Don't Make Waves (1967)

Director:

Alexander Mackendrick

Writers:

George Kirgo (writer)
Maurice Richlin (writer)
(more)

Release Date:

15 September 1967 (Finland)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

Turn on! Stay loose! Make out!

Plot:

New York tourist Tony Curtis falls asleep on a Southern California beach on his first night in the West...

Plot Keywords:

Bodybuilder | Dog | Surfer | Beach | Surfboard

Cast

Tony Curtis	...	Carlo Cofield
Claudia Cardinale	...	Laura Califatti
Robert Webber	...	Rod Prescott
Joanna Barnes	...	Diane Prescott
Sharon Tate	...	Malibu
David Draper	...	Harry Hollard
Mort Sahl	...	Sam Lingonberry
Dub Taylor	...	Electrician
Ann Elder	...	Millie Gunder
Chester Yorton	...	Ted Gunder
Reg Lewis	...	Monster
Marc London	...	Fred Barker
Douglas Henderson	...	Henderson
Sarah Selby	...	Ethyl
Mary Grace Canfield	...	Seamstress
Julie Payne	...	Helen
Holly Haze	...	Myrna
Edgar Bergen	...	Madame Lavinia
Paul Barselou	...	Pilot (as Paul Barselow)
George Tyne	...	Newspaperman
David Fresco	...	Newspaperman
Gilbert Green	...	Newspaperman (as Gil Green)
Eduardo Tirella	...	Decorator
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Henny Backus	...	Herself (uncredited)
Jim Backus	...	Himself (uncredited)
Johnny Fain	...	Beach boy (uncredited)
China Lee	...	Topless swimmer (uncredited)

Directed by
Alexander Mackendrick

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
George Kirgo		writer
Maurice Richlin		writer
Terry Southern		uncredited
Ira Wallach		novel "Muscle Beach"
Ira Wallach		screenplay

Produced by
Julian Bercovici	....	associate producer
John Calley	....	producer
Martin Ransohoff	....	producer

Original Music by
Vic Mizzy

Cinematography by
Philip H. Lathrop

Film Editing by
Rita Roland
Thomas Stanford

Art Direction by
Edward C. Carfagno
George W. Davis

Set Decoration by
Henry Grace
Charles S. Thompson

Costume Design by
Donfeld

Makeup Department
Sydney Guilaroff	....	hair stylist
William Tuttle	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Edward Woehler	....	unit production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Carl Beringer	....	assistant director
Erich von Stroheim Jr.	....	assistant director

Sound Department
Franklin Milton	....	recording supervisor

Stunts
Bob Buquor	....	skydiver (uncredited)
Lee Faulkner	....	stunts

Camera and Electrical Department
Cliff King	....	assistant camera (uncredited)
James V. King	....	camera operator (uncredited)

Music Department
Vic Mizzy	....	conductor
Gus Levene	....	orchestrator (uncredited)

Other crew
Leigh Hunt	....	sky diving sequence
Eduardo Tirella	....	technical advisor

Production Companies

• Filmways Pictures

Distributors

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1967) (USA) (theatrical)
• Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) (1971) (USA) (TV) (original airing)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (1997) (USA) (VHS) (pan/scan)

Runtime:

97 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:PG | Finland:K-8 | Sweden:Btl | USA:Approved

Filming Locations:

Malibu, California, USA

Company:

Filmways Pictures

Trivia:

Sharon Tate replaced Julie Newmar who was unavailable.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Carlo is trying to sell a pool to the Backus', Henny changes positions between shots from being the closest person to the house to being the furthest away.

Quotes:

Carlo Cofield: Look, all great salesmen are nothing more than just a uh - a collection of personality defects: the uh morality of a sieve, the... charm of a schizophrenic, the sensitivity of a rhino, and the uh - the scruples of a blackmailer.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Dusk to Dawn Drive-In Trash-o-Rama Show Vol. 4 (1997) (V)

Soundtrack:

Don't Make Waves

Malibu and Sharon Tate in 1967

Tony Curtis stars in this odd look at Southern California at a major turning point in American culture. The forces of the past, typified by the businessman played by Robert Webber with his wealthy wife (Joanna Barnes) and klutzy mistress (Claudia Cardinale), meet the forces of the present (surfer girl Sharon Tate, curiously also called Malibu, and her muscle man boyfriend played by David Draper) head on. This collision is put into physical form at the film's climax, when all of the film's principals resolve their problems in a house that is falling off a cliff onto the beach.

Yes, it's an odd film. Perhaps the best thing about it is the title track by the Byrds, who also make a cameo appearance. The plot doesn't make sense, basically it's an updated Doris Day/Rock Hudson romantic comedy which falls completely flat. Curtis, forced to play a comic role without being given much comic dialog, does an okay job, but his relationships with the women are empty. Draper pauses over his lines as if he is reciting Lincoln's Gettysburg address, and Webber is a major downer every time he appears on screen.

Tate is the reason to watch this. She is magnificent. Her opening scenes are the best, when she is helping Curtis recover from a surfing accident and then bouncing on a trampoline. She reminds me of Bo Derek a dozen years later in "10," they have the same bronzed look and angular facial features. Another connection between this film and "10" is the presence of Webber, and in both, he serves as a complicating factor. Dudley Moore brilliantly took on the Curtis role in "10" and showed what could have been done here, highlighting his crazed lust and with a more comic and less romantic attitude than the sometimes suave, sometimes hyperactive, always edgy Curtis.

Director Alexander Mackendrick apparently was trying to poke fun at assorted "wacky" aspects of the emerging Southern California youth culture (astrology, surfing, precarious real estate), but there aren't any punchlines and what humor exists is droll, understated and implied. It's a pretty film, with pretty women and stunning scenery, that's the reason to see this one.