The benefit screening Friday at Duke’s restaurant will feature the seminal surf film’s co-writer Dennis Aaberg and surfing pioneer Pete Townend.
By Michael Aushenker / Special to The Malibu Times
Surf’s up, Malibu! This Friday, Malibu Surfing Association (MSA) and Duke’s Malibu will present the seminal surfing movie, “Big Wednesday” (1978). The Jan. 20 screening, to be held at Duke’s restaurant, will benefit the Malibu High School surf team.
With “Big Wednesday,” director John Milius delivered both an exciting surfing movie and a ’60s-era coming-of-age story. Set in 1963, the narrative centers on a trio of teen surf bums-reckless legend Matt (Jan-Michael Vincent), the serious Jack (William Katt), and maniac Leroy, a.k.a. “Masochist” (Malibu resident Gary Busey)-living the eternal summer at the beach alongside their surfboard-making mentor Bear (Sam Melville).
Along with the film’s machismo leanings and philosophical tendencies, “Big Wednesday” boasts some spectacular surfing footage courtesy of world champion Gerry Lopez, who Milius would later cast in his 1982 hit “Conan the Barbarian” (starring Arnold Schwarzenegger).
“The high school kids picked the movie for the screening,” said Josh Morgan, manager at Duke’s restaurant. “It’s the perfect tie-in.”
“A lot of it was filmed here,” said Michael Moss, a Malibu High Surf Team coach. “And [actor Gary Busey] lives in Malibu.”
The Malibu High surf team currently has 32 members, but unlike some other coastal schools with surf teams, the program is not funded by the school, so surfers have to pay to compete. Proceeds from the benefit evening will cover team members’ entrance fees for the surf competitions they enter throughout the year.
“It’s pretty astronomical what we have to pay,” Moss said. “They’re the Malibu Sharks, they should have a surf team.”
The team enjoys healthy participation, but it must still raise money independently to keep going, and all of the coaches are volunteers. The team is captained by Trevor Robbins, whose parents Doug and Elaine Robbins basically run the team. Doug Robbins specializes in teaching longboard, while Moss’s strength is shortboard.
“We got a really good team together,” Moss said. “I’m really happy with the kids. We practice twice a week. We have varsity and junior varsity teams. There are six competitions throughout the year.”
The idea for the benefit originated with MSA’s former president Michael Blum.
“We’ve been partners for years now,” said Morgan. MSA, which formed in 1961 as a loose consortium of surfers, holds its general meetings at Duke’s. The restaurant supports club activities such as beach clean-up days.
“A few months back,” Morgan continued, “we talked about a few events we wanted to support. Michael wants to do things for the local Malibu community. That’s something I’ve always wanted to do. With [restaurant namesake] Duke [Kahanamoku] being the father of surfing, the connection was [a natural]. That’s when we came up with the idea of doing a movie night.”
Expect to find Denny Aaberg, a local figure who has been surfing since the ‘50s, at Friday’s screening. Aaberg, who co-wrote “Big Wednesday” with Milius and appears in the movie as “Slick,” will narrate the never-before-screened “Little Wednesday,” Aaberg’s collection of outtakes from the film.
“He’s with MSA, he’s a member,” Morgan said. “He comes into Duke’s all the time. He also plays guitar, so we’ll probably devote a portion of the evening to some music with Denny Aaberg.”
Pete Townend, a world champion surfer who served as Katt’s stunt double in the film, is also scheduled to attend the screening. Morgan is trying to line up a few more surprise guests.
“We’re also going to have candy and popcorn and part of the proceeds will go the Malibu High Surf Team,” Morgan said.
“Big Wednesday” will screen on Jan. 20 at 7 p.m. Duke’s Malibu is located at 21150 Pacific Coast Highway. Suggested donation: $5. All proceeds will support Malibu High School’s surf team.