Flipper (MGM) (1963)

etd HAVE IO SEE IT TO ge “s wun } MAUET pstsin METROCOLOR The wonderful story of a boy and his dolphin pal... their amazing friendship, their fabulous underwater adventures and the thrills they shared together!! 66. CHUCK CONNORS LiKE HALPIN epee KATHLEEN MAGUIRE arTHUR WEISS °2.g242%% « JAMES B.CLARK + IVAN TORS M.C.iM Tee APR | 309 SYNOPSIS OF “FLIPPER” Porter Ricks (CHUCK CONNORS), a Florida Keys fisherman, faces starvation along with his neighbors when an ocean parasite known as the Red Plague attacks and kills the local supply of fish. While searching for new fishing grounds Ricks is caught in a hurricane that wrecks many of the homes and boats of the villagers, among them his own sturdy little craft. Following the storm Ricks takes his boat to the mainland for repairs, leaving his wife (KATHLEEN MAGUIRE) and 12-year-old son Sandy (LUKE HALPIN), behind. Sandy promises to repair the storm damage to the house during his father’s absence. The day after Ricks departs, the boy finds an enormous, eight-foot dolphin which has been wounded with a spear. His love for all living things prompts him to attempt a life-saving operation. He tows the dolphin home, housing him in his father’s fish-pen. Here he and his mother nurse the dolphin back to health. Sandy and his dolphin pal, Flipper, become close friends. They swim together and play together and Flipper proves apt at learning all manner of tricks. As the days fly by Sandy forgets the chores assigned him by his father. Ricks returns and orders Sandy to turn Flipper back into the ocean. Not only does he need the fish-pen but he is annoyed that Sandy permitted the new friend to keep him from his work. Sandy is heartbroken. Weeks slip by. Every spare moment finds Sandy on the sea and under it, searching for Flipper. One day, miraculously, the dolphin appears and leads his young friend to a new fishing ground. Sandy tells his father of the find—but doesn’t mention the part played by Flipper in the discovery. Ricks goes to the new area and returns with a boatload of live, healthy fish. These he stores in the fish-pen. Next day, while Ricks is gone, Flipper returns to visit Sandy. He hurdles the barrier and jumps into the pen, then proceeds to devour the entire catch of fish. Furious at this turn of events, Ricks orders Sandy to go out in his own small boat and catch enough fish to replace those eaten by Flipper. Again Flipper swims to the rescue and shows Sandy a second new fishing area, one untouched by the Red Plague. Sandy reports to his father, but this time Ricks is taking no chances. He tells the boy that if a single dolphin shows up near the grounds, he will shoot to kill. Sandy, fearful that his father might kill Flipper, goes to the new grounds first, searching for Flipper above and beneath the surface. During one dive, two great fish swim toward him. They are sharks. He tries to escape but is no match for the swift-moving killers. Suddenly, streaking to the rescue comes Flipper to save the boy who once saved him. Flipper fights off the sharks, ramming one to death and scattering the other. Taking Sandy on his back he swims with him to his father’s approaching boat. Ricks, thankful for what the dolphin has done, knows now that dolphins are very special friends of man and that the riches of the sea should be shared with them. Flipper and Sandy are reunited—and Flipper takes up residence in a very special lagoon, prepared just for him and adjoining the Ricks’ fish-pen . . . where he and Sandy can romp and play together from this time on.