''California Dreaming'' is a 1979 American

comedy-drama film Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...

starring

Glynnis O'Connor Glynnis O'Connor (born November 19, 1956) is an American actress of television, film, radio, and theater. She first gained wide attention in the mid-1970s with leading roles in the television version of ''Our Town'' and in the short-lived series ...

Dennis Christopher Dennis Christopher (born Dennis Carrelli; December 2, 1955) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles in ''Breaking Away'' (1979), '' Fade to Black'' (1980), ''Chariots of Fire'' (1981), '' It'' (1990) and ''Django Unchained'' (2012) ...

Seymour Cassel Seymour Joseph Cassel (January 22, 1935 – April 7, 2019) was an American actor who appeared in over 200 movies and television shows, and had a career that spanned over 50 years. Cassel first came to prominence in the 1960s in the pioneering in ...

and

Tanya Roberts Tanya Roberts (born Victoria Leigh Blum; October 15, 1949 – January 4, 2021) was an American actress. She played Julie Rogers in the final season of the television series ''Charlie's Angels'' (1980–1981), Stacey Sutton in the James Bond fi ...

and directed by

John D. Hancock John D. Hancock (born February 12, 1939) is an American stage and film director, producer and writer. He is perhaps best known for his work on ''Bang the Drum Slowly''. Hancock's theatrical work includes direction of both classic and contempor ...

Plot

A young man named Tony moves from Chicago to California for the summer. He quickly becomes adapted to the new pace of beach life, learning several lessons along the way.

Cast

Production

''California Dreaming'', a production of

American International Pictures American International Pictures (AIP) is an American motion picture production label of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. In its original operating period, AIP was an independent film production and distribution company known for producing and releasing fi ...

(AIP), could be considered a latter-day exemplar of the beach-party film genre that AIP pioneered in the 1960s. However, the film's producer Lou Arkoff, the son of AIP founder Samuel Z. Arkoff, stated a desire to "move IPtoward more serious, insightful and creative projects" rather than the

exploitation films An exploitation film is a film that tries to succeed financially by exploiting current trends, niche genres, or lurid content. Exploitation films are generally low-quality "B movies", though some set trends, attract critical attention, become hi ...

favored by his father, saying specifically of ''California Dreaming'': "My concern is that this doesn't become '

Beach Blanket Bingo ''Beach Blanket Bingo'' is a 1965 American beach party film directed by William Asher. It is the fifth film in the Beach Party film series. The film stars Frankie Avalon, Annette Funicello, Linda Evans, Deborah Walley, Paul Lynde, and Don Rickl ...

'."Los Angeles Times "Riding the Waves of California Dreaming" 11 December 1977 p. 66 Filming for ''California Dreaming'' began on October 17, 1977 at

Santa Monica State Beach Santa Monica State Beach is a California State Park operated by the city of Santa Monica. Description The beach is located along Pacific Coast Highway in Santa Monica. It is long and has parks, picnic areas, playgrounds, restrooms, as well as s ...

, the film's purported setting. However, most of the movie's footage would be shot at

Pismo Beach Pismo Beach (Chumash: ''Pismuʔ'') is a city in the southern portion of San Luis Obispo County, in the Central Coast area of California, United States. The estimated population was 8,072 at the 2020 census, up from 7,655 in the 2010 census. It ...

, with

Avila Beach Avila Beach (Spanish: ''Ávila'') is an unincorporated community in San Luis Obispo County, California, United States, located on San Luis Obispo Bay about 160 miles (257 km) northwest of Los Angeles, and about south of San Francisco. The ...

also serving as a locale. The script written by Ned Wynn was entitled ''State Beach'', which was the film's working title (with ''Golden State'' mentioned as a possible alternative). Director

wanted to change the title to ''California Dreaming'', and the new title was confirmed in December 1977. Permission for the title was obtained from the copyright holders of the song "

California Dreamin' "California Dreamin'" is a song written by John Phillips and Michelle Phillips and first recorded by Barry McGuire. The best-known version is by the Mamas & the Papas, who sang backup on the original version and released it as a single in 1 ...

", though the film's storyline has no immediate parallels with the song's lyrics. The film's poster features the slogan "A state somewhere between fantasy and reality" under the title. Filming was completed in December 1978. The film's budget was $2 million.

said that during filming cast members' attraction to

caused tension on the set.

Release

The planned July 1978 release of ''California Dreaming'' was postponed because of a perceived glut of similarly themed movies set for release that summer (most prominently ''

Big Wednesday ''Big Wednesday'' is a 1978 American coming of age film directed by John Milius. Written by Milius and Dennis Aaberg, it is loosely based on their own experiences at Malibu, California. The picture stars Jan-Michael Vincent, William Katt, and Gary ...

''). A rescheduled October 1978 was also canceled. The film finally premiered with a December 27-January 1 engagement at a

Yuma, Arizona Yuma ( coc, Yuum) is a city in and the county seat of Yuma County, Arizona, United States. The city's population was 93,064 at the 2010 census, up from the 2000 census population of 77,515. Yuma is the principal city of the Yuma, Arizona, M ...

theater; it was to AIP's advantage for taxation purposes to release the film before the end of 1978. ''California Dreaming'' was given a

limited release __FORCETOC__ Limited theatrical release is a film distribution strategy of releasing a new film in a few theaters across a country, typically art house theaters in major metropolitan markets. Since 1994, a limited theatrical release in the Unite ...

on March 16, 1979, and the release was expanded in the following two months. The release schedule was planned to coincide with the release of the film's soundtrack album, distributed by

Casablanca Records Casablanca Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group and operated under Republic Records. Under its founder Neil Bogart, Casablanca was most successful during the disco era of the mid to late 1970s. The label currently f ...

. The version of "California Dreamin'" recorded by

America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

that plays during ''California Dreaming'''s closing credits was issued as a single, spending eight weeks in the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and peaking at #56.http://www.americanradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Music/Archive-Billboard-IDX/IDX/70s/1979/Billboard%201979-03-31-OCR-Page-0154.pdf#search=%22california%20dreaming%20soundtrack%22

References

External links

* {{John D. Hancock 1979 films 1979 comedy-drama films American comedy-drama films American International Pictures films 1970s English-language films Films directed by John D. Hancock Films scored by Fred Karlin Films set in California Films shot in California 1970s American films