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Image Not Available for Surf Film double feature program, Slippery When Wet & Surf Crazy, Avalon Theatre
Surf Film double feature program, Slippery When Wet & Surf Crazy, Avalon Theatre
Image Not Available for Surf Film double feature program, Slippery When Wet & Surf Crazy, Avalon Theatre

Surf Film double feature program, Slippery When Wet & Surf Crazy, Avalon Theatre

Date1966-1967
Object number00017322
NamePoster
MediumPrinted ink on paper
DimensionsOverall: 316 x 244 x 1 mm, 10 g
ClassificationsPosters and postcards
Credit LineANMM Collection Purchased with USA Bicentennial Gift funds
DescriptionAdvertisment for a double feature screening of highlights of two surf films by Bruce Brown, 'Slippery When Wet' and 'Surf Crazy', at the Avalon Theatre on Sunday 28 January in 1966 or 1967. The image on the right is a surfer riding a wave at Waimea Bay in Oahi, Hawaii. Someone has written 'TOO MUCH' at the bottom of the poster.HistoryIn the 1960s surf art moved off the cover of surfing magazines and onto film posters promoting movies featuring young male surfers riding large waves in exotic locations. By the 1970s surfing films had shifted from the 1960s Hollywood beach party musicals produced for the broader community, to the 'soul-surfing' exploration of counterculture lifestyles. During this era films were either created in a documentary style, which targeted the surfing enthusiast, or as a fictional feature film with the focus on the reality of surfing. Produced in 1958, 'Slippery When Wet' was Bruce Brown's first surf film. The story follows five surfers on their dream trip to Hawaii, spending a winter living and surfing on the North Shore of Oahu on $100 a month. The film features an original musical score by jazz composer Bud Shank. The 1959 film, 'Surf Crazy', features a group of surfers travelling through Mexico, early clips of Californian surfing, and the big waves of Waimea Bay and Sunset Beach, Hawaii.SignificanceThis movie pamphlet illustrates the role of surfing in popular culture, and is an important example of the promotional material associated with surf movies of this period.