Ride the Wild Surf
Encyclopedia
Ride the Wild Surf is romantic drama in the beach party style
. It was filmed in 1963 and distributed in 1964. Unlike most films in the genre, it is known for its exceptional big wave surf footage – a common sight in surf movie
s of the time, but a rarity in beach party films. Likewise, the film has only one pop song – the titular Jan & Dean track, which is heard once, at the end of the film.
), Steamer Lane (Tab Hunter
) and Chase Colton (Peter Brown
), who come to Hawaii
's Oahu
Island to ride the world's biggest waves and compete against surfers from all over the world.
Steamer falls in love with Lily Kilua (Susan Hart), whose mother objects to the romance because she considers surfers to be "beach bums," because her husband -- a surfer -- left home and family to follow the surf circuit. Self-described college drop-out and surf bum Jody falls for the demure Brie Matthews (Shelley Fabares
), who challenges him to return to college. In the case of the relatively straight-laced Chase, he finds himself pursued by the adventurous Augie Poole (Barbara Eden
).
The main story, though, is the challenge to surf the monster waves at Waimea Bay, and fit in among the champion surfers there such as Eskimo (James Mitchum
). Despite conflicts, injuries and rocky romances, Wallis, Chase and Steamer prove themselves brave -- or crazy -- enough to try to be the last one to ride in the highest wave.
- it was the third film score he had ever composed. Phillips also founded Colpix Records
and produced hits for Nina Simone
, The Skyliners
and one of Ride the Wild Surfs stars, Shelley Fabares.
The title song was written by Jan Berry, Brian Wilson
, and Roger Christian, and became a Top 20 national hit, reaching Billboard
's #16 spot.
broke often. The jet stream had altered its course temporarily and huge west swell surfs became common all the way through the following February, which was when Columbia arrived to shoot the movie.
, became involved in the kidnapping of Frank Sinatra, Jr.
The surfboards used in this film were by Phil of Downey, California - aka Phil Sauers, the maker of "Surfboards of the Stars." Sauers is portrayed in Ride the Wild Surf as a character, played by Mark LaBuse. Sauers was also the stunt coordinator for the film.
and Dick Ziker performed a large part of the surfing seen in the film.
The stunt surfers were given swim trunks that matched their movie star counterparts, except for star James Mitchum
, who was instead given trunks that replicated his stunt double Greg Noll’s famous black & white ‘jailhouse stripe’ boardshorts.
, “Jan & Dean Ride The Wild Surf,” was released by Liberty Records
in connection with the film. The cover, rendered in a Mondrian
style collage, featured a photo of Jan & Dean accompanied by 11 photos from the film, with copy written to make it appear as though it was a soundtrack album: “Jan & Dean sing the original soundtrack recording of the title song from Ride the Wild Surf.” The notes on the back cover featured an endorsement written by Ride the Wild Surf star Shelley Fabares. Of the 12 tracks on the LP, only one was from the film: a 2:13-long version of the title song.
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...
. It was filmed in 1963 and distributed in 1964. Unlike most films in the genre, it is known for its exceptional big wave surf footage – a common sight in surf movie
Surf movie
Surf movies fall into three distinct genres:*the surfing documentary - targeting the surfing enthusiast*the 1960s beach party films - targeting the broader community and*fictional feature films with a focus on the reality of surfing...
s of the time, but a rarity in beach party films. Likewise, the film has only one pop song – the titular Jan & Dean track, which is heard once, at the end of the film.
Plot
The story follows three surfers Jody Wallis (FabianFabian (entertainer)
Fabiano Anthony Forte , known as Fabian, is an American teen idol of the late 1950s and early 1960s. He rose to national prominence after performing several times on American Bandstand. Eleven of his songs reached the Billboard Hot 100 listing.-Early life:Fabian was the son of Josephine and Domenic...
), Steamer Lane (Tab Hunter
Tab Hunter
Tab Hunter is an American actor, singer, former teen idol and author who has starred in over forty major films.-Background:...
) and Chase Colton (Peter Brown
Peter Brown (actor)
Peter Brown is an American television actor known for his role as Deputy Johnny McKay opposite John Russell in the 1958 Warner Bros. western series Lawman.-Early life:...
), who come to Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
's Oahu
Oahu
Oahu or Oahu , known as "The Gathering Place", is the third largest of the Hawaiian Islands and most populous of the islands in the U.S. state of Hawaii. The state capital Honolulu is located on the southeast coast...
Island to ride the world's biggest waves and compete against surfers from all over the world.
Steamer falls in love with Lily Kilua (Susan Hart), whose mother objects to the romance because she considers surfers to be "beach bums," because her husband -- a surfer -- left home and family to follow the surf circuit. Self-described college drop-out and surf bum Jody falls for the demure Brie Matthews (Shelley Fabares
Shelley Fabares
Michele Ann Marie "Shelley" Fabares is an American actress and singer. Fabares is known for her roles as Donna Reed's oldest child, Mary Stone, on The Donna Reed Show , and as Craig T. Nelson's love interest and eventual wife, Christine Armstrong Fox, on the sitcom Coach. She also was Elvis...
), who challenges him to return to college. In the case of the relatively straight-laced Chase, he finds himself pursued by the adventurous Augie Poole (Barbara Eden
Barbara Eden
Barbara Eden is an American film and television actress and singer who is best known for her starring role in the sitcom I Dream of Jeannie.-Early years:...
).
The main story, though, is the challenge to surf the monster waves at Waimea Bay, and fit in among the champion surfers there such as Eskimo (James Mitchum
James Mitchum
James Mitchum is the oldest son of actor Robert Mitchum and bears a striking resemblance to his famous father. He inherited his father's sleepy eyes and taciturn good looks. The comparison both helped and hurt his career. He had a child with actress Wende Wagner to whom he was formerly married. Ms...
). Despite conflicts, injuries and rocky romances, Wallis, Chase and Steamer prove themselves brave -- or crazy -- enough to try to be the last one to ride in the highest wave.
Music
The soundtrack was composed by Stu PhillipsStu Phillips
Stu Phillips is an American composer of film scores and television-series theme music, conductor and record producer.-Career:...
- it was the third film score he had ever composed. Phillips also founded Colpix Records
Colpix Records
Colpix Records was the first recording company for Columbia Pictures–Screen Gems. Colpix got its name from combining Columbia and Pictures . It was founded by Jonie Taps and Harry Cohn in 1958, and was based in New York City. Paul Wexler headed the label. Stu Phillips was in charge of A&R...
and produced hits for Nina Simone
Nina Simone
Eunice Kathleen Waymon , better known by her stage name Nina Simone , was an American singer, songwriter, pianist, arranger, and civil rights activist widely associated with jazz music...
, The Skyliners
The Skyliners
The Skyliners are an American doo-wop group from Pittsburgh fronted by Jimmy Beaumont. The original lineup also included Wally Lester, Jack Taylor, Joe Verscharen, Louis M. Tutino and Janet Vogel...
and one of Ride the Wild Surfs stars, Shelley Fabares.
The title song was written by Jan Berry, Brian Wilson
Brian Wilson
Brian Douglas Wilson is an American musician, best known as the leader and chief songwriter of the group The Beach Boys. Within the band, Wilson played bass and keyboards, also providing part-time lead vocals and, more often, backing vocals, harmonizing in falsetto with the group...
, and Roger Christian, and became a Top 20 national hit, reaching Billboard
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
's #16 spot.
Location
Unlike most of the Hollywood beach movies - whose location was Southern California – Ride the Wild Surf was filmed in Hawaii in 1963 at a time when environmental conditions created exceptionally large waves. In November and December 1962, WaimeaWaimea
-Places:United States*Waimea, Hawaii County, Hawaii *Waimea, Kauai County, Hawaii*Waimea Bay, Hawaii on Oahu*Waimea Canyon State Park on Kauai*Waimea Ditch on Kauai*Waimea River on Kauai*Waimea Valley on OahuNew Zealand...
broke often. The jet stream had altered its course temporarily and huge west swell surfs became common all the way through the following February, which was when Columbia arrived to shoot the movie.
Casting
Jan & Dean both were scheduled to appear in the film, but were pulled by Columbia after Dean’s friend, Barry KeenanBarry Keenan
Barry Keenan is an American businessman who is best known as the mastermind behind the 1963 kidnapping of Frank Sinatra, Jr.At the age of 21, Keenan was already successful in the world of business, as well as being the youngest member of the Los Angeles Stock Exchange...
, became involved in the kidnapping of Frank Sinatra, Jr.
Frank Sinatra, Jr.
Franklin Wayne Sinatra , professionally known as Frank Sinatra, Jr., is an American singer, songwriter and conductor....
The surfboards used in this film were by Phil of Downey, California - aka Phil Sauers, the maker of "Surfboards of the Stars." Sauers is portrayed in Ride the Wild Surf as a character, played by Mark LaBuse. Sauers was also the stunt coordinator for the film.
Stunts
Surfers Mickey Dora, Greg NollGreg Noll
Greg Noll , nicknamed "Da Bull" by Phil Edwards in reference to his physique and way of "charging" down the face of a wave, is an American pioneer of big wave surfing and is also acknowledged as a prominent longboard shaper. Noll was a member of a US lifeguard team that introduced malibu boards to...
and Dick Ziker performed a large part of the surfing seen in the film.
Costumes & Make-up
Of the three surfer leads, raven-haired Peter Brown was made into a blonde by makeup artist Ben Lane (to match the hair of Brown’s surfing double – and to keep all three men from being brunettes), which required his girlfriend, the blonde Barbara Eden, to have auburn hair; likewise the dark-haired Shelley Fabres – who is paired with the dark-haired Fabian, became a Scandinavian blonde. Susan Hart’s black hair was sufficiently indifferent to male counterpart Tab Hunter’s that no change was required.The stunt surfers were given swim trunks that matched their movie star counterparts, except for star James Mitchum
James Mitchum
James Mitchum is the oldest son of actor Robert Mitchum and bears a striking resemblance to his famous father. He inherited his father's sleepy eyes and taciturn good looks. The comparison both helped and hurt his career. He had a child with actress Wende Wagner to whom he was formerly married. Ms...
, who was instead given trunks that replicated his stunt double Greg Noll’s famous black & white ‘jailhouse stripe’ boardshorts.
Movie tie-in
Although the film featured lots of music, it had only one song - the 1:07-long version of "Ride The Wild Surf". A 12-inch LPLP album
The LP, or long-playing microgroove record, is a format for phonograph records, an analog sound storage medium. Introduced by Columbia Records in 1948, it was soon adopted as a new standard by the entire record industry...
, “Jan & Dean Ride The Wild Surf,” was released by Liberty Records
Liberty Records
Liberty Records was a United States-based record label. It was started by chairman Simon Waronker in 1955 with Al Bennett as president and Theodore Keep as chief engineer. It was reactivated in 2001 in the United Kingdom and had two previous revivals.-1950s:...
in connection with the film. The cover, rendered in a Mondrian
Piet Mondrian
Pieter Cornelis "Piet" Mondriaan, after 1906 Mondrian , was a Dutch painter.He was an important contributor to the De Stijl art movement and group, which was founded by Theo van Doesburg. He evolved a non-representational form which he termed Neo-Plasticism...
style collage, featured a photo of Jan & Dean accompanied by 11 photos from the film, with copy written to make it appear as though it was a soundtrack album: “Jan & Dean sing the original soundtrack recording of the title song from Ride the Wild Surf.” The notes on the back cover featured an endorsement written by Ride the Wild Surf star Shelley Fabares. Of the 12 tracks on the LP, only one was from the film: a 2:13-long version of the title song.