Rest in Peace....Bruce Brown

[R K T]

The surfing world exploded after Bruce Brown's great movie.

[manbridge 74]

I shall have to put On Any Sunday on endless loop at the shop tomorrow.

RIP

[Baz]

That bites.....

[Baz]

[Baz]

[MMiller]

Yea tough to hear today. I really wish I knew how many times I have watched "On any Sunday" I watched it at least 3 times this year. Great vintage soundtrack.....

I don't surf but enjoyed Endless as well.

[Ktm450exc]

That sucks.. the guy was totally responsible for my life long love of motorcycles and my parents gray hair...

[manbridge 74]

I loved how they captured the California feel. The kid smiling and riding a wheelie with NO helmet (PC gasp!) as the credits rolled in the beginning of OAS. Classic!

[BeyGon]

I met Bruce Brown a few times and I knew Robert August. I lived in Huntington Beach and went into his little store there a lot. I built a house around the bay from Robert and was there while they filmed Endless Summer II. I was there when the plane crashed with Mike Difenderfer on it. The movie shows the two kids getting out after the crash but they weren't in it at the time. Lots of parties there while the filming was going on, lots of fun and Bruce was a cool guy.
Also I was in the Elsinore race he filmed for On any Sunday but not a star like McQueen, watched that movie a lot and never could find myself, I had to be in it but there was so much mud you can't tell.
Here is a picture of the plane when it crashed on the beach, and a picture of Robert at Sunrise Café in Tamarindo. That's his little girl in the picture.

[Baz]

Thanks for your post and comments, Dean.

A lot of great memories for many of us.......

[R K T]

My thanks to you also Dean!

Grew up in the South Bay of LA and in the summer of '66 the Strand Theatre in Hermosa Beach played Endless Summer constantly! VW buses and Ford Woodies with 9'+ boards strapped down outside the theatre every night. Lost track of how many times we went to see E.S.
What a time!

[BeyGon]

Originally Posted by R K T

My thanks to you also Dean!

Grew up in the South Bay of LA and in the summer of '66 the Strand Theatre in Hermosa Beach played Endless Summer constantly! VW buses and Ford Woodies with 9'+ boards strapped down outside the theatre every night. Lost track of how many times we went to see E.S.
What a time!

I bought one of the boards just like Robert made for the ES II movie and used it while I was living in Costa Rica
I was talking to Mike Difenderfer one night and told him about the ten foot Haleiwa balsa board I had in Hawaii 1963, he said he shaped it, he shaped every balsa board from that shop for three or four years.

[R K T]

Great!

I had a Dewey and a couple Jacobs back then....worth big bucks now! My favorite was an Ole and helped Bob shape it in the late 60s. He is 83 now living and still shaping boards in Lahaina!

[Bill Douglas]

I'll have an extra pinot and salute him.

[tevake]

Dang, his passing is a loss to the surfing community every where.
But then his legacy is a center point of our culture for sure.

A big mahalo to Bruce for the memories!

Cheers Richard

[porsche tech]

Saw the movie about 4 times in the theater when I was a teenager. Favorite line: "You shoulda been here yesterday" spoken quite a few times by the local surfers at various surf places.

[sammyg2]

My very first surfboard was a Robert August 7' fish that was perfect for big rollers at San Onofre.

That movie had allot to do with the selection.

[ossiblue]

Originally Posted by R K T

My thanks to you also Dean!

Grew up in the South Bay of LA and in the summer of '66 the Strand Theatre in Hermosa Beach played Endless Summer constantly! VW buses and Ford Woodies with 9'+ boards strapped down outside the theatre every night. Lost track of how many times we went to see E.S.
What a time!

I'm a South Bay boy as well, and Bruce Brown was my idol as a teen. We used to watch all his movies at high school auditoriums, beginning with "Slippery When Wet", and couldn't wait until the next year when his new film would come out.

Rowdy crowds of teens, flipping bottle caps and eating sunflower seeds while hooting at the surfing on the screen--all the while with Bruce narrating using a hand carried amp. South High Gym, Mira Costa Gym, and Pier Avenue were the typical venues for "Barefoot Adventure", "Surf Crazy", "Surfing Hollowdays", and the rest. When "Endless Summer" hit, it was big time, upscale, and shown in a real movie theater. Loved it to death, and still do.

RIP Bruce Brown. Thank you for the greatest memories of youth a person could have.

[Baz]

In case anyone is interested, there's an eBay auction currently with no bids and 2.25 days left for the Bruce Brown early film collection on DVD. 6 movies in all.

I already have all these on VHS.

Here's the auction site:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Bruce-Brown-Box-Set-DVD-2004-6-Disc-Set/192392631544?epid=30018666&hash=item2ccb7e94f8:g:bcEAAOSwg7VZn2zz

You can also purchase this collection plus both Endless Summers at the Bruce Brown dot com site:
https://www.brucebrownfilms.com/store/the-ultimate-summer-bruce-brown-surf-collection-dvd

Or from eBay:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Ultimate-Summer-Bruce-Brown-Surf-Collection-5-Discs-DVD-Used-Like-New/152645094814?hash=item238a5b4d9e:g:BwEAAOSwRh1Zf5K C

I have no affiliation...just passing this along....

[Geary]

There was something about Bruce's friendly voice that just said, "Just sit back and enjoy". As much as I loved all his surf movies, On Any Sunday was possibly my favorite of all his films. What a gift he was to our generation.

"You shoulda have been here yesterdie .." the most quoted line from Endless Summer. (Coincidentally, I had a home 20 minutes from Piha, where this was uttered, for about 3 years. Piha is one of the more consistent & fun surf spots in NZ.)