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Skatetown, U.S.A.

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Skatetown, U.S.A. is a 1979 American comedy musical film produced to capitalize on the short-lived fad of roller disco.[2] Directed by William A. Levey, the film features many television stars from the 1960s and 1970s, among them Scott Baio, Flip Wilson, Maureen McCormick, Ron Palillo and Ruth Buzzi. Patrick Swayze's leading role as the skater "Ace" was his first movie performance. Also in the cast are Sydney Lassick, Billy Barty and Playboy centerfold model Dorothy Stratten.

Skatetown, U.S.A.
Theatrical release poster
Directed byWilliam A. Levey
Written byNick Castle (screenplay and story)
Lorin Dreyfuss (story)
William A. Levey (story)
Produced byLorin Dreyfuss (producer)
William A. Levey (producer)
Peter E. Strauss (executive producer)
StarringScott Baio
Patrick Swayze
Flip Wilson
Maureen McCormick
Katherine Kelly Lang
CinematographyDonald M. Morgan
Edited byGene Fowler Jr.
Music byMiles Goodman
Dave Mason
John Beal
Production
company
Distributed byColumbia Pictures
Release date
  • October 1979 (1979-10)
Running time
94 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Box office$2.35 million[1]

Plot

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One evening at a Los Angeles roller disco called Skatetown, U.S.A., a rivalry between two skaters culminates in a contest, the winning prize for which is $1,000 and a moped. After a game of chicken played on motorized roller skates, the two rivals become friends.

Cast

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Production notes

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The setting is based on Flipper's Roller Boogie Palace, a disco roller rink which had opened in West Hollywood on Santa Monica Boulevard earlier in 1979 and was fleetingly a very popular celebrity hangout. The film includes many short, broadly comedic and slapstick subplots set between long roller skating sequences and musical performances.

Filming was done mostly at the Hollywood Palladium, built in 1940. Its sprawling blond hardwood dance floor, chandeliers and soap bubbles blown by a machine from the Lawrence Welk Show can be seen in sundry scenes. Some exteriors were shot on Santa Monica Pier and at nearby Venice Beach. Patrick Swayze, who had roller skated competitively as a teenager and was a trained dancer, did his own skating and stunts in the film. April Allen, Swayze's uncredited roller-skating partner in the movie, had won the world championship in women's free skating seven years earlier.[3][4]

Twenty-nine years after filming, Maureen McCormick recalled that there was a lot of cocaine being done on the set. McCormick wrote that she fell back into severe cocaine addiction during production, often showing up late for shooting or not coming to work at all.[6]

Scott Baio later said:

I have blocked that movie from my memory, it was so bad...That was that whole time where Xanadu and Roller Boogie and all that crap was coming out. That was one of those things where they sent me the script and I said 'no', but they just kept calling and offering more money! I mean, they offered me a lot of money. And finally I said 'Well, hell. What is it? Two weeks' work? Whatever. Okay. Fine'. And it was...You know, sometimes money isn't everything. [Laughs.] It was just bad. I mean, it was bad shooting it. I'm trying to think of any real stories that I have, but it was just insanity. When was that? '79? It was just a guy making a film who didn't know how to make a film. And I don't even know what the story was! Skatetown, U.S.A.? That was crapola.[7]

Soundtrack

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Skatetown, U.S.A.
Soundtrack album by
various artists
Released1979
GenreDisco
Length39:00
LabelColumbia Records

The film features almost non-stop synchronized music, much by popular disco and pop artists from the mid and late 1970s. Most of this music is diegetic, in that it is shown within the plot as being played either through records spun by the roller disco's "wizard" DJ or performed on the club's stage and hence, is heard by both the characters and the movie's audience. Dave Mason, who sings the movie's disco-tinged theme song "Skatetown" (written by himself and Brenda Cooper) over the opening credits, is featured as a performer in the roller disco, singing "I Fell in Love" along with a cover of his own 1968 Traffic hit "Feelin' Alright". The Beach Boys also submitted a song called "Skatetown U.S.A." for use on the soundtrack but it was not used.[8][better source needed] Among other songs on the soundtrack are the dance hit "Born to Be Alive" by Patrick Hernandez, "Boogie Wonderland" (Earth, Wind & Fire and The Emotions), "Shake Your Body" (The Jacksons), "Boogie Nights" (Heatwave), "Baby Hold On" (Eddie Money), "Ain't No Stoppin' Us Now" (McFadden & Whitehead), "I Want You to Want Me" (Cheap Trick), "Roller Girl" (John Sebastian), "Perfect Dancer" (Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis Jr.), "Disco Nights (Rock-Freak)" by GQ, a cover of Mick Jagger and Keith Richards' "Under My Thumb" by the Hounds, and "Skatetown U.S.A." (John Beal) during the end credits.

A soundtrack album was released in 1979 by Columbia Records.

Side A:

  1. "Skatetown" – Dave Mason (3:11)
  2. "Boogie Wonderland" – Earth, Wind & Fire (4:49)
  3. "Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground)" – The Jacksons (3:45)
  4. "Boogie Nights" – Heatwave (3:38)
  5. "Born to Be Alive" – Patrick Hernandez (3:23)

Side B:

  1. "Roller Girl" – John Sebastian (3:10)
  2. "Perfect Dancer" – Marilyn McCoo & Billy Davis Jr. (6:28)
  3. "I Fell in Love" – Dave Mason (2:21)
  4. "Under My Thumb" – Hounds (4:17)
  5. "Feelin' Alright" – Dave Mason (4:30)[9]

Reception

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Following a widely publicized premiere party at Flipper's roller disco in West Hollywood on October 1, 1979[3][10] and billed as the Rock and Roller Disco Movie of the Year,[6] by the time of its release roller disco was a fast-waning fad and the popularity of disco music had peaked (Disco Demolition Night had happened two and a half months earlier). Aside from some praise for Swayze's skating and screen presence[3] the film was neither a critical nor a box-office success. By the early 21st century a writer for oddculture.com called the film "a true cult item and one of the best 70s time capsules around...There's just something magical about a slutty Marsha [sic] eating drugged pizza with a bearded Horshack".[11]

It has been shown on cable television. There have been no known licensed VHS or DVD releases, due to Patrick Swayze buying the rights and banning it from release. His autobiography stated he was embarrassed by the film, so he bought the rights and buried it.[11][12] 35mm and 16mm full frame prints of the film (which was shot in 35mm and cropped to widescreen for theatrical release) have been exhibited at film revivals[13] and low quality video copies made from a much faded full frame 16mm print have been in commercial circulation.[14] On March 6, 2019, a 35mm print was screened for the first time in years at Los Angeles' New Beverly Cinema on a double bill with Roller Boogie.

Home media

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Skatetown USA was released by Sony on Blu-ray on September 24, 2019. It was the first home media release of Skatetown USA as it was never released on VHS, LaserDisc or DVD. The Blu-ray was a bare bones release with only the movie included on the disc. No extras were included, and no menu system was provided on the disc.

References

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  1. ^ Richard Nowell, Blood Money: A History of the First Teen Slasher Film Cycle Continuum, 2011 p 259
  2. ^ allmovie.com, Skatetown, USA, retrieved September 25, 2010
  3. ^ a b c d Swayze, Patrick and Niemi, Lisa, The Time of My Life Archived August 15, 2023, at the Wayback Machine, Simon and Schuster, 2009, pp 74–75, ISBN 978-1-4391-5858-6, retrieved October 1, 2010
  4. ^ a b susan-a-miller.com, Allen (Powell), April Archived July 16, 2011, at the Wayback Machine, retrieved October 2, 2010
  5. ^ oscars.org, Index to motion picture credits, Skatetown USA Archived July 27, 2011, at the Wayback Machine, retrieved October 2, 2010
  6. ^ a b McCormick, Maureen, Here's the Story: Surviving Marcia Brady and Finding My True Voice, William Morrow, pp 123–124. October 14, 2008, ISBN 978-0-06-149014-9
  7. ^ Will Harris, "Scott Baio talks Chachi, Bob Loblaw, and Howard Cosell", AV Club 3 April 2014 Archived April 7, 2014, at the Wayback Machine accessed 7 April 2014
  8. ^ "The Beach Boys: California Feeling (1985 Bootleg Vinyl): Liner Notes".
  9. ^ "Skatetown u.s.a. LP". Amazon. Archived from the original on November 28, 2007. Retrieved September 11, 2017.
  10. ^ gettyimages.com, Premiere Party For Skatetown USA Archived August 15, 2023, at the Wayback Machine, retrieved October 3, 2010
  11. ^ a b oddculture.com, Roller Disco Cinema: Skatetown, U.S.A. Archived January 30, 2013, at archive.today, retrieved September 28, 2010
  12. ^ hanktank88.blogspot.com, Birthday Bash & Other Fun Stuff Archived July 8, 2011, at the Wayback Machine, August 6, 2010, retrieved September 28, 2010
  13. ^ loc.gov, Mary Pickford Theater, Past Screenings: 2008 Archived July 29, 2014, at the Wayback Machine, retrieved September 28, 2010
  14. ^ brutallo.com, Cult films! Archived October 6, 2010, at the Wayback Machine, retrieved September 28, 2010
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