Class (1983)

A young man in private school spends one crazy night out, but soon realizes the woman he hooked up with is not who he expected.

Director:

Lewis John Carlino

Writers:

Jim Kouf, David Greenwalt

Stars:

Jacqueline Bisset, Rob Lowe, Andrew McCarthy

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jacqueline Bisset	...	Ellen
Rob Lowe	...	Skip
Andrew McCarthy	...	Jonathan
Cliff Robertson	...	Mr. Burroughs
Stuart Margolin	...	Balaban
John Cusack	...	Roscoe
Alan Ruck	...	Roger
Rodney Pearson	...	Allen
Remak Ramsay	...	Kennedy
Virginia Madsen	...	Lisa
Deborah Thalberg	...	Susan
Fern Persons	...	Headmistress DeBreul
Casey Siemaszko	...	Doug
Aaron Douglas	...	Barry
Anna Maria Horsford	...	Maggie

Storyline

Jonathan, a naive country boy, gets a scholarship to a classy prep school, where he rooms with suave, rich and handsome Skip. Skip decides it is his duty to see that Jonathan loses his virginity, so he sends Jonathan to Chicago, where Jonathan meets Ellen, a beautiful older woman, and they be- gin an affair which ends abruptly when Ellen discovers Jonathan is 17. During Christmas break, Jonathan visits Skip's house and discovers that Ellen is Skip's mother. Ellen tells Jonathan to leave when he rejects her advances, but then begins calling him and begging to see him. Finally, Jonathan agrees to meet her and plans to end the affair, but Ellen seduces him--and that's when Skip, who followed Jonathan, discovers them.

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Plot Keywords:

sex with a minor | sex with a married woman | sex with friend's mother | first time sex | sex in an elevator | 

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Taglines:

Freshman English was never like this!

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

R

Did You Know?

Trivia

According to the '80s Rewind' website, apparently, "at one point during filming, [actor] Rob Lowe allegedly threatened to quit the movie unless he was allowed to appear in a scene totally naked in a bathtub full of baked beans. The director [Lewis John Carlino] refused, but did manage to finally lure Lowe back to the set".

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Goofs

When Skip appears to climb through the window during the fight, the window is closed.

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Quotes

Skip: You're going. I don't want to see your ass back here until you succeed. In fact, I'm not gonna let you in the room until you bring me - her panties.
Jonathan: Oh, come on. Look, Skip, I'm not like you. I don't have your - charm, your finesse, your, uh...
Skip: Class.

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Connections

Referenced in The Birth of a Queen: Directing a Drag Classic - The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (2005)

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Soundtracks

Holidays In Cambodia
Composed by Raymond Pepperell, Jello Biafra (as Eric R. Boucher) and Geoff Lyall
Performed by Dead Kennedys (as The Dead Kennedys)

User Reviews

Being a young man can be very humiliating.

Class is the story of a shy, clumsy, but very intelligent young man played by Andrew MaCarthy who transfers to an exclusive prep school for his senior year of high school. He comes from a working-class background and has more than a little trouble getting comfortable in his new surroundings. It doesn't help matters that he has to share a room with an obnoxious rich kid played by Rob Lowe. Throughout the film we see McCarthy learn lessons about love, academics, and friendship.

This is a very uneven film; often switching from comedy to heavy-handed mature themes almost on a dime. The comedy for the most part hits the mark. The dramatic elements are just not believable.

I have never seen a film go to so much trouble to humiliate its main character. Some of the things that happen to McCarthy are pretty funny, but others almost make you feel sorry for the poor kid. McCarthy is barely on campus for five minutes before Lowe convinces him to put on women's underwear and parade around in the commons area. McCarthy thinks it is some type of senior ritual that is done every year, but he soon finds out that only he is participating in it. Lowe then locks him out of their dorm and he is forced to climb in through a second story window with hundreds of other students taunting him. Now that is the type of thing that can scar for life! There are a few other scenes where McCarthy's humiliation continues. He journeys to a trendy bar in Chicago and is made a fool of twice in front of the whole place. In a show of sympathy, a rich older woman feels sorry for him and takes him to a motel and nails him. In what has to be one of the biggest contrivances in movie history, that woman turns out to be Lowe's unbalanced alcoholic mother! They screw around for a few weekends before she finds out he goes to her son's school and then promptly runs out on him. (That would be a hell of a thing to learn!) The film's biggest laugh comes from the scene directly after that one. In it, McCarthy is sitting in the rain at a bus stop waiting for Lowe to show up and give him a lift back to school. He couldn't be any more depressed until Lowe comes screeching up to the stop; sending a tidal wave of rain water cascading over the dejected McCarthy! McCarthy is depressed for quite a while after being dumped, but he is still unaware that the woman of his dreams was his best friend's mother. In a truly uncomfortable scene at their home during the Xmas holiday, they meet again. The film gets way too serious from that point on.

The only laughs in the last half hour stem from the investigation of stolen SAT tests on the campus by a nerdy bureaucrat from the state attorney general's office. In one hilarious scene, the students think the officer is there to bust them for drugs. We see about a hundred young men scurrying to the bathroom to flush all of their joints, pills, and whatnot. One guy even tries to flush an entire pot plant that's about six feet high! Towards the end, things get really serious. Lowe finally finds out his mother and McCarthy are screwing around. He knows McCarthy illegally bought an SAT test. Will he turn him in? Will the boys get into Harvard? What will become of Lowe's parents? What will become of McCarthy's dog? If you care enough to find out, give this film a chance. If nothing else, it has some very early performances by some people who went on to greater things. It was McCarthy's debut. Alan Ruck, John Cusak, Virginia Madsen (nice boob shot, by the way!), and several other recognizable faces are present.

6 of 10 stars.

So sayeth the Hound.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

22 July 1983 (USA)

Also Known As:

Class

Filming Locations:

Chicago, Illinois, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$7,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$4,553,233, 24 July 1983

Gross USA:

$21,667,789

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$21,667,789

Company Credits

Production Co:

Orion Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

98 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Astrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1