Corvette Summer

From a far away galaxy to Las Vegas.

What do you get when you mix the coolest muscle cars of the 70's with new kid on the block Mark Hamill & future Ghostbusters secretary Annie Potts? The answer is an hour and forty five minutes of adventure and guaranteed laughter!

Corvette Summer is  a 1978 adventure film starred by Mark Hamill (shit! only a few months after he became the legendary Star Wars' Luke Skywalker!) and newcomer Annie Potts (remembered by nerds for her sexy read hair role in the above mentioned Ghostbusters flicks) Directed by Matthew Robbins and written by Hal Barwood & Robbins, this under rated gem, is a must for every muscle car lover & every adventure/comedy film enthusiast. 

The missing Corvette.

Hitch hiking for a dream car.

Mark Hamill, fresh from the astronomical success of "Star Wars," delivers an animated and thoroughly engaging performance as Kenneth W. Dantley, a guileless, but hot-blooded Los Angeles teenage automobile enthusiast who leads his high school autobody shop in restoring a '73 Corvette stingray back to its full pristine turbo-charged candy apple red glory. After the 'vette gets stolen, the extremely obsessive and determined Hamill heads off to Las Vegas to reclaim it. While fumbling and stumbling around Sin City Hamill hooks up with and eventually falls bum over teakettle in love with kooky, saucy, tenderhearted aspiring prostitute Vanessa (a wonderfully flaky and adorable Annie Potts, who's utterly disarming in her film debut).

A winsome, spirited, perfectly enjoyable and infectiously good-natured seriocomic youth coming-of-age tale, "Corvette Summer" bristles along with an easy, carefree, unforced charm that's impossible to resist. Matthew Robbins, who also co-wrote the bright, insightful script with Hal Barwood (these two subsequently collaborated on the equally excellent fantasy treat "Dragonslayer"), directs with tremendous energy and agility, skillfully mixing a swift headlong pace, uniformly bang-up acting, laughs, romance, and such trenchantly examined themes as chasing after one's dreams (both literally and figuratively), joyful adolescent innocence being curdled into sour adult cynicism, staying true to one's beliefs, and one painful rite of passage -- the rude awakening to a harsh, jarring, not always fair reality with all its many disheartening foibles and inequities -- that we all must undergo into the taut, absorbing narrative. Technically, the film is every bit as shiny and attractive as its titular car star: Frank Stanley's lively, colorful, lustrous cinematography, Amy Jones' fluid, sharp editing and Craig Safan's swell, stirring score are all most impressive.

I'll let you suck my dick if you help me find my car.

Let's fuck Kenny, your car will show up eventually.

Kudos to the top supporting cast: Eugene Roche as Hamill's friendly autoshop teacher, Danny Bonaduce and Wendy Jo Spurber as two of Hamill's fellow car-loving autoshop classmates, Kim Milford (the wimpy browbeaten kid hero of the enticingly chintzy sci-fi revenge potboiler "Laserblast") as the cocky, effeminate leader of a stolen car ring, Brion James as the jerk who gains illegal possession of Hamill's car, the ubiquitous Dick Miller as a genial, generous gambler, T.K. Carter as a carwash employee, and Phillip Bruns as a sleazy grifter gas station proprietor. A frenetic chase sequence between a bike-riding Hamill and a car-driving James constitutes as a definite thrilling highlight. The relationship between the naive Hamill and the more worldly Potts is quite amusing, affecting and endearing; they make for a nice, enchanting couple. The film's pretty bewitching as well, thanks to its relaxed, off-beat tone, quirky bits of humor, steady, but laid-back drive, affable leads, and general uplifting air of fresh-faced sweetness. A breezy, cheeky, hugely appealing and radiantly gleaming gem of a sleeper.  

Why people don't consider Corvette Summer as a true 70's classic teenage comedy is beyond my understanding. Mark Hamill's career may be forever bound to science fiction and comic books but, believe you me, if you're planning to see another side of his acting skills, look no more because this is the film you totally need to watch.  As for Annie Pott's debut, she totally nails the job! Watching the first half of the movie misleads you into thinking who she really is until the other half begins and you see a much wider character developing.

Vanessa's super cool Chevy Van!

This paint won't fool me, this is my car!

As for the 1973 Corvette Stingray, The mold for this film's centerpiece car is part of the collection of America's National Corvette Museum and displayed at the Corvette Americana Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. The museum also screens this movie regularly! 

The Corvette car was a 1973 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray converted to right hand drive so that Mark Hamill could hang out of the curbside window looking at the ladies (Yes, you read that right). The car was also painted candy apple / cherry, given superior mags, a clam-shell hood, Gabriel shocks, Merry tubes, a metal flake, side-pipes, and flames painted on the body.  

I'm gonna recover my car no matter what!

Not without a fight kiddo.

Mark Hamill said of this movie around the time of production: "I insisted on looking different. And I'm only interested in the car, not even any girl, until Annie Potts came along. . . It's not a car movie. It's really a love story. And I'm so thrilled to be working with Annie Potts. She reminds me of Judy Holliday. She's a unique creature." Hamill years after the film first came out then said: "Corvette Summer is a great little picture and it's got sort of a title that's a misnomer because you sort of put it in one category when you first see it and you go, 'Oh gee, it's quite a nicely written, uh romantic movie.' And I enjoyed it immensely." 

Hamill was badly injured in an automobile wreck in Malibu, California just prior to production. He bares the scars through Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983) As a matter of fact, Annie Potts also, was in car accidents prior to principal photography. Potts got pins in her legs whilst Hamill got a broken nose.

I got the money now babe.

I can't believe we did it!

Overall, Corvette Summer is pure PG rated entertainment that every member of your family can enjoy (unless you live with inflatable anime dolls, that's not what I'd call family you, nasty freak!) This movie guarantees almost two hours of adventure, comedy, pun intended jokes and even romance! this movie has it all! 

Here's the movie trailer: