On the Air Live with Captain Midnight (1979)

Directors:

Beverly Sebastian
Ferd Sebastian

Writers:

Ferd Sebastian (written by) and
Beverly Sebastian (written by)

Release Date:

November 1979 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Tagline:

The Outlaw D.J. That Turned L.A. Everyway But Loose!!!

Plot Keywords:

Disc Jockey | Citizens Band Radio | High School Student | Amusement Park | Pirate Broadcasting

Cast

Tracy Sebastian	...	Captain Midnight
John Ireland	...	Agent Pierson
Dena Dietrich	...	Mother
Ted Gehring	...	Father
Mia Kovacs	...	Spunky
Barry Greenberg	...	Gargen
Jim Ladd	...	Disc Jockey
Rosemary Alexander	...	The 'Shrink'
William Flatley	...	Mr. Gressi (as Bill Flatley)
Wendell Baker	...	Scott
Claudia De Seca	...	Fat Vicky
Ben Sebastian	...	Ziggy's Brother
Lark Geib	...	Sweet Sally
Kathleen Richards	...	Corvette Girl
Maggie Sebastian	...	Girl at Street Racing

Also Known As:

Captain Midnight

Runtime:

USA:90 min | 83 min (DVD)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

UK:PG | USA:PG

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Sebastian International

Goofs:

Audio/visual unsynchronized: At the party at Magic Mountain, the band performing there is completely out-of-sync with the music being heard, and the singer is often away from the microphone when he is singing.

Movie Connections:

References The Goodbye Girl (1977)

Soundtrack:

Maggie May

Fun forgotten 70's gem

I just watched this for the first time in over 25 years, and "Captain Midnight" is still a blast. According to the film's final credits, this film was actually made in 1977 (not '79 as the IMDb states) and is a pretty cool 70's teen movie/time capsule.

"Captain Midnight" is actually Ziggy, who is a self-described "failure" but loves the fame he gets as the Captain. But he's not a loser in the typical Hollywood teen movie sense - even as plain 'ol Ziggy, he is still a very popular guy, even with the chicks. His buddy, electronics genius Gargen, is unsuccessful with the females, and even in one scene reveals to Ziggy that he has never has been with a girl. Ziggy, in a rare showing of caring for his friend, cancels his date for the night to hang with his buddy after that revelation.

Gargen is also the focus of much humor, as much of the time he is making very funny faces, making odd noises as he gets nervous, and even gets stuck under a car because of his girth.

There are many flaws in the film - the rise of "Captain Midnight" seems to happen overnight, and the feds can't catch him, despite that they know he is in a van and Ziggy's van rides around town transmitting in the daylight with two huge antennas on the van's roof. Many kids also seem to know he is Captain Midnight as well; while the Captain initially only collected donations and song requests through a small network of friends, he later joined them picking up donations and requests from people himself, making the rounds right in his van! So with so many people knowing his identity, it seems odd that at the end of the flick, none of the kids around seem to know who he is still.

Also forgotten about was that Captain Midnight's telephone number was said on the air by Gargen (and used by people to call Ziggy at home), before they actually started any official broadcasting.

The actor playing Ziggy/Captain Midnight is really on the bland side, but if you look at the film's credits you will see that this was a family affair. But if you don't expect much, he isn't so bad. He actually seems just like a regular kid who somehow got into a movie, which is what it actually looks like since his family produced the film! There's lot of great music too, especially some classic tracks by Ted Nugent. KISS was enormous in 1977, to not hear a mention of them seems odd. The party at Magic Mountain at the ending of the film is a little odd, as about 50-60 teenagers try to play the role of what is quoted as "5000" kids waiting for Captain Midnight.

All in all this is a fun little forgotten film, it won't blow your mind with the talent or production values, but it is a decent fun example of minor film-making in the 70's.