Surf movies have always attracted a certain kind of audience: passionate, committed, and, quite often, stoned. The posters that advertised these low-budget movies began as colourful notices stapled onto beachside telephone poles in the early fifties. They were full of promises - "See the biggest wave EVER!!," "California point break perfection!!" - and surfers pounded in, wanting to see the best surfers on the tastiest waves.
A splash hit when it debuted in 1966, 'The Endless Summer', with its ultra dayglo view of beach life, proved that surf movies had made it big time. Four decades later, surf expert Matt Warshaw brings to wave riders everywhere this singular collection of more than 140 amazing and rare posters, covering everything from the bubbly optimism of 'Gidget' to the psychedelic inventiveness of 'Pacific Vibrations'. Including worn ticket stubs, photos of old-time premieres, and a side-splitting history of the surf movie in all its shaggy glory, 'Surf Movie Tonite!' brilliantly illustrates the intersection of beach and film culture.
