Flipper (1963 film)

Flipper
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	James B. Clark
Produced by	Ivan Tors
Written by	Ricou Browning Jack Cowden
Starring	Chuck Connors Luke Halpin Joe Higgins Kathleen Maguire
Music by	Henry Vars
Cinematography	Lamar Boren
Editing by	Warren Brown
Distributed by	MGM
Release date(s)	August 14, 1963
Running time	87 min.
Country	United States
Language	English

Flipper is an American feature film released on August 14, 1963 written by Ricou Browning and Jack Cowden. Produced by Ivan Tors and directed by James B. Clark, it portrays a 12-year old boy living with his parents on the Florida Keys, who befriends an injured wild dolphin. The lad and his pet become inseparable, eventually overcoming the misgivings of his fisherman father.

The film introduced the popular song Flipper, by By Dunham and Henry Vars and inspired the subsequent television series of the same name (1964–1967) and film sequels.^[1]

Plot

Sandy Ricks (Luke Halpin) is a young boy living in the Florida Keys who befriends a dolphin injured by a harpoon. His father, fisherman Porter Ricks (Chuck Connors) is upset, as dolphins compete for fish, which jeopardizes the family income and is upset Sandy neglects his chores.

After "Flipper" (as Sandy names his new friend) recovers from the wound, the dolphin puts on a show to entertain the neighborhood children. Later, however, the animal devours Porter's entire catch of pompano. Porter harshly berates Sandy for allowing Flipper to jump into the holding pen of valuable fish waiting to go to market, "What's wrong with you boy? How old are you, 12, — almost in your teens, or are you five, — a child who doesn't have the sense to know what his next meal depends on?" Reduced to tears, Sandy retreats to his bedroom as Porter's wife Martha (Kathleen Maguire) remonstrates that "he's only a boy".

Determined to make up for the loss, Sandy sets off to find more fish, and is led by Flipper to a large school of fish near a reef. Later, Sandy is rescued from a threatening shark by Flipper, and the grateful father draws closer to his son. Porter Ricks is finally convinced there are enough fish for both the local residents of the area and the dolphins.

Main cast

• Chuck Connors... Porter Ricks
• Luke Halpin .... Sandy Ricks
• Joe Higgins .... Mr. L.C. Parett
• Kathleen Maguire .... Martha Ricks

Production

Filmed in color in 1961 and released in 1963, Flipper has several underwater sequences, along with scenes of the trained dolphin performing stunts. Flipper the dolphin was played by "Mitzi" (1958–1972), a female trained at the Santini Porpoise School (later the Dolphin Research Center), by Milton and Virginia Santini, who are credited in the film. Mitzie died in 1972 at age fourteen. She is buried at the Dolphin Research Center, where her grave is the first stop on the center's public tours.

In addition to Mitzi, four other dolphins were filmed for the production of the movie. Two of the dolphins, Little Bit, a female, and Mr. Gipper, a male, reproduced at the Dolphin Research Center. The calf was named Tursi, and she still lives at Dolphin Research Center as of 2011. Tursi has four offspring also living at Dolphin Research Center: Talon, Pax, Gypsi and Gambit.

In his 1974 book "Friendly Porpoises" William B. Grey, Animal Collection Manager for the Miami Seaquarium, has a photograph of dolphin trainer Jim Kline training a dolphin for a hurdle jump stunt for the film in the Seaquarium's main dolphin tank.^[2]

Sequels

A film sequel, Flipper's New Adventure, was released in 1964. That same year, a television series inspired by the movie, Flipper, began and ran until 1967. A 1990s revival featured Jessica Alba. In 1996, a remake was released, Flipper starring Paul Hogan and Elijah Wood.

References

1. ^ "Flipper - The Original Series: Season One". DVD Talk. http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/27578/flipper-the-original-series-season-one/. Retrieved 2011-02-05. 
2. ^ Gray, William B. Friendly Porpoises. A.S. Barnes and Co. New Jersey. ISBN 0-498-01452-5

External links

• Flipper (1963 film) at the Internet Movie Database