''Gidget Grows Up'' is a 1969 American

made-for-television A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...

directed by

James Sheldon Leonard James Schleifer (November 12, 1920 – March 12, 2016) was an American television director. Sheldon directed for television programs including ''The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series), The Twilight Zone'', ''The Fugitive (1963 TV series), T ...

with stars

Karen Valentine Karen Valentine (born May 25, 1947) is an American actress. She is best known for her role as young idealistic schoolteacher Alice Johnson in the ABC comedy drama series ''Room 222'' from 1969 to 1974, for which she won the Primetime Emmy Award f ...

Edward Mulhare Edward Mulhare (8 April 1923 – 24 May 1997) was an Irish actor whose career spanned five decades. He is best known for his starring roles in two television series: '' The Ghost & Mrs. Muir'' and ''Knight Rider''. Early life and career Mulha ...

and

Paul Petersen William Paul Petersen (born September 23, 1945) is an American actor, singer, novelist, and activist. Petersen first rose to prominence in the 1950s playing Jeff Stone on ''The Donna Reed Show'', and transitioned to a singing career in the 19 ...

as well as alphabetically listed special guest stars

Warner Anderson Warner Anderson (March 10, 1911 – August 26, 1976) was an American actor. Early years Anderson was born to "a theatrical family" in Brooklyn, New York, March 10, 1911.Aaker, Everett (2006). ''Encyclopedia of Early Television Crime Fighters''. ...

Bob Cummings Charles Clarence Robert Orville Cummings (June 9, 1910 – December 2, 1990) was an American film and television actor who appeared in roles in comedy films such as ''The Devil and Miss Jones'' (1941) and ''Princess O'Rourke'' (1943), and in d ...

Nina Foch Nina Foch ( ; born Nina Consuelo Maud Fock; April 20, 1924 – December 5, 2008) was a Dutch-born American actress who later became an instructor. Her career spanned six decades, consisting of over 50 feature films and over 100 television appea ...

and

Paul Lynde Paul Edward Lynde (; June 13, 1926January 10, 1982) was an American comedian, actor and game show panelist. A character actor with a distinctively campy and snarky persona that often poked fun at his barely closeted homosexuality, Lynde was well ...

. Freely adapted from the novel ''Gidget Goes New York'' by

Frederick Kohner Friedrich Kohner (September 25, 1905 – July 7, 1986), credited professionally as Frederick Kohner, was an Austrian-born novelist and screenwriter, both in Germany and the U.S.. He is best known for having created the "Gidget" novels, which ins ...

, the film premiered on

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

on December 30, 1969, and was intended as a pilot for a possible new

Gidget Gidget () is a fictional character created by author Frederick Kohner (based on his teenaged daughter, Kathy) in his 1957 novel, ''Gidget, the Little Girl with Big Ideas''. The novel follows the adventures of a teenaged girl and her surfing fri ...

series, possibly a sequel to the 1960s sitcom ''

''.GIDGET IS RETURNING TO THE SCREEN--ONLY NOW SHE'S A VALENTINE Los Angeles Times 28 Dec 1969: l39d.

Plot

After two years of college abroad, Gidget returns to

Santa Monica Santa Monica (; Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 U.S. Census population was 93,076. Santa Monica is a popular resort town, owing to ...

. She discovers that the letters she wrote to her boyfriend Jeff, intended to make him jealous, have backfired, and her attempts to patch things up with him are rebuffed. Inspired by a speech she hears on television made by the United States Ambassador to the United Nations, she hops a bus to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

to work for the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

. She meets the Ambassador, who finds her a job, but because she has only two years of college education, the best position the United Nations will offer her is tour guide. She meets and has a fling with Alex Mac Laughlin, an

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

agronomist An agriculturist, agriculturalist, agrologist, or agronomist (abbreviated as agr.), is a professional in the science, practice, and management of agriculture and agribusiness. It is a regulated profession in Canada, India, the Philippines, the ...

who finds her and two of her fellow employees an inexpensive

Greenwich Village Greenwich Village ( , , ) is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street to the north, Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the south, and the Hudson River to the west. Greenwich Village ...

apartment, managed by the eccentric Louis B. Latimer, a grown child actor has-been attempting a comeback as an

independent film An independent film, independent movie, indie film, or indie movie is a feature film or short film that is produced outside the major film studio system, in addition to being produced and distributed by independent entertainment companies (or, i ...

director. Gidget has a number of comical and romantic adventures before being reunited with former boyfriend Jeff.

Cast

* ''And''

as Alex Mac Laughlin * ''Co-Starring''

Moondoggie Moondoggie is a fictional character created by Frederick Kohner in his 1957 novel '' Gidget, The Little Girl with Big Ideas''.''Gidget'' (2001) by Frederick Kohner, Berkley Publishing Group, New York, NY (first edition 1957) He appears as a pri ...

''Special Guest Stars
in alphabetical order'' *

as Ambassador Post *

as Russ Lawrence *

as Bibi Crosby *

as Louis B. Latimer

References

External links

* *
''Gidget Grows Up''
at

OVGuide OVGuide was a website aggregator which allowed users to find online video content. The company was acquired by FOTV Media Networks Inc. for over $10M in 2016. -OVGuide is no longer available- Included sites Sites are submitted by users and sele ...

, eight video clips comprising the entire film, more or less {{Gidget ABC Movie of the Week 1969 television films 1969 films Gidget films Films set in New York City Films about the United Nations Television sequel films

Plot

Cast

See also

References

External links