First day of (Endless) Summer!

It seems appropriate to post, on this first day of summer, a classic summer movie, if more a cult item than a popcorn hit. Bruce Brown's Endless Summer opened in June of 1966. The documentary is about two surfers and their trek to experience an "endless summer" by jetting the globe and surfing wherever they can. The two visit (moving eastward from the United States) Senegal, Ghana, South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand.

Though I was only 10 when this movie came out, I remember feeling faint stirrings of sexual attraction when saw the ubiquitous ad image of the shirtless surfer on the beach in silhouette against a blazing sun. This image is striking, especially in color, and I couldn't find any other ads that featured any substantially different artwork. I didn't catch up with the movie until a few years ago. The photography is lovely, but the two surfers are not the most interesting subjects, and time has not been kind to the film's patronizing views of women and native peoples.Still, that ad pose will always mean summer to me.