Three O'Clock High
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| Three O'Clock High | |
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| Directed by | Phil Joanou |
| Produced by | David E. Vogel |
| Written by | Richard Christian Matheson Thomas Szollosi |
| Starring | Casey Siemaszko |
| Music by | Tangerine Dream |
| Cinematography | Barry Sonnenfeld |
| Editing by | Joe Ann Fogle |
| Distributed by | Universal Pictures |
| Release date(s) | 9 October 1987 |
| Running time | 90 min. |
| Language | English |
| Budget | N/A |
| Gross revenue | $3,685,862 |
| IMDb profile | |
Three O'Clock High is a 1987 American high-school comedy film, directed by Phil Joanou and written by Richard Christian Matheson and Thomas Szollosi. It was filmed at Ogden High School in Ogden, Utah (the school attended by Joanou).
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[edit] Plot summary
The film begins with High School student Jerry Mitchell over-sleeping and rushing through his morning duties, only to discover that his automobile has a flat tire—thus rendering him completely immobile. As an alternative method of transportation, Jerry resorts to driving his mother's automobile to school. He picks up his highly spiritual, raven-haired friend named Franny, who wants to have sex with Jerry because her guardian angel directs her to. Along the way, Jerry nearly crashes at an intersection when the quintessential popular girl, Karen Clarke, is introduced. Karen's attitude towards Jerry is initially disdainful, but her interest soars near the end of the movie, particularly after the climactic battle.
Upon Jerry's arrival at school that morning, he overhears rumors of a tough new student by the name Buddy Revell. Buddy's laundry list of victims and antisocial behavior apear to be well-known to all of the high school's cliques, and Buddy's arrival is witnessed with a curious mix of reverence and fear.
Unfortunately for Jerry, his best friend (who is the editor of the school paper) decides to assign Jerry the job of covering Buddy's arrival. Jerry is anxious about the assignment; he coincidentally runs into Buddy Revell in the boy's restroom. Jerry amiably attempts to interview the notoriuos Revell but, unfortunately for Jerry -- Revell has a contact complex.
When his introduction proves ineffective and awkward Jerry lightly taps Buddy on the shoulder.
Rather than immediately attacking Jerry, as is rumored to be the Revell's normal response to touch, Buddy merely roughs Jerry up a bit and informs him that two will fight in the parking lot at three o'clock. Given Buddy's reputation, superior strength and size, few expect Jerry to survive, let alone win. Revell is steadfast in his decision to battle Jerry for touching him - but not until three o'clock.
In an effort to get Buddy Revell removed from school, Jerry Mitchell's friend, Vincent Costello, decides to plant an elephantine switchblade in Buddy's locker, place a note on the desk of the Vice Principal Mr. O'Rourke in order to hint him off and simply wait for Buddy's removal from school. This plan backfires as Buddy discovers the switchblade prior to Mr. O'Rourke and vandalizes Jerry's car, making a hasty retreat impossible. When he tries to ditch on foot, Jerry is caught by the overzealous school security guard known as "the Duker". Duke takes Jerry before Disciplinarian Dolinski. Jerry and Voytek Dolinksi have a somewhat lengthy conversation about how Jerry's felonious possession of a concealed weapon, as well as his attempt at leaving school during a pep rally could affect his high school transcript.
Jerry eventually implores high school football star, Craig Mattey, to confront Buddy on his behalf. Craig marks up his previous fee ($100) considerably and Jerry ends up robbing the student store (that he manages) to afford Craig's services.
Jerry pays Craig Mattey his $450.00 fee and Craig locates Buddy Revell in the library quietly reading a book. Craig is noticeably bigger than Revell but his size doesn't help much. While he's trying to intimidate Buddy, Craig makes the mistake of touching Buddy. Buddy then breaks the finger that touched him and punches Greg in the face, knocking him out and trashing the whole library in the process. (How Buddy escapes expulsion for this is anyone's guess.) Jerry ultimately only gets $350.00 back for an utterly failed attempt because Vincent takes pity on Craig for the wounds he sustained trying to help Jerry.
Jerry's sister, Brei, suggests that he get detention so that he'll have an honorable excuse to miss the fight. To do this, Jerry adopts a cocky, 'Fonzie'-like attitude and romances his English teacher during an oral book report. This plan also backfires, but with far more interesting side effects. Instead of detention, Jerry earns the English teacher's glowing admiration, her phone number, and the interest of Karen Clarke, who bumps into him abruptly in the hall to invite Jerry to her exclusive party. Moments after that, Franny attempts to seduce Jerry in the student supply store. Interestingly, Jerry seems completely ambivalent to the female attention because he expects to be crippled or killed in less than two hours anyway.
Finally, Jerry offers his remaining $350.00 to Buddy Revell directly to call off the fight. As Buddy accepts the bribe, he scornfully claims Jerry is the "biggest pussy he ever met in his life." After a bout of self-loathing on the roof of the school, the bullied, undersized, and hypoglycemic protagonist that spent more than half the movie cowering from Buddy Revell, has the courage to confront the bully and demand his stolen money back. Buddy refuses and the 'David vs Goliath' showdown begins shortly afterward. With the help of nearly half the major characters in the movie (most of whom merely annoy or distract Buddy long enough for Jerry to recover from Buddy's completely unrefined attacks), Jerry prevails. The police arrive and announce that Jerry's still their prime suspect for the theft and vandalism of the student supply store. The principal intervenes on Jerry's behalf, but everything indicates that Jerry will still be arrested the following morning.
Nevertheless, the film ends with Buddy Revell begrudgingly respecting his nemesis and returning the $350. Dozens of awestruck spectators of the fight donate money to the student store to make up the lost $100, and several females lay claim to the new undersized champion - some more subtly than others. As the credits roll, Jerry is the new 'talk of the school' the way Buddy was at the beginning, with all of the rumors being slightly skewed at best.
[edit] Steven Spielberg
Along with executive producers Aaron Spelling and Alan Greisman, Steven Spielberg also worked on the film, Three O'Clock High, but asked to have his name removed from the credits.[citation needed]
[edit] Main cast
- Casey Siemaszko - Jerry Mitchell
- Anne Ryan - Franny Perrins
- 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
