Zuma Beach is a 1978 TV movie written by John Carpenter and William Schwartz, directed by Lee H. Katzin and starring Suzanne Somers.
Plot A fading rock singer goes to the beach to get away from it all and winds up getting involved in the lives of the teenage beachgoers.
Cast Suzanne Somers as Bonnie Katt Steven Keats as Jerry McCabe Mark Wheeler as David Hunter Kimberly Beck as Cathy Perry Lang as Billy Michael Biehn as J.D. Biff Warren as Norman Les Lannom as Stan Rosanna Arquette as Beverly Gary Imhoff as Frank Leonard Stone as Johnson Steve Franken as Rick Richard Molinare as Frank Tanya Roberts as Denise P.J. Soles as Nancy Timothy Hutton as Art Janus Blythe as Jennifer
History Suzanne Somers' fame was rising due to the success of the sitcom Three's Company, and she wanted to star in movies. Although a lightweight TV movie, Zuma Beach provided Somers with her first starring movie role.Bernstein, Jay. Starmaker: Life as a Hollywood Publicist with Farrah, The Rat Pack and 600 More Stars Who Fired Me, pp. 184-185 (2011)Farley, Ellen and William K. Knoedelseder, Jr. (19 February 1978). Rub-a-Dub-Dub, Three Networks in a Tub, Washington Post (brief mention of upcoming film in February 1978 with Somers to star)
John Carpenter wrote the script for a producer "who just said he wanted a beach movie." He sold it to Warner Bros., and it became a TV movie to star Suzanne Somers. Carpenter said he "was going to direct it, for about 10 seconds, but one of my mentors, Richard Kobritz...helped me see I didn't want to do it. It was vastly rewritten, so I really shouldn't have taken credit for it, but I was a little asshole in those days."
Tim Hutton had one of his first roles in the film.NOTHING 'ORDINARY' ABOUT TIM HUTTON, Champlin, Charles. Los Angeles Times, 15 Jan 1981: h1.
Reception The Los Angeles Times praised the naturalness of Somers' performance.TV MOVIE REVIEW: Somers in Swim of Role That Suits, Thomas, Kevin. Los Angeles Times, 27 Sep 1978: f18.
References
External links
Full movie on archive.org