Well here's one more thing to make me feel old.
Big Wednesday
, the John Milius surf film from 1978, is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year. I was in high school when the film came out, and the only surfer I knew was my cousin who had come down to San Diego one summer to try and learn. I remember watching him fall off his board more than he rode any waves. But I had seen
Endless Summer
and could understand the lure of the waves. But I have to admit that as a teenage girl back then the real appeal of
Big Wednesday
was not the surfing but rather the cast of three hunky young guys - Jan Michael Vincent, William Katt, and Gary Busey. As for the surfing, I remember the film having this mythic quality to it. Surfing was not a sport or a hobby, it was a way of life. Much of that mythic quality came from director John Milius (who also wrote
Apocalypse Now
and directed
Red Dawn
) who endowed the character of Bear (Sam Melville) with both an autobiographical edge and a bit of Papa Hemingway. But while the films does serve up some tasty waves, it also delivers a coming of age tale set against the backdrop of the turbulent 60s and the Vietnam War. It boasts a certain melancholy nostalgia as well as an appreciation for good friends and the challenge of some big waves.
Big Wednesday will have a 30th anniversary benefit screening on June 26 at 6pm at the La Paloma Theatre (471 S Coast Highway 101, Encinitas). In attendance will be Denny Aaberg who co-wrote the film with director John Milius. He will present the film and answer questions after the screening. I had a chance to shoot a few questions his way before the screening. Here's what he had to say about the film from the perspective of three decades later.
Marc
June 27, 2008 at 03:12 AM
I love Big Wed. and have seen it many times. Which character is slick ?
mjuron@aol.com
Beth Accomando from San Diego
June 27, 2008 at 05:51 AM
It's been a long time since I saw the film and Slick was a small role so I can't point you to any specific scenes. Maybe someone who attended the screening can help point the character out.
Marc
June 27, 2008 at 01:00 PM
Thanks. Perhaps finding a photograph of Dennis Aaberg would reveal which character in the movie he played.
Brent
August 10, 2008 at 12:55 PM
Was "Slick" played by Dennis Aaberg the character who also called himself the "candy man" who surfs briefly with Matt Johnson and Jack Barlow when Jack comes out of the service. This surfer states that he
sells all kinds of psychodelic drugs to kids who "eat it up like candy". I can't think of any other characters who might be Slick in the movie. Thanks.
Brent
November 10, 2008 at 03:21 PM
Great flick. Love it each time I watch it.
paul ingram
from Imperial Beach, CA
November 15, 2008 at 03:28 AM
What I want to know (and try to remember without digging out old "surf movie stubs from the 60's)......is who made the original "Big Wednesday"?
Bud Brown?..... Grant Rohloff?, John Severson?.... I cannot remember, but it came out in the very late 50's or very early 60's, 'cause I went and saw it!
I have the "later version" on Video, my oldest boy gave me yrs ago. To, me as a very avid surfer growing up in the S.F. Bay Area and surfing from Kelly's Cove (S.F. , down to Santa Cruz, and into Baja in the early to mid 60's), this later movie made by Hollywood does a pretty accurate job in depicting what I remember as "the way it was"........Lot's of good, accurate detail (including the "T.J." segment).
From my era........Big Sur Rivermouth, back then, was a "secret spot"; and we had a map, drawn by Bill Hickey of Bill Hickey surfboards in S.F... about 1965..on how to get there, sneaking through the private ranch to reach the waves ( about 1 1/2 miles, crossing the river etc....carrying these boards all the way there and back........'course the rancher used to like to fire his 12 gauge in the air to scare us out of there!)..........Anyway, now that place is, and has been for a long time a State Park!
Just a passing thought.......
Len Bose
November 21, 2008 at 05:07 PM
How might I purchase a copy of the screenplay?
