Candy Clark Movies

It's the last night of summer 1962, and the teenagers of Modesto, California, want to have some fun before adult responsibilities close in. Among them are Steve (Ron Howard) and Curt (Richard Dreyfuss), college-bound with mixed feelings about leaving home; nerdy Terry "The Toad" (Charles Martin Smith), who scores a dream date with blonde Debbie (Candy Clark); and John (Paul Le Mat ), a 22-year-old drag racer who wonders how much longer he can stay champion and how he got stuck with 13-year-old Carol (Mackenzie Phillips) in his deuce coupe. As D. J. Wolfman Jack spins 41 vintage tunes on the radio throughout the night, Steve ponders a future with girlfriend Laurie (Cindy Williams), Curt chases a mystery blonde, Terry tries to act cool, and Paul prepares for a race against Bob Falfa (Harrison Ford), but nothing can stop the next day from coming, and with it the vastly different future ushered in by the 1960s. Fresh off The Godfather (1972), producer Francis Ford Coppola had the clout to get his friend George Lucas's project made, but only for $750,000 on a 28-day shooting schedule. Despite technical obstacles, and having to shoot at night, cinematographer Haskell Wexler gave the film the neon-lit aura that Lucas wanted, evoking the authentic look of a suburban strip to go with the authentic sound of rock-n-roll. Universal, which wanted to call the film Another Slow Night in Modesto, thought it was unreleasable. But Lucas' period detail, co-writers Willard Huyck's and Gloria Katz's realistic dialogue, and the film's nostalgia for the pre-Vietnam years apparently appealed to a 1973 audience embroiled in cultural chaos: American Graffiti became the third most popular movie of 1973 (after The Exorcist and The Sting), establishing the reputations of Lucas (whose next film would be Star Wars) and his young cast, and furthering the onset of soundtrack-driven, youth-oriented movies. Although the film helped spark 1970s nostalgia for the 1950s, nothing else would capture the flavor of the era with the same humorous candor and latent sense of foreboding. ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide

Amazingly, At Close Range was based on a true story. Bored teenager Sean Penn meets his prodigal father (Christopher Walken) for the first time in years. Though Penn is vaguely aware that his father is a criminal, he is nonetheless impressed by his dad's high life style and creature comforts. But Walken's veneer of charm is fragile indeed, and it becomes clear that he is willing to kill anyone--even his family--if they get in his way. When Walken rapes Penn's girl friend (Mary Stuart Masterson) to keep the boy from cooperating with the DA, it is only a warm-up for the horrors to come. The screenplay for At Close Range was written by Nicholas Kazan, the son of prominent film director Elia Kazan. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The idea of fusing teen sex-comedy and horror genres into a boffo box-office bonanza seems like classic braindead Hollywood-think... but somehow, beyond all reason, the makers of this film manage to pull it off. Much of the credit goes to director Fran Rubel Kuzui (Tokyo Pop) who chooses wisely to let the jokes and action rip by so quickly that viewers won't have time to realize there's practically nothing going on. Also excellent is Kristy Swanson as the bubble-headed cheerleader who learns from a Van Helsing-ish stranger (Donald Sutherland) that she's, like, the reincarnation of this pure female warrior and stuff, destined to rid the world -- or at least the Valley -- of vampires. No sooner is the Buffster being schooled in the ways of vampire butt-kicking (much to the consternation of meek pretty-boy beau Luke Perry) than the lead vampire (Rutger Hauer) and his leering cronies show up -- and leading up the pack is none other than Pee-Wee Herman himself, Paul Reubens. Fans of this film's popular TV offspring will appreciate the fang-sharp humor but may be surprised to find little evidence of the spooky atmosphere that permeates the series -- though there are some inspired moments, particularly the ridiculous death-by-ruler scene. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide

A serial killer with a difference is on the prowl in a small Virginia town in this darkly comic horror story. Brent Marken (Michael Biehn) is the sheriff of the city of Cherry Falls, a quiet community that suddenly has a big-city problem to contend with when Marken discovers a murderer is on the loose. The killer is targeting teenage girls who attend the local high school -- and his victims are all virgins. This causes no small amount of anxiety for Brent's teenage daughter Jody (Brittany Murphy), who is not as ready for intimacy as her boyfriend Kenny (Gabriel Mann). Brent has personal problems of his own to deal with; his relationship with his wife Marge (Candy Clark) has hit an impasse, and he shares a dark secret with Tom Sisler (Joe Inscoe), the principal of the high school. Cherry Falls marked the American directorial debut for Australian filmmaker Geoffrey Wright; the cast also includes Jay Mohr, Caroline Perreyclear, and Rick Forrester. Cherry Falls enjoyed its first theatrical engagements in the United Kingdom, several months after it was first slated to open in the United States, thanks in part to the difficulty the producers had with the MPAA in securing an R rating for the picture. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Cocaine and Blue Eyes was the pilot film for a TV detective series starring former footballer O.J. Simpson (who also produced the film). Playing a private eye in San Francisco, Simpson is hired by a man who ends up seriously dead. The deceased client had wanted Simpson to locate a former girl friend, and in carrying out his assignment Simpson unearths a deadly (and very well connected) cartel of drug dealers. Cocaine and Blue Eyes gathered dust until O.J. Simpson's murder trial in 1994. After that, this tiresome old TV movie became a staple of "Late Late Shows" everywhere. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A deuce coupe is a vintage 1930s or '40s two-door sedan, and in the 1950s these were the favored possessions of improvement-minded hot-rodders everywhere. In the '60s, the two-door 1954 and '55 Chevrolet Bel-Aire fell into the same category. These days, examples of these cars are for the most part ruinously expensive. In this nostalgia-laden movie, set in a small town in Virginia in the 1950s, Eddy, a hero-worshipping young man is helping his older brother Brian soup up his car for a long-awaited drag race. After winning the race and defeating (temporarily) the local champion, Brian goes off to enter the Air Force, leaving his precious car with Eddy. Before long, Marie Vitelli shows up on Eddy's doorstep looking for Brian. This pretty girl with a bad reputation is claiming to be pregnant with Brian's child. What's worse, she's currently going out with his drag-racing rival. Feelings of betrayal vie with rage and jealousy in the confused young man, who fancies Marie himself, and he challenges the rival to another racing duel. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

The Faerie Tale Theatre production of the classic fairy tale The Tale of the Frog Prince was adapted and directed by Monty Python alumnus Eric Idle and stars Robin Williams and Teri Garr. Williams plays a prince who is turned into a frog by a jilted fairy godmother. Garr is the princess who turns the frog back into prince with a kiss. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Movie Guide

It is doubtful that while acting in D. W. Griffith's Birth of a Nation back in 1914, Lillian Gish ever dreamed that seven decades later she'd be co-starring with a cute dog in something called Hambone and Hillie. It all begins at a busy airport, where octogenarian Hillie (Gish) is accidentally separated from her beloved bow-wow Hambone. In a twinkling, Hambone and Hillie find themselves on opposite coasts of the USA. The rest of the film charts the efforts of both mistress and mutt to find each other again. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Norman Panama directed and wrote (along with Albert E. Lewin) this mediocre piece of fluff about unhappily divorced marriage partners. Elliot Gould stars as Les Bingham, who takes umbrage that his ex-wife Katie (Diane Keaton) has a new love in life. What Les doesn't realize is that her new paramour is lawyer Lou Springer (Paul Sorvino). When Katie's sister Sally (Candy Clark) arrives and tells the two about her new, hip '70s marriage contract, Les and Katie decide to try to get together again under a more liberal marriage contract, like Katie's sister. But, unfortunately for the couple, the contract is planted with the seeds of self-destruction, having been drafted by Lou. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

Rosanna Arquette stars in this TV remake about a young deaf mute who is befriended by the town doctor. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide

Anxious to become an "official" detective rather than a mere private eye, Magnum hires on as security chief at the ritzy Hawaiian Gardens Hotel. His first assignment--which may also turn out to be his last--is to prevent a notorious cat burglar from plying his trade at an international convention of jewelry designers. Magnum finds his efforts complicated by a pair of very sexy call girls who are marching to the tune of their own drummers. Candy Clark and Phyllis Davis make their first series appearances as flashy good-time girls Leslie and Cleo. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Originally divided into four segments and now cut to three, National Lampoon Goes to the Movies is a story about a man who is determined to get in touch with himself and sends his wife away so she can do the same thing. The next tale features a female business magnate who wreaks appropriate revenge on her arrogant male colleagues, and the last vignette has a virtuously pure policeman (Robby Benson) becoming as cynical as his partner (Richard Widmark). Each skit makes internal references to other movies, movie directors, or classic movie characters, which may enhance the viewing for movie buffs but does not change the generally dull and unfunny material. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide