The duo began shooting 16 mm surfing films , which portrayed the surf culture in cinematic time capsules , culminating in 1972 with their final surf movie , “ Five Summer Stories ,” widely acknowledged as the best surf film of all time . The film captured the joy of surfing , with a backdrop of the political and environmental issues of the time , plus a notable soundtrack by The Beach Boys and Honk .
A STORIED CELEBRATION Fast-forward a half century and MacGillivray Freeman Films has released a special 50th anniversary version of “ Five Summer Stories ,” which premiered in August at the New Port Theater in Corona del Mar , followed by screenings around the country .
Locally , “ Five Summer Stories ” will be featured at this year ’ s Coast Film & Music Festival in Laguna Beach . In addition to a Nov . 9 screening of the film at 7 p . m . at Hobie Surf Shop , there will be another screening on the night of Nov . 13 at the Festival of Arts grounds as part of the Laguna Legends Filmmaker Showcase ; the latter event will also feature a performance by Honk , one of the bands that created music in the film . Following the performance , MacGillivray and Honk band members Steve and Beth Wood , Tris Imboden , Richard Stekol and Craig Buhler will participate in a Q & A on
The original “ Five Summer Stories ” poster
From left , Quiksilver co-founder Bob McKnight , former Surfing Magazine Senior Editor Sam George and filmmaker Greg MacGillivray at the premiere of the 50th anniversary screening of “ Five Summer Stories ” at the New Port Theater in Corona del Mar
the making of the film and inspiration for the music that became a cultural touch point . MacGillivray will also be signing copies of his new visual memoir , “ Five Hundred Summer Stories : A Life in Imax ,” which will be available at bookstores including Laguna Beach Books and online beginning Nov . 15 .
Also , “ Five Summer Stories : The Exhibition ” will be featured Nov . 4 through March 7 at Laguna Art Museum as part of the institution ’ s Art & Nature programming , which begins Nov . 3 . Deemed by many as the most important surf movie ever made , the exhibit will showcase original artifacts depicting how the film was created as well as surfboards , film footage and ephemera from the theatrical release that drew record crowds .
LOOKING BACK Sam George , former senior editor at Surfing Magazine , recalls seeing “ Five Summer Stories ” for the first time in the early 1970s and notes that he and others in the audience had no idea what they were about to witness .
“ We had seen plenty of surfing movies — they were crudely filmed , no theme at all [ and ] the music was whatever they had on their eight tracks ,” he shares . “ We assumed we were going to see another surf movie , so you can imagine how stunned we were when ‘ Five Summer Stories ’ came alive on the screen . It was like nothing we had ever seen before . The quality of the cinematography , the music that was written for the film — it was nothing we had seen .”
George says the film presented a perspective of what surfing was at the time and what it could be .
“ It was a hugely effective film and changed the perspective of the surfers who watched it ,” George says . “ If you look at the quality and audacity , ‘ Five Summer Stories ’ would have to be the greatest surf movie ever made .”
For their initial screening of “ Five Summer Stories ” in 1972 , MacGillivray and Freeman rented the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium , which held 3,000 people .
“ The film was shown in stereo through the best sound system you could get at that time ,” MacGillivray says . “ The magnetic film carried the soundtrack , separate from the film , so there were two machines — one running the film , the other running the soundtrack . Both had to be in sync with each other . We ’ d bring in our own speakers , gigantic rock ’ n ’ roll speakers , and a gigantic amplifier . It was like a rock concert . If you saw the film in one of its first 10 runs in SoCal , you were treated to this stereo sound that was magnificent . And you have music by Honk and The Beach Boys . We were able to showcase that wonderful music with this great sound system and give kids an experience they hadn ’ t had at a surf movie , ever . It
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