Corvette Summer (1978)

Ken loves to design and build exotic cars. When the High School shop class project car, a fully tricked out dream Corvette, is stolen, he begins searching for it. His search leads him to ... See full summary »

Director:

Matthew Robbins

Writers:

Hal Barwood, Matthew Robbins

Stars:

Mark Hamill, Annie Potts, Eugene Roche

Nominated for 1 Golden Globe.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Mark Hamill	...	Kenneth W. Dantley Jr.
Annie Potts	...	Vanessa
Eugene Roche	...	Ed McGrath
William Bryant	...	Plain Clothes Police Lecturer
Richard McKenzie	...	Principal Bacon
Kim Milford	...	Wayne Lowry
Philip Bruns	...	Gil
Danny Bonaduce	...	Kootz
Albert Insinnia	...	Ricci
Jane A. Johnston	...	Mrs. Dantley
Stanley Kamel	...	Las Vegas Con Man
Clifford A. Pellow	...	Older John - Rosalind's Admirer (as Cliff Pellow)
Jason Ronard	...	Wayne's Chain-Wielding Henchman
Brion James	...	Wayne's Car Wash Henchman
Morgan Upton	...	New Owner of Vanessa's Van

Storyline

Ken loves to design and build exotic cars. When the High School shop class project car, a fully tricked out dream Corvette, is stolen, he begins searching for it. His search leads him to Las Vegas, where Vanessa, a teenaged prostitute wannabe, helps him try to track it down.

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Plot Keywords:

car | corvette | high school | love | school | 

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Taglines:

A Fiberglass Romance.

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Genres:

Adventure | Comedy

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

2 June 1978 (USA)

Also Known As:

Stingray

Filming Locations:

Auto Shop, Burbank High School - 902 N. Third Street, Burbank, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), Plotto Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

105 min 108 min (video)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Mark Hamill was badly injured in an automobile wreck in Malibu, California immediately prior to production. He bares the scars through Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back and Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi

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Goofs

When Ken is chasing the Vette on a bicycle, he hitches boosts in speeds by holding on to various cars along the way. At one point, a construction pickup is one of these "boosts." The driver had to honk and actually slow down for the stuntman on the bike to catch up and grab hold.

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Quotes

Kenneth W. Dantley, Jr.: Mr. McGrath? You a dance moniter? You look like somethin' off the Lawrence Welk Show.

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Connections

Referenced in Mystery Science Theatre 3000: The Brain That Wouldn't Die (1993)

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Soundtracks

"Give Me the Night"
(uncredited)
Written by Craig Safan
Performed by Dusty Springfield

User Reviews

Full Speed Fun,With Just a speed bump or two.

One thing I really like from the entertainment world (besides music) is movies that are not "perfect". If you read my other reviews here you'll see that I have some off the wall celluloid favorites.

Corvette Summer is certainly one of them. Just two weeks ago a found a near mint copy in the original early80s box it came in. I only had seen it twice before. Once on network TV and again on local TV late night. I liked it well enough but the first time I was to young to "get it" and the second time the print shown was scratchy & muffled. With my "like new" copy,I fully see how good this movie is. No,it's not up there with box-office giants but it's a fun film with,believe it or not,a good message at the end of it.

In watching Hammil's performance as an auto-obsessed youth,I think he completely threw himself into this role. His character is so much like that,that he has even not had time for girls in his life! Demonstrated by his shyness from Annie Pott's sexual advances to him.

Annie Potts definitely is a fire-cracker in this film. She's funny,touching and even a little heart-breaking in her role. It's no wonder she went on to bigger things like "Designing Women". I disagree that she completely steals this movie from Mark though.

The underlying message is the revelation near the end,that almost relates to today's world. The shop teacher Mr. McGrath is an underpaid educator who basically takes advantage of his prize pupil and has the car stolen (like many others most likely) to give his family the things a teacher's salary cannot. Hammil's reaction in discovering the truth about the man he so admired,is just as real as the way a lot of us felt when we learned the world isn't "perfect".

Overall,the movie is great but I just didn't buy Hammil's sudden change into the egotistical jerk he became almost overnight,after forced into the shady business. (Unless his character was just trying to put on an act to fool the bad guys.) Also,when trying to escape from the garage,his character hides in a large oil drum that's full. Now,how would he get into that thing with all that stuff stacked on top of it? Does he have that keen a sense of balance?

Of course,that's not really important,the main thing is it's a fun movie to watch and while not perfect,I feel the fact of Mr. McGrath's reluctant dishonesty,makes this a film with at least some grasp of reality. Without that plot point,it actually would just be a silly movie about a teen who's car is stolen and has crazy adventures in finding it. Along the way,losing his virginity. In other words,just another mindless teen flick.

9 stars out of 10,just one off for Mark's very temporary bad guy.