Secret Admirer (1985)

User Rating:

6.0/10   

Director:

David Greenwalt

Writers:

David Greenwalt (writer)
Jim Kouf (writer)

Release Date:

14 June 1985 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Romance

Tagline:

Toni gave Michael a letter, so he could give Debbie one...

Plot:

On the last day before summer vacations Michael receives a glowing, but anonymous, love-letter. He suspects...

Plot Keywords:

Love Letter | Summer Vacation | Summer | Secret Admirer | Dock

Cast

C. Thomas Howell	...	Michael Ryan
Kelly Preston	...	Deborah Anne Fimple
Lori Loughlin	...	Toni
Fred Ward	...	Lou Fimple
Dee Wallace	...	Connie Ryan (as Dee Wallace-Stone)
Leigh Taylor-Young	...	Elizabeth Fimple
Cliff De Young	...	George Ryan
Casey Siemaszko	...	Roger Despard
Geoffrey Blake	...	Ricardo
Rodney Pearson	...	Kirkpatrick
Courtney Gains	...	Doug
J.J. Cohen	...	Barry
Scott McGinnis	...	Steve Powers
Corey Haim	...	Jeffrey Ryan
Michael Menzies	...	Mr. Simpson

Also Known As:

The Letter (USA)

Runtime:

90 min | Sweden:97 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Canada:A (Nova Scotia) | UK:15 | Norway:16 | Iceland:L | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:14A | Australia:M | Finland:K-12 | Sweden:11 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Trivia:

Kelly Preston is 4 years older than C. Thomas Howell, and Lori Loughlin is a year and a half older.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Michael pulls into the park with Deborah Anne Fimple there are no open spots around him, but in the next shot we see Michael's father pull in into an empty space next to Michael.

Quotes:

[Toni has arranged for Debbie to meet her Secret Admirer]
Deborah Anne Fimple: [wearing a teddy, posing in the mirror] What should I wear?
Toni: Something demure.
Deborah Anne Fimple: Oh, yeah. Christian Demure. I've got tons of his stuff.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Step by Step: Secret Admirer (#5.16)" (1996)

Soundtrack:

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Typical 1980s Teen Comedy

"Secret Admirer" is one of those typical teen films that came a dime a dozen during the 1980s. It is a film that is powered by sexual tension, raunchy comedy, and vulgar situations. The film deals with a high school boy (C. Thomas Howell) and his obsession with a classmate (Kelly Preston). After he receives an anonymous letter from an admirer, he thinks it might be Preston. However, it is friend Lori Loughlin who is the admirer. Howell starts to write letters to Preston now, but they are so sorry that Loughlin writes letters to Preston (making them appear that Howell wrote them). Preston falls in love, Howell thinks he's a genius, and Loughlin is left in the cold. Then the letters become misplaced and Howell's parents (Dee Wallace and Cliff De Young) and Preston's parents (Fred Ward and Leigh Taylor-Young) get hold of them and get the wrong idea. Now De Young and Taylor-Young are thinking of having an affair with each other while Wallace and Ward find out and look to take manners into their own hands. As you can tell everything becomes a pure mess, but it all ends well. The film is funny and somewhat clever, but it gets into nasty elements that are not really needed. Director David Greenwalt tries to juggle the disjointed screenplay, but is only minimally successful. A likeable cast and some good moments make the film watchable, but it had the potential to be so much more. 2.5 out of 5 stars.