The End Of Summer. RIP Bruce Brown

Cafe Society
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Bruce Brown, who turned surfing into a cultural phenomenon with ‘The Endless Summer,’ dies at 80

I was never a surfer, though I really wanted a surfboard when I was a kid in San Diego. Nevertheless, I love The Endless Summer (1966). Part of that is nostalgia, having growing up with beaches. Part of it is my love of independent filmmaking. In The Endless Summer’s case, it was shot on a spring-wound Bolex H16, with narration and music added later. How cool is that?

It seems appropriate to remember Bruce Brown with Green Day’s Last Ride In.

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Endless Summer is a wonderful movie. Saw it when it was released at the age of 10 or 11. Just a fantastic travelogue and look at 60s surfing. I’m sure it contributed greatly to a boom in surfing here and abroad. It was a great movie to watch and chillax with. He will be missed.

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Aww. I was a surfer, and his passing saddens me greatly.

The spring-wound camera was the reason he couldn’t get an entire ride in one shot at Cape St. Francis.

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RIP Bruce.

I love Endless Summer and On Any Sunday too. They’re dated now but still fun to watch with great camera work and Bruce’s goofy sense of humor.

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Twenty-eight seconds.

Some of it wouldn’t fly nowadays, such as the stereotypical African native jumping out of the bushes. I don’t know how well the kid with the ‘life preserver’ would go over either.