Don't Make Waves

Carlo Cofield, a tourist visiting California's west coast, has not even arranged lodging, when his car is smashed by a reckless driver. She is a carefree, attractive Italian artist named Laura Califatti, who offers her couch for Carlo to sleep on that night.

This arrangement displeases Rod Prescott, a wealthy swimming-pool builder, because Laura is his mistress. After being kicked out of Laura's, Carlo tries to sleep on the beach and nearly drowns. He wakes to find a gorgeous surfer rescuing him by covering his nostrils with her cheek to administer two breaths. She goes by the name Malibu, and Carlo begins to romantically pursue her.

After renting a house near the ocean, Carlo cons a sweet but naïve bodybuilder Harry, Malibu's boyfriend, into believing that having sex is harmful to his body. He also bribes Madame Lavinia, a phony psychic, who is actually a man, to discourage Harry from dating Malibu.

Rod decides to give the persistent Carlo a job as a pool salesman. The affair with Laura is discovered by Rod's wife Diane, who demands a divorce. As a quarrel develops with everyone present, a mudslide caused by a sudden storm makes Carlo's house slide down a cliff. By the time everyone is saved, they pair off with the romantic partners they care about most.

The film was based on Ira Wallach's novel Muscle Beach, published in 1959.Narcissists' Lido: MUSCLE BEACH. By Ira Wallach. 236 pp. Boston: Little, Brown & Co. $3.50., Levin, Martin. New York Times 28 June 1959: BR22.

In August 1963, it was announced film rights had been purchased by Martin Ransohoff of Filmways, who had a deal with MGM. Ransohoff and Wallach had collaborated on The Wheeler Dealers.Rita Hayworth Will Return in 'Circus': MGM Stages at Capacity with Seven New Features, Scheuer, Philip K. Los Angeles Times 8 Aug 1963: C11. Wallach would do the screenplay and the film would be part of an $18 million slate, coming out in June 1964.Filmways Sets New $18 Million Budget: Dassin 'Man in Middle' of Turkish Jewel Robbery, Scheuer, Philip K. Los Angeles Times 28 Aug 1963: C11. Filming was delayed.

Curtis' casting was announced in April 1966.Tony Curtis Joins 'Waves', Martin, Betty. Los Angeles Times (1923–1995); Los Angeles, Calif. [Los Angeles, Calif]29 Apr 1966: c19. In June it was announced Alexander Mackendrick would direct and Claudia Cardinale would co star.Perkins to Star in 'Scandal', Martin, Betty. Los Angeles Times (1923–1995); Los Angeles, Calif. [Los Angeles, Calif]09 June 1966: e15. Filming took place in August 1966.Success Can't Spoil Tony Curtis, Thomas, Kevin. Los Angeles Times 7 Aug 1966: b8. It was made as a co-production with Curtis' film production company, Reynard Productions.{{Cite web |date=1967-06-08 |title=Sun-News from Myrtle Beach, South Carolina |url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/822695180/ |access-date=2025-02-15 |website=Newspapers.com |language=en-US}}

Sharon Tate told her husband Roman Polanski that her experience working on this film was not particularly enjoyable. The production atmosphere was tense, and it worsened when an uncredited stuntman drowned when he parachuted into the Pacific Ocean.{{cite book |last1=Polanski |first1=Roman |authorlink1=Roman Polanski |title=Roman |year=1984 |publisher=William Morrow & Company |location=New York |isbn=0-688-02621-4 |page=[https://archive.org/details/roman00pola/page/261 261] |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/roman00pola/page/261 }} The film was Tate's third to be produced, but as it was the first to be released in cinemas, it is generally considered to be her debut. MGM mounted an extensive publicity campaign upon its release that was based largely on Tate and her character, Malibu, and life-sized cardboard cutouts of Tate wearing a bikini were placed in cinema foyers throughout the United States. It was also linked to a widespread advertising campaign by Coppertone which featured Tate.

Dave Draper, who plays Malibu's boyfriend Harry, was the 1965 IFBB Mr. America and the 1966 NABBA Mr. Universe.

1966 NABBA Mr. Universe bodybuilder Chester Yorton, who plays Ted Gunder, made one other film, 1964's Muscle Beach Party, in which he plays the character called Hulk.

The score was composed by Vic Mizzy. Roger McGuinn and Chris Hillman wrote the title song "Don't Make Waves," performed by the Byrds over the opening credits.

The aerial parachuting sequences in Don't Make Waves were photographed by freefall cinematographer Bob Buquor.{{Cite web |title=Bob Buquor |url=https://www.starcrestawards.com/bob-buqour |access-date=2023-01-17 |website=Mysite |language=en}} Buquor was one of the earliest camera-flyers the sport of skydiving{{Citation |title=Skydiving |date=2022-11-20 |url=https://simple.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Skydiving&oldid=8550895 |encyclopedia=Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia |language=en |access-date=2023-01-17}} produced in the early 1960s. ABC's Wide World of Sports{{Citation |title=Wide World of Sports (American TV program) |date=2022-12-31 |url=https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wide_World_of_Sports_(American_TV_program)&oldid=1130636698 |work=Wikipedia |language=en |access-date=2023-01-17}} hired Buquor as a freefall cameraman{{Citation |last=Guilfoyle |first=Lee |title=Bob Buquor 1963 |date=2010-04-26 |url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/lee_guilfoyle/4556728426/ |access-date=2023-01-17}} to cover the World Championships of Parachuting in Munich, Germany in 1964.{{Cite web |title=Reuters Archive Licensing |url=https://reuters.screenocean.com/record/451116 |access-date=2023-01-17 |website=Reuters Archive Licensing |language=en}} He is a legend to skydivers the world over, with one of the most prestigious awards in skydiving being the "Bob Buquor Memorial Star Crest" Award,{{Cite web |title=Home |url=https://www.starcrestawards.com/ |access-date=2023-01-17 |website=Mysite |language=en}} so-named in his honor.

Exactly what happened to Buquor is not known, but it is likely winds aloft prevented him from reaching the beach landing zone once under his open round Para-Commander {{Cite web |title=Paracommander Owner's Manual |url=https://paraorg.dfv.aero/uploads/manual_parachute_inc._para-commander.pdf}} parachute. Instead, he landed in the Pacific Ocean off Malibu, California and drowned.{{Cite web |title=How This Sharon Tate Film Led To A Stuntman's Death |date=10 June 2021 |url=https://www.grunge.com/434001/how-this-sharon-tate-film-led-to-a-stuntmans-death/}} Rescue divers later found Buquor sitting upright on the ocean floor with his camera helmet off, but tightly clutched in his arms. The consensus of people who knew him is that Buquor might have saved himself by jettisoning his heavy camera helmet, but he was too much of a professional to not bring back the images he was paid to capture. Buquor was posthumously inducted into the Skydiving Hall of Fame in 2012.{{Cite web |title=Hall of Fame Inductees {{!}} International Skydiving Museum & Hall of Fame |url=https://skydivingmuseum.org/hall-of-fame/inductees |access-date=2023-01-17 |website=skydivingmuseum.org}} When Bob Buquor died on July 27, 1966, he was 33 years old and had been jumping for eight years making 990 jumps.

Upon its release on June 20, 1967, Don't Make Waves received generally mixed reviews. By the time the film was released, the popularity of beach films and films that related to California beach culture had begun to wane as had the popularity of Tony Curtis as a matinee idol. Film critic Andrew Sarris' contemporary review in The Village Voice reported that the film was "one of the more underrated comedies of the season," but added "[the film] is the latest of what promises to be a long line of frightening documentaries on the state of California" and "the biggest liability, however, is Claudia Cardinale, who should never act in English."{{cite web |last1=Sarris |first1=Andrew |title=Films |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=nwNOAAAAIBAJ&sjid=KYwDAAAAIBAJ&pg=4543%2C3217916 |website=Google News |publisher=The Village Voice |access-date=2023-01-06}} Dave Kehr wrote in Chicago Reader that the film had a "remarkable tone" of "sharp but warmhearted social satire."{{cite web |last1=Kehr |first1=Dave |title=Don't Make Waves |url=https://chicagoreader.com/film/dont-make-waves/ |website=Chicago Reader |date=9 December 1985 |access-date=2023-01-06}} Writing for Turner Classic Movies, critic Jeff Stafford described the film as "often surprisingly funny and full of incidental pleasures [...] Curtis is perfectly cast as the shyster pool salesman," and "the sight gags are also occasionally inspired."{{cite web |last1=Stafford |first1=Jeff |title=Don't Make Waves |url=https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/2107/dont-make-waves#articles-reviews?articleId=81457 |website=Turner Classic Movies |publisher=Turner Classic Movies Inc. |access-date=2023-01-06}} Don't Make Waves also received a positive review from film critic Leonard Maltin, who described it as "a gem", and noted the "good direction, funny performance by Sharon Tate and a catchy title song...".{{cite book|last=Maltin|first=Leonard|title=Leonard Maltin's 2014 Movie Guide|year=2013|publisher=Penguin|isbn=978-1-101-60955-2|page=367}}

In American Prince, his 2009 autobiography, Tony Curtis wrote of making Don't Make Waves, "The plot was utterly ridiculous, but I agreed to appear in the film because I got a percentage of the gross."{{cite book|last=Curtis|first=Tony|title=American Prince: A Memoir|year=2008|publisher=Random House LLC|isbn=978-0-307-44946-7|page=264|author2=Golenbock, Peter}} The film went on to earn $1.25 million at the box office.

Don't Make Waves was released to DVD by Warner Home Video's Warner Archive on June 27, 2011, as a burn-on-demand Region 1 widescreen DVD.

• List of American films of 1967

{{Reflist}}

• {{IMDb title|0061590}}
• {{TCMDb title|2107}}
• {{AFI film|23713}}
• [https://www.allmovie.com/movie/dont-make-waves-am16360 Don't Make Waves at AllMovie]
• [http://movies.tvguide.com/dont-make-waves/review/113263 Review of Don't Make Waves] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120222025100/http://movies.tvguide.com/dont-make-waves/review/113263 |date=2012-02-22 }} at TVGuide.com

{{Alexander Mackendrick}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:1967 films

Category:1960s sex comedy films

Category:American satirical films

Category:American sex comedy films

Category:1960s English-language films

Category:Films based on American novels

Category:Films directed by Alexander Mackendrick

Category:Films scored by Vic Mizzy

Category:Films set in Malibu, California

Category:Films shot in California

Category:Films shot in South Carolina

Category:Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films

Category:Beach party films

Category:Filmways films

Category:Reynard Productions films

Category:1967 comedy films

Category:1960s American films

Category:English-language sex comedy films