Sunday, July 6, 2014

Thank God It's Friday (1978)

It's the 70's. It's Friday. So everyone heads the disco. Not only is it the happening place to be, but there's a dance contest and the hottest DJ in town is broadcasting live from the club.  Yup, that's pretty much the plot of this movie.

Frannie and Jeannie are two high school girls with fake id's trying to sneak in to the disco and win the dance contest because they need money for tickets to the Kiss concert.  After getting tossed from the club, they sit dejectedly in the parking lot until they meet Marv the Leatherman, who contrary to what you'd think, is straight, wears a nice looking brown leather disco suit and is a fantastic dancer who is going to enter the dance contest.

Inside the club, DJ extraordinaire Bobby Speed is doing his first live broadcast, and waiting for the Commodores to show up.  Speed has promised his boss that the band will perform during the dance contest. But when they show up, he finds out that their road manager is lost and has all their instruments. Hilarity ensues as multiple patrolmen think he's stolen the van and he has to keep pulling over and playing all the instruments in an attempt to prove he's legit. That certainly is comedy... somewhere.

While dealing with this hiccup, Bobby also is harassed by singer Nicole, who has a copy of her new 12" and wants Bobby to play her record on the air.  Bobby doesn't want to be bothered as people are always giving him their demos and records, and ain't nobody got time for that.  Nicole keeps sneaking into the DJ booth (which is up over the dance floor and has a Buddha stomach and two hands holding it.)

Also we meet Dave and Sue, a stuffy couple celebrating their five year anniversary at a restaurant across the street. As they're getting their car from the valet so they can be home by 9pm, Sue notices the line outside the disco. She convinces super stuffy old Dave that they need some excitement in their lives. David is not amused by his wife's sudden interest in vitality, and proves to be a stick in the mud. This opens the door for creepy club owner Tony, who regularly bets he can seduce any woman the DJ points out in the crowd, and tonight it's matronly Sue.

Add to that Gus and Shirley, who are trying to meet up for their blind date, and Jackie, a dental hygienist high on nitrous who puts on a wig and becomes the queen of the party, and you've got the main players in this wacky disco comedy.

It's certainly dated, the comedy is cliched, and I wouldn't have been caught dead watching this thing when it came out. But hell, if you're up for stupid cliched movie, you may enjoy it.  Also of interest Terri Nunn, later in Missing Persons, plays one of the teenage girls trying to sneak into the disco.

Interesting disco font
The very small DJ booth
the strange Buddha belly held by hands DJ booth
Nicole aka Donna Summer, plus blond Terri Nunn on the right
Creepy owner Tony played by creepy Jeff Goldblum
Everyone will be too coked out to mind Leatherman
dancing on their cars in the parking lot
DJ Bobby Steele
Leatherman
Nicole and the belly of the DJ booth

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