And now, a few words on Surf Nazis
The years surrounding the Endless Summer were the peak years of the Hollywood surf movies. Most notably, the films of Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello from 1963 to 1966, brought the beach lifestyle and the surfer slang language to the mainstream of middle America.
In "Beach Party (1963)", Eric von Zipper (played by Harvey Lembeck) was the leader of a gang of "mice" and "rats". Von Zipper's motorcycle gang were the villains in the mindless plot. They dressed in black leather, were rowdy, and subject to the constant criticism of their leader, Von Zipper, who continuously referred to the gang members as "stupids".
The Von Zipper character became a staple of the "Beach" films, appearing in "Muscle Beach Party (1964)", "Bikini Beach (1964)", "Beach Blanket Bingo (1965)" featuring Von Zipper's singing, and "How to Stuff a Wild Bikini (1965)". Von Zipper also appeared in some of the spin off films from the beach series, such as "Pajama Party (1964)" (aka The Maid and the Martian, where a Martian who is investigating earth falls in love with Annette), "Ski Party (1965)", and ."The Ghost In The Invisible Bikini (1966)".
In "Beach Blanket Bingo", Von Zipper was shown at his hideout. On the wall behind him was a framed picture of Adolph Hitler. In that scene, for the first time, surfing and Nazism were brought together.
Twenty one years later, the credits for "Lost Boys", a 1987 Keifer Sutherland Vampire film, listed four actors playing the roles of "Surf Nazi # 1" through "Surf Nazi # 4". Nazism and surfing, apparently, had retained their association.
Perhaps the model of the Surf Nazi was based on the celebrated legends of notorious Malibu surfer, Miki "Da Cat" Dora. Dora was a sensational surfer who had a profound influence on surfing style in the late 1950s and early 1960s. He was noted for his balance, side stepping on the surfboard, nose riding, and clean lines in the pockets of Malibu's medium sized waves. Dora was also one of the surfers at Malibu who met Kathy Kohner in the summer of 1966. Dora's friend, Robert "Tubesteak" Patterson, is credited with giving Kathy the nickname "Gidget". Dora would go on to do stunt riding in "Gidget (1959)" and several other beach movies.
But, Dora was also notorious at Malibu for stunts like pushing people out of his way on waves or deliberately running into people with his surfboard. Stories abound of Dora setting off cherry bomb firecrackers in the restrooms of a theatre showing an early surf movie, setting fire to a surf photographer's tripod and film, participating in a street drag race with a modified, 400 horsepower "Woody" station wagon, or playing a poker game on the back of the kneeling, naked, 16-year old daughter of a local politition, covered in a sheet, while the police knocked on the door.
Dora also dressed the part of the surf nazi, often cited as wearing full length trench coats with war medals, iron crosses and swastikas, and began a trend of painting iron crosses on the bottom of surfboards. He was once reported to have attended a tennis match at a public tennis court in Beverly Hills, where the attendees included the largely Jewish local population, adorned in a full woolen trench coat and nazi cap with a swastika chain dangling from his neck.
The surf nazi term was used in the 70s and 80s to describe the phenomenon of localism, where regular surfers protected their spots from outsiders with anti social and sometimes violent behavior. The practice of localism was simultaneously encouraged and chastised by the surfing press, who printed lengthy articles denouncing localism while continuously guarding the "secret spots" where photos were taken. To date, some photos in surfing publications have captions indicating where the photo was shot, while others delibratly fail to mention the spot.
The film production company, Troma, has a long history of producing some of the most tasteless gems of the silver screen.
The Troma legacy dates as far back as "Blood Sucking Freaks (1976)", a film which was heavily protested by the US organization, Women Against Pornography, for its excessive brutality to women. Bowing to protests, the MPAA refused to issue a rating, a virtual ban on US distribution. In response, Troma re-edited the film and re-submitted it to the MPAA for review. The MPAA issued an R rating for the revised film. Troma then pulled the bait and switch, shipping the original version to theatres. The MPAA later sued Troma for unauthorized and improper use of the "R" rating label.
In the next decade, Troma gained cult followings and more notoriety for films such as "The Toxic Avenger (1985)" and "Class of Nuke 'Em High (1986)", both of which spawned a series of sequels.
In 1987, Troma turned its cameras on the surf culture of southern California. The result was the film "Surf Nazis Must Die", now available in a director's cut edition on DVD home video.
The land based scenes in "Surf Nazis Must Die (1987)" were filmed primarily in Huntington Beach, Sunset Beach (Ca), and Long Beach. The surfing sequences, featuring footage of surfers riding waves in surf gang costumes, were shot on the north shore of Oahu in winter. The surf nazi gang, led by Adolph, live in a spray painted concrete lair, drive a spray painted van with shark teeth painted on the front and a dorsal fin attached to the top, and reign over the southern California beaches in a very poorly done post apocalyptic setting. The gang members also wear Aleeda wetsuits, provided to the producers by the Huntington Beach based company, and spray painted for a punk effect.
I, of course, rented "Surf Nazis Must Die" for its incomparable research significance. There is considerable entertainment value in watching the surfing sequences, where one surfer attempts maneuvers on head high north shore waves with a gruesome metal hook attached to one hand. Aside from that, however, the film is completely unwatchable trash. As a veteran viewer of many horribly bad movies, I consider myself to have a certain tolerance for poor production quality, horrible dialogue, wooden acting, as well as gratuitous sex and gore. But, even I found myself watching a substantial portion of the film with my finger firmly pressed on the fast forward button.
More Later.
-Trav
copyright 2004 Travis R. English
sources include
www.legendarysurfers.com
www.troma.com
www.imdb.com
In "Beach Party (1963)", Eric von Zipper (played by Harvey Lembeck) was the leader of a gang of "mice" and "rats". Von Zipper's motorcycle gang were the villains in the mindless plot. They dressed in black leather, were rowdy, and subject to the constant criticism of their leader, Von Zipper, who continuously referred to the gang members as "stupids".
The Von Zipper character became a staple of the "Beach" films, appearing in "Muscle Beach Party (1964)", "Bikini Beach (1964)", "Beach Blanket Bingo (1965)" featuring Von Zipper's singing, and "How to Stuff a Wild Bikini (1965)". Von Zipper also appeared in some of the spin off films from the beach series, such as "Pajama Party (1964)" (aka The Maid and the Martian, where a Martian who is investigating earth falls in love with Annette), "Ski Party (1965)", and ."The Ghost In The Invisible Bikini (1966)".
In "Beach Blanket Bingo", Von Zipper was shown at his hideout. On the wall behind him was a framed picture of Adolph Hitler. In that scene, for the first time, surfing and Nazism were brought together.
Twenty one years later, the credits for "Lost Boys", a 1987 Keifer Sutherland Vampire film, listed four actors playing the roles of "Surf Nazi # 1" through "Surf Nazi # 4". Nazism and surfing, apparently, had retained their association.
Perhaps the model of the Surf Nazi was based on the celebrated legends of notorious Malibu surfer, Miki "Da Cat" Dora. Dora was a sensational surfer who had a profound influence on surfing style in the late 1950s and early 1960s. He was noted for his balance, side stepping on the surfboard, nose riding, and clean lines in the pockets of Malibu's medium sized waves. Dora was also one of the surfers at Malibu who met Kathy Kohner in the summer of 1966. Dora's friend, Robert "Tubesteak" Patterson, is credited with giving Kathy the nickname "Gidget". Dora would go on to do stunt riding in "Gidget (1959)" and several other beach movies.
But, Dora was also notorious at Malibu for stunts like pushing people out of his way on waves or deliberately running into people with his surfboard. Stories abound of Dora setting off cherry bomb firecrackers in the restrooms of a theatre showing an early surf movie, setting fire to a surf photographer's tripod and film, participating in a street drag race with a modified, 400 horsepower "Woody" station wagon, or playing a poker game on the back of the kneeling, naked, 16-year old daughter of a local politition, covered in a sheet, while the police knocked on the door.
Dora also dressed the part of the surf nazi, often cited as wearing full length trench coats with war medals, iron crosses and swastikas, and began a trend of painting iron crosses on the bottom of surfboards. He was once reported to have attended a tennis match at a public tennis court in Beverly Hills, where the attendees included the largely Jewish local population, adorned in a full woolen trench coat and nazi cap with a swastika chain dangling from his neck.
The surf nazi term was used in the 70s and 80s to describe the phenomenon of localism, where regular surfers protected their spots from outsiders with anti social and sometimes violent behavior. The practice of localism was simultaneously encouraged and chastised by the surfing press, who printed lengthy articles denouncing localism while continuously guarding the "secret spots" where photos were taken. To date, some photos in surfing publications have captions indicating where the photo was shot, while others delibratly fail to mention the spot.
The film production company, Troma, has a long history of producing some of the most tasteless gems of the silver screen.
The Troma legacy dates as far back as "Blood Sucking Freaks (1976)", a film which was heavily protested by the US organization, Women Against Pornography, for its excessive brutality to women. Bowing to protests, the MPAA refused to issue a rating, a virtual ban on US distribution. In response, Troma re-edited the film and re-submitted it to the MPAA for review. The MPAA issued an R rating for the revised film. Troma then pulled the bait and switch, shipping the original version to theatres. The MPAA later sued Troma for unauthorized and improper use of the "R" rating label.
In the next decade, Troma gained cult followings and more notoriety for films such as "The Toxic Avenger (1985)" and "Class of Nuke 'Em High (1986)", both of which spawned a series of sequels.
In 1987, Troma turned its cameras on the surf culture of southern California. The result was the film "Surf Nazis Must Die", now available in a director's cut edition on DVD home video.
The land based scenes in "Surf Nazis Must Die (1987)" were filmed primarily in Huntington Beach, Sunset Beach (Ca), and Long Beach. The surfing sequences, featuring footage of surfers riding waves in surf gang costumes, were shot on the north shore of Oahu in winter. The surf nazi gang, led by Adolph, live in a spray painted concrete lair, drive a spray painted van with shark teeth painted on the front and a dorsal fin attached to the top, and reign over the southern California beaches in a very poorly done post apocalyptic setting. The gang members also wear Aleeda wetsuits, provided to the producers by the Huntington Beach based company, and spray painted for a punk effect.
I, of course, rented "Surf Nazis Must Die" for its incomparable research significance. There is considerable entertainment value in watching the surfing sequences, where one surfer attempts maneuvers on head high north shore waves with a gruesome metal hook attached to one hand. Aside from that, however, the film is completely unwatchable trash. As a veteran viewer of many horribly bad movies, I consider myself to have a certain tolerance for poor production quality, horrible dialogue, wooden acting, as well as gratuitous sex and gore. But, even I found myself watching a substantial portion of the film with my finger firmly pressed on the fast forward button.
More Later.
-Trav
copyright 2004 Travis R. English
sources include
www.legendarysurfers.com
www.troma.com
www.imdb.com
posted by travinator @ 1:18 PM
1 Comments:
At 4:54 PM,
Brett W said…
They obviously couldn't do the surf scenes at 17th street, out of concern for the actors safety. You know, because it is always so big there.
Post a Comment
<< Home