Taglines: A state somewhere between fantasy and reality.
California Dreaming movie storyline. Wearing a suit and tie and carrying a suitcase full of records, eager newcomer Tony “T.T.” Thompson (Dennis Christopher) arrives at the small beach side town of State Beach, California, on a bus from Chicago, Illinois, at the height of summer. Inside the local hangout, Duke’s Vista del Mar, T.T. listens to the jukebox and introduces himself to the owner, Duke Slusarski (Seymour Cassel), explaining that he is in town to honor his late brother Phil, a jazz musician who dreamed of playing his trumpet by the ocean.
Touched by T.T.s spiritual mission, Duke offers the young man a place to stay at his house, but Duke’s daughter, Corky (Glynnis O’Connor), is upset about the visitor’s intrusion, since she was hoping to spend more time with her father during her last month at the beach before she returns to college. The next morning, Corky and T.T.s interaction begins awkwardly as she undresses in the bathroom to shower, not realizing he is using the toilet.
At the local auto shop, Jordy Banks (Todd Susman), a local wealthy snob, shows off his shiny Corvette to local diner waitress Corrine (Alice Playten) and her boyfriend, Earl Fescue (Ned Wynn), the garage’s mechanic. As Earl and Corrine admire the sports car, Jordy, who is trying to impress Corrine, offers a bet that if Earl can live in his old Pontiac for the next six weeks until Labor Day, he can have the Corvette; however, if he vacates the Pontiac for any reason, he must give it to Jordy. Confidently, Earl accepts the challenge.
At the beach, T.T. stands by in black socks and green shorts, watching Corky and Duke play volleyball. When T.T. introduces himself to local surfers, Rick (John Calvin), Tenner (John Fain) and Mike (Jimmy Van Patten), they ignore him and call him a “kook” behind his back. T.T. also meets Fay (Dorothy Tristan), Duke’s ex-wife, who owns a bathing suit and clothing store in town. Fay is also close to her former step-daughter, Corky whom they go jogging together on the beach every day. Back at the garage among a crowd of onlookers, a television news team reports on Earl’s six-week car-living challenge, as steel bars are welded onto the Pontiac’s windows and the doors are sealed.
Over the next several weeks as the summer season goes on, Duke tries to help T.T. fit in by buying him appropriate beachwear and showing him how to play volleyball, a sport that Duke compares to sex. He also shares stories about participating in the 1956 summer Olympic Games in Helsinki, Finland, as a swimming athlete. Inspired, T.T. practices volleyball in his room, while Corky continues to ignore him.
After smoking marijuana on the beach one day, T.T. goes to the local movie theater. At the crowded concession stand, T.T. becomes aroused by the girls gathered around the counter, and ends up spilling soda on his shirt. In the men’s bathroom, T.T. encounters surfers Rick and Mike, and Mike is too intoxicated to stand after being dumped by his girlfriend. After T.T. helps guide Mike to the car, three girls surround T.T. eager to know a friend of the popular surfers, but he keeps his eye on Corky as she leaves the theater.
California Dreaming is a 1979 American comedy-drama film starring Glynnis O’Connor, Dennis Christopher, Seymour Cassel, Tanya Roberts, Alice Playten, Ned Wynn, James Van Patten, Stacey Nelkin, Johnny Fain, Tom McFadden and Marshall Efron and directed by John D. Hancock. The film was theatrically released on March 16, 1979 in the United States.
California Dreaming (1979)
Directed by: John D. Hancock
Starring: Glynnis O’Connor, Dennis Christopher, Seymour Cassel, Tanya Roberts, Alice Playten, Ned Wynn, James Van Patten, Stacey Nelkin, Johnny Fain, Tom McFadden, Marshall Efron
Screenplay by: Ned Wynn
Production Design by: William Hiney
Cinematography by: Bobby Byrne
Film Editing by: Herb Dow, Roy Peterson
Set Decoration by: Charles Graffeo
Music by: Fred Karlin
MPAA Rating: None.
Distributed by: American International Pictures
Release Date: March 16, 1979
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