Zuma Beach (film)

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.

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.

Reception
The Los Angeles Times praised the naturalness of Somers' performance.