Main Cast: Phoebe Cates, Betsy Russell, Matthew Modine, Michael Zorek, Fran Ryan
Release Year: 1983
Country: US
Run Time: 97 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Plot
Three of the hallmarks of education in America -- nudity, teenage sex, and big, destructive gags -- are on plentiful display in this teen comedy. Christine (Phoebe Cates), a student at an exclusive all-girls private school, is in love with Jim (Matthew Modine), who attends an academy for boys nearby. Christine's archrival Jordan (Betsy Russell) also has her eye on Jim, and she is willing to do whatever she can to steal him away. Jim's über-slob buddy Bubba (Michael Zorek) is going with Betsy (Kathleen Wilhoite), Christine's cynical friend, though he would probably be unfaithful if any other woman were willing to get near him. Bubba and his pals sneak into the girls' school dressed in drag in hopes of reaching the Promised Land (better known as the women's shower room), while Christine and Jim run away together for the weekend, though their escapade isn't as romantic as they had hoped. Among the adults observing the chaos are Ray Walston, Fran Ryan, Martin Mull, and Sylvia Kristel; one of the sexy students on display is future scream queen Brinke Stevens. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Review
Private School is an oversexed '80s teen comedy that takes the cake as one of the horniest of the genre. While that could be said of much of the films at that time, the amount of out-of-control hormonal activity in this 1983 laugher is downright astounding. From Phoebe Cates to Matthew Modine to even Ray Walston(!), every single lustful soul in the movie's turned-on cast is looking to get some from somebody else by any means possible -- sort of like naïve virgins in a sex-shop candy store gone horribly wrong. While Cates was riding high off of her newfound goddess status after Fast Times at Ridgemont High the year before, it's actually Betsy Russell that stole most young men's hearts in the audience, thanks less to her stellar looks than to her legendary nude slo-mo horseback riding scene. And while most of the gags fall embarrassingly short, Private School ends up not too much better or worse than its peers. At the very least, the movie makes up for its so-so humor with its own brand of sophomoric sexual perversity that's good for a few shocks along the way. Two things it does have going for it are its credit sequences, which feature possibly one of the best opening credit songs in sex comedy history, while the end scroll is preceded by all the girls in the graduating class mooning the camera. Private School might be a product of its time, but for some, it'll be worth a viewing for these gusto moments of out-of-control '80s comedic sexuality. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, All Movie Guide
Kathleen Wilhoite - Betsy; Ray Walston - Chauncey; Sylvia Kristel - Ms. Copuletta; Jonathan Prince - Roy; Kari Lizer - Rita; Richard Stahl - Mr. Flugel; Julie Payne - Coach Whelan; Frank Aletter - Mr. Leigh-Jensen; Frances Bay - Birdie Fallmouth; Robert Ackerman - Maitre d'; Burke Byrnes - Ramsay; Karen Chase - Bambi Leigh-Jensen; Zale Kessler - Desk Clerk; Steve Levitt - Bellboy; Vernon Scott - Dorm Boy; Brinke Stevens - School Girl (uncredited); Nadine Van Der Velde - School Girl; Douglas Warhit - Dorm Boy; Lynda Wiesmeier - School Girl; Martin Mull - Drug Store Clerk (uncredited); Bill Wray - Bandleader
Credit
Paula Abdul - Choreography, Stephen Lofaro - First Assistant Director, Noel Black - Director, Ric Rondell - Second Unit Director, Fred A. Chulack - Editor, Rick Springfield - Composer (Music Score), Ivo Cristante - Production Designer, Walter Lassally - Cinematographer, R. Ben Efraim - Producer, Don Enright - Producer, K.C. Scheibel - Set Designer, Susumu Tokunow - Sound/Sound Designer, Dan Greenburg - Screenwriter, Suzanne O'Malley - Screenwriter, Stray Cats - Featured Music, Vanity Six - Featured Music, Bow-Wow-Wow - Featured Music
Christine Ramsay (Phoebe Cates) goes to an all-girls private school. She is in love with Jim Green (Matthew Modine), who also is going to a private school, an all-boys school near by. Christine has to deal with her rival, Jordan Leigh (Betsy Russell), who has designs on Jim. Jim's slobbish friend, Bubba Beauregard (Michael Zorek), is going out with Betsy, a good friend of Christine's. Betsy (Kathleen Wilhoite), thinks that Jim would cheat on Christine when he is around a lot of other girls. Bubba and his pals go over to the girl's school and dress in drag to get inside and see the girl's shower room. Christine and Jim decide to go out and have a weekend that will be romantic, but things don't go well as they had planned.
