Fame 1980 Movie

8 New York Teenagers have dreams of Fame and success. The first step on the road to stardom is to be accepted at New York's School for performing arts, where they will spend 4 years getting an education but also learning life lessons which teach them that the road to success isn't always a smooth one.

In 1980 this movie had passed me by. I was only 12 and with a 15 rating then that’s not really surprising. So I knew nothing about it until 1982 when the TV series was first broadcast.

In the U.K. the BBC broadcast the movie in September 1982, once the first season of the TV series had been aired and was a huge success. By then I was already familiar with the Music, Irene Cara and of course the characters that had transferred to the TV series.

That first time I saw the film, although I thought there were some great parts to it, compared to the TV series, which I loved from the beginning, I was a little disappointed with the movie. It was far more gritty and down to earth than the TV series. Many of the storylines seemed downbeat and some of the characters were far less likeable than the in there series.

Watching as an adult and knowing more of what to expect I have found a new appreciation for the movie. Although it is still the TV series that has my heart the film has grown on me.

The first thing I notice which I find a little strange is that the Fame logo is not used in the opening title sequence at all.

Now, I really like how the initial scenes cut quickly from one to another and we get a little taste and insight into all of the characters. Most of them have something intriguing about them that draws the audience in and the quick changing scenes leave you wanting to see more.

Many of the initial Freshman scenes were replicated, albeit toned down, in the pilot of the TV series and we have the same kind of energy that I loved about the series. “Red Light” is inter-cut through many of the opening scenes, which again was replicated in the TV pilot episode. The TV series also uses storylines like Sherwood's husband being ill, Doris' crush on Michael and Ralph's (Danny's) stand up act & pills scenario.

I really like “Dogs in the yard” but sadly we only get a little taste of it here.

Out of all the Characters I struggle the most with accepting Maureen Teefy as Doris. Probably because I love Valerie Landsburg so much and it’s so hard to see anyone else play Doris. Although along with Ralph Doris probably gets the greatest character development in the film.

Apart from Leroy, Bruno & Shorofsky, Doris and Montgomery are the only characters to really transfer from the movie to the series. Montgomery in the movie is a far more interesting and complex character compared to the TV series version so I don’t mind Paul McCrane but Doris is superior in the TV series, in my opinion.

Bruno and Shorofsky are the closest to their TV characters although they do use some strong language. Bruno doesn't really get any character development during the movie and is pretty constant all the way through.

Leroy is far more extreme than the TV character. Gene is wonderful and in retrospect probably has far more to get his teeth into, character wise, than in the series but this is not the Leroy we know and love from the Series, so he is less likable. How on earth does Leroy get to stay in school after his outburst in class and smashing up all the book cabinets! The movie has us believing that it is realistic but any student behaving like that surely would have been expelled. Here it's never mentioned again.

The strong language in the film was one of the things I initially didn’t like. As a teenager this was totally alien to me. Even now as an adult it still seems pretty strong in places and totally un-fame like to me.

As Irene Cara had already had huge success with the Fame theme and I’d bought her solo album I was familiar with her and so accepted her more as Coco, even though I love the TV series' Erica Gimpel. Despite a different actress the character is very similar to the TV version. Although TV's Coco would never take her top off! Coco isn't stupid and surely when she arrives at the guys apartment she knows that it's not legitimate. I think Coco would have walked out of there. Also when the guy is first talking to Coco he mentions her being in a show. I couldn't tell if he was making it up as we'd not had any mention of Coco getting a part in a show, unless I missed that part.

I find Ralph the least likable character and most of his scenes I find irritating. Even when he’s at his most vulnerable I struggle to like him. I find it strange when Ralph first performs his stage act and most of the kids are present who he says are his friends. It's weird because we never see Bruno really interacting with anyone of the other kids apart from Coco but he's there for Ralph's big chance.

I was always disappointed with how small a role Debbie Allen had in the movie. Debbie has said that originally she was supposed to be a love interest for Leroy and a rival for Coco and she was supposed to have a big production number but that was cut, when Alan Parker had already got hours and hours of footage filmed. Parker also stated that Debbie was a little too old to be a student at the school. Still when I first watched the film I was constantly waiting for her to reappear but was sadly disappointed.

“Hot Lunch” is a great scene with all the students jamming together in the cafeteria. The TV series pilot tries to recreate this with “Take Me” but “Hot Lunch” is far superior.

The ballet solo scene with Antonia Franceschi is wonderful and it’s great how the movie can go from chaotic scenes full of people to gentle tender moments like this. Irene performing “Out Here On My Own” is another example of this.

The “Fame” theme is such an iconic part of the film, with all the students dancing in the street on top of the taxi and cars. I think for a lot of people that is the one scene they think of first when anyone mentions the movie.

When I first watched the film I’d never heard of “The Rocky Horror Show” so the scenes involving that were a little lost on me. However now it is one of my favourite films and so that makes a difference watching here and makes the scenes more fun.

For some we really get a sense that the characters develop over the course of the film and that there has been a large passing of time from the beginning to the end. That’s not something that is easy to achieve and certainly the 2009 remake failed to deliver such strong characters that actually developed and grew over the course of the movie.

It does feel that the stories become a little more downbeat as the characters get older as life has some tough lessons to teach them. There is far more humour in the first half of the film compared to the second half.

Thankfully just as things seem at their bleakest we are ready for graduation and “I Sing The Body Electric”. I really love this song and the performance here. It really brings the movie to a fabulous conclusion with all the students coming together in one wonderful performance of music and dance.

"Fame" - Performed by Irene Cara

Written by Michael Gore & Dean Pitchford.

"Out Here On My Own" - Performed by Irene Cara

Written by Michael Gore & Lesley Gore.

"Hot Lunch Jam"- Performed by Irene Cara

Written by Michael Gore, Robert F Coleberry & Lesley Gore.

"Dogs In The Yard" - Performed by Paul McCrane

Written by Dominic Bugatti & Frank Musker.

"Red Light" - Performed by Linda Clifford

Written by Michael Gore & Dean Pitchford.

"Is It Okay To Call You Mine" - Performed by Paul McCrane

Written by Paul McCrane.

"Never Alone" - Performed by Contemporary Gospel chorus of the High School of Music and Art

Written by Michael Gore & Dean Pitchford.

"Ralph and Monty" (Dressing Room Piano) - Instrumental

Written by Michael Gore

"I Sing The Body Electric" - Performed by Irene Cara, Paul McCrane, Laura Dean, Traci Parnell, Eric Brockington.

Written by Michael Gore & Dean Pitchford.