"Frances Lawrence" (Sandra Dee) is a 16-year-old teenager who hasn't quite developed an attraction for boys yet even though all of her close friends are head over heels for them. So, in an attempt to stimulate her interest--and meet some young guys themselves--they take her to the beach where they hope to meet a few hanging out and surfing. As luck would have it, the girls are rejected by the guys because they are too young. However, Frances takes an immediate love for surfing, and because of that, they eventually come to accept her. They even give her the nickname of "Gidget" which they have come up with by combining the words "girl" and "midget". Not only that, but the leader of the group, known as "the Kahuna" (Cliff Robertson), even takes her under his wing and mentors her on the sport. Soon, one thing leads to another and before she knows it, she falls in love with one of the surfers named "Moondoggie" (James Darren). Unfortunately, he prefers to focus on surfing and isn't looking for romance. But Gidget is extremely determined. Anyway, rather than reveal any more of the movie and risk spoiling the film for those who haven't seen it, I will just say that this turned out to be a cute little film, even by today's standards. As a matter of fact, this film was so successful that it became the precursor to the beach movies which were quite popular in the early 60's. Not only that, but it also spawned several sequels along with a television series as well. On a side note, look for a young Yvonne Craig (as "Nan") who later starred as "Batgirl" alongside Adam West in the television series "Batman". Be that as it may, although this movie has lost some of its impact through the years, it still retains a lot of its charm and I have rated it accordingly. Slightly above average.
