The_Pom_Pom_Girls Knowpia

The Pom Pom Girls
The Pom Pom Girls
	Movie Poster
Directed by	Joseph Ruben
Screenplay by	Joseph Ruben
Story by	Joseph Ruben; Robert J. Rosenthal
Produced by	Joseph Ruben; Marilyn Jacobs Tenser
Starring	Robert Carradine; Jennifer Ashley
Cinematography	Stephen M. Katz
Edited by	George Bowers
Music by	Michael Lloyd
Distributed by	Crown International Pictures
Release date	May 1976 (United States);
Running time	89 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Box office	$26 million or $7.4 million

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 Jarreau (as the car hop waitress), wife of Grammy winning singer, the late Al Jarreau.^[4]

Plot edit

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 edit

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 edit

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 edit

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

DVD edit

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 edit

^ 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.
^ 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
^ "The Pom Pom Girls (1976) - IMDb". IMDb.
^ 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.
^ "Pom Pom Girls, The (1976) – Overview". TCM. Retrieved 2012-11-17.
^ 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.
^ Richard Nowell, Blood Money: A History of the First Teen Slasher Film Cycle Continuum, 2011 p 256