Released in 1980, this was another crazy teenage comedy which tried to emulate the exceptional '70s films "American Graffiti" and "Animal House", and comes up short. The loose plot takes place in 1965 (even though some of the characters retain their late-seventies hairstyles) and is centered around the closing of Tubby's, a favorite local teen hangout. There's a group of pranksters called The Hollywood Knights who decide to say farewell to Tubby's' by playing practical jokes on stuffy adults and police officers. This includes spiking the punch at a party, stuffing the toilets, and doing other such childlike shenanigans. A few of these are humorous, but most of them fall flat. Throughout the movie are strewn many classic old '50s and '60s tunes, something of a consolation. Stand-up comedian Robert Wuhl plays the lead gang member, called Newbomb Turk. He's got at least one funny bit involving Fran Drescher as a gorgeous bimbo who he manages to get in the back seat of his car, but not for very long (it's the best scene in the film). There is a fat cop who becomes the frequent victim of the Knights' gags, which isn't too bad. And last and least, we get Michelle Pfeiffer and TAXI's Tony Danza taking up unnecessary screen time as a couple going through some troubles in extraneous segments which are completely unrelated and take you out of the movie. ** out of ****
Review of The Hollywood Knights
