The Hollywood Knights

The Hollywood Knights

Theatrical release poster
Directed by Floyd Mutrux
Produced by William Tennant
Richard Lederer
Written by Floyd Mutrux
Richard Lederer
William Tennant
Starring Robert Wuhl
Tony Danza
Fran Drescher
Michelle Pfeiffer
Stuart Pankin
Debra Feuer
Cinematography William A. Fraker
Edited by Stanford C. Allen
Scott Conrad
Danford B. Greene (sup)
Distributed by Columbia Pictures
Release dates
  • May 16, 1980 (1980-05-16) (U.S. limited)
  • May 30, 1980 (1980-05-30) (U.S. wide)
Running time
 91 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Budget $2.5 million (est.)
Box office $10,000,000 (domestic)

The Hollywood Knights (1980) is an American motion picture comedy written and directed by Floyd Mutrux[1] depicting the crass and mischievous antics and practical jokes of the remaining members of a 1950s-era car club turned social fraternity in and around Beverly Hills and Hollywood in 1965. The cast, led by Robert Wuhl as the fraternity's charismatic leader Newbomb Turk, features Tony Danza[1] and Michelle Pfeiffer[1] as high school sweethearts as well as Fran Drescher[1] and Stuart Pankin in supporting roles.

Plot

On Halloween night in 1965, a group of high school pranksters – the Hollywood Knights – are enraged by the Beverly Hills Residents' Association's success in arranging for the shutdown and demolition of their favorite hangout, 'Tubby's Drive-In' diner, which is to be replaced by an office building. In response, they launch a sustained and comically vengeful campaign against the principals of the association and two bumbling local police officers charged with keeping the "The Knights" in check during their last night in Beverly Hills. The ensuing antics include, among other things, a sexual encounter involving premature ejaculation, a punch bowl being 'spiked' with urine, an initiation ceremony involving four pledges who are left in Watts wearing nothing but the car tires they are left to carry, a cheerleader who forgets to put on her underwear before performing at a pep rally, several impromptu drag races, and the lead character of Newbomb Turk (Robert Wuhl) wearing a majordomo outfit and singing a version of 'Volare' accompanied by the sounds of flatulence. 'Mooning' also plays a prominent role in the film: one of the advertising slogans exploited the recent Apollo space program by touting that The Hollywood Knights was the first movie 'to moon a man on the land'. During a mooning incident in the film's final scene, the character Dudley Laywicker, becomes absolutely 'all eyes', transfixed by the bare buttocks. So much so, that he takes his glasses off for a better look.

Cast

Production

The filming location for the "Tubby's Drive-In" scenes was an old A&W Root Beer location that had closed at 7310 North Van Nuys Blvd, in Los Angeles, California.

Robert Wuhl, Tony Danza and Stuart Pankin all played teenage characters, although Wuhl and Danza were both in their late twenties, and Pankin was 33 years old.[2]

Director Floyd Mutrux revealed on the audio commentary of the Columbia DVD release that he was at one point going to direct Urban Cowboy (1980), and that he would have been likely to cast Michelle Pfeiffer in the role of Sissy.[3] The producer of that film, Robert Evans, also preferred Pfeiffer, but the eventual director, James Bridges, refused to cast anyone but Debra Winger in the part.

Legacy

Widely considered to be an inferior rip-off of American Graffiti,[4] today the film is primarily notable for the début performances of many well-known actors.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "The Hollywood Knights". The New York Times.
  2. ↑ The Hollywood Knights
  3. ↑ DVD Verdict Review - The Hollywood Knights
  4. ↑ The Hollywood Knights | DVD | Commentary Tracks Of The Damned | The A.V. Club

External links

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