Main Cast: Donna Summer, Valerie Landsburg, Terri Nunn, Chick Vennera, Ray Vitte
Release Year: 1978
Country: US
Run Time: 100 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG
Plot
The Zoo is the hottest disco in town, and on the night of the big dance contest, a wild assortment of disparate characters find themselves out on the floor together. DJ Bobby Speed (Ray Vitte) is convinced that broadcasting the show live on the radio waves and having the Commodores as musical entertainment will boost his career, but when their equipment gets lost on the highway, he starts to lose his cool. Nicole (Donna Summer) is a bumbling but beautiful neophyte singer who schemes to earn her big break on the disco's stage. Frannie and Jeannie (Valerie Landsberg and Terri Nunn) are underage high school girls who need the contest prize money to buy Kiss concert tickets. A bored married couple (Mark Lonow and Andrea Howard) stumble into the Zoo on their anniversary; their relationship is tested by a wacky pill-popping vixen (Marya Small) and the disco's womanizing owner (Jeff Goldblum). A host of mismatched singles make the scene hoping for a chance at love (or at least a one night stand), though the exuberant Marv "Leather Man" Gomez (Chick Vennera) lives only to dance, and expounds on his philosophy at length. There's plenty of thumping disco action and nothing but happy endings in this colorful period comedy. ~ Fred Beldin, All Movie Guide
Review
For a time capsule, Thank God It's Friday holds up pretty well, featuring some very funny performances, lightweight action, and glittery energy. Whether or not the disco era produced great music is a matter of opinion, though the film is packed with top-notch examples of the sound, from dance diva Donna Summer's Oscar-winning signature tune "Last Dance" to the spectacularly physical funk of the Commodores. Future stars Debra Winger and Jeff Goldblum do well in these early appearances, though it's Chick Vennera who stands out as the vivacious Leather Man, dispensing disco wisdom to the faithful and performing a show-stopping dance number upon the hoods of parked cars. While about as brain dead as the average Love Boat episode, Thank God It's Friday is still sharp enough to be entertaining, especially for those with an affection for the lost years of the late '70s. ~ Fred Beldin, All Movie Guide
Mark Lonow - Dave; Andrea Howard - Sue; Jeff Goldblum - Tony Di Marco; Robin Menken - Maddy; Debra Winger - Jennifer; John Freidrich - Ken; Paul Jabara - Carl; Marya Small - Jackie; Chuck Sacci - Gus; Hilary Beane - Shirley; DeWayne Jessie - Floyd; The Commodores - Themselves; John Friedrich - Ken; Luce Rains - Swinger in Phone Booth
Credit
Jeff Haley - Art Director, Jack Angel - Costume Designer, Betsy Jones - Costume Designer, Kathy O'Rear - Costume Designer, Michael Kaplan - Costume Designer, Robert Klane - Director, Richard Halsey - Editor, Paul Jabara - Composer (Music Score), Tom John - Production Designer, James A. Crabe - Cinematographer, Rob Cohen - Producer, Jeff Haley - Set Designer, Les Fresholtz - Sound/Sound Designer, Michael Minkler - Sound/Sound Designer, Arthur Piantadosi - Sound/Sound Designer, Al Overton, Jr. - Sound/Sound Designer, Phil Adams - Stunts, Jesse Wayne - Stunts, Phil Adams - Stunts Coordinator, Armyan Bernstein - Screenwriter
Thank God It's Friday is a 1978 film directed by Robert Klane and produced by Motown Productions and Casablanca Filmworks for Columbia Pictures (whose "Torch Lady", in a specially-produced logo, dances to disco music before the opening credits). Produced at the height of the disco craze, the film features The Commodores performing "Too Hot to Trot", and Donna Summer performing "Last Dance" which won the Academy Award for Best Song in 1979. The film features an early performance by Jeff Goldblum and the first major screen appearance by Debra Winger.
Thank God It's Friday tells several intertwining stories of the patrons and staff of the fictional Los Angeles club The Zoo. These include:
Tony Di Marco (Jeff Goldblum) - owner of The Zoo. Lecherous and promiscuous, he's inordinately fond of his car.
Bobby Speed (Ray Vitte) - the club's DJ, who's broadcasting his first live show from the club.
Frannie (Valerie Landsburg) and Jeannie (Terri Nunn) - two high school friends who want to win The Zoo's dance contest to buy KISS concert tickets.
Carl (Paul Jabara) and Ken (John Friedrich) - hopelessly near-sighted shlub looking for a casual liaison, and his friend looking for a girlfriend.
Dave (Mark Lonow) and Sue (Andrea Howard) - a young married couple celebrating their anniversary.
Jackie (Mews Small) - dental hygienist by day, drugged-out disco freak by night.
Jennifer (Debra Winger) and Maddy (Robin Menken) - the new girl in town taken to the disco by her know-it-all friend who's not as sophisticated as she thinks she is.
Nicole Sims (Donna Summer) - an aspiring disco singer.
Marv Gomez (Chick Vennera) - a self-described "leatherman" who lives to dance.
Malcolm Floyd (DeWayne Jessie) - the roadie for The Commodores, responsible for delivering their instruments to the club by midnight.
Sue insists her uptight accountant husband Dave take her to the disco. On a bet with Bobby, Tony tries to pick up Sue. Dave is drugged and re-named "Babbakazoo" by Jackie, and makes a fool of himself. Carl gets himself locked in a secured stairwell. Frannie and Jeannie finally manage to sneak in to the disco after several failed attempts. Jennifer tries to meet a guy, but Maddy vetoes each of the guys Jennifer is attracted to. Marv teaches Ken how to dance. Nicole tries desperately to slip into the DJ booth to get Bobby to play her single. Garbage collector Gus is horrified to learn that the dating service has matched him with a college educated women, and one who is taller than he is. Frannie, after tricking Marv's dance partner into the locked stairwell, enters the big dance contest with Marv. Floyd gets stopped repeatedly by the police on suspicion of stealing The Commodores' instruments.
By the end, Maddy ditches Jennifer to attend a hot tub party (with the same guys who came on to Jennifer). Floyd makes it to the club in time for the Commodores to play. But just before they go on, Nicole sneaks up on stage and scores a huge triumph singing Last Dance. Dave comes down and Sue ditches Tony. Carl and Marv's former partner hook up in the stairwell. Jennifer and Ken share the last dance (as do Nicole and Bobby). Gus and Shirley decide to give it a try. Tony's car, having taken innumerable hits from pretty much every other character's car, falls apart in the parking lot. And Marv and Frannie win the big dance contest. Deciding that the KISS concert is "kid stuff," Frannie and Jeannie, now self-proclaimed "disco queens," go with Marv to hit another disco for the 1 AM dance contest.
In his annual Movie Guide, film critic Leonard Maltin rated this film as "BOMB". He wrote that it is "perhaps the worst film ever to have won some kind of Academy Award (for Summer's hit song, Last Dance).[1]
See also
Other films of the late 1970s during the disco craze
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