Junior High School (1978)

The story begins with Sherry (Paula Abdul) declaring plans to hold a party that night. Upon hearing about this party, Jerry's friend Paul (Kirk Burnett) encourages him to ask his crush Lori... See full summary »

Directors:

Michael Nankin, David Wechter

Writers:

Steve Jacobson, Michael Nankin

Stars:

P. David Ebersole, Karen Capelle, Kirk Burnett

1 win.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
P. David Ebersole	...	Jerry (as David Stewart)
Karen Capelle	...	Lori / Dancer
Kirk Burnett	...	Paul
Mikal Robert Taylor	...	Keith
Toni Mazarin	...	Vicki
Paula Abdul	...	Sheri / Dancer
Haya Kohn	...	Vicki's Friend
Matt Caplan	...	Bill
Jim Norris	...	Bob
Kevin Kucera	...	Office Runner
Candy Breen	...	Julie
Ira Kaplan	...	Friedman
Cissy Wechter	...	Girl in Library
Bart Tallakson	...	Huge Mean Kid
Melinda Lilly	...	Girl #1

Storyline

The story begins with Sherry (Paula Abdul) declaring plans to hold a party that night. Upon hearing about this party, Jerry's friend Paul (Kirk Burnett) encourages him to ask his crush Lori Scott (Karen Capelle) to accompany him to the event. On his way to doing this Jerry encounters several obstacles, including repeated run-ins with Keith (Mikal Robert Taylor), a school bully, and Vicki (Toni Mazarin), an ill-intentioned girl who hopes Jerry will ask her to the party so she can spite a previous boyfriend. (from Wikipedia entry)

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Plot Keywords:

tube sock | schoolteacher | love | male female relationship | teenage girl | 

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Genres:

Short | Comedy | Drama | Musical | Romance

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Did You Know?

Trivia

Husband and wife comedy team Charlie Brill and Mitzi McCall appeared in the film using disguises and pseudonyms, due to its low budget and their membership in SAG.

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Connections

Featured in At the Movies: Dances with Wolves/Graffiti Bridge/The Kray's/The Rescuers Down Under (1990)

User Reviews

A Nifty Artifact From The 70s

This film has recently made it on to YouTube, and I have to say that it's probably more entertaining now than it was at the time of it's release. In 1978, when big-budget star-studded musical extravaganzas like Grease were all the rage, this must have looked like a glorified home movie by comparison. The only person in it who had any showbiz credentials at all (at the time) is the wood-shop teacher, played by well known singer/songwriter Dave Frischberg.

The dialog, the acting, the singing and the dancing are all ridiculously amateurish, but there are two things this movie has in it's favor that make it quite watchable: Many of the songs are actually quite good (surprising for something that was made during the height of the disco craze), and the fact that the entire cast appears to be in on the joke. They all instinctively realized that the best way to suddenly break into silly song and dance routines about shop class, jockstraps and training bras, is to maintain completely deadpan expressions on their faces, leaving it to the audience to provide the laugh track.

Filmed over the summer of 1977 at John Muir Jr. High in Burbank California (not Van Nuys Jr. High as is often mistakenly reported), the kids were all ages 13-15 at the time of filming, and considering that this appears to be the sole movie credit for most of them, one can only marvel at the energy they put into a project that was obviously not their chosen vocation.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

October 1978 (USA)

Filming Locations:

John Muir Junior High School - 1111 North Kenneth Road, Burbank, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paradise Pictures (II)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

37 min

Color:

Color