The Pom Pom Girls

The Pom Pom Girls (also known as Palisades High) is a 1976 American film directed by Joseph Ruben. The screenplay was written by Ruben and based on a story by him and Robert J. Rosenthal. The movie was shot on location at Chaminade High School in Los Angeles.[3] The Pom Pom Girls is a low budget sex comedy, which was often popular at drive-in theaters during the 1970's. The film features an early performance by Robert Carradine, who would go onto playing Lewis Skolnik in the 1984 hit movie, Revenge Of The Nerds. The film also features Susan Player Jurreau (as the car hop waitress), wife of Grammy winning singer, the late Al Jurreau. [4]

The Pom Pom Girls
Movie Poster
Directed byJoseph Ruben
Screenplay byJoseph Ruben
Story byJoseph Ruben
Robert J. Rosenthal
Produced byJoseph Ruben
Marilyn Jacobs Tenser
StarringRobert Carradine
Jennifer Ashley
CinematographyStephen M. Katz
Edited byGeorge Bowers
Music byMichael Lloyd
Distributed byCrown International Pictures
Release date
  • May 1976 (1976-05) (United States)
Running time
89 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Box office$26 million[1] or $7.4 million[2]

Plot

A football player falls for a girl who is dating another guy, while another cannot figure out which girl he likes.

The big game against rival Hardin High School is looming while a full scale prank war is underway.


[5]

Production

The modest profits of the prior exploitation/teensploitation film The Cheerleaders (1975) inspired The Pom Pom Girls writers with cheerleader themes and scenes. Easy Rider had an influence on the film, the huge success of that film had film makers like the scriptwriters Robert Rosenthal and Joseph Ruben, who is the director, include the theme of the value of freedom.[6] Many shots and automobiles were included, drive-in restaurant, "suicide chicken" race, many scenes of nostalgia that was incorporated from the present day. Even a tagline was borrowed from a "50s picture", the exploitation film Rebel Without a Cause (1955). The tagline "How can anyone ever forget the girls who really turned us on?", is a promotional line and used in the film's cover art, and is to express nostalgia. Another teen sex comedy, 1978's Malibu Beach, borrowed some set design and music from the Pom Pom Girls, as Malibu Beach was directed by The Pom Pom Girls writer, Robert J Rosenthal.

Cast
  • Robert Carradine as Johnnie
  • Jennifer Ashley as Laurie
  • Michael Mullins as Jesse
  • Lisa Reeves as Sally
  • Bill Adler as Duane
  • James Gammon as Coach
  • Susan Player as Su Ann
  • Cheryl Smith (Credited as Rainbeaux Smith) as Roxanne
  • Diane Lee Hart as Judy
  • Sondra Lowell as Miss Pritchett

Reception

The film earned $4.3 million in rentals during its initial release.[7]

DVD

This film has been issued on Too Cool For School: 12 Movie Collection from Mill Creek Entertainment September 29, 2009 and on The Starlite Drive-In Theater: (The Pom Pom Girls / The Van ) from BCI / Eclipse September 26, 2006

References
  1. Gross, Linda (Feb 12, 1978). "A Woman's Place Is in... Exploitation Films?: A Trend-Setter in the Youth Market Women in Exploitation Films". Los Angeles Times. p. 34.
  2. Donahue, Suzanne Mary (1987). American film distribution : the changing marketplace. UMI Research Press. p. 292. Please note figures are for rentals in US and Canada
  3. "The Pom Pom Girls (1976) - IMDb". IMDb.
  4. Thomas, Bryan. "'The Pom Pom Girls': How a plotless 1976 teensploitation flick led to the rise of the slasher film". Nightflight. Retrieved 14 August 2019.
  5. "Pom Pom Girls, The (1976) – Overview". TCM. Retrieved 2012-11-17.
  6. Thomas, Bryan. "'The Pom Pom Girls': How a plotless 1976 teensploitation flick led to the rise of the slasher film". Nightflight. Retrieved 14 August 2019.
  7. Richard Nowell, Blood Money: A History of the First Teen Slasher Film Cycle Continuum, 2011 p 256


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