Zuma Beach (film) explained

Genre:Comedy
Drama
Teleplay:John Carpenter
William A. Schwartz
Story:John Herman Shaner &<br />Al Ramrus
Director:Lee H. Katzin
Starring:Suzanne Somers
Steven Keats
Mark Wheeler
Kimberly Beck
Music:Dick Halligan
Country:United States
Language:English
Executive Producer:Daniel H. Blatt
Edgar J. Scherick
Producer:Bruce Cohn Curtis
Brian Grazer
Cinematography:Héctor R. Figueroa
Editor:Bobbie Shapiro
Robert L. Swanson
Runtime:98 minutes
Company:Bruce Cohn Curtis Films, Ltd.
Edgar J. Scherick Associates
Warner Bros. Television
Network:NBC

Zuma Beach is a 1978 TV movie written by John Carpenter and William Schwartz, directed by Lee H. Katzin and starring Suzanne Somers.[1] [2]

Plot

A fading rock singer goes to the beach to get away from it all and winds up getting involved in the lives of the teenage beachgoers.

Cast

History

Suzanne Somers' fame was rising due to the success of the sitcom Three's Company, and she wanted to star in movies. Although a lightweight TV movie, Zuma Beach provided Somers with her first starring movie role.[3] [4]

John Carpenter wrote the script for a producer "who just said he wanted a beach movie." He sold it to Warner Bros., and it became a TV movie to star Suzanne Somers. Carpenter said he "was going to direct it, for about 10 seconds, but one of my mentors, Richard Kobritz...helped me see I didn't want to do it. It was vastly rewritten, so I really shouldn't have taken credit for it, but I was a little asshole in those days."[5]

Tim Hutton had one of his first roles in the film.[6]

Reception

The Los Angeles Times praised the naturalness of Somers' performance.[7]

External links

Notes and References

  1. Book: Leonard Maltin. Leonard Maltin. Leonard Maltin's Movie and Video Guide. Plume, 1994.
  2. Book: F. Maurice Speed. Film Review 1988-9. Columbus Books, 1989.
  3. Bernstein, Jay. Starmaker: Life as a Hollywood Publicist with Farrah, The Rat Pack and 600 More Stars Who Fired Me, pp. 184-185 (2011)
  4. Farley, Ellen and William K. Knoedelseder, Jr. (19 February 1978). Rub-a-Dub-Dub, Three Networks in a Tub, Washington Post (brief mention of upcoming film in February 1978 with Somers to star)
  5. Web site: Interview with John Carpenter. Justin Beahm.
  6. NOTHING 'ORDINARY' ABOUT TIM HUTTON, Champlin, Charles. Los Angeles Times, 15 Jan 1981: h1.
  7. TV MOVIE REVIEW: Somers in Swim of Role That Suits, Thomas, Kevin. Los Angeles Times, 27 Sep 1978: f18.