The Principal (1987)

A teacher is assigned to be the principal of a violent and crime-ridden high school.

Director:

Christopher Cain

Writer:

Frank Deese

Stars:

Jim Belushi, Louis Gossett Jr., Rae Dawn Chong

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jim Belushi	...	Rick Latimer (as James Belushi)
Louis Gossett Jr.	...	Jake Phillips
Rae Dawn Chong	...	Hilary Orozco
Michael Wright	...	Victor Duncan
J.J. Cohen	...	White Zac
Esai Morales	...	Raymi Rojas
Troy Winbush	...	'Baby' Emile
Jacob Vargas	...	Arturo Diego
Thomas Ryan	...	Robert Darcy
Reggie Johnson	...	Jojo
Kelly Jo Minter	...	Treena Lester (as Kelly Minter)
Ruth Beckford	...	Mrs. Jenkins
Julian Brooks	...	Kevin
Joan Valderrama	...	Secretary
Rick Hamilton	...	Mr. Harkley

Storyline

Rick Latimer is a teacher who gets a job as the principal of a school with a very bad reputation. In fact, his transfer there is a kind of punishment because he beat his wife's boyfriend. So, Rick finds himself in a school where drugs, knives and guns are very usual things...

---

Plot Keywords:

teacher as protagonist | school | teacher | gun | drugs | 

---

Taglines:

To tame the roughest, meanest and wildest high school in the district, they needed an administrator who was rougher, meaner and wilder. Enter Rick Latimer.

---

Genres:

Action | Crime | Drama | Thriller

---

Certificate:

R

Did You Know?

Trivia

Phillips (Louis Gossett, Jr.) talks about his days as a player for the New York Titans. The Titans were an original team in the American Football League. The team later was under new ownership, and renamed the Jets.

---

Goofs

Near the end, when Victor Duncan gets out of the car, walks on school grounds to kill Latimer He is wearing a black leather jacket and black leather pants. In the rest of the scene's Duncan is wearing blue jeans.

---

Quotes

Victor Duncan: If you're trying to reach me, I'll just cut your hand off.
Rick Latimer: I've got another one.

---

Connections

References Dirty Harry (1971)

---

Soundtracks

Hello Heaven
Performed by Rob Jungklas
Courtesy of Manhattan Records, A Division of Capitol Records, Inc.

User Reviews

"GET - OUT - OF - THE - F***ING - CAR - MOTHERF***ER!"

This is a great 80's film - James Belushi and Louis Gossett, Jr. are excellent and you're with them all the way as they're so likeable.

Rick Latimer (Belushi) is great; he starts off as being a kind-of drunken, violent loser (but he's funny so we let him off) and then becomes a reluctant hero who realises why he's a teacher in the first place and makes an effort to SORT THINGS OUT.

This film is full of COOL bits; every scene with Latimer on his motorcycle ("Disneyland!" or 'El Principal'), the scene where the makeshift security team crack down ("...set it off on the left, y'all, set it off on the right..."), the assembly scene ("NO MORE!")...all great. Soundtrack's also TOP (if you like 80's music..!).

Recommended.

"I got my a** kicked for nothin', Ricky!"

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

18 September 1987 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Principal

Filming Locations:

Alameda, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$11,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$4,297,710, 20 September 1987

Gross USA:

$19,734,940

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$19,734,940

Company Credits

Production Co:

TriStar Pictures, Dorica Film, ML Delphi Premier Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

109 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1