Big Wednesday

John Severson – 1962 – USA

Silent medium-length color film by John Severson, one of the real pioneers of surfing films, and somewhat more of a purist than his much more famous colleague Bruce Brown.  It captures the very last days of surf culture in California before the massive surfing craze hit – (i.e. the Beach Boys, beach party movies, etc.) – as evidenced by the many shots of nearly empty beaches for miles on end.  It does make use of all the usual clichés of surf films, such as slow-motion, regular changes in locale, and intermittent staged comic interludes that are almost never funny.  Aside from lending its name to John Milius’ fictional Big Wednesday in 1978, Severson’s film was one of the most popular silent surf films that was toured around  personally and played in tiny theaters and school auditoriums, often to the accompaniment of live music and/or narration.