The Hollywood Knights «½
R, 92m. 1980
Cast & Credits: Robert Wuhl (Newbomb Turk), Fran Drescher (Sally), Tony Danza (Duke), Michelle Pfeiffer (Suzie Q), Gary Graham (Jimmy Shine), Stuart Pankin (Dudley Laywicker), Gailard Sartain (Bimbeau). Written and directed by Floyd Mutrux.
R, 92m. 1980
Cast & Credits: Robert Wuhl (Newbomb Turk), Fran Drescher (Sally), Tony Danza (Duke), Michelle Pfeiffer (Suzie Q), Gary Graham (Jimmy Shine), Stuart Pankin (Dudley Laywicker), Gailard Sartain (Bimbeau). Written and directed by Floyd Mutrux.
A number of “coming-of-age” movies come to mind while watching "The Hollywood Knights." There is George Lucas’ 1973 hot rod film, "American Graffiti", which "The Hollywood Knights" gets most of its ideas from (or should I say steal) with the exception of its raunchiness that likely comes from "Porky’s" (1982) and "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" (1982).
The difference is those three movies are considerably better than "The Hollywood Knights." Even "Porky’s" which is on my personal list of “Movies Critics Hated That Were Not As Bad As Critics Said They Were.” There is almost nothing funny or original about any of the jokes in The Hollywood Knights.
The film, released theatrically in 1980, marked the big screen debuts of Michelle Pfeiffer (Scarface - 1983), Tony Danza (TV’s "Taxi" – 1978 – 1983) and Robert Wuhl (HBO’s "Arli$$" - 1996 - 2002). The picture also featured Fran Drescher whose annoying accent eventually won her the lead role year’s later on CBS’ "The Nanny" (1993 – 1999).
If you ask any of these four to compare "The Hollywood Knights" to their later work, chances are you’d probably get the same response Tom Hanks gives when entertainment reporters ask him about his roles in "Bachelor Party" (1984) and "The Man with One Red Shoe" (1985) as opposed to "Saving Private Ryan" (1998) and "The Green Mile" (1999). I have often heard how his face turns red with embarrassment when asked about his earlier comedies.
On the other hand, Pfeiffer’s, Danza’s, Wuhl’s and Drescher’s responses might be what Michael Caine said when someone asked him why he did "Jaws: The Revenge" (1987). Caine reportedly said he did it for the money.
"The Hollywood Knights", which takes place Halloween night in 1965, is an American Graffiti want-to-be. The picture is full of classic automobiles from the fifties and sixties (there is even a car similar to the one James Dean drove when he died). As the song, “Wipeout” is heard in the background, fellow drag racers gun their engines at the red traffic signals along Hollywood Boulevard ready to hit their accelerators the minute the light turns green.
The best, perhaps only good thing about the film, is the soundtrack which features tunes from The Beach Boys, Wilson Pickett, Jan & Dean, The Byrds, The Supremes, The Four Seasons and Ray Charles. Even if you don’t know who I’m talking about, chances are you’ll at least be familiar with the song titles that include “Surfing USA”, “Rag Doll”, “In the Midnight Hour”, “What’d I Say”, and “He’s So Fine.” Instead of radio personality Wolfman Jack announcing the hits like in "American Graffiti", it is some unknown disc jockey called “Surf Sam” in The Hollywood Knights.
The musical soundtrack is the reason why the picture has never been released on video and digital videodisc until now. Like "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" (1975) and Heavy Metal (1981) before it, which took years before finally bowing on home video, “Knights’” distributor, Columbia Pictures, had problems negotiating the musical rights. The film marks the last of that so-called list of “Most requested titles not on video” (John Wayne’s Hondo (1953) has yet to surface).
Like Steven Spielberg’s "1941" (1979), which had one laugh in the movie’s opening sequence where the director makes fun of his previous box office hit, "Jaws" (1975), I laughed once watching "The Hollywood Knights" and it too, was in the beginning.
The scene happens when a hot rod stops alongside the curb where an old woman is sitting waiting for the bus. Sticking out of the trunk is an arm that starts moving. The old woman is horrified thinking it is a dead body. The leader of “The Hollywood Knights”, Newbomb Turk (Wuhl) gets out and closes the trunk acting like no one saw a thing. This is the kind of stuff you’d see the frat boys in "Animal House" (1978) do.
The rest of the film is awash in sexual conversations about whether so-so “puts out” and how someone “came too quickly” before doing it in the backseat. There is also scat and flatulence humor as Newbomb and his gang enact their revenge on police, city and school board officials for closing down their favorite drive-in, Tubby C’s. The group crash Halloween parties mooning people, spike the punch with their urine, and kidnap the class nerd (Stuart Pankin) in between trading pictures of female classmates sunbathing in the nude and watching them undress in an area the women think is safe from peepers.
Every once in a while, an egg or two hits the windshield of a police car but you never find out who threw it. The movie appeals only to those who at the age of 30 still find this stuff amusing.
What’s great about the DVD edition is I can fast forward through much of this with the click of a button and get to some of the brief scenes between Danza’s and Pfeiffer’s characters (she plays a carhop who dreams of becoming an actress) as the couple discuss their future. There is also a subplot involving one of their buddies (Gary Graham) who is going to Vietnam.
When one of the characters says how “Things change. Nothing ever stays the same,” the quote reminded me of the underlying theme in "American Graffiti." The characters played by Ron Howard, Richard Dreyfuss, Paul Le Mat, Charles Martin Smith and Cindy Williams were high school graduates who, near the end, realized they were now adults.
Most of those characters in that film spent their last night either with their girlfriend, cruised the streets looking for girls to date or looked for someone to race. The worst any of them ever did wrong was yank the back wheels off a police car or pay someone to buy them alcohol because he or she was too young to drink.
The characters in "The Hollywood Knights" are high school seniors who are months away from graduating. The trouble is most of them act like they are still in grade school.
©5/10/00
The difference is those three movies are considerably better than "The Hollywood Knights." Even "Porky’s" which is on my personal list of “Movies Critics Hated That Were Not As Bad As Critics Said They Were.” There is almost nothing funny or original about any of the jokes in The Hollywood Knights.
The film, released theatrically in 1980, marked the big screen debuts of Michelle Pfeiffer (Scarface - 1983), Tony Danza (TV’s "Taxi" – 1978 – 1983) and Robert Wuhl (HBO’s "Arli$$" - 1996 - 2002). The picture also featured Fran Drescher whose annoying accent eventually won her the lead role year’s later on CBS’ "The Nanny" (1993 – 1999).
If you ask any of these four to compare "The Hollywood Knights" to their later work, chances are you’d probably get the same response Tom Hanks gives when entertainment reporters ask him about his roles in "Bachelor Party" (1984) and "The Man with One Red Shoe" (1985) as opposed to "Saving Private Ryan" (1998) and "The Green Mile" (1999). I have often heard how his face turns red with embarrassment when asked about his earlier comedies.
On the other hand, Pfeiffer’s, Danza’s, Wuhl’s and Drescher’s responses might be what Michael Caine said when someone asked him why he did "Jaws: The Revenge" (1987). Caine reportedly said he did it for the money.
"The Hollywood Knights", which takes place Halloween night in 1965, is an American Graffiti want-to-be. The picture is full of classic automobiles from the fifties and sixties (there is even a car similar to the one James Dean drove when he died). As the song, “Wipeout” is heard in the background, fellow drag racers gun their engines at the red traffic signals along Hollywood Boulevard ready to hit their accelerators the minute the light turns green.
The best, perhaps only good thing about the film, is the soundtrack which features tunes from The Beach Boys, Wilson Pickett, Jan & Dean, The Byrds, The Supremes, The Four Seasons and Ray Charles. Even if you don’t know who I’m talking about, chances are you’ll at least be familiar with the song titles that include “Surfing USA”, “Rag Doll”, “In the Midnight Hour”, “What’d I Say”, and “He’s So Fine.” Instead of radio personality Wolfman Jack announcing the hits like in "American Graffiti", it is some unknown disc jockey called “Surf Sam” in The Hollywood Knights.
The musical soundtrack is the reason why the picture has never been released on video and digital videodisc until now. Like "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" (1975) and Heavy Metal (1981) before it, which took years before finally bowing on home video, “Knights’” distributor, Columbia Pictures, had problems negotiating the musical rights. The film marks the last of that so-called list of “Most requested titles not on video” (John Wayne’s Hondo (1953) has yet to surface).
Like Steven Spielberg’s "1941" (1979), which had one laugh in the movie’s opening sequence where the director makes fun of his previous box office hit, "Jaws" (1975), I laughed once watching "The Hollywood Knights" and it too, was in the beginning.
The scene happens when a hot rod stops alongside the curb where an old woman is sitting waiting for the bus. Sticking out of the trunk is an arm that starts moving. The old woman is horrified thinking it is a dead body. The leader of “The Hollywood Knights”, Newbomb Turk (Wuhl) gets out and closes the trunk acting like no one saw a thing. This is the kind of stuff you’d see the frat boys in "Animal House" (1978) do.
The rest of the film is awash in sexual conversations about whether so-so “puts out” and how someone “came too quickly” before doing it in the backseat. There is also scat and flatulence humor as Newbomb and his gang enact their revenge on police, city and school board officials for closing down their favorite drive-in, Tubby C’s. The group crash Halloween parties mooning people, spike the punch with their urine, and kidnap the class nerd (Stuart Pankin) in between trading pictures of female classmates sunbathing in the nude and watching them undress in an area the women think is safe from peepers.
Every once in a while, an egg or two hits the windshield of a police car but you never find out who threw it. The movie appeals only to those who at the age of 30 still find this stuff amusing.
What’s great about the DVD edition is I can fast forward through much of this with the click of a button and get to some of the brief scenes between Danza’s and Pfeiffer’s characters (she plays a carhop who dreams of becoming an actress) as the couple discuss their future. There is also a subplot involving one of their buddies (Gary Graham) who is going to Vietnam.
When one of the characters says how “Things change. Nothing ever stays the same,” the quote reminded me of the underlying theme in "American Graffiti." The characters played by Ron Howard, Richard Dreyfuss, Paul Le Mat, Charles Martin Smith and Cindy Williams were high school graduates who, near the end, realized they were now adults.
Most of those characters in that film spent their last night either with their girlfriend, cruised the streets looking for girls to date or looked for someone to race. The worst any of them ever did wrong was yank the back wheels off a police car or pay someone to buy them alcohol because he or she was too young to drink.
The characters in "The Hollywood Knights" are high school seniors who are months away from graduating. The trouble is most of them act like they are still in grade school.
©5/10/00
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