Sandy Ricks in Lady and the Dolphin II (12/12/1964)

 

 

Introduced in the 1963 film Flipper, Sandy Ricks rescues and befriends an injured dolphin and names him Flipper.  In the 1964 sequel Flipper's New Adventure, his father Porter is widowed and goes to park warden school.  In the 1964 television series, Porter becomes chief warden of Coral Key Park in Florida, and Sandy gains a younger brother Bud.

As played by Luke Halpin, Sandy has a pretty, boyish face, tousled mop of blond hair in the first season, and a slender, athletic swimmer's build.  He is often shirtless, dressed in nothing more than blue cutoff jeans and white sneakers.

In the 1964 series, Sandy's and Bud's job was to appear to translate for the dolphin and to get into trouble so that the animal star could rescue them.  Sandy tends to be the more responsible brother.  He often accompanies Bud in his misadventures or his father in his ranger duties.  

In this episode, the Ricks' attempt to convince a visiting congresswoman about the value of the park finally finally succeeds, but Sandy, Bud, and the congresswoman find themselves in the open ocean in the middle of a tropical storm.

 

Sandy has several underwater scenes showing the visiting congresswoman the park.  He also has some brief moments above the water with a diving mask, bracketing the underwater scenes.

However, my favorite scenes are when Sandy is shirtless above water without a diving mask.  There are two such scenes in this episode, a brief one before he and the congresswoman dive underwater and a lengthy one in which he and Bud are attempting to row the boat out of the storm while the congresswoman bails out the water.

Favorite scenes:

 

 

This is one of my favorite episodes.  The lengthy shirtless scene of Sandy rowing the boat with Bud through a tropical storm, and being in charge of getting his younger brother and the congresswoman to safety, is spectacular.  He even finds time to convince the congresswoman to save the park.  The congresswoman understandably appeared to be especially fond of Sandy, concerned for the boys' safety, and regretful of the danger in which she put them. 

 

This blog is intended to promote the appreciation of Luke Halpin's portrayal of Sandy Ricks in the 1964 television series "Flipper".

For more appreciation of Luke Halpin's portrayal of Sandy RIcks, check out the Luke Halpin Gallery.   

Previous episode:

Sandy Ricks in Lady and the Dolphin (12/5/1964)

Next episode:  Sandy Ricks in Danger (12/19/1964)