Fun Summer Movies - National Lampoon's ANIMAL HOUSE (1978)

Summer Release Date: 28 July 1978 Starring Tim Matheson, John Belushi, Donald Sutherland, John Vernon, Peter Riegert, Mary Louise Weller, Karen Allen, Stephen Furst, Kevin Bacon, Tom Hulce, Mark Metcalf, Martha Smith, James Daughton.

Now I was too young to see this when it first hit theaters during the summer of 1978, but I did catch it on HBO years later and loved it from the opening scene. Set in 1962 at the fictional college university of Faber, Animal House focuses on the notorious wild fraternity Delta. It is during pledge week that we meet two incoming freshmen played by Tom Hulce and Stephen Furst, who first get turned away by a snooty rival fraternity before being accepted by Delta. The roll call of Delta goes like this: Delta President Hoover (James Widdoes); Otter (Tim Matheson); Boone (Peter Riegert); D-Day (Bruce McGill) and Bluto (John Belushi). The freshmen Hulce and Furst are eventually given the call names Pinto and Flounder respectively.

Delta must continually avoid the wrath of Dean Wormer (played by John Vernon) who has been threatening to kick them off campus for years and with the help of fraternity rival leader Greg and his co-horts, he is close to doing just that. The laughs come frequently and are plenty. Matheson is perfectly cast as the charming ladies man Otter, while Riegert make a great wing man for him as Boone. That is when he's not dealing with his on and off again girlfriend Katy (played by the very young and wide eyed Karen Allen of Raiders of the Lost Ark). She is a standout in this otherwise male dominated film. I mean you do have the beguiling Mandy Pepperidge, Otter's ex girlfriend (played by Mary Louise Weller) and her friend Babs (played by Martha Smith). And let's not forget a small role by Verna Bloom who plays Mrs. Dean Wormer, who is seduced by Otter. Belushi is Bluto. Period. His scene in the cafeteria where he is just scarfing down food has to be seen to be believed.

Animal House is a riot from start to finish. Throw in the musical appearance by Otis Day and the Knights, who bust out the energetic Shout at the Delta frat party and then later on with a slow jam at a nightclub. The Deltas trial. The toga party. The parade climax that turns into an out of control melee. All add up to a classic movie. The entire cast appears to be having a grand old time. And Animal House leaves it's mark in the history of funny movies as one of the best ever made.

Notes:

With a budget of only $3 million, Animal House became one of the biggest hits of all time with over $150 million in box office sales.

The movie was set to be filmed at the University of Missouri until the president of the school read the script and refused permission. It was filmed at and around the University of Oregon in Eugene instead.

The bass player in the band Otis Day and the Knights is then-unknown bluesman Robert Cray. Cray was instrumental in getting the musicians together that appeared as the band.
Film debut of Kevin Bacon.

Meat Loaf was the second choice for Bluto in case John Belushi dropped out of his role.

Premiere voted this movie as one of "The 50 Greatest Comedies Of All Time" in 2006.

Karen Allen's first movie.

Harold Ramis (I)', who co-wrote the film, based some of the pranks on his college experiences at Washington University in St. Louis, specifically when Otter and Boone are hitting golf balls at the ROTC.
Even thought the actors are portraying college students, most of them were in their mid to late twenties.
Hulce was 24, Belushi was 28, Matheson and Riegert were both 30, Weller was 31, McGill was 26 as was Allen.

Fun Summer Movies: RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK (1981)

Summer Release Date: 12 June 1981. Starring Harrison Ford, Karen Allen, Denholm Elliott, John-Rhys Davies, Paul Freeman, Alfred Molina. Directed by Steven Spielberg. Produced by George Lucas. Written by Lawrence Kasdan and George Lucas. Released by Paramount Pictures.

Film makers Steven Spielberg and George Lucas teamed up for the very first time to create movie magic. A wonderful throwback to the Saturday afternoon cliff-hanger serials of the 30's and 40's. Harrison Ford is perfect as archaeologist/adventurer Indiana Jones, who also is a teacher. He travels the world seeking out grand artifacts. The film opens with a sensational sequence in the jungles of South America as Indiana is searching for this gold statue. He has to avoid countless booby traps and nearly gets crushed by a gigantic boulder, which is an iconic scene. Look for Alfred Molina in an early role as Indy's helper. Molina couldn't have been more than 20 years old. After that thrilling opening which features an escape by Indy from angry natives via an airplane, things settle down for a bit. He is back in the classroom, teaching about archaeology when he is recruited by the U.S government to track down the Lost Ark of the Covenant, before the Nazis find it. He takes the assignment and first has to deal with an old flame who may have information he needs about possible locations for the ark. Her name is Marion Ravenwood (played with gusto by Karen Allen), whose father and Indy had several adventures back in the day. Marion fell in love with Indy but he left and she holds resentment toward him to this day. There is a rousing fight scene in the bar she owns between Indy and the bad guys before the whole building comes down. So Marion decides to tag along with Indy to find the ark. They end up traveling to Egypt and hook up with Indy's old friend Sallah (Davies) who learns where the ark is located. Indy not only has to deal with the Nazis but also a rival French archaeologist named Belloq. The action in Egypt features the best scenes in the movie: Indy and Marion trapped in the Well of Souls with tons of snakes (which our hero is deathly afraid of); an intense slug fest between Indy and a hulk of a Nazi; and the thrilling chase by Indy on horseback after the Nazis who have procured the Ark. All this leads to a rousing finale that breathed new life into the action genre and brought a new hero into the 20th century. Ford is awesome as Indiana Jones, as he brings his considerable acting talent along with a lot of heroic derring. Karen Allen is positively engaging as Marion, a truly memorable female character that hold her own with the men amid all the action and what not.  Spielberg once again shows why he is one of the best directors of all time. Also the thrilling music score by John Williams is awesome. I was twelve when I first saw Raiders and it blew me and everyone else away. A truly iconic and fun summer movie. Just a good old fashioned thrill ride. I ended up seeing it 2 more times at the theater and looked forward every few years for the next grand adventure of Indiana Jones. Followed by three sequels: The Temple Of Doom (1984), The Last Crusade (1989) and The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skulls (2008).

Notes:

1981's biggest grossing film with $230 million in North America alone.

The original name of the lead character in the script was Indiana Smith. His name was changed to Jones on the first day of production.

Tom Selleck was Steven Spielberg's second choice for the role of Indiana Jones. Harrison Ford was his first, but George Lucas objected, since Ford had been in both American Graffiti (1973) and Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977). Selleck was not able to take the role because he was committed to "Magnum, P.I." (1980). However, that series did not go into production until Raiders' filming had already wrapped. Selleck was in fact in Hawaii waiting for the series to start as the final scenes to be filmed (the opening sequence) were being shot in Hawaii. "Magnum" did an episode called "Legend of the Lost Art" that parodied "Raiders", complete with hat, whip, booby traps, etc.

The out-of-control airplane actually ran over Harrison Ford's knee, tearing his ligaments. Rather than submit to Tunisian health care, Ford had his knee wrapped in ice and carried on.


During filming in Tunisia, nearly everyone in the cast and crew got sick, except director Steven Spielberg. It is thought that he avoided illness by eating only the food he'd brought with him: cans and cans of Spaghetti-O's.

I met Karen Allen at the Dragon Convention in Atlanta in 2009 and she was awesome. Funny and so nice in person and looked great.  Check out the pic below of me and her.

A Little Movie Trivia....

So while at work today I came across an old movie magazine called Empire's Greatest Action Films. It's about 5 years old and it was in one of my desk's drawers. So while on break I flipped through it and landed on the 4 page write up on Raiders of the Lost Ark, which is one of my all time favorite films. And what caught my attention was a section called little known trivia, so I started reading it. Of course everyone knows that Tom Selleck was the original choice to play Indy, but couldn't break free from his Magnum P.I. show. And that Harrison Ford was sick as a dog when they filmed that scene with the guy twirling his sword in the middle of the street, when Indy just shoots him. The one fact I didn't know was the scene where Indy and Marion are trapped in the snake pit and snakes are everywhere. Well during one take, Karen Allen (Marion) thought there was gonna be fake snakes thrown at her or near her, but Spielberg surprised her with the real deal. So she freaked out. He wanted to get a realistic reaction out of her and boy did he ever. So I thought that was pretty interesting. You don't know what part it is in the movie because she is screaming and jumping all over the place anyway and there are tons of snakes in this scene too. Just thought it was interesting and I never knew that before. In case some of my followers don't know I met the lovely Ms. Allen at Dragon Con Atlanta this year back in September. And she was super nice and was positively radiant. I was able to get a picture with her that day which is below.