Product Description

Presenting the big screen adventures of Gidget the original queen of the Southern California beach scene. A winning combination of comedy romance and song THE COMPLETE GIDGET COLLECTION follows the summer vacations of America's favorite teenage surfer girl as she travels the world in search of fun love and excitement. Bask in the California sun (GIDGET) and then catch a wave that spans from Waikiki (GIDGET GOES HAWAIIAN) to Rome (GIDGET GOES TO ROME). This DVD collection features Gidget and steady beau Moondoggie and their fun-in-the-sun adventures.System Requirements:Running Time: 95 Min.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: COMEDY Rating: NR UPC: 043396048072 Manufacturer No: 04807

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3099 in DVD
• Brand: Sony
• Released on: 2004-08-03
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 2
• Dimensions: .35 pounds
• Running time: 300 minutes

Amazon.com
"Just remember, she might be pint-sized, but she's quite a woman." The original surfer girl gets her own three-film DVD collection, dippy fun from a more innocent time. 1959's Gidget made real surfers nauseated, but it's a kicky movie with some great lounge-era lingo. Sandra Dee, perkiness personified, plays the curious teen who breaks the gender line in surfing. She's also got the attention of surf-happy Moondoggie (James Darren) and the big Kahuna (Cliff Robertson), the latter the prototype of the surf bum who roams the globe in search of the endless summer. The film actually kicked off the great boom in surfing popularity (the Beach Boys and the Beach Party movies followed), much to the chagrin of purists. It was based on a novel by Frederick Kohner, who was inspired by his daughter's experiences.

Gidget Goes Hawaiian (1961) puts Deborah Walley in the title role. She's no Sandra Dee, but at least there are shots of Walley doing her own surfing stunts. The action's in Waikiki, and Gidge is pursued by a confused Moondoggie and a famous dancer. They are played by James Darren and Michael Callan, and having the two 1960s male ingenues in the same movie suggests a weird collision of matter and anti-matter. The spark goes flat in Gidget Goes to Rome (1963), with yet another new actress (Cindy Carol) paired with a loyal James Darren. It's closer to Three Coins in the Fountain than the sandy beaches of Malibu.

DVD caveat: none of the films is in widescreen. The sequels don't suffer much, but the original Gidget was shot in CinemaScope, and the pan-and-scan approach hurts the summery look of the picture--even if it's just Sandra Dee balancing in front of blue-screen waves. --Robert Horton

Customer Reviews

Butchered movies in a 3 pack
I was ready to snatch these up....until I saw those dreaded words on the back of the case: "Full Frame"!

These movies were made in the late 50's, early 60's....so there is NO EXCUSE for issuing them in this format. They were shot in 2.35:1 ratio....so almost HALF THE PICTURE IS MISSING!!!

This is the second time Columbia Tristar has deeply disappointed me on films I wanted in DVD. The first was their butchering of "Where Angels Go Trouble Follows" and "The Trouble With Angels".

Alas, they will remain missing from my film library until they are released in their proper ratio!!

AVOID this HORRIBLE DVD set
GIDGET was shot and released in CinemaScope, and yet the DVD is an unwatchable panned and scanned copy, which crops out 50% of the frame. Unacceptable, especially since TCM airs the widescreen version on cable! The film is ruined; don't bother.

The sequels were not Scope; they do not suffer as much.

Avoid and boycott this DVD until they go back and do it right.

WIDE SCREEN GIDGET
I agree with the other reviews. This definately should have been released in it's original aspect ratio. 2.35 and the other two 1.85. If they all were only 1.66 it would not have been so bad. I am certainly waiting till it comes out in wide screen, and hope it does, but will hang on to my video's in the meantime.
It would have been a wonderful set to have, VERY DISAPPOINTING.