Skip to main content
Advanced Search
Image Not Available for Handbill for Bob Evan's double feature surf adventure movie
Handbill for Bob Evan's double feature surf adventure movie
Image Not Available for Handbill for Bob Evan's double feature surf adventure movie

Handbill for Bob Evan's double feature surf adventure movie

Datec 1963
Object number00033581
NameHandbill
MediumInk on paper, framed
DimensionsSight: 215 x 140 mm
Overall (Frame Removed & Disposed): 254 × 203 mm
ClassificationsEphemera
Credit LineANMM Collection
DescriptionPrinted in black and pink, this handbill was produced in Australia in the early 1960s. It is promoting Bob Evans' double feature surf adventure movie, shown at the Gordon Theatre in March 1963. Below a photographic image of a surfer is the text 'Surfing the Southern Cross / featuring all the best in Australian surfing / The Midget Goes Hawaiian / starring Midget Farrelly, the international surf champion...' The handbill also contains a list of featured surfers and information about each film.HistoryBob Evans began filming young Australian surfers in 1960s and founded the magazine Australian Surfing World. In 1961 he organised a team of 20 Australian surfers, including Midget Farrelly, Nipper Williams, Bob Pike, Mike Hickey, 'Tank' Henry Mick McMahon and Dave Jackman to travel to Hawaii to participate in the 1961 Makahah International Surfing Championship. Encouraged by the success of his first film 'Surf Trek to Hawaii' (1962), Evans arranged for Farrelly, Jackman and himself to be flown to Hawaii for the 1962 Makahah Championship, which Farrelly won. This victory led to an unprecedented interest in surfing in Australia, and made Midget Farrelly a household name. Footage from this trip was edited into a surfing short 'Midget Goes Hawaiian', which was screened with Evans' next feature 'Surfing the Southern Cross' (1963) as a double bill. The double bill premiered in March 1963, combining footage Evans had shot on numerous 'surfaris' to new surfing spots along the northern New South Wales coast, including Seal Rocks, Crescent Head, Angourie and Bells Beach.SignificanceThis rare movie handbill illustrates the role of surfing in popular culture, and is an important example of the promotional material associated with surf movies of this period.