Rock 'n' Roll High School (1979)

User Rating:

6.7/10   

Director:

Allan Arkush

Writers:

Richard Whitley (screenplay) &
Russ Dvonch (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

24 August 1979 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Music

Tagline:

Hey ho, Let's go!

Plot:

A group of rock-music-loving students, with the help of the Ramones, take over their school to combat its newly installed oppressive administration.

Plot Keywords:

Ramones | High School | Rock 'n' Roll | B Movie | Hall Monitor

Cast

P.J. Soles	...	Riff Randell
Vincent Van Patten	...	Tom Roberts
Clint Howard	...	Eaglebauer
Dey Young	...	Kate Rambeau
Mary Woronov	...	Miss Evelyn Togar
Paul Bartel	...	Mr. McGree
Dick Miller	...	Police Chief
Don Steele	...	Screamin' Steve Stevens
Alix Elias	...	Coach Steroid
Loren Lester	...	Fritz Hansel
Daniel Davies	...	Fritz Gretel
Lynn Farrell	...	Angel Dust
Herbie Braha	...	Manager
Grady Sutton	...	School Board President
Chris Somma	...	Shawn

Also Known As:

Disco High (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

93 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:M | Iceland:12 | Iceland:L (re-rating) | Finland:S (1990) | UK:15 (cut) | USA:PG (certificate #25611) | West Germany:12

Filming Locations:

El Segundo High School - 640 Main Street, El Segundo, California, USA

Company:

New World Pictures

Trivia:

Roger Corman's original title for the film was "Disco High" until Allan Arkush heard The Ramones and decided to use them in his movie.

Goofs:

Factual errors: The seniors at Vince Lombardi High School wear class buttons which read "1980." The freshman who is the continual victim of upperclassman abuse wears a class button that reads "1984." Freshmen of that year would have been from the class of 1983, not 1984.

Quotes:

Miss Togar: [holding phone to radio broadcasting live Ramones concert] That, Mrs. Rambeau, is where your daughter is.
Mrs. Rambeau: [over phone] My daughter? Kate? I thought she was in the basement splitting photons.

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in Bikini Chain Gang (2005) (V)

Soundtrack:

Sheena Is A Punk Rocker

THE Ramones movie

Hilarious from start to finish, this film is so full of both obvious and subtle humor that it can be watched again and again. The Ramones star as the favorite punk rock band of the students. Meanwhile, the high school principal tries to impose order on the school's increasingly wild student body with a number of measures from her bumbling hall monitors, who dress in Hitler Youth-like uniforms, to a record burning. The Ramones' biggest fan at the school, Riff Randle, butts egos with a Ramones groupie, Angel Dust. There are many other funny subplots in this complex yet hilarious parody of the classic teen movies.