Three O'Clock High (1987)

A high school nerd, Jerry Mitchell (Siemaszko) is assigned to write a piece for the school paper about new boy Buddy Revell (Tyson), who is rumored to be a psychopathic nutcase. When Jerry ... See full summary »

Director:

Phil Joanou

Writers:

Richard Christian Matheson, Thomas E. Szollosi

Stars:

Casey Siemaszko, Annie Ryan, Richard Tyson

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Casey Siemaszko	...	Jerry Mitchell
Annie Ryan	...	Franny Perrins (as Anne Ryan)
Richard Tyson	...	Buddy Revell
Stacey Glick	...	Brei Mitchell
Jonathan Wise	...	Vincent Costello
Jeffrey Tambor	...	Mr. Rice
Philip Baker Hall	...	Detective Mulvahill
John P. Ryan	...	Mr. O'Rourke
Liza Morrow	...	Karen Clarke
Scott Schutzman Tiler	...	Bruce Chalmer (as Scott Tiler)
Guy Massey	...	Scott Cranston
Theron Read	...	Mark Bojeekus
Mike Jolly	...	Craig Mattey
Charles Macaulay	...	Voytek Dolinski
Mitch Pileggi	...	Duke Herman

Storyline

A high school nerd, Jerry Mitchell (Siemaszko) is assigned to write a piece for the school paper about new boy Buddy Revell (Tyson), who is rumored to be a psychopathic nutcase. When Jerry accidentally touches Buddy, he says that they must fight in the parking lot at 3pm. Jerry will just about do anything to avoid the confrontation.

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Plot Keywords:

school | fight | parking | high school | clock | 

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Taglines:

Jerry Mitchell just bumped into Buddy Revell. Now Jerry isn't thinking about math or english. Because at three o'clock, he's history.

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Genres:

Comedy

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Certificate:

PG-13

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

9 October 1987 (USA)

Also Known As:

After School

Filming Locations:

Ogden High School - 2828 Harrison Blvd., Ogden, Utah, USA

Box Office

Gross:

$3,685,862 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

97 min 90 min (DVD)

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Ogden High School was later used in Drive Me Crazy.

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Goofs

In the school store vandalism scene, Jerry is seen to be coated with foam when he inadvertently activates the fire extinguisher. That type of fire extinguisher contains pressurized water only.

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Quotes

Jerry Mitchell: Its a good read, fast angry sexual. I was thinking about the syntax and how it affected the overall mood. Particularly in the more expository passages; in the fifth chapter where honey meets the whole Australian soccer team.

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Connections

References The Innocents (1961)

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Soundtracks

"Something To Remember Me By"
Performed by Jim Walker

User Reviews

Very good, sadly ignored, teen movie of the 1980s.

This is a teen comedy from the 1980s, every bit as good as anything made by John Hughes in those days (Breakfast Club, 16 Candles, etc.).

The plot: our hero, Jerry, is assigned by the school newspaper to interview the new kid at school. The new kid, Buddy, is a big thug with an attitude. To make his reputation, Buddy bullies and intimidates Jerry, and tells Jerry that, come three o'clock, he is going to beat him up. Jerry spends the rest of the day trying to get out of participating in the fight.

The story is full of the usual parodies of teen-aged stereotypes, but they are somehow more believable and human than the characters in most films of this genre. The protagonist, for example, suffers from under-confidence resulting from being hypoglycemic. The story is all about him overcoming his under-confidence (a process we all go through in high school), which is a really common plot in teen movies. What comes through in this film is that *all* of the students are going through the same process. The cool, spooky girl next door turns out not to be so cool, underneath. The hero's buddy tries to help in the struggle, but gets sick of him and abandons him. The villainous tough ends up feeling ashamed of himself. These comic characters stick with you because they are so much like real teenagers: naive, under-confident, and overreaching.