Rock 'n' Roll High School

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Rock 'n' Roll High School
Directed by Allan Arkush
Produced by Michael Finnell
Written by Richard Whitley
Russ Dvonch
Joseph McBride (screenplay)
Allan Arkush
Joe Dante (story)
Starring P. J. Soles
Dey Young
Vince Van Patten
Clint Howard
Mary Woronov
Editing by Larry Bock
Gail Werbin
Distributed by Buena Vista Home Entertainment
Release date(s) August 4, 1979
Running time 93 min.
Country United States
Language English
Budget $300,000 (estimated)
Followed by Rock 'n' Roll High School Forever
Allmovie profile
IMDb profile

Rock 'n' Roll High School is a 1979 musical comedy film produced by Roger Corman, directed by Allan Arkush, and featuring The Ramones.

The film starred P. J. Soles, Vince Van Patten, and Clint Howard. Darby Crash and Lorna Doom of The Germs also played extras in this film. It is marketed with the tagline "Will your school be next?"

Contents

[edit] Plot synopsis

Vince Lombardi High School keeps losing principals to nervous breakdowns because of the students' love of rock 'n' roll and their disregard of education. Their leader, Riff Randall (P.J. Soles), is the biggest Ramones fan at Vince Lombardi High School. She waits in line for three days to get tickets to see The Ramones, hoping to meet Joey Ramone so she can give him a song she wrote for the band, "Rock N' Roll High School".

When Principal Togar (Mary Woronov) takes her ticket away, Riff and her best friend, Kate Rambeau (Dey Young) have to find another way to meet their heroes, by winning a radio contest. When Miss Togar and a group of parents attempt to burn a pile of rock records, the students take over the high school, joined by the Ramones, who are made honorary students. When the police are summoned and demand that the students evacuate the building, they do so, which leads to an explosive finale.[1]

[edit] Cast

[edit] Soundtrack

[edit] Production and Success

Executive Producer Corman wanted a latter-day version of his "wild teen" films of the 50s and 60s, and felt that the best way to adapt to the 70s would be to center the plot on the popular music of the day. The production Disco High began, based upon a story by Allan Arkush and Joe Dante. In September of 1977 Richard Whitley and Russ Dvonch, both fresh out of film school, went to Corman's offices, hoping to find work. As luck would have it, Arkush and Dante happened to be in the lobby and were nice enough to look at their student films. They liked their films enough to give them the script, then called "Girl's Gym" by Joseph McBride. Whitley and Dvonch were told to take any section and rewrite it as a test. Whitley and Dvonch passed the test and were hired to write the screenplay which became Rock 'n' Roll High School.[2]

Arkush, who would go on to direct the film, tells all about the film's evolution on the DVD's commentary track, along with Whitley and producer Michael Finnell. The trio tries to maintain an anecdotal train of thought, but they tend to get distracted when certain elements pop up on the screen. This makes for an interruption in their stories, but it also tends to bring light to otherwise obscure trivia. For example, one of the film's more memorable sequences, the "paper plane" scene, was partially directed by the Zucker Brothers, who would go on to direct, of all things, Airplane! (1980). It also reveals that Dante, who helped write the story, got the chance to direct a few of the film's sequences while Arkush was out of commission with exhaustion.

The genesis for the plot was a favorite story told to the film's original writer by his father, Raymond E. McBride of the Milwaukee Journal, who staged a walkout from his Superior (Wis.) Central High school in the 1920s. Rock 'n' Roll High School did so well that Arsh and Whitley followed it up with a sequel, Rock 'n' Roll High School Forever (1990).

[edit] References

  1. ^ Gregory, Rick. Plot Summary for Rock 'n' Roll High School (1979). Internet Movie Database. Retrieved on 2007-01-15.
  2. ^ "Classic Corman Film, Examined", ArtsEditor. Retrieved on 2007-01-15. 

[edit] External links

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Ramones
Joey Ramone • Johnny Ramone • Dee Dee Ramone • Tommy Ramone • Marky Ramone
C. J. Ramone • Richie Ramone • Elvis Ramone
Studio albums
Ramones (1976) • Leave Home (1977) • Rocket to Russia (1977) • Road to Ruin (1978) • End of the Century (1980) • Pleasant Dreams (1981) • Subterranean Jungle (1983) • Too Tough to Die (1984) • Animal Boy (1986) • Halfway to Sanity (1987) • Brain Drain (1989) • Mondo Bizarro (1992) • Acid Eaters (1993) • ¡Adios Amigos! (1995)
Live albums
It's Alive (1979) • Loco Live (1991) • Greatest Hits Live (1996) • We're Outta Here! (1997) • You Don't Come Close (2001) • NYC 1978 (2003)
Compilations
Tribute albums
Films
Rock 'n' Roll High School (1979) • Lifestyles of the Ramones (1990) • We're Outta Here (1997) • Ramones - Around the World (1998) • End of the Century: The Story of the Ramones (2003) • Ramones: Raw (2004) • It's Alive 1974-1996 (2007)
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American films of the 1970s
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