Flipper's New Adventure (MGM) (1964)

By Ivan Tors Producer of “Flipper’s New Ad venture,” sequel to Metro-Gold wyn-Mayer’s highly popular “Flipper.” We were working at the Miami Seaquarium last summer, preparing “Flipper’s New Adventure,’ when important news arrived—a baby dolphin was born in the 565,000gallon tank. By the time we lowered our camera equipment and underwater photographers, the baby dolphin was two hours old and about three feet long. The society of dolphins was already beautifully organized to protect and help their precious newborn. Meanwhile, inhabitants of the same tank—several large tiger sharks—cast hungry glances at the tasty new tidbit, but the “uncles” and ‘“aunts’ formed an effective shield around mother and baby. For many weeks to follow they remained in unison as a protective screen around the little dolphin. Dolphin life continued. The happy mother kept very busy being a good mother. She nursed her infant, keeping the baby alongside of her so that she could feel its small, relatively untried flippers and tail touching her rhythmically and reassuringly and thrusting the little dolphin to the surface to teach it to breathe. Whenever she left it to feed on fish in order to produce life-giving milk for the infant, an aunt or a “baby sitter”’ would immediately take over her protective function. The intensity of this maternal instinct in the female dolphin, observed in captivity as well as in the open ocean, was so moving that once more everyone working on “Flipper’s New Adventure” realized that we were viewing a superior being and not an ordinary mammal. Observing the affectionate treatment of the mother towards its young and the gentleness of the other dolphins toward the baby, it occurred to us to apply the same technique in making contact with young dolphins in the future. We decided to abandon the _ conventional training method, which in essence places the dolphin in the position of a circus performer. One of the young dolphins, separated from her sick mother, was placed in a salt water lagoon. We decided to treat her the same FLIPPER FIGHTS! The intelligence of the dolphin is almost beyond belief, as exemplified by Flipper, the dolphin star of “Flipper’s New Adventure,” MetroGoldwyn-Mayer’s sequel to last year’s big box-office success, “Flipper.” In an exciting sequence of the new film, Luke Halpin, repeating his role as Sandy Ricks, is about to be attacked by pirates. The warm, affectionate dolphin immediately became aggressive and made fast passes at Luke’s wouldbe attackers, although she had never been trained to behave in such fashion! "TRAINING DOLPHINS WITH AFFECTION” way her mother did. Luke Halpin, our young leading man in “Flipper’s New Adventure,” joined the dolphin. He swam alongside of her, touched her rhythmically and kept her company the way her mother had. Luke’s presence reduced the shock of loneliness created by the loss of the mother and the dolphin returned his affectionate dolphinlike training in kind. The boy and the dolphin swam and played together as only two dolphins would. The dolphin’s response and gratitude were beyond belief. She never left the boy’s side and expressed her gratitude by trying to please him, bringing different objects to him, towing him underwater, jumping over him playfully, talking to him constantly in dolphin language. When Luke, tiring of swimming, got into his dinghy, the dolphin jumped around him and squirted him with water, inviting him to come back and play. She would tow his boat, bring him fish and once a coconut she found off shore. At one point when Luke began to row, she never stopped jumping over his oar. The truly miraculous event with the dolphin occurred when we were Here is a Hollywood star that is winning more popularity polls than any other actor or actress to date. It’s Flipper, the lovable and talented dolphin, who proves himself a valiant hero in ‘‘Flipper’s New Adventure,’ Metro-GoldwynMayer’s fascinating sequel to the successful ‘*Flipper.”’ Flipper’s New Adventure Still 5118-55 Mat 1-B shooting a key scene for ‘Flipper’s New Adventure.” This was a sequence in which Luke was to be attacked by pirates. The warm, affectionate dolphin immediately became aggressive and made fast passes at lLuke’s would-be attackers, although she had never been trained to attack in such fashion. PUBLICITY Flipper, the lovable dolphin star who endeared himself to millions of moviegoers in the popular Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film, ‘“*Flipper,”’ is back in MGM’s fascinating sequel, ‘*Flipper’s New Adventure,”’ in which he aids young Luke Halpin and Pamela Franklin in outwitting a trio of murderous escaped convicts. The new Ivan Tors production was filmed in color in the Florida Keys and Bahamas. Leon Benson directed. Still 5118-21 Flipper’s New Adventure Mat 2-B LUKE HALPIN RIDES DOLPHINS; PAMELA FRANKLIN RIDES ON BACK OF A LION! “I was the first to prove that a boy could ride on the back of a dolphin,” boasted Luke Halpin to fourteen-year-old Pamela Franklin, his co-star in “Flipper’s New Adventure.” “Well,” replied Pamela, with a twinkle in her eye, “I was the first girl ever to ride on the back of a lion.” And so it was. Two of the most adventurous young actors in show business had been brought together by producer Ivan Tors to star in a sequel to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer’s “Flipper,” the boyon-a-dolphin hit of 1963. Both youngsters have devoted a large part of their acting careers to working in pictures about animals, but there the resemblance ends. Pamela Franklin was born in Japan, the daughter of an accountant for a British importexport firm. She has lived and worked in Japan, Ceylon, Australia, Africa, Hong Kong, England, France, Marjorca, Nassau and Hollywood—more of this world than most people could hope to see in a lifetime. Making her film debut at the age of ten with Deborah Kerr in “The Innocents,’ Pamela then appeared with animals in three successive films, “The Lion,” “Horse Without a Head” and “A Tiger Walks.” Ralph Helfer, who taught her to ride on the back of a 550pound lion, also taught her how to get along with a tiger in “A Tiger Walks.” Previous to her role in “Flipper’s New Adventure,” she enacted a schizophrenic child in “The Third Secret.” Luke Halpin is as American as Pamela is British. He was born in Astoria, Long Island; and was already a veteran of the theatre and television at the age of nine, appearing in such Broadway shows as “Take Me Along” and ‘“Sunrise at Campobello” and on numerout dramatic TV shows. However, he didn’t reach stardom until he met Ivan Tors. “T interviewed more than a hundred boys for the leading role in ‘Flipper’,” the producer recalls, “and Luke was the only one whose eyes lit up at the thought of swimming with a dolphin.” Pamela, who dubbed Luke “his nibs” during filming of “Flipper’s New Adventure” in the Florida Keys and Bahamas, is a fan of rock-and-roll and the twist, but she likes Elvis Presley and Pat Boone better than the Beatles. Luke, who never got quite used to Pamela’s language (English as opposed to his American) can think of nothing other than dolphins. Both actors aren’t happy unless they’re near animals. Pamela, according to her mother, would be happiest living in the Londan Zoo. And Luke, his parents confess, would like to move the family from Long Island to Miami’s Seaquarium! FABULOUS FLIPPER IS BACK IN "FLIPPERS NEW ADVENTURE,” SHARING FUN AND EXCITEMENT WITH LUKE Possibly no motion picture “star” in recent years became so endeared to the public as the beguiling dolphin who adopted young Luke Halpin in the film, ‘“Flipper,” and won the hearts of moviegoers of every age. The good news is that Flipper and Luke, in his role as Sandy Ricks, are back in Metro-GoldwynMayer’s “Flipper’s New Adventure,” a sequel to the earlier hit. When the new picture, filmed in color in the Florida Keys and Bahamas, opens and you see Flipper cavorting in the waves, balancing a banana on his nose, you have an idea what you are in for as this delightful actor performs before the cameras seemingly for the mere joy of it. But while Flipper is completely at home in such tricks as taking prodigious leaps over the rowboat oared by his pal, giving him zestful rides on its back both on the surface and below the ocean, or getting a bowline loop over its bottle-nose and pulling the skiff in which Sandy has collapsed from exhaustion to the shore of a tropical island, ‘“Flipper’s New Adventure” gives this remarkable dolphin actor his big opportunity for a truly dramatic role. It all comes about when Sandy, learning that his pet dolphin is to be taken from him, finds a hideaway on the remote island with Flipper in tow, only to discover that there are other castaways. They are an Englishwoman, Julia BRIAN KELLY IN HIS FILM DEBUT If ever an actor had the right background for a starring role in a@ movie dealing with underwater exploits it is Brian Kelly, who makes his motion picture debut in “Flipper’s New Adventure,” MetroGoldwyn-Mayer’s sequel to the highly popular “Flipper.” When Kelly went through Officers Candidate School for the U.S. Marine Corps, he emerged as a Lieutenant specializing in Scuba —underwater demolition and reconnaissance. His expertise came in mighty handy for his role as Luke Halpin’s father in ‘“Flipper’s New Adventure,” in which he joins the youngster and his dolphin friend in exciting action beneath the high seas. Incidentally, it was while Kelly was donating his services as a Scuba instructor at a Rehabilitation Center for children that he was spotted by producer Ivan Tors and signed for his screen debut. Also starring in “Flipper’s New Adventure” are Pamela Franklin, Britain’s popular young juvenile actress, and Tom Helmore. The new Ivan Tors production was directed by Leon Benson. Hopewell, and her two daughters, Penny and Gwen, who have been abandoned after three escaped convicts board their yacht and sail away with Sir Halsey Hopewell as their hostage. In scenes of both humor and dramatic impact, Sandy with the aid of the adroit Flipper, secretly helps Lady Hopewell and the two girls to survive in their primitive surroundings. Only the younger daughter, Penny, is in on the secret, having taken a blood oath not to reveal Sandy’s existence. Under Sandy’s tutelage, Penny learns how to scamper up the tall trunk of a tree for coconuts, to build a fire, and to fashion a trap for fish. It is Sandy who fills the trap with seafood and once, when he inserts not only canned food which he has found in the hulk of a wreck but also a can-opener, even the grateful Lady Hopewell begins to be suspicious of the bounty of nature. These scenes of a Robinson Crusoe life on the beautiful island were filmed in part in Florida’s famed aviary park, Parrot Jungle, and they are among the most captivating in the picture. The story reaches its climax when circumstances cause the convicts to return on the yacht with Sir Hopewell, and it is now that Flipper proves himself a valiant hero in aiding Sandy to subdue and capture the criminals. The sequence in which the dolphin hurls himself at the desperados from the water, knocks them from the yacht into the sea, and then gives them HALPIN AND OTHERS a knockout punch must be seen to be believed! Before the convicts have been completely vanquished, Flipper has been stabbed and for a suspenseful reel or two it seems as though the lovable dolphin may die. But in the end, when Sandy’s father, who has been frantically searching for the boy and dolphin, catches up with them, Flipper is operated on at the Miami Seaquarium and recovers. And everyone of his fans draws a sigh of relief because there isn’t one of them who isn’t eagerly awaiting to see Flipper in another picture. While Luke Halpin and the dolphin have the pivotal roles in “Flipper’s New Adventure,” they are given splendid support by Pamela Franklin, the charming young English actress who plays Penny; Helen Cherry and Tom Helmore as her parents, and Francesca Annis as her sister, with popular television star, Brian Kelly, making his screen debut in the role of Sandy’s father. The new Ivan Tors production was directed by Leon Benson from a story by Tors and a screen play by Art Arthur, based on the characters created by Ricou Browning and Jack Cowden. Lamar Boren is responsible for the picture’s magnificent photography. It is a joy to have Flipper back in “Flipper’s New Adventure.” Everyone who saw “Flipper” will be delighted with its sequel. Those who missed the wonderful relationship between boy and dolphin in the first offering have a treat in store with their new picture. The almost human dolphin star, Flipper, is back in MetroGoldwyn-Mayer’s ‘‘Flipper’s New Adventure,’’? sequel to the tremendously popular **Flipper,’’ and again he shares fascinating happenings with young Luke Halpin. In this scene, Luke has knocked out a murderous ex-convict (William Cooley) in a water battle and Flipper is towing them both ashore. The new Ivan Tors production was filmed in color in the Florida Keys and the Bahamas, and was directed by Leon Benson. Still 5118-57 Flipper's New Adventure Mat 2-E