AllMovie

In 1966, Bruce Brown made the definitive movie about surfing, The Endless Summer, but in 1958 he was a lifeguard by day who at night swept up a surfboard shop owned by a guy named Dale Velzy. Brown also had an 8mm movie camera and had made some amateur movies of fellow surfers in action; Velzy liked Brown's work and decided to bankroll him in his first effort to make a feature film. On a budget of $5,000, Brown flew to Hawaii with a 16mm camera, 50 rolls of film, and five surfers (Del Cannon, Freddy Pfhaler, Dick Thomas, Kemp Aaberg, and Henry Ford), and along the way learned how to make the first "professional" surfing documentary, Slippery When Wet. Along with priceless vintage surf footage from Oahu, Slippery When Wet features an original score from jazz artist Bud Shank.