The Dacor and The Endless Summer
The Dacor 600 and The Endless Summer
The Endless Summer is a seminal surf movie released in 1966, after a limited showing in 1964. Filmmaker/narrator Bruce Brown follows two surfers, Mike Hynson and Robert August, on a surfing trip around the world.
Mike Hynson sports a Dacor 600 non-date on his wrist.
Summary
The Endless Summer is a 1966 American surf documentary film directed, produced, edited and narrated by Bruce Brown. The film follows surfers Mike Hynson and Robert August on a surfing trip around the world. Despite the balmy climate of their native California, cold ocean currents make local beaches inhospitable during the winter. They travel to the coasts of Australia, New Zealand, Tahiti, Hawaii, Senegal, Ghana, Nigeria and South Africa in a quest for new surf spots while introducing locals to the sport along the way. Other important surfers of the time, such as Miki Dora, Phil Edwards, Butch Van Artsdalen and Corky Carroll, also appear.
The film's title comes from the idea expressed at both the beginning and end of the film that, if one had enough time and money, it would be possible to follow the summer up and down the world (northern to southern hemisphere and back), making it endless. The original concept was born through the suggestion of a travel agent to Brown during the planning stages of the film. The travel agent suggested that the flight from Los Angeles to Cape Town, South Africa and back would cost $50 more than a trip circumnavigating the world, after which Bruce came up with the idea of following the summer season by traveling up and down the world.
The narrative presentation eases from the stiff, formal documentary of the 1950s and early 1960s to a more casual, fun-loving and personal style filled with sly humor. The film's surf rock soundtrack was provided by The Sandals, and the theme song was written by Gaston Georis and John Blakeley of the Sandals; the theme has since become one of the best known film themes in the surf movie genre.
When The Endless Summer premiered on June 15, 1966, it encouraged many surfers to travel abroad, giving birth to the "surf-and-travel" culture, with prizes for finding "uncrowded surf", meeting new people and riding the "perfect wave". It also introduced the sport, which had become popular outside of Hawaii and the Polynesian Islands in places like California and Australia, to a broader audience. In 1994, it was followed by the sequel The Endless Summer II, which was later followed by Step into Liquid, directed by Brown's son Dana, in 2003.
