- Class (film)
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Class 
Theatrical release posterDirected by Lewis John Carlino Produced by Martin Ransohoff Written by Jim Kouf
David GreenwaltStarring Andrew McCarthy
Jacqueline Bisset
Rob Lowe
Cliff RobertsonMusic by Elmer Bernstein Cinematography Ric Waite Editing by Stuart H. Pappé Distributed by Orion Pictures Release date(s) July 6, 1983 Running time 98 min. Country United States Language English Class is a 1983 American movie that was directed by Lewis John Carlino, the writer/director of the 1979 film The Great Santini. It features the film debuts of actors Andrew McCarthy, John Cusack, Virginia Madsen, Lolita Davidovich, and Alan Ruck.
Contents
Cast
Actor Role Jacqueline Bisset Ellen Burroughs Rob Lowe Franklin 'Skip' Burroughs IV Andrew McCarthy Jonathan Ogner Cliff Robertson Mr. Burroughs (Franklin Burroughs III) Stuart Margolin Balaban John Cusack Roscoe Maibaum Alan Ruck Roger Jackson Virginia Madsen Lisa Plot
When Jonathan Ogner (Andrew McCarthy) first shows up to prep school, he is laughed at for wearing his school uniform. He then goes up to his dorm and meets his new roommate (Rob Lowe), who introduces himself as Franklin Burroughs IV but tells Jonathan to call him "Skip." Skip then takes off his trench coat and is shown to be wearing a red bra and girls' underwear. He explains to the shocked Jonathan that it isn't what it looks like and that it's a tradition for the seniors to parade around campus wearing only girls' underwear. When Jonathan doesn't have any, Skip gives him a set that he had in his dresser. Skip and Jonathan travel out of the dorm together until they get to the final door where Skip stays behind and locks the door. The other students begin to laugh and mock Jonathan for wearing girls' underwear. Mortified, Jonathan attempts to flee the scene. After discovering that Skip has locked all the doors, Jonathan climbs a trellis that leads into his dorm where he finds Skip lying on the floor laughing hysterically.
Skip tries to tell Jonathan that it was all just a practical joke and to just laugh it off, but Jonathan is too embarrassed to see the humor. Later, during lunch time in the cafetaria, the other students again begin to taunt Jonathan as he tries to eat his meal. When Skip invites Jonathan over to his table to sit with him and his friends, Jonathan turns to reveals he is crying from shame. Skip is now deeply remorseful for having played such a prank on Jonathan as he sees Jonathan flee the cafeteria.
When Skip returns to their room to apologize to Jonathan he finds Jonathan hanging with a rope around his neck in an apparent suicide. Skip goes to get help, but when he returns to the room where Jonathan has hung himself, Skip and the gathering crowd find not Jonathan but a mannequin with a picture of the Dean's face attached to the head of the blow up doll. The crowd begins to laugh hysterically at Skip as the Dean says he wants to see both Skip and Jonathan in his office. As the crowd disperses, Skip hears laughter coming from the closet. Upon opening the closet door Skip finds Jonathan very much alive and laughing at Skip telling Skip that it was just a joke. Skip grudgingly accepts the prank reversal and the two become fast friends. After becoming friends the two share secrets and Jonathan admits to Skip that he cheated on the SAT exam.
After several failed attempts to find Jonathan a date, Skip decides that it is his sworn duty to help his friend have a successful sexual encounter fast for all their sakes. Skip decides to send Jonathan to Chicago to meet a girl and gain sexual experience before both of their reputations are ruined. Jonathan is picked up by Ellen, a beautiful older woman, and has an affair with her. Jonathan begins to fall in love with Ellen even though the older woman knows it to be just a fling between them. Jonathan lies and claims to be a Ph.D. student. When Jonathan proclaims his love to Ellen during one of their sessions, Ellen begins to have second thoughts about continuing the relationship. Her decision is finalized when she discovers that Jonathan is not only much younger than he had originally claimed to be, but he also attends the same school that her own son attends.
Over Christmas break, Skip invites Jonathan to spend Christmas with him and his family at the Burroughs's estate. It is here that Jonathan discovers that Ellen is Skip's mother and is married. Jonathan tries to end the affair, but Skip's mother contacts Jonathan several times. Eventually Jonathan agrees to meet Ellen to talk. He lies to Skip, claiming to need time alone. When Jonathan and Ellen meet, they end up in bed again. In an attempt to cheer up his friend, Skip and friends go to Jonathan's hotel room. There they discover Jonathan in bed with Skip's mother. Skip is very upset by this and is very cold toward Jonathan. However, he doesn't turn John in during an investigation into cheating on the SAT. At the end of the movie, Skip and Jonathan have a violent fist fight, but make up in the last scene.
Reception
Variety said "Class is anything but classy....[It] seems something like an unofficial remake of one of Bisset's first Hollywood efforts, the 1969 The First Time.[1] Vincent Canby wrote "The movie can't make up its mind whether it's a lighthearted comedy, set in what appears to be a posh New England-style prep school just outside Chicago, or a romantic drama about a teen-age boy who has a torrid affair with his roommate's mother. Either way it's pretty awful."[2] Roger Ebert gave the film 2 out of 4 stars and said it was a "prep-school retread of The Graduate that knows some of its scenes are funny and some are serious, but never figures out quite how they should go together"; The film is "entertaining when it's not dealing with its real subject matter, painful when it is, and agonizing when it confuses rigid mortification with humor."[3]
References
- ^ "Review of 'Class'". Variety. 1983. http://variety.com/review/VE1117789944.html. Retrieved 2009-06-01.
- ^ Vincent Canby (1983-07-22). "Class, Tale of an Affair". The New York Times. http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9502E1D81138F931A15754C0A965948260. Retrieved 2009-06-01.
- ^ Roger Ebert (1983-07-22). "Class". Chicago Sun-Times. http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19830722/REVIEWS/307220301/1023. Retrieved 2009-06-01.
External links
- Class at the Internet Movie Database
- Class at AllRovi
- Class at Rotten Tomatoes
- Class at Box Office Mojo
Members Films Categories:- 1983 films
- American coming-of-age films
- Films set in Chicago, Illinois
- Films shot in Chicago, Illinois
- Orion Pictures films
- American comedy films
- English-language films
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