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'''''Skatetown, U.S.A.''''' is a 1979 American comedic [[feature film]] produced to capitalize on the short-lived fad of [[roller disco]].<ref name="allmovie">allmovie.com, ''[http://www.allmovie.com/work/110465 Skatetown, USA]'', retrieved 25 September 2010</ref>
'''''Skatetown, U.S.A.''''' is a 1979 American comedic [[feature film]] produced to capitalize on the short-lived fad of [[roller disco]].<ref name="allmovie">allmovie.com, ''[http://www.allmovie.com/work/110465 Skatetown, USA]'', retrieved 25 September 2010</ref>


The film features many TV stars from the 1960s and 1970s, among them [[Scott Baio]], [[Flip Wilson]], [[Maureen McCormick]], [[Ron Palillo]], [[Joe E. Ross]] and [[Ruth Buzzi]]. [[Patrick Swayze]]'s leading role as the skater "Ace" was his first movie performance. Also in the cast are [[Sydney Lassick]], [[Billy Barty]] and [[Dorothy Stratten]] (later subject of the film ''[[Star 80]]'').
The film features many TV stars from the 1960s and 1970s, among them [[Scott Baio]], [[Flip Wilson]], [[Maureen McCormick]], [[Ron Palillo]], [[Melissa Sue Anderson]],<ref name="allmovie"/> [[Joe E. Ross]] and [[Ruth Buzzi]]. [[Patrick Swayze]]'s leading role as the skater "Ace" was his first movie performance. Also in the cast are [[Sydney Lassick]], [[Billy Barty]] and [[Dorothy Stratten]] (later subject of the film ''[[Star 80]]'').


==Plot and production==
==Plot and production==
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* [[Flip Wilson]] - Harvey Ross
* [[Flip Wilson]] - Harvey Ross
* [[Patrick Swayze]] - Ace Johnson
* [[Patrick Swayze]] - Ace Johnson
* [[Melissa Sue Anderson]] - Ace's girlfriend (uncredited, non-skating scenes only)
* [[Maureen McCormick]] - Susan Nelson
* [[Maureen McCormick]] - Susan Nelson
* Greg Bradford - Stan Nelson
* Greg Bradford - Stan Nelson

Revision as of 09:09, 1 October 2010

Skatetown, U.S.A.
Katherine Kelly Lang and Greg Bradford are shown on the theatrical release poster
Directed byWilliam A. Levey
Written byNick Castle (Screenplay & story)
Lorin Dreyfuss (story)
William A. Levey (story)
Produced byLorin Dreyfuss (producer)
William A. Levey (producer)
Peter E. Strauss (executive producer)
StarringSee below
CinematographyDonald M. Morgan
Edited byGene Fowler Jr.
Music byMiles Goodman
Dave Mason
Distributed byColumbia Pictures
Release date
October 1979
Running time
98 min
CountryUSA
LanguageEnglish

Skatetown, U.S.A. is a 1979 American comedic feature film produced to capitalize on the short-lived fad of roller disco.[1]

The film features many TV stars from the 1960s and 1970s, among them Scott Baio, Flip Wilson, Maureen McCormick, Ron Palillo, Melissa Sue Anderson,[1] Joe E. Ross and Ruth Buzzi. Patrick Swayze's leading role as the skater "Ace" was his first movie performance. Also in the cast are Sydney Lassick, Billy Barty and Dorothy Stratten (later subject of the film Star 80).

Plot and production

The setting is one evening at a fictional Los Angeles-area roller disco called Skatetown, U.S.A, drawn by scriptwriters from Flipper's Roller Boogie Palace, a disco roller rink which had opened in West Hollywood on Santa Monica Boulevard earlier in 1979 and was fleetingly a very popular celebrity hangout. The plot, such as it is, has to do with a rivalry between two skaters in a contest (played by Sawyze and Bradford), the winning prize for which is $1000 and a moped. There are many short, broadly comedic and slapstick sub-plots (such as a gag having to do with itching powder) set between long roller skating sequences and musical performances. After a game of chicken played on motorized roller skates the two rivals become friends.

Filming was done mostly at the Hollywood Palladium, built in 1940. Its sprawling blond hardwood dance floor, chandeliers and soap bubbles blown by a machine from the Lawrence Welk Show can be seen in sundry scenes. Some exteriors were shot on Santa Monica Pier and at nearby Venice Beach.

Twenty-nine years later Maureen McCormick recalled that, "Like a disco, there was a lot of cocaine being done on the set. Many people were open about it." McCormick wrote that she fell back into severe cocaine addiction during production, often showing up late for shooting or not coming to work at all.[2]

Cast

Soundtrack

The film features almost non-stop synchronized music, much by popular disco and pop artists from the mid and late 1970s. Most of this music is diegetic, in that it is shown within the plot as being played either through records spun by the roller disco's "wizard" DJ or performed on the club's stage and hence, is heard by both the characters and the movie's audience. Dave Mason is featured as a performer in the roller disco, playing himself. Mason sings the movie's disco-tinged theme song "Skatetown" (written by Mason and Brenda Cooper) over the opening credits. He is also shown performing "I Fell in Love" along with a cover of his own 1968 Traffic hit "Feelin' Alright." Among other songs on the soundtrack are the Patrick Hernandez dance hit "Born to Be Alive," "Boogie Wonderland" (Earth, Wind & Fire and The Emotions), "Shake Your Body" (The Jacksons), "Boogie Nights" (Heatwave), "Baby Hold On" (Eddie Money), "Ain't No Stoppin' Us Now" (McFadden & Whitehead), "I Want You to Want Me" (Cheap Trick), "Roller Girl" (John Sebastian), "Perfect Dancer" (Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis Jr.) and a cover of Mick Jagger and Keith Richards' "Under My Thumb" by the Hounds.

Reception

Billed as the Rock and Roller Disco Movie of the Year,[2] by the time of its release in October 1979 roller disco was a fast-waning fad and the popularity of disco music had peaked (Disco Demolition Night had already happened three months before the movie's release). The movie was neither a critical nor a box office success. However, by the early 21st century a writer for oddculture.com called the film "a true cult item and one of the best 70s time capsules around. [...] There’s just something magical about a slutty Marsha [sic] eating drugged pizza with a bearded Horshack."[3]

It was later shown on cable television from time to time. There have been no known licenced VHS or DVD releases. This may be owing to the high cost of licencing the soundtrack's many major label recordings for home video release.[3][4] 35mm and 16mm full frame prints of the movie (which was shot in 35mm and cropped to widescreen for theatrical release) have been exhibited at film revivals[5] and low quality video copies made from a full frame 16mm print have been in commercial circulation.[6]

References

  1. ^ a b allmovie.com, Skatetown, USA, retrieved 25 September 2010
  2. ^ a b McCormick, Maureen, Here's the Story: Surviving Marcia Brady and Finding My True Voice, William Morrow, pp 123-124. 14 October 2008, ISBN 978-0061490149
  3. ^ a b oddculture.com, Roller Disco Cinema: Skatetown, U.S.A., retrieved 28 September 2010
  4. ^ hanktank88.blogspot.com, Birthday Bash & Other Fun Stuff, 6 August 2010, retrieved 28 Septmber 2010
  5. ^ loc.gov, Mary Pickford Theater, Past Screenings : 2008, retrieved 28 September 2010
  6. ^ brutallo.com, Cult films!, retrieved 28 Septmber 2010
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