Summer School (film)
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| Summer School | |
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 Summer School DVD cover |
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| Directed by | Carl Reiner |
| Produced by | George Shapiro |
| Written by | Stuart Birnbaum David Dashev Jeff Franklin |
| Starring | Mark Harmon Kirstie Alley Robin Thomas Patrick Labyorteaux Courtney Thorne-Smith Dean Cameron Gary Riley Kelly Jo Minter |
| Music by | Danny Elfman |
| Cinematography | David M. Walsh |
| Editing by | Bud Molin |
| Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
| Release date(s) | July 22, 1987 |
| Running time | 97 min. |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| All Movie Guide profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
Summer School was a 1987 film directed by Carl Reiner about the travails of a high school gym teacher who is forced to teach a remedial English class for a bunch of maladjusted goof-off students. It starred Mark Harmon, Kirstie Alley, and Courtney Thorne-Smith.
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[edit] Plot
The movie begins with the last day of school before summer vacation. The gym teacher, Mr. Freddy Shoop (Mark Harmon), could not care less about his job and is ready to vacation in Hawaii with his young girlfriend, Kim. Meanwhile, a group of students including easily distracted Pam (Courtney Thorne-Smith), 'nocturnal' Larry, nervous Kevin (Patrick Labyorteaux), dyslexic Denise (Kelly Jo Minter) and two Texas Chainsaw Massacre-obsessed underachievers, Dave (Gary Riley) and 'Chainsaw' (Dean Cameron), get called down to the office by the Vice-Principal, Phil Gills (Robin Thomas), and are informed that they all failed and have to go to summer school for remedial English. The original remedial English teacher, however, wins the lottery and immediately quits teaching. Phil has no choice but to give the job to Shoop. Shoop reluctantly takes it and Kim goes off to Hawaii without him. On the first day Shoop meets Ms. Robin Bishop (Kirstie Alley), who is teaching next door. Shoop falls head over heels for her, but she is already dating Phil. Shoop's first day is a disaster and most of the students ditch and one 'goes to the lavatory'. Phil comes in and brings in the beautiful new Italian transfer student, Anna-Maria, who will be learning English as well, much to the delight of Dave and Chainsaw. After the left-over students attempt to ditch as well Shoop admits he has no idea how to teach and they spend their first few days having fun and go out to the beach and the petting zoo until Phil finds out. Phil threatens to fire Shoop unless his students pass the end of the term test. Shoop promises to give each kid a favor if they promise to study. The kids agree and Shoop gives Denise driving lessons, allows Dave to throw a party in his house - destroying it in the process, gives Larry a bed, lets Chainsaw show a showing of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre in his class and allows Pam to move in with him. Everyone is all set except one problem - he has no idea how to teach! Shoop looks to Robin who tells him to make teaching fun. Shoop and the kids begin to learn and have fun at the same time and Shoop begins to grow closer to his kids. The students study hard to write their English basic skills exam, not knowing that Phil is going to fire Shoop unless all his students pass. When the exam is about to begin, the student that 'went to the lavatory' returns, without explanation, after being gone for the entire film. After writing the exam, not all the students pass and Asst. Principal Phil is ready to follow through with his firing threat. However, the parents of the students come to Mr. Shoop's defense, and because of the students' large improvement, the Principal grants Mr. Shoop tenure for his positive effect, thwarting Phil's plan. Shoop and Robin end up happily together in the end; they kiss in the surf, a lá Burt Lancaster and Deborah Kerr in "Here to Eternity".
[edit] Cast
- Mark Harmon ... Mr. Freddy Shoop
- Kirstie Alley ... Ms. Robin Elizabeth Bishop
- Robin Thomas ... Vice Principal Phil Gills
- Patrick Labyorteaux ... Kevin Winchester
- Courtney Thorne-Smith ... Pam House
- Dean Cameron ... Francis 'Chainsaw' Gremp
- Gary Riley... Dave Frazier
- Richard Steven Horvitz ... Alan Eakian
- Kelly Jo Minter ... Denise Green
- Shawnee Smith ... Rhonda Altobello
- Ken Olandt ... Larry Kazamias
- Fabiana Udenio ... Anna-Maria Mazarelli
- Beau Starr ... Chainsaw's father
- Laura Waterbury ... Chainsaw's mother
- Tom Troupe ... Judge
- Francis X. McCarthy ... Principal Kelban (as Frank McCarthy)
[edit] Special Edition DVD
A Special Edition of Summer School will arrive on [1] DVD on May 22, 2007.
