith Davis as Ostrich
- Greg Hersey - extra surfer, brilliant portrayal of a 1960s surfer dude.
Production
Raised in Southern CaliforniaSouthern California
Southern California is a megaregion, or megapolitan area, in the southern area of the U.S. state of California. Large urban areas include Greater Los Angeles and Greater San Diego. The urban area stretches along the coast from Ventura through the Southland and Inland Empire to San Diego...
, Milius made Big Wednesday as an homage to the time he spent in Malibu during his youth.
Filming locations
The surfing scenes used in the finale to Big Wednesday were not filmed in California, where the film is set. The filming of large surf conditions used in Big Wednesday were actually done at the famous Sunset Beach, located at Pupukea, Hawaii.Other locations include: El Paso, Texas
El Paso, Texas
El Paso, is a city in and the county seat of El Paso County, Texas, United States, and lies in far West Texas. In the 2010 census, the city had a population of 649,121. It is the sixth largest city in Texas and the 19th largest city in the United States...
; Hollister Ranch
Hollister Ranch
The region presently known as the Hollister Ranch is defined by of fallow and fertile fields, mountains and valleys along the Pacific Ocean of California between Gaviota State Park and Point Conception. It was the site of some of the oldest known human settlements in the new world, the last...
, Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara, California
Santa Barbara is the county seat of Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Situated on an east-west trending section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coast of the United States, the city lies between the steeply-rising Santa Ynez Mountains and the Pacific Ocean...
; Surfrider Beach
Surfrider Beach
Malibu Lagoon State Beach, formerly known as Surfrider Beach, has a long standing as a premier surfing beach.-Natural history:Malibu Lagoon is an estuary at the mouth of Malibu Creek at the Pacific Ocean in Malibu, California. It is being restored by a multiagency partnership...
, Malibu; Ventura
Ventura, California
Ventura is the county seat of Ventura County, California, United States, incorporated in 1866. The population was 106,433 at the 2010 census, up from 100,916 at the 2000 census. Ventura is accessible via U.S...
, 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...
(all in the United States), El Salvador
El Salvador
El Salvador or simply Salvador is the smallest and the most densely populated country in Central America. The country's capital city and largest city is San Salvador; Santa Ana and San Miguel are also important cultural and commercial centers in the country and in all of Central America...
.
Distribution
The film premiered in wide release in the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
on May 26, 1978.
The picture was screened at various film festivals, including: the Davao City Film Festival, Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
; the Turin Film Festival, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
; and others.
Critical response
Critic Janet MaslinJanet Maslin
Janet Maslin is an American journalist, best known as a film and literary critic for The New York Times. She served as the Times film critic from 1977–1999.- Biography :...
, film critic for The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, did not like the screenplay nor the performances of the actors and wrote, "The surprise is not that Mr. Milius has made such a resoundingly awful film, but rather that he's made a bland one...the movie often seems even more uneventful than material like this need make it, and Mr. Milius's attention to his actors focuses more closely on their pectorals than on their performances. He encourages such stiffness in his players that Barbara Hale, for instance, is quite unconvincing as Mr. Katt's mother. This is a faux pas of no mean eminence; after all, Miss Hale actually is Mr. Katt's mother."
Dave Kehr, writing for the Chicago Reader, was not as dismissive of the film, writing, "John Milius's paean to the art and discipline of hot dog surfing is marred by pushy philosophizing and a fair number of overripe lines, but its sincerity is deep and seductive...Milius can be faulted for reviving a number of ostensibly dead macho myths, but in the context of the subculture his film deftly re-creates, they take on the aura of eternal values. The breathtaking surfing footage, rather than the slightly stunted characters, makes his most eloquent argument."
The staff at Variety
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
wrote, "A rubber stamp wouldn't do for John Milius. So he took a sledgehammer and pounded Important all over Big Wednesday. This film about three Malibu surfers in the 1960s has been branded major statement and it's got Big Ideas about adolescence, friendship and the 1960s."
The review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
reported that 63% of critics gave the film a positive review, based on eight reviews."
Awards
Nominations- Awards of the Japanese Academy: Award of the Japanese Academy Best Foreign Language Film; 1980.
External links
- Big Wednesday film review at Surfline web site
- Big Wednesday trailer at You Tube