Corvette Summer (1978)

A high school grad and a hooker-in-training try to track down his stolen Corvette.

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 (as Bill Bryant)
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:

prostitute | 1959 cadillac | white panties | panties | voyeur | 

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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

Box Office

Gross USA:

$15,500,000

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

The Corvette car was a 1973 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray converted to right hand drive so that Mark Hamill could hang out of the curbside window looking at the ladies. The car was also painted candy apple / cherry, given superior mags, a clam-shell hood, Gabriel shocks, Merry tubes, a metal flake, side-pipes, and flames painted on the body.

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Goofs

The high school teacher congratulates students for studying, claiming most of them ended up on plus side of "bell curve" following recent test; but there is no way a majority of them could wind up either side (plus or minus) because a bell curve is a graphic way of demonstrating the norm (in this case, test scores) in the middle, with upper or lower scores trailing off equally on either side - hence the "bell" designation.

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Quotes

Ed McGrath: I've been around automobiles all my life. They're mechanical devices. They always let ya down. Ya buy 'em, ya drive 'em, ya break 'em, ya fix 'em, ya sell 'em. Goods in the market place. Don't get too attached to this car.

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Connections

Referenced in Mystery Science Theater 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

A Lost Drive-In Classic

"Corvette Summer" might not be a perfect film, but it's a breezy, occasionally funny sleeper...the type of movie that used to pack them in at drive-ins all the time. Today, there's the added value of seeing Mark "Luke Skywalker" Hamill and Annie "Designing Women" Potts in very early roles before they became big stars. There's even an appearance by Danny (Partridge) Bonaduce. Good summertime entertainment!