| Don't Make Waves | |
|---|---|
original movie poster |
|
| Directed by | Alexander Mackendrick |
| Produced by | John Calley Martin Ransohoff Ira Wallach |
| Starring | Tony Curtis Claudia Cardinale Sharon Tate Robert Webber>br>Dave Draper |
| Cinematography | Philip H. Lathrop |
| Editing by | Rita Roland Thomas Stanford |
| Distributed by | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer |
| Release date(s) | 1967 |
| Running time | 97 min. |
Don't Make Waves (1967) is a Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer sex farce (with elements of the beach party genre) which starred Tony Curtis, Claudia Cardinale, Dave Draper and Sharon Tate. The film is based on the 1959 novel, Muscle Beach, by Ira Wallach, who also wrote the screenplay.
Directed by Alexander Mackendrick, the film depicted a series of romantic triangles between different groupings of the principal cast and supporting players among several backdrops involving Southern California culture (swimming pools, bodybuilding, beach life, fantastic real estate, mudslides, metaphysical gurus, etc.).
During the previous few years, films and pop music which related to California beach culture had proved very popular, although by the late 1960s, the popularity of Tony Curtis as a matinee idol was beginning to wane. In recent times the film has received more positive comments from reviewers, such as Leonard Maltin who describes it as "a gem", and makes note of the "fine direction and funny performance by Sharon Tate".
Contents |
The score was composed by Vic Mizzy. Jim McGuinn and Chris Hillman wrote the title song, "Don't Make Waves," performed by The Byrds over the opening credits.
Sharon Tate told her husband Roman Polanski that her experience working on this film was not particularly enjoyable. The production atmosphere was tense, and it was worsened when an uncredited stuntman drowned when he parachuted into the Pacific Ocean.[1]
The film was Sharon Tate's third to be produced, but as it was the first to be released in cinemas, it is generally considered to be her debut. MGM mounted an extensive publicity campaign upon its release that was based largely on Tate and her character, Malibu, and life-sized cardboard cutouts of Tate wearing a bikini were placed in cinema foyers throughout the United States. It was also linked to a widespread advertising campaign by Coppertone which also featured Tate, but the film received generally poor reviews and failed to achieve success at the box office.
The Malibu Barbie doll, first produced in 1973, may have been based on Tate and her character, Malibu.
Dave Draper, who plays Malibu's boyfriend Harry, was the 1965 IFBB Mr. America and the 1966 IFBB Mr. Universe.
1966 NABBA Mr. Universe bodybuilder Chester Yorton, who plays Ted Gunder, made one other film - in 1964's Muscle Beach Party, he plays the character named Hulk.
In American Prince, his 2009 autobiography, Tony Curtis wrote of making Don't Make Waves: "The plot was utterly ridiculous, but I agreed to appear in the film because I got a percentage of the gross."
| Actors | Characters | info |
|---|---|---|
| Tony Curtis | Carlo Cofield | |
| Claudia Cardinale | Laura Califatti | |
| Sharon Tate | Malibu | |
| David Draper | Harry Hollard | |
| Joanna Barnes | Diane Prescott | |
| Robert Webber | Rod Prescott | |
| Reg Lewis | Monster | |
| Mort Sahl | Sam Lingonberry | |
| Edgar Bergen | Madame Lavinia | |
| Dub Taylor | Electrician | |
| Mary Grace Canfield | Seamstress | |
| Holly Haze | Myrna | |
| Sarah Selby | Ethyl | |
| Julie Payne | Helen | |
| Douglass Henderson | Henderson | |
| Chester Yorton | Ted Gunder | |
| Ann Elder | Millie Gunder | |
| Marc London | Fred Barker | |
| Paul Barselou | Pilot | as Paul Barselow |
| George Tyne | Newspaperman | |
| David Fresco | Newspaperman | |
| Gilbert Green | Newspaperman | as Gil Green |
| Eduardo Tirello | Decorator | |
| Jim Backus | Himself | uncredited |
| Henny Backus | Herself | uncredited |
| China Lee | Topless swimmer | uncredited |
| Joanne Hashimoto | Female Gymnast | uncredited |
|
|||||||||||||||||