California Dreaming

The Southern California beach scene in the late 70s

A nerdy guy from Chicago (Dennis Christopher) moves to the coast of SoCal where he makes friends with the owner of a local hangout (Seymour Cassel) and gets to stay at his house, but this annoys his college-age daughter (Glynnis O’Connor). In the meantime, the youth tries to fit in with the ‘hip’ surfers (John Calvin, John Fain and Jimmy Van Patten).

Shot in October, 1977, but not released until early 1979, "California Dreaming" is a coming-of-age dramedy that takes Sam Elliott’s “Lifeguard” from a few years earlier and adds comedic touches. I wouldn’t relate this to those goofy 60’s beach flicks because it’s more realistic. People forget that the originator of the “beach party film” genre was 1959’s “Gidget” (the movie with Sandra Dee, not the TV series with Sally Field), which was a beach drama with moving depth and not zany at all. Sure, this one features a little amusing goofiness, but it’s mostly a believable story.

Dorothy Tristan has a significant role as Duke’s ex-wife, Fay. She was director John Hancock’s wife from 1975 until her death in 2023. Speaking of John, he helmed the artistic “Let's Scare Jessica to Death” from the early 70s, so he wasn’t exactly a slouch.

This obviously influenced one of the greatest coming-of-age flicks, “Fast Times at Ridgemont High,” released a few years later. It’s not as good, but not far off either. It’s superior to the overrated “Back to the Beach” (1987).

While the movie has a warm, amusing heart underneath it all, there’s some top nudity and sexual talk/situations corresponding to the milieu. So stay away if that offends you.

It runs 1 hour, 32 minutes, and was shot at Avila Beach, California, which is 195 miles northwest of Los Angeles. Other nearby locations include: Morro Bay to the north and the theater in San Luis Obispo, which is just southeast of Morro Bay; meanwhile studio work was done in Los Angeles.

GRADE: B-/B