Superman III (1983)

The common criticism leveled against Superman III is that it “disrespects the legend!” This phrase has popped up on countless websites (and in Wizard magazine’s tribute to Superman).  This criticism basically ignores a good twenty plus years of Superman’s history (1940s to the late 1960s) in which the comic books were fairly ridiculous.  It also ignores the many issues of the Superman spin-off, Lois Lane, in which the title character constantly tries to manipulate Superman into marrying her. This very notion that Superman III disrespects the legend is a bit hyperbolic.  This is not say that Superman III is a good movie, but it’s hardly the abomination that so many fans make it out to be.  It’s certainly no more “disrespectful” to the legend than Man of Steel (the scene where Clark Kent stands by and watches his dad get killed by a tornado was the moment I realized that this was a Superman I didn’t want to watch). Superman III is a truly unique super hero movie – again, this doesn’t necessarily make it good, but it does make for an interesting movie - it’s the only super hero movie to feature an every man character (Gus Gorman) in a prominent role. 

Gus Gorman is an interesting idea that is heavily flawed in its execution; the most obvious being that the character is played by Richard Pryor, a well known comedian. The character should be unassuming and a bit naïve, but Pryor’s persona completely overwhelms the proceedings. The first scene of the movie has Gorman being denied his unemployment check and, through sheer happenstance, decides to take up a career in computer programming. Gorman proves to be a natural at computer programming and uses his skills to embezzle money from his employer, Webscoe, which brings him to the attention of the CEO, Ross Webster. Rather than filing charges, Webster decides that Gorman is a means to an end (Webster wants to corner the coffee/oil market). Gorman goes along with Webster's plans not because is a malicious person, but rather, at least to him, it's just another day at the office. 

 Superman III is not on par with the previous movies, but it is an interesting movie in its own right and it has its share of genuinely good moments: 

1.       Annette O’ Toole as Lana Lang. 

 

The brightest spot of Superman III is Annette O’ Toole as Lana Lang. She has an appealing screen presence and gives a sincere performance as Clark’s high school crush. This is also a nice callback to the first Superman; there is a brief moment in that movie where the implication is that Clark and Lana could have been a couple had either of them acted on their feelings, unfortunately, they allowed for their social statuses to get in the way (Clark was the equipment manager of the football team, Lana was the head cheerleader).  In Superman III, Lana acknowledges that Clark was “the one that got away.”  

 
There are many fans that complain about Lois Lane being relegated to a cameo, but, I personally think it makes sense – Superman II took the character to her most logical conclusion. It’s not surprising that the filmmakers went in another direction; hence, Lana Lang was the most obvious choice. Lana is a stark contrast to Lois Lane – Lois is a successful news reporter, while Lana is a single mom with a son, Ricky, who is just trying to get by (while resisting the advances of the obnoxious Brad – former high school hero).  Lois treats Clark with completely indifference, but it is absolutely smitten with Superman, while Lana prefers Clark by a wide margin. There’s actually a sweet moment when Lana asks Clark if he can persuade Superman to appear at Ricky’s birthday. When Clark tells her it should be no problem, she responds, “You tell Superman we think he’s wonderful! But Clark…you’re the best!”  Clark is taken aback by this – after years of listening to Lois pine over Superman, it must be a shock that anyone would prefer him to Superman. 

 
It’s also refreshing that avoids the cliché of making Lana a damsel in distress figure. At no point does Webster shout, “We’ll attack Superman where it hurts most! GET THAT LANA GIRL!” The scenes with Lana don’t really have a narrative function, rather serve a thematic purpose. It is the Clark Kent persona that keeps Superman in check and prevents him from turning into a full fledged tyrant.  It is his growing up in Smallville that has shaped his values and that is what the Lana, the all American girl next door, represents. 

2.       Ross Webster. 

Wait! How could I possibly like Ross Webster? He is, arguably, the most boring villain in the history of Super Hero movies. Well, I don’t so much like the character, as I like the idea of the character. The criticism has always been that Webster is a second rate Lex Luthor, and I absolutely agree. However, I also believe that was Richard Lester’s point– Webster is a wannabe super villain who has the resources to takeover the world, but lacks the brain power to do so.  Lex Luthor was a super genius who (inexplicably) surrounded himself with morons (Otis, Miss Tessmacher), while Ross Webster is a dim businessman who surrounds himself with far more intelligent people (even his ditzy blonde girl, Lorelei, is a lot smarter than she leads on).
 That is why Gus Gorman is so pivotal to his plans.  It’s ironic that it is the much put down Gus who gives Webster unlimited power. It’s a power that Webster doesn’t understand (nor did he rightfully learn) that it’s not surprising he is at a complete loss when the super computer turns against him.

3.       The Evil Superman.

After Superman (unwittingly) thwarts his plans at cornering the coffee market (Webster has Gorman hack into a weather satellite, which unleashes a monsoon on Columbia, Superman puts a stop to all of this), Webster has Gus manufacture a synthetic brand of Kryptonite – there’s one component that the computer can’t identify, so Gus uses tar. The synthetic Kryptonite doesn’t kill Superman, but it does radically change his personality – it turns him into a bad guy. The most interesting thing about “Evil Superman” is that he isn’t so much evil as he is an asshole.  This is not a Superman interested in world domination, he is a complete jerk (he straightens the Leaning Tower of Piza, he smashes beer bottles in bar by flicking peanuts at them, and blows out the Olympic Torch). While Superman is symbolic of mankind at his best, Evil Superman indulges in all our worldly vices (alcohol and sex, etc.). It’s a far more interesting idea than turning Superman into a world dictator, mainly because world conquest would be boring to Superman.  Plus, if the filmmakers turn Superman into a complete monster, they run the risk of making him completely irredeemable – it is a wise move on Lester’s part that no one gets hurt during Evil Superman’s bender.  This leads to one of the more memorable moments in the entire Superman series – Clark Kent vs. Evil Superman. The Evil Superman, no matter how many drinks downs, can’t fully silence his inner Clark Kent, hence it is only inevitable that two personalities duke out. Here, we are given a literal representation of this inner battle - Evil Superman crashes into a junkyard, and the two personalities (Clark and Evil Supes) split apart and then duke it out. The Clark half proves to be stronger and Superman is restored to his normal self. The moment when Clark opens his shirt to reveal the “S” logo is genuinely great moment in the series.  

4.       Christopher Reeve.

Christopher Reeve is the BEST Superman ever (no offense to you Kirk Alyn, George Reeves, Dean, and Henry Cavill fans).  In Superman III, Reeve gives three distinct performances – Clark Kent, Superman, and Evil Superman. It’s a tribute to Reeve that his Clark Kent and Superman behave in a different manner. His Clark Kent is timid and absolutely clumsy (a walking disaster at times).  He stammers a lot and has terrible posture (he slouches). Superman is the exact opposite – brave, confident, and absolutely charming.  There’s a lot of subtlety to Reeve’s performance – notice how Clark Kent is less of a bumbler when is he around Lana. He wisely injects Superman with a knowing sense of humor (take note, Henry Cavill), and is genuinely creepy as Evil Superman. 

The problem with Superman III (other than Pryor’s nonstop mugging) is that, while it is a two hour movie, there is only thirty minutes of actual plot – midway through the movie, Gus, shows Webster his plans for a supercomputer. Webster indulges Gus’ whim and this leads to the movie’s climax – the supercomputer becomes sentient and Superman must destroy it.  However, this story line comes completely out of left field – how did Gus dream up this idea? Why did he dream it up? The Evil Superman story line takes up about twenty minutes of actual screen time, and the majority of Lana’s scenes are confined to the first half. It’s interesting to see a Super Hero that doesn’t end with a city getting leveled (which is the tendency is most of the movies now a days), but the final confrontation between Superman and Ross Webster is bewildering (the supercomputer pulls in Webster’s sister and turns her into a robot that shoots lasers). Richard  Lester is a skilled director and has made some great movies, but his direction is ill-conceived at times - like opening the movie with a comedy ballet. The opening is funny, but it doesn't belong in this movie.  While Superman III is an absolute mess,  it does serve as a nice showcase for Christopher Reeve’s acting abilities.  His warmth and sincerity shines through, even in a disaster  like this. 

Credits
Cast:  Christopher Reeve (Superman/Clark Kent), Richard Pryor (Gus Gorman), Annette O’ Toole (Lana Lang), Robert Vaughn (Ross Webster), Pamela Stephenson (Lorelei), Annie Ross (Vera), Jackie Cooper (Perry White), Marc McClure (Jimmy Olsen), Margot Kidder (Lois Lane), Gavan O’ Herlihy (Brad), Paul Kaethler (Ricky), Nancy Roberts (Unemployment Clerk), Graham Stark (Blind Man), Justin Case (Mime).

Director: Richard Lester
Screenplay: David Newman, Leslie Newman.
Running Time: 125 min.

The Beatles vs. Elvis: A Hard Day's Night (1964), Girl Happy (1965)

In high school, there was a book that I constantly checked out from the library called The Great Movies by William Bayer; it was essentially a greatest movies ever list, but what made Bayer's book so compelling was that instead of choosing 100 movies, he chose 60. He made his selections by choosing 12 genres of film and then choosing five movies from each genre, hence the 60 movies. It was to my utter joy that years later I was able to locate a copy online and purchase it for an extremely low price ($7.99).  What's amazing about Bayer's book is that  he was well ahead of the curve in his selections; the book was published in 1973 and a lot of his selections were from the 60s. Among the films he chose were: 2001: A Space Odyssey, Psycho, Dr. Strangelove, Easy Rider, The Manchurian Candidate, Contempt, and A Hard Day's Night. These films often are found on most critics greatest movies list, but in 1973 these films were fairly recent and it was simply ( at least at the time) unheard to place such current films on a greatest list.  Bayer ranked A Hard Day's Night one of the five greatest Musicals ever made and has this to write:

Like any Astaire-Rogers film, A Hard Day's Night was contrived as a star vehicle. It was commissioned in frantic haste by United Artists as an exploitation film about the Beatles. Executives of the UA were convinced that the group's popularity would crest in 1964 and were most anxious that the film be completed before the bubble burst. (How badly they misunderstood the temper of the times. There is no question that the Beatles' place in musical history is more secure than that, for example, of Julie Andrews, but the film-industry executives, who business is presumably is fantasy fulfillment, rarely have shown much understanding of what the public craves.) 

At the same time the Beatles were making A Hard Day's Night, Elvis Presley was cranking out movies (and high profitably movie soundtracks) for MGM.  Like A Hard Day's Night these films were low risk, high reward ventures; they cost relatively little to make and often made a profit. Unlike the Beatles, Elvis Presley (at this time at least) was not working with a director of the caliber of Richard Lester, though I'm sure most  Superman fans would differ. His films were fairly formulaic and were turned out in an efficient, factory pace. His director on Girl Happy was the workmanlike Boris Sagal, who was more interested in delivering a product than making a genuinely good movie. Elvis films in the 60s all had the same skeletal outline:

1) An attractive leading lady that would serve as a romantic interest for the Elvis character. Often the two got off to a shaky start, but inevitably Elvis' charms and the scenery would win over the lovely lady.
2) A rock n roll number practically every ten minutes, just to remind the audience that this is an Elvis film and the soundtrack was readily available in stores.
3) A misunderstanding that throws a wrench in the romantic works; the leading lady makes a false assumption about Elvis that could easily be settled if they chose to listen what he had to say, as opposed to just brushing him off.
4) An old, respected character actor who brings humor and warmth to the proceedings.
5) Attractive scenery, be it nice summer beaches, palm trees, or beautiful women in bikinis.

Girl Happy is the quintessential Elvis Presley movie, because it has all of these things. In it, Rusty Wells (Elvis Presley) and his band promise a Chicago mobster/club owner that they will look after his daughter, Valerie (Shelley Fabares), who is on spring break in Ft. Lauderdale with her friends. Rusty and his band initially plan on going to Ft. Lauderdale for a week long vacation, but their plans seem dashed when Big Frank tells them that he's going to book them to play his club for the next four, maybe even six weeks. However, when Rusty finds out the Big Frank's daughter is going to Ft. Lauderdale for spring break, he uses Big Frank's fatherly concerns his advantage; he talks Big Franks into letting him and his band go down to Ft. Lauderdale to "protect" Valerie from all the sex maniacs running amok.Big Frank is grateful for Rusty's concerns and offers to pay all the expenses their trip, but he also makes it clear to Rusty that if anything should happen to his daughter, then it will be curtains for him and his band. This is to be done with Valerie being completely ignorant of the arrangement; Big Frank wants to make it appear as if Valerie has complete freedom over the week.  At first this seems like an easy task as Valerie comes off as being something of a nerd, she wears *the horror* GLASSES and dresses in a fairly conservative, drab manner. However, things take a turn for the unexpected when at the poolside, Valerie strips off the conservative wear to reveal a fairly rockin' bikini clad body. This gives Rusty a near heart attack. At first, Rusty finds Valerie to be a complete burden; looking after her has become a near full time job and becomes a wearisome cock block on his budding romance with the curvaceous Deena (Mary Ann Mobley). However, eventually Rusty warms towards Valerie and finds himself falling in love with her, much to the surprise of his band members, but not to the audience. Valerie returns his feelings and all indicators are that this going to be a happy ending. Valerie is so happy that when Big Frank calls her, she tells him the wonderful news about Rusty. Big Franks laughs and spills the beans to Valerie that he is paying Rusty to look after her. This naturally upsets Valerie and she decides to make Rusty's life a living hell, first by calling one of her admirers, the Italian exchange student Romano, and then by getting completely plastered. UH-OH! Will Rusty be able to win her love back? Of course, he will! This is an Elvis movie, not Contempt. 

It's often a misconception that while Elvis was a great singer, he was not a particularly good actor. This conception is largely due to the fact that Elvis movies got progressively worse as the decade wore on and he was, for the most part, never allowed to play an actual character but a rather variation of himself. Yet, when given good material, Elvis was actually quite good. Elvis made 31 feature films and while most of them are rather forgettable, there were a few that were rather good: Jailhouse Rock, It Happened at the World's Fair, Flaming Star, and King Creole. Flaming Star is of interest, because it is not a typical Elvis film, it is in fact a straightforward western with an excellent performance by Elvis. Not surprisingly, it's one of the few times Elvis was paired with a genuinely good director (Don Siegel), resulting in a genuinely good movie.
While Girl Happy is by no means a "good" movie, it definitely benefits greatly from having Elvis as the lead. It could have easily been written for Frankie Avalan, or any other popular croner at the time; with the exception of Elvis, it's fairly indistinguishable from all the other Beach movies of the time. In fact, four of Elvis co-star were beach movie regulars (Fabares, Mary Ann Mobley, Chris Noel, and Gail Gilmore).
The script was essentially dusted off in 2003 and made into the legendary bomb From Justin to Kelly. Girl Happy is a forgettable, yet fairly entertaining movie, while From Justin to Kelly is genuinely awful, despite the complimentary things the cast and director say on the commentary track. Yet, for the most part both screenplays are equally silly and at times cringe worthy, while the soundtracks to both are nothing special. However, the difference between the two is:

1) Elvis is quite possibly the most charismatic singer in modern history and this carries over onto film. Elvis' talent was limitless to the point where he could take a moldy jockstrap and turn it into pure gold. The musical numbers in Girl Happy are forgettable, but Elvis performs them with such energy that they are fun to watch. Justin Guarini and Kelly Clarkson, however, lack Elvis' screen presence and are complete bores, which in turn makes the musical numbers are a complete chore to sit through. From Justin to Kelly is only 80 minutes long, but it feels a lot longer.

2) Elvis and Shelley Fabares actually have onscreen chemistry.It's extremely easy to believe that Valerie would fall for a charismatic singer like Rusty, but it's also not surprising  when Rusty admits his love for Valerie, because she is a likable character. In the film Valerie is an extremely smart, but sheltered woman and Fabares manages to pull this with a simple gesture. When she first meets Rusty, he is serenading her with a guitar, yet rather than falling for him completely, she views him with complete skepticism. She may have lead an overprotected life, but she is not naive to ways of the world.  Incidentally, Fabares would  co-star with Elvis in two more films Clambake and Spinout, and by all accounts, she was his favorite leading actress.
Justin Guarini and Kelly Clarkson on the other hand, look and act as if they would rather be somewhere else.  It's hard to believe that a self absorbed, superficial guy like Justin would obsess over Kelly Clarkson's character. Not to sound superficial and sexist, but the average looking Clarkson wouldn't exactly stand out on a beach that is littered with bikini clad beauties. The budding romance between Justin and Kelly never feels organic to the film, rather it happens, because the script demands it. Hell, the two stars would have been served had they made a film where the played arch rivals out to destroy one another. It would be far more believable than them being lovers. Oddly enough, despite being set in Ft. Lauderdale during spring break and being made in 2003, From Justin to Kelly is so chaste that Girl Happy is a soft core porn by comparison. Justin is looking to get laid, like most college guys during spring break, but is content with just holding hands with the sweet natured Kelly. It sets up a couple of potentially raunchy scenarios (a whip cream bikini contest), but resolves them in the most unoffensive, G-Rated way possible; Kelly sprays Justin with a whip cream aerosol can, while the the female contestants are in the background, out of focus. Whereas in Girl Happy, it is fairly obvious what's on Rusty's mind when he's with the shapely Deena.  In one scene, Rusty and his band are playing a gig at a local bar, while  Valerie, in a skimpy costume, struts around the stage, carrying a sign that reads "I'm Evil." This musical number alone has more of a sexual charge to it than anything that can be found in From Justin To Kelly...yet it's completely tame by today's standards.

While Girl Happy was your standard 60s beach movies, with a great lead, A Hard Day's Night was something completely different; the Beatles played themselves as opposed to a fictional band. This, in itself,  isn't anything new; in the first "official" rock n' roll film Rock Around the Clock, Bill Haley and The Comets played themselves, but were essentially relegated to supporting roles, despite their first billing. Rock Around the Clock is more about their manager trying to promote their music to the record companies and the complications that ensue, rather than the personalities of Bill Haley and the Comets. This was the formula that most rock n' roll musicals from the 50s followed, the rock n' roll acts would show up just long enough to sing a few hit song, take a few bows, and then exit from the film.
It was also common for rock n' roll films at the time to take a defensive stance towards the music, Rock Around the Clock features a subplot in which a parent group protests Bill Haley playing his music in their town, because they are afraid it will lead to juvenile delinquency.  However, by the film's end, Bill Haley has won the parent group over and everyone lives happily ever after. A Hard Day's Night does away with all of this. There is never any attempt by the filmmakers to defend the Beatles music, nor are they ever made out to be "heroes." There's no scene in which John heroically saves a child from the fire. Or where Ringo lectures a children about the importance of the school. The Beatles are presented simply as themselves, vices and all.
A Hard Day's Night is a pseudo-documentary about the day in the life of The Beatles. The first shot says it all; the Beatles are being chased by a mob screaming fans as they try to get aboard a train. The Beatles may dodge a few responsibilities (answering fan mail), but they take their music seriously.
I said A Hard Day's Night is a pseudo-documentary, because despite it's direct cinema approach (hand held camera, improvisation), it often bends the rules of reality. In one scene, John is playing with a toy submarine, while taking a bath. He pretends he has been hit by a torpedo and sinks beneath the soap suds. Meanwhile, George is giving Shake lessons on how to use a safety razor; he demonstrates his technique by using Shake's reflection in a mirror. Just then the manager Norm comes in and tells George that a car is waiting outside to take them to the TV studio. He asks George where John is and George says in the bathtub. Norm yells at John to get out of the bathtub, but gets no response. He then drains the bathtub by pulling out the plug and to his utter shock John is not there. He looks down the drain and screams, "John!" Just then John emerges from the right of frame, in a bathrobe, and berates Norm for standing around.

The humor in A Hard Day's Night is often absurd, extremely nonsensical, it springs from the Beatles personalities rather than from the plot itself. The scene mentioned above really has no function to the overall story line, it's just John being John. In one scene, the Beatles have to mingle with the press and they often give silly answers to rather silly questions. My favorite bit being:

Reporter: What would you call that hair cut?
George: Arthur!

The film in may ways is stolen by Wilfred Brambell, who plays Paul's mischievous grandfather. He always seems to have a scheme up his sleeve; at one point he uses Ringo's invitation to get inside a casino and proceeds to accumulate a huge debt. At the end of the film, he persuades Ringo to quit the band and go parading across the city; this naturally ends with Ringo winding up in jail, as he unintentionally manages to offend the locals with his clumsiness.  Paul's grandfather is essentially the glue that holds the movie together, because he is the center of the story; it's his antics that often lead to crisis-es that the Beatles must overcome.

The humor in Girl Happy is fairly contrived, often something that could be found in a TV sitcom. In Girl Happy, Rusty has just spent the entire day hanging out with Valerie and the two agree to meet in his hotel room for dinner, he goes inside his room and much to his surprise finds Deena waiting for him. Rather than tell Deena the truth, he tells her that he's tired and tries to escort her out the front door, only to find Valerie heading in his direction. He takes Deena and hides her on the back patio, telling her he will be right back. As the scene plays out, Rusty keeps running back and forth, entertaining both women simultaneously, hoping to keep them hidden from one another's sight. This scene mercifully comes to an end when Valerie is called to the telephone. You can find this scene in practically every TV sitcom and it's just as irritating in this film, as it was in Three's Company and other TV shows  At this point in the film Rusty has completely fallen for Valerie and has essentially forgotten about Deena, which makes his dishonesty all the more annoying. You're practically screaming at him to just tell Deena the truth, so she can be on her way and find someone else, but instead he keeps stalling. It's an extremely long and lame scene that exists solely to create tension between our two love birds. It's at this moment that Big Frank reveals to Valerie that he hired Rusty to look after her. Right after hearing this startling revelation, Valerie looks out her window to see Deena leaving Rusty's room with Rusty in tow. UH-OH! It's also the moment where everyone in the theater lets out a collective groan. Really? I know Elvis movies are formulaic, but do they have to be this obvious?

The other main difference between the two films is the way they stage their musical numbers. Girl Happy was shot on a sound stage at MGM, so everything is shot in a conventional manner: An establishing shot of the location, followed by a close up of Elvis singing. The number that stands out is "Spring Fever" in which the film cross cuts between shots of Rusty and his band singing in his car with shots of Valerie and her friends singing in her car. This scene is done with the rear projection effect; in which a mock up of a car is placed in front of a screen, where road footage is being projected on. It's not a convincing effect and is especially clumsy looking in this film, but the song itself is fairly catchy and a lot of fun to listen to.
In A Hard Day's Night, each musical number is shot in a different fashion. The "Can't Buy Me Love" number is done in a non diagetic fashion, in which the music springs from the soundtrack, as opposed from a source within the narrative; The Beatles dance around on a field, while the song blares on the soundtrack. Whereas, "I Should Have Known Better" is interesting, because it often the bends the laws of reality for the sake of the song; the scene cuts between shots of the Beatles playing cards  to shots of the Beatles playing instruments.The number is set in a baggage car on a train, while a bunch of young woman look on from behind a fence; at one point one of the girls sticks her hand through the cage to have a grab at Ringo's hair. In some shots John is seen singing, in others he's fully invested in the card game. It's an extremely unconventional musical number and would serve as a template that music videos would later follow.

The question often asked is: are you a Beatles person or an Elvis person? Well, to be frank..I am both. The Beatles are probably my favorite band of all time, but Elvis is one of the most remarkable talents the world has ever seen. And it's safe to say without Elvis, there might have been no Beatles.While Elvis never came close to making a film as good as A Hard Day's Night, his presence alone was often enough to overcome weak scripts and bad direction. The Beatles managed to capture lighting in the bottle with A Hard Day's Night; they only made two other feature films afterwards, Help! and The Magic Mystery Tour; I don't include Yellow Submarine, because their involvement was fairly minimal and Let It Be is a documentary. Help! is an extremely entertaining film, but it's not on par with A Hard Day's Night, even though it was directed by Richard Lester. Too often the Beatles gets overshadowed by the wacky supporting cast, though Leo McKern is hilarious as a cult leader. The Magical Mystery Tour has a great soundtrack...and that's about it. The film is an incoherent mess and is completely boring to boot; nothing literally happens.

Credits:
 A Hard Day's Night (1964)
Cast:  John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Ringo Starr (themselves), Wilfred Brambell (Paul's Grandfather), Norman Rossington (Norm), John Junkin (Shake), Victor Spinetti (T.V. Director), Anna Quayle (Millie), Deryck Guyler (Police Inspector), Richard Vernon (Man On Train).

Director: Richard Lester
Screenplay: Alun Owen
Running Time: 87 min.

Girl Happy (1965)
Cast: Elvis Presley (Rusty Wells), Shelley Fabares (Valerie), Harold J. Stone (Big Frank), Mary Ann Mobley (Deena), Gary Crosby (Andy), Joby Baker (Wilbur), Jimmy Hawkins (Doc),  Nita Talbot (Sunny Daze),Chris Noel (Betsy),  Peter Brooks (Brentwood von Durgenfeld), Fabrizio Mioni (Romano), Jackie Coogan (Sgt. Benson), John Fielder (Mr. Penchill), Gail Gilmore (Nancy).

Director: Boris Sagal
Screenplay: Harvey Bullock, R.S. Allen
Running Time: 96 min.