''Lifeguard'' is a 1976 American

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

made by

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...

. It was directed by

Daniel Petrie Daniel Mannix Petrie (November 26, 1920 – August 22, 2004) was a Canadian film director, film, television director, television, and stage director who worked in Canada, Hollywood, and the United Kingdom; known for directing grounded human dram ...

from a screenplay by Ron Koslow. It stars

Sam Elliott Samuel Pack Elliott (born August 9, 1944) is an American actor. He is the recipient of several accolades, including a National Board of Review Award, and has been nominated for an Academy Award, two Golden Globe Awards, two Primetime Emmy Aw ...

Anne Archer Anne Archer (born August 24, 1947) is an American actress. Archer was named Miss Golden Globe in 1971, and in the year following, appeared in her feature film debut ''The Honkers'' (1972). She had supporting roles in ''Cancel My Reservation'' (1 ...

, Stephen Young,

Parker Stevenson Richard Stevenson Parker Jr. (born June 4, 1952), known professionally as Parker Stevenson, is an American actor best known for playing Frank Hardy in the 1970s TV series ''The Hardy Boys'' and Craig Pomeroy on the 1990s TV series '' Baywatch' ...

, and

Kathleen Quinlan Kathleen Denise Quinlan Abbott (born November 19, 1954) is an American film and television actress. She is best known for her Golden Globe-nominated performance in the 1977 film of the novel '' I Never Promised You a Rose Garden,'' and her Golden ...

Plot

Rick Carlson, a 32-year-old lifeguard on a

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most po ...

beach, is prompted to question his goals in life when he receives an invitation to his 15-year high school reunion. At the beach, 17-year old Wendy (who seems much younger) begins to come on to Rick. He is concerned about her being underage and thus jailbait, but remains friendly with her. Larry, an old high school friend of Rick's, shows up at the beach to make sure he's going to the reunion. Rick seems ambivalent, but Larry tells Rick his old high school flame, the newly divorced Cathy, is expected to make an appearance. Larry also offers Rick a sales position at a

Porsche Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, usually shortened to Porsche (; see #Pronunciation, below), is a German automobile manufacturer specializing in high-performance sports cars, SUVs and sedans, headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany ...

dealership. Rick goes for an interview, is ambivalent about the job, but decides to go to the reunion in the hopes of seeing Cathy. The night of the reunion, Wendy follows Rick home and surprises him at the door. He invites her in while he is getting ready. She is somewhat taken aback to discover that he is in his 30s. But, not too taken aback, as they kiss before Rick heads off for the reunion. At the reunion, Rick seems embarrassed about still being a lifeguard in his 30s and begins to lie about why he is so tanned. When he finally locates his old sweetheart Cathy, he tells her he works for the county. The reunion serves to rekindle Rick and Cathy's relationship and they begin seeing each other. Back at the beach, Wendy asks Rick when they will make love again. He tells her plaintively that they are doing something illegal and it would be best if she found someone closer to her own age. Later, he sees Wendy swimming away from the beach and goes out to rescue her. She admits she is trying to kill herself. He takes her to shore and walks her to her car. He tells her that when school starts Monday she will "begin to make new friends" as she drives off. Cathy works at an art gallery. Rick visits her to tell her about the incident with Wendy which seems to have frazzled him. Cathy comforts him, then invites him to move in with her. While they're discussing the arrangement, an effete client keeps insisting that Cathy wait on him. An annoyed Rick tells him off in a very rude and unprofessional manner, thus jeopardizing Cathy's standing at the gallery. With the summer season winding down, Larry returns to the beach one more time to offer Rick a job selling Porsches. Rick turns it down definitively, even though he realizes it will probably mean an end to his relationship with Cathy who has been encouraging him to become more upwardly mobile. He tells Larry he will remain a lifeguard "just as long as they'll have me". As the movie ends, Rick is summoned to the beach changing room as a hysterical woman tells him there is a man in there. Rick asks the man what the hell he's doing in the ladies' room. The man claims to be a police officer working surveillance but doesn't have his badge because he's working undercover.

Cast

as Rick Carlson *

as Cathy * Stephen Young as Larry *

as Chris *

as Wendy *Steve Burns as Machine Gun (Harold) * Sharon Weber as Tina

Production

Elliott's parents were lifeguards and he had worked as a lifeguard himself. He was cast after Dan Petrie and his wife saw Elliott on TV in ''Frogs''. The film was finished in August 1975 but held by Paramount until the next year. Elliott held off doing any TV in that time because he hoped the film would establish him in features. This did not happen. However Elliott always regarded the movie as a personal milestone. "Dan Petrie did a great job directing that movie; it was shot for something like only $900,000. Those were the days." Part of the film was shot in Petrie's own home. It was produced by Ted Mann. Most of the lifeguard tower scenes were filmed at the Knob Hill and "Burnout" towers in the South Bay of Los Angeles.

Reception

''Lifeguard'' received mixed reviews from critics. On

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, it holds a rating of 40% from 15 reviews. Reviewing the film in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'',

Vincent Canby Vincent Canby (July 27, 1924 – October 15, 2000) was an American film and theatre critic who served as the chief film critic for ''The New York Times'' from 1969 until the early 1990s, then its chief theatre critic from 1994 until his death in ...

stated: "As a film, 'Lifeguard' is romantic twaddle, but as sociology it's a spontaneous assault on a very American way of life. ..as entertainment it ranks somewhat above '

Bikini Beach ''Bikini Beach'' is a 1964 American teen film directed by William Asher and starring Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello. The film belongs to the beach party genre of movies, popular in the 1960s. This is the third in the series of seven films ...

' but below ' Godzilla Versus Megalon.'"

References

External links