| Ride the Wild Surf | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Don Taylor |
| Written by | Art Napoleon Jo Napoleon |
| Produced by | Art Napoleon Jo Napoleon |
| Starring | Fabian Shelley Fabares Peter Brown Barbara Eden Tab Hunter Susan Hart James Mitchum |
| Cinematography | Joseph F. Biroc |
| Edited by | Howard A. Smith Eda Warren |
| Music by | Stu Phillips |
| Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
Release date |
|
Running time | 101 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | est. $1,400,000 (US/ Canada)[1] |
Ride the Wild Surf is a 1964 American romantic drama film. It was filmed in 1963 and distributed in 1964. Unlike the beach party movies of the era, this was a departure from the typical Hollywood approach to surfing as it was a drama, not a comedy. It is known for its exceptional big wave surf footage – a common sight in surf movies of the time, but a rarity in Hollywood films.[2] Likewise, the film has only one pop song – the titular Jan and Dean track, which is heard once, at the end of the film.
Tom Lisanti wrote the movie "stands head and shoulders above all the sixties beach party movies... It makes an honorable attempt to portray surfers and the sport of surfing sincerely and to showcase the big waves of the north shore of Hawaii. There are no singing surfers or goofy motorcycle gang members... [It is] the best Hollywood surf movie of the sixties."[3]
- ^ "Big Rental Pictures of 1964", Variety, 6 January 1965 p 39. Please note this figure is rentals accruing to distributors not total gross.
- ^ Maltin, Leonard (2008). Leonard Maltin's 2009 Movie Guide. Plume. p. 1156. ISBN 978-0-452-28978-9.
- ^ Listani p 139