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And it was a brand-new, custom-built surfboard.
It couldn't have been in the car more than 10 minutes...
while we were back on the beach picking up the rest of our stuff.
I keep telling you kids to watch out for your belongings.
You'll have to make a report at the sheriff's station, and I'll keep my eye out for it.
- Uh, what was the value? - It made a $110-hole in my father's bank account.
Grand theft. Well, we'll see.
[ Gidget Narrating ] I didn't think Casey had a very bright chance...
of locating my board from his motorcycle,
so Larue and I beat it back to the beach and formed our own posse.
Look, this shoreline stretches all the way to Canada,
and just a second ago I thought I saw a Mountie.
Besides, maybe the crook headed for Mexico.
I know, but I--
Listen, Casey said stop by the sheriff's station.
So why don't we stop by the sheriff's station?
Okay.
Look!
"Zangara will blind the evil eye."
My gosh!
Not that. The board.
With a "For Sale" sign on it. How do you like that?
They've hotted up my surfboard.
Well, you better make real sure it's yours.
I don't dig this evil eye bit.
♪ [ Jazzy Pop ]
♪ If you're in doubt about angels ♪
♪ Being real ♪
♪ I can arrange to change ♪
♪ Any doubts you feel ♪
♪ Wait till you see my Gidget ♪
♪ You'll want her for your valentine ♪
♪ You're gonna say she's all that you adore ♪
♪ But stay away Gidget is spoken for ♪
♪ You're gonna find that Gidget is ♪
♪ Mine ♪
Hey! What you want?
- The board. - You, uh, have money?
- Well, it's my surfboard. - You crazy. Crazy. Go away. Go away.
- Go away! - It has my name on it. It's got my name on it.
Go away!
I'll show you! Grab it!
Drop it!
See? My name. I told you.
This is my own personal property. Somebody stole it from me.
No yours! No one steal!
Uh-- See? See? "Gidget."
That's my name.
Bring back! Bring back! Bring back!
- Let's cut out! - Bring back! Stop!
You bring back,
or you have very bad luck.
I push hex on it!
What'd she say?
She's gonna put the whammy on it.
Maybe you better talk it over.
Are you dinghy? It's my board!
- You bring back! - If I bring anything back, it'll be a policeman.
Oh! Policeman! Oh!
Avezuba.
Devil wing. Master!
Overturn her head!
All fortune bad.
No peace, no success...
until she bring back it!
Avezuba.
Curse she as I curse she,
and give no place to hide.
[ Both Scream ]
Oh. Looks like we're home safe.
I probably scared her.
You scared her?
When I mentioned about the policeman.
Or why else didn't King Kong chase after the board?
Maybe because she whammied it. Nobody would want a whammied board.
You think this board is whammied?
I didn't say I think so. I said he thinks so.
I don't see how anybody can believe such dumb junk.
I want my balloon!
You ought to be ashamed of yourself, taking a toy from a helpless child!
It was just an accident. I'm sorry, little boy--
Oh! Don't you dare strike this child!
Oh!
He certainly is a sore loser!
You'd think I did it on purpose.
It's beginning.
Don't be a bat!
Oh!
[ Gidget Narrating ] Superstition is the refuge of small minds,
and I let my buddy-girl Larue clearly know I thought so.
She didn't hear a word. All she kept saying...
in an absolutely exasperating manner was--
Be careful. You got to be careful.
Will you quit that!
[ Thud ]
Oh, Larue. I'm so sorry.
- I told you. You wouldn't listen. - What'll your parents say?
Well, I'll tell them about the curse and everything. It wasn't your fault.
It was my fault, and I'll pay for it out of my allowance.
- Just be careful. You got to be careful! - You got to be careful.
Yeah.
[ Gidget Narrating ] It's not that I was buying
Avezuba, devil wing and all that bozzle,
or that the curse of the Malibu witch was beginning to grab me.
But I figured it couldn't hurt to take Larue's advice and be a little careful...
since things did, frankly, seem to be coming a bit loose at the seams.
Daddy, dinner's ready.
I'm serving the salad.
What are we having? I'm starved!
Broiled steaks. And I'll bring you out some hot coffee right away.
Honey, make mine iced coffee, will you?
Okay, Daddy.
[ Screams ] Daddy!
No, not water!
Get some salt. Salt.
Okay! Here!
A lot of salt. A big box of salt.
Here-- Here it is. Here-- Here it is.
Uh--
You must've gotten the steaks too close to the flame.
Still, I never knew it to do that before.
I don't understand it. Do you?
Yes, I do.
I mean, no, I don't.
I mean, I don't know.
Well, that about covers the field. What do you know?
Daddy, I don't know. Now--
Now leave me with this mess. I'll clean it up.
You go sit down, and-- and I'll bring you your iced coffee.
Can't I help you?
No!
[ Gidget Narrating ] The voice of logic was broadcasting frantically.
Don't give up logic. Surfboards float,
stoves cook, pop-out ice cube trays never pop out the ice cubes.
This is the voice of logic.
Signing off.
Sit down a moment.
Now, what's bothering you? Is it what happened in the kitchen?
I guess so.
Is that all?
Now, don't try to fool the old professor.
Come on. What happened today that makes it different from yesterday?
Well, you're gonna have a hard time believing this.
Try me.
I've been cursed... by a witch.
She-- She cursed me and whammied my surfboard.
No peace, no success. That's what she ordered from Avezuba.
Avezuba? I see.
Have you taken your temperature?
Daddy, this has got nothing to do with my temperature. This is serious.
Ever since she put on the blast, I've been skidding around...
on the world's biggest banana peel.
I knew you wouldn't believe me.
Well, I'm trying to.
Now, let's be orderly about this. One step at the time.
Where did you meet this... witch?
Malibu.
I see. Is she a local witch or from out of town?
I never saw her before.
But the only way I can shake loose is to give her my new surfboard.
Are witches riding surfboards these days?
No. She stole it, and she wanted to sell it.
- And she's got it. - No, I got it back. That's what made her go so ape.
Well, I am going a little ape myself.
Francie, I'm surprised at you. This is nothing but pure superstition.
And superstition is pure nonsense.
Don't you know that?
Uh-huh.
Well, don't you?
Well, I don't know, Daddy.
I mean, I know lots of people-- not kids either--
who keep good luck charms and are afraid of black cats and stepladders.
And in those big buildings, why do they always leave out the 13th floor?
Don't they know what they're doing?
Honey, there's a lot of foolishness in this world.
I couldn't possibly explain all the goofy things that people do.
That's John's department. Look how confused he is.
The only thing I'm sure of is this.
Witches, whammies, curses-- There are no such things. Now, forget it.
You should see Larue's windshield.
Who's ever around me, they get shot down too. Even you.
Do I look worried?
There's a reasonable explanation for everything.
Now, come on. Let's get on to something useful, like having dinner.
Everything's gonna be fine. Isn't it?
Well, whatever you say, Daddy.
[ Sighs ] But anyway, I'm glad I told you.
The woman merely frightened you. Now, come on.
Okay.
I guess I can wash the salt off the steaks and fry them.
Why not? Be as good as new.
And meanwhile, you can sip your iced coffee.
Down with wizards and witches.
Oh, no!
Don't panic. I have plenty of shirts and trousers.
Or maybe I ought to wear my bathing suit. What do you think?
But I had a spoon in it.
Plastic. Plastic doesn't work.
Nothing works. I'm doomed!
You must not allow this foolishness to get its hooks into you.
So you had a few accidents. Any other day, you'd have thought nothing of it.
A glass breaks when you pour hot coffee into it.
What's unnatural about that?
If it broke without pouring hot coffee into it, that'd be something to wonder about.
- Right? - Right.
[ Chuckles ] It's--
Come with me. Come on.
My old anthropology books. Look under "superstition."
I'm going upstairs and change.
[ Wind Howling ]
Twenty-nine.
Thirty.
Thirty-one.
Thirty-five. Thirty-six.
Pastoo... veedoo... agrimentee.
Strike Avezuba and lift the hex!
Lama... samana... quana.
Give me the sign.
Lama samana quana.
Give me the sign.
Francie.
[ Gasps ]
Daddy.
If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn't believe it.
Well, you told me to read your anthropology books,
and the one on voodoo tells how they put down a curse.
That book is supposed to be a study of backward superstitious customs,
not an instruction manual on how to ride a broomstick.
I figured it couldn't hurt to give it a try.
[ Screams ]
They gave me the sign.
It's a sign all right.
It's a sign that you are closer than you have been in years...
to the unfriendly side of a hairbrush.
This is all in your mind. It's all mental.
You've got to get it out. Do you understand?
Yes, sir.
All right.
Maybe I ought to let John psychoanalyze me, huh?
Maybe you should.
[ Thinking ] What a blow.
My own father's turned against me.
I must be cursed worse than I thought.
John. Yech!
I always thought I'd have to be out of my gourd...
to let that brother-in-law of mine
get his psychological claws into me.
That's it. Maybe I'm not cursed at all.
Maybe the only thing wrong with me is I've blown my wick.
Well, what's that to be so happy about?
Where's the psychologist?
I figured the day I turned myself in, he'd be waiting here with a net.
John is in the bedroom finishing a paper he has to hand in this afternoon.
He's been working on it for weeks.
Well, nobody can say I didn't try.
I'll call for a later appointment.
Wait.
John is very anxious to see you, and he'll be through in a minute.
So come on. Sit down.
The curse is holding.
What's all this nonsense about a curse?
You know, you certainly do go off on some peculiar tangents.
Maybe. Maybe not.
We'll see.
What is that supposed to mean?
Just wait and see.
See what?
Oh, I don't know.
Something's probably in the grinder right now.
Wherever I am, it's Friday the 13th.
I must say I'm amazed.
How can anyone with half a brain have anything to do with superstition?
I noticed you have a copper horseshoe over the door.
What happened to your half of a brain?
[ Meows ]
Hey, whose cat?
One of John's bachelor friends went skiing for a few days, so we're cat-sitting.
His name's Sam.
Hello, Sammy.
You have to have a book to work that?
No. We just got it, and it has more dials than a jet plane.
But it's really a wonderful machine.
And John's mother just gave us all of her trading stamps so we can get a dryer.
Three years' worth. Wasn't that sweet of her?
Finished it! 203 pages.
Congratulations.
"The Behavior Patterns of a Female Gorilla."
- How are you feeling generally? - Like a female gorilla.
Darling, I baked a cake to celebrate.
Aw.
Looks like Sam is already celebrating.
Oh, that cat!
Mother's stamps!
What did you do that for?
I didn't do it on purpose.
Well, stop the machine.
I have to look--
What are you reading? Stop the machine!
I don't know how! It's all automatic!
For crying-- How can anyone be so stupid?
[ Loud Clattering ]
[ Grunts ]
[ Gasps ]
How do you undo this? Where's the plug?
You have to move it forward.
But don't pull out the whole thing.
Oh, dear, my dress.
Oh! Look at my kitchen... and my cake.
And now I'm gonna have to call the man about the machine.
Who cares about the kitchen? How will I explain that to mother?
I warned you.
Go home!
Why should she go home? I'm not gonna analyze her in the kitchen.
You better let me go.
Certainly not.
If you don't want more whammies.
No. No more.
Not today. Just go.
Right.
No!
Look at this. Five weeks' work.
Are you saying it was my fault?
Who tried to throw the cat into the washing machine?
- I think maybe I'd better-- - [ Together ] Go home!
Right.
You've resented that cat ever since I brought it into the house.
[ Door Closes ]
Subconsciously, you've wanted to drown it...
just like you wanted to drown mother's stamps and my female gorilla.
[ Gidget Narrating ] Obviously, I was up the yin-yang
and there'd be no peace,
no success like the lady said until I gave her my board.
I was convinced. And so was Larue.
In fact, she wouldn't even let me in her car.
As usual, Daddy came through in the clinch.
Dad, are you sure it's all right?
I mean, you don't mind taking a chance?
I won't be taking any chances.
How can you say that after last night and today at Anne's?
We've got protection.
Oh. What do you mean?
Well, as our friend Shakespeare said,
"There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,
than are dreamt of in your philosophy."
I like to think I'm broad-minded, so I dropped in...
on my friend Allen, our Egyptologist.
Egyptologist?
He's an expert at ancient cultures, especially Egyptian.
He assures me that these hexes are very real.
Hotep Nefti, the dispeller of charms and curses.
Let me see.
The only one in existence.
You mean you really believe me now?
I said I like to be broad-minded.
And I must say there is something extraordinary about this little image.
Here.
Close your hand over it.
Go ahead.
There. Do you feel it?
The strength?
So nothing could possibly harm you.
Well--
Daddy, can I keep this for a while?
I mean, I won't run its battery down or anything, will I?
I don't see why not. But if you're getting rid of your surfboard--
I don't know what to do now.
I mean, if I take this board in the water,
I may never set foot on land again ever.
Well, personally I'd put my faith in Hotep Nefti.
In fact, I'm willing to take a chance if you are.
You are?
Okay. That settles it.
Besides, you've got more to lose than I do.
How do you figure that?
Well, it would be the absolute worst to lose your child.
All I've got to lose is me. Let's go.
[ Gidget Narrating ] It was like learning all over again.
The board was scuzzy, and when I saw that wave coming, I felt completely flogged.
But Hotep Nefti was on my side, and Daddy was out there watching.
And maybe I had that frosty old witch outclassed.
All of a sudden, I knew the grind was over. I had it made.
Boo-wah, Avezuba! Boo-wah, Zangara!
Hotep Nefti had shot 'em down!
I did it! I did it!
You sure did, baby. You sure did.
Hotep Nefti shot 'em down.
Hotep Nefti shot 'em down!
[ Larue ] Hey, Gidget?
I did it! I did it!
Well, I don't know what you did, but I know what you didn't.
You didn't give the board to Zangara, because she's in jail.
She is?
I just ran into Casey.
I mean, I almost ran into him. He had his motorcycle parked in a very sneaky spot.
And he told me three other boards were stolen besides yours,
and that they rounded up Zangara and Fernando just a couple of hours ago.
Hello, Mr. Lawrence.
Hotep Nefti shot 'em down!
Who? What?
Hotep Nefti.
Just a minute. Larue, would you excuse us a moment, please?
Well, sure. But what is this Hotep?
Let me have it.
Men used to wear these in their ties. It's called a stickpin.
You mean that's-- that's not Hotep Nefti?
Whatever you want to call it. First of all, it's a stickpin. Hmm?
Daddy, I don't believe it. You lied to me.
Not at all.
You told me a famous Egyptologist gave that to you.
I merely said I dropped in on him. He has a son your age.
I wanted to see if he'd ever broken out in a superstitious rash.
He had. Dr. Allen prescribed the cure.
Didn't you say there was no other image like that in existence?
My father carved it himself for my 17th birthday.
But you said it was a dispeller of-- of curses and charms.
Well, wasn't it?
All right, you win.
So you didn't lie. But you sure cut a mighty sharp corner.
My dear child, in academic circles,
that is what is called applied psychology.
Dad, please.
I promise you, if we get one more psychologist in this family,
I'm taking the next rocket to Mars.
[ Gidget Narrating ] Well, Daddy's bit of chicanery proved how foolish it is...
to let superstitious fear get you in its clammy hands.
I was definitely cured of all that jazz.
But I must admit, there are a couple of little things you simply can't argue against.
I mean, for instance, if you let yourself be foxed into walking under a ladder,
some absolutely crummy incident is bound to follow.
So I always make it a strict rule to walk around any ladder...
and thus avoid the incident.