Thursday, August 19, 2010

Fun Summer Movies: SUMMER SCHOOL (1987)

Summer Release Date: 22 July 1987. Starring Mark Harmon, Kirstie Alley, Courtney Thorne-Smith, Dean Cameron, Shawnee Smith, Robin Thomas, Carl Reiner.

For my final fun summer movie for the year, I chose the aptly titled Summer School, a very funny movie from 1987. For everyone who only know Mark Harmon from two distinct periods. One being on the current show NCIS. And the other from the earlier 80's when he was on St. Elsewhere and also when he played Ted Bundy in a TV movie. Well Mark got to cut loose in this comedy which cast him as high school gym teacher Freddy Shoop, who is pushed into teaching summer school when the other teacher bails out after winning the lottery. Which means he can't spend the summer in Hawaii with his girlfriend. She ends up going anyway, no sense in wasting the tickets and her summer as well. Of course Mark gets saddled with some of the worst students in school including two horror movie fanatics who love pulling pranks on class-mates and Mr. Shoop. Now Freddy is probably the most laid back teacher you will ever meet. But once he meets another teacher (Kirstie Alley) he starts to change his outlook on his career. The main goal is to get the kids all to pass summer school or at least show major improvement from the last set of kids. Freddy's main enemy is the vice principal who wants to see him fail. He also happens to be dating Kirstie. There are tons on laughs through-out especially when Freddy tries to help all his kids in different ways outside of school. Such as teaching one girl how to drive so she can pass her drivers test; being another girl's lamaze coach as she is expecting a baby, and trying to ward off the advances of a young Courtney Thorne-Smith. Plus Freddy has one of the coolest dogs ever, named Wondermutt. So if you never seen Summer School, check it out, it's pretty funny.

Notes:

Was a sleeper hit during the summer of 1987 with almost $40 million. Considered a success since Mark Harmon was not known as a big movie star.

The same school was used for the filming of The Karate Kid (1984).


On Shoop's left hand, you can see that he has injured one of his fingers and it appears to have been smashed. This occurred when 'Mark Harmon' had to actually put out the fire on the couch during the party scene that grew quickly out of control.
 
The Hawaiian shirt that Mark Harmon wears is the same exact Duke Kahanamoku model Montgomery Clift wears in "From Here To Eternity."


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Quotes:

Phil Gills: Would someone tell me what Mr. Shoop had planned for today?
Chainsaw: Group sex. No, that's tomorrow. Today is independent study, right after our mid-morning nap.

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Pam: You want us to study?

Shoop: The thought did cross my mind.
Denise: Well, what's in it for us? What do we get out of it?
Shoop: Literacy?

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