Flipper (1963 film)

Flipper
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	James B. Clark
Produced by	Ivan Tors
Screenplay by	Arthur Weiss
Story by	Ricou Browning Jack Cowden
Starring	Chuck Connors Luke Halpin Joe Higgins Kathleen Maguire
Music by	Henry Vars
Cinematography	Lamar Boren Joseph Brun
Edited by	Warren Brown
Distributed by	Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release date	August 14, 1963
Running time	87 min.
Country	United States
Language	English
Box office	$2,500,000 (US/ Canada)

Flipper is an American feature film released on August 14, 1963 written by Arthur Weiss based upon a story by Ricou Browning and Jack Cowden. Produced by Ivan Tors and directed by James B. Clark, it portrays a 12-year-old boy living with his parents in the Florida Keys, who befriends an injured wild dolphin. The lad and his pet become inseparable, eventually overcoming the misgivings of his fisherman father.

The film introduced the popular song Flipper, by Dunham and Henry Vars and inspired the subsequent television series of the same name (1964–1967) and film sequels.

The film received good reviews.

Co-creator Ricou Browning said that he originally conceived the story after seeing his children intently watching the TV series Lassie, which inspired Browning to create a similar story with a dolphin in place of the dog. After he sent the story to his friend, producer Ivan Tors, Tors expressed interest in making it into a movie.

Browning notably portrayed the original Creature from the Black Lagoon in the film of the same name, as well as two sequels. In Browning's second portrayal, Revenge of the Creature, a scene showcases one of the film's shooting locations, Marineland of Florida (depicted with a fictionalized name), presenting several stunts performed by "Flippy, the Intelligent Porpoise", in a form of product placement.

Sandy Ricks (Luke Halpin) is a young boy living in the Florida Keys who rescues and befriends a dolphin injured by a harpoon. His father, fisherman Porter Ricks (Chuck Connors) disapproves, as dolphins compete for fish, which jeopardizes the family income. He is also upset that, after befriending the dolphin, Sandy neglects his chores—especially those assigned by his Dad, repairing various items damaged by a dangerous hurricane, from which Sandy and Porter escape at the beginning of the movie.