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| Luke Halpin in Flipper | ||
[from Wikipedia, classic-tv.com, imdb.com]
Flipper, from Ivan Tors Films in association with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Television, is an American television program first broadcast on NBC from September 18, 1964 until April 15, 1967. Flipper, a Bottlenose Dolphin, is the companion animal of Porter Ricks, Chief Warden at fictional Coral Key Park and Marine Preserve in southern Florida, and his two young sons Sandy and Bud.
First Telecast: Sept 19, 1964
Last Telecast: Apr 15, 1967
Original Network: NBC
Number of Seasons: 3
Number of Episodes: 88
Flipper was filmed in Miami at Greenwich Studios, (as Ivan Tors Studios). The show was produced in cooperation with Miami Seaquarium, an aquarium located on Key Biscayne in Biscayne Bay, Miami, Florida. The Miami Seaquarium features a Flipper Dolphin Show which is held in the same lagoon that the feature films and the TV series were filmed. The original house (refurbished) is still there.
In the conclusion of a two-part episode, the characters of Sandy and Bud are written out of the show (by that time both boys had essentially grown out of their roles), as it is detailed how each plans to leave Coral Key — Sandy has been accepted to the Coast Guard Academy, and Bud will be attending a private school remedially, out-of-state, as arranged by their Aunt Martha.
At the beginning of the TV series, Sandy is 15 years old, and Bud is 10 years old. (imdb.com)
Origins of Flipper
The show was created by Jack Cowden and Ricou Browning, a man with extensive experience in underwater filming and underwater performance, notably as the monster in The Creature from the Black Lagoon. A considerable amount of juvenile merchandise inspired by the show was produced during the first-run. The show has been dubbed an "aquatic Lassie".
The television show is an adaptation of the 1963 film Flipper starring Chuck Connors and Luke Halpin as Porter and Sandy Ricks, and its 1964 sequel, Flipper's New Adventure, where Brian Kelly took over the role of Porter.
In adapting the films to a television series, the producers made Porter a single parent and gave him a second son named Bud, played by Tommy Norden. The producers departed yet again from the films in endowing Flipper with an unnatural degree of intelligence and an extraordinary understanding of human motives, behavior, and vocabulary.
Flipper merchandise generated for the juvenile market during the show's first run is now scarce and collectible. Flipper vintage collectibles include: lunch boxes, song books, comic books, coloring books, a Whitman novel, Big Little Books, souvenir spoons, Whitman frame tray puzzles, a board game, Viewmaster reels, and a battery-operated "spouting dolphin" water toy.
Flipper was nominated for two TV Land awards: in 2004 for the TV Land Favorite Fauna Award and, in 2003, for the TV Land Favorite Pet-Human Relationship Award. Flipper appeared twice on TV Guide covers.
The dolphins that played Flipper
The role of Flipper was played at first by a female dolphin named Suzy, though primarily by another female, Kathy, and occasionally by other females named Patty, Scotty and Squirt.
Female dolphins were chosen because they are less aggressive than males and their skins (unlike the skins of male dolphins) are usually free from scars and other disfigurations acquired in altercations with other dolphins.
The five dolphins performed all of Flipper's thespian chores except the famous tail walk, a trick they were unable to master completely.
A male dolphin named Clown was brought in for scenes involving the tail walk.
The famous "voice" of Flipper was actually the doctored song of a kookaburra (Australian bird).
Luke Halpin in Flipper
Luke Halpin was the only actor who starred in both feature films as well as all three seasons of the TV series. (Brian Kelley appeared in the second feature, while Tommy Norden appeared only in the TV series.) Between the 1963 Flipper feature and the three-year TV series (1964-1967), Luke spent the bulk of his teen acting career starring as Sandy Ricks. It became his best known role.
According to a letter by Luke published in 16 Magazine, Flipper was filmed during the summers. Luke Halpin was 17 years old in Season 1, although there appears to be footage that was made earlier when he was 16. He was 18 in Season 2 and 19 in Season 3. Luke turned 20 in April 1967, when the series broadcasted its final episode.
As an experienced swimmer and skin diver, Luke Halpin used his considerable athletic talent to lend credibility to the action-adventure role of Sandy Ricks. Luke used no standins, performing all of his own stunts. In the debut episode, 300 Feet Below, he did a high dive into the ocean from a helicopter. Luke also did many underwater scenes without air tanks. In Ep 31, Flipper and the Mermaid, he did an entire underwater rescue scene wearing only his shorts: no air tanks, fins, or face mask. In Ep 44, Shark Hunt, Luke did his own shark catching, a dangerous job that even the film crew were afraid to handle.
Luke Halpin's natural acting talent plus his exceptional good looks made him one of the 1960s' most popular teen stars. Frequently dressed down to only his signature cutoffs, Luke Halpin's lean, bare-chested body became a highly anticipated sight on Saturday evenings. Luke was not at all shy, and sometimes appeared shirtless in his publicity photos. With his highly toned muscles and near perfect complexion, Luke's young physique won praise and admiration among fans all over the world.
Luke appeared in every episode except three, all in Season 2: Ep 42 (Flipper and the Horse Thieves) and Ep 55/56 (Flipper Joins the Navy, Parts 1 and 2).
Luke Halpin did military service during the series' run, which explains his shorter haircut in several episodes of Season 3.
Flipper Theme Song
The show's theme song was credited to Henry Vars with lyrics by William "By" Dunham. In France the melody was known as "La Romance de Paris" ("The Love Song of Paris").
The words to the Flipper theme song:
They call him Flipper, Flipper, faster than lightning,
No-one you see, is smarter than he,
And we know Flipper lives in a world full of wonder,
Lying there under, under the sea!
Everyone loves the king of the sea,
Ever so kind and gentle is he,
Tricks he will do when children appear,
And how they laugh when he's near!
They call him Flipper, Flipper, faster than lightning,
No-one you see, is smarter than he,
And we know Flipper lives in a world full of wonder,
Lying there under, under the sea!
The first five episodes of the second season feature a completely different recording of the theme, sung by Frankie Randall, with different lyrics:
We call him Flipper, Flipper, you'll see him smilin'
Right from the start, he'll play it smart.
Beware of Flipper, Flipper, he's such a lover,
You will discover when he steals your heart!
When you're feelin' sad, when you're feelin' blue,
He'll make you glad, yes, that's what he'll do,
And what he can do you'll never believe,
For he's got tricks up his sleeve!
Beware of Flipper, Flipper, he's such a lover,
You will discover when he steals your heart!
The background music of the long underwater sequences was inspired by Maurice Ravel's Daphnis and Chloe.
A special article contributed by Alan R regarding the TV Color vs Black & White aspects of Flipper
June 28, 2001
(NOTE: Alan R is a frequent contributor to The Luke Halpin Gallery. This writeup on Luke's TV series Flipper was originally posted on the Guestbook on June 28, 2001.)
I'll just provide a little more information about the Flipper TV series. It was produced for three years: the 1964 season, 30 episodes; 1965 season, 30 episodes; 1966 season, 28 episodes; total of 88 episodes. What's really unusual, though, that people today probably wouldn't realize, is the fact that the entire series was produced in color, right from the start. Y'see, when the show debuted in 1964, black-and-white was still the rule of the day.
Back in the 50's, a few syndicated shows had been shot in color, like later episodes of "Superman" and "The Lone Ranger", but after them, color fell back to an extreme rarity, used for almost nothing except some specials (notably including the 1960 staging of "Peter Pan" that Luke was in!) The only other things I know of that were produced regularly in color in 1964 were "Bonanza", which had been shot in color since it premiered in 1959; "The Lucy Show", which had debuted in 1962 in B&W, and switched to color a year later, in 1963, and continued that way in '64; and cartoon shows. So, in 1964, the color TV landscape consisted basically of "Bonanza", "The Lucy Show", "Flipper", and cartoons. The rest of the TV schedule was in black-and-white. I think maybe the reason "Flipper" was singled out for this honor might have been because it was coming to television from the movies, of which there had been two, both in color. Appearing in B&W would probably have seemed like a glaring step backward.
In 1964, many shows continued their runs in B&W. Some shows that debuted in B&W include: Gilligan's Island, Gomer Pyle, Bewitched, The Addams Family, The Munsters, and The Man from U.N.C.L.E., this last from the same studio that produced "Flipper", MGM.
In 1965, the landscape changed radically. Most debuts were in color (notable exceptions were I Dream of Jeannie, Lost in Space, and F Troop.) Hogan's Heroes and Get Smart had their pilot episodes in B&W, but all subsequent episodes in color. Continuing shows were split between staying in B&W, and shifting to color.
By fall of 1966, all of prime time was in color. (News and daytime still had a lot of B&W.) Many old B&W shows were canceled or bowed out, rather than make the switch. (Dick van Dyke Show, Patty Duke Show, Perry Mason, Addams Family, Munsters...) I think that the 1966 season had one of the largest percentages of NEW shows ever.
Back to "Flipper", whenever you see an episode, the opening titles can tell you which season the episode is from. The first season is marked most clearly by where the titles say, "and Flipper", showing the dolphin alone. The later seasons used a shot of the 3 Rickses with Flipper. Variations in the first season: the first four episodes use cast shots taken during the filming of the pilot. The rest of the season, and the second season, use later shots (these include the shot of Tommy Norden with the puppy in his face). Five episodes of the first season also feature "Guest star Andy Devine".
The titles for the second season changed just by changing the "and Flipper" to include the family; except, the first five episodes of the season featured a totally different version of the Flipper theme, sung by swingin' Frankie Randall. I think there was a conscious effort at the start of the new season to heighten the drama (the criminal Burt Reynolds strands the family on an island, and ends up threatening Sandy at gunpoint; Flipper is endangered by an old floating mine; and is deafened and may have to be put to sleep after an underwater explosion), and to broaden the appeal more to general audiences (having been promoted originally in 1964 as "for children", which even such juvenile fare as "The Munsters" and "Gilligan's Island" had not been!); hence, the new theme, and a new "love interest" for Porter, Ulla Norstrand. The cast shots of Luke and Tommy, carried over from the first season, finally had their source revealed, when the scene they were taken from was used in the opening scene of episode 40, "Dolphin Patrol". That "new scene" of that episode was actually a year old!
The third season is marked by new cast pictures of "the Rickses". That year also introduced the airplane into the stories, and it was used to show each cast member in a different mode of transport: Brian Kelly in the plane, Luke Halpin in the "launch", and Tommy Norden in the "skiff". The shot of the family with Flipper was carried over.