Before there was Xanadu (1980), before there was Dirty Dancing (1987), there was Roller Boogie. Terry Barkley (Blair) is dissatisfied with her home life in Beverly Hills. She spends most of her time on the boardwalk in Venice Beach skating. Her parents and friends don't understand this obsession, which leads to friction at home. While down there she meets Bobby James (Jim Bray), skater extrodinaire, and boy from the wrong side of the tracks, and they start to form a friendship. When the friction at home becomes unbearable, she gets in her Excalibur and runs away. Of course she heads to the beach and parks outside Bobby's apartment. The next morning she engages him to teach her to dance on skates in hopes of winning the big boogie contest at Jammers skating rink. Unbeknownst to the skating community, Jammers is about to be forcibly closed down by a group of mobsters who are developing the area. When Terry and Bobby overhear the plot they set about trying to do something about it.
This fluffy film is certainly not in the league of Dirty Dancing, or perhaps, even Xanadu, but both those films feature story lines or plot points that appear here first - rich girl meets boy from the wrong side of the tracks who teaches her to dance, and roller skating boy saves landmark and old-timer from decay and death. The film is pure cheese, and is clearly designed to make a fast buck, but it has some interesting links to the future. Dov Charney's American Apparel became obsessed with the film recently and played it in their stores. It's easy to see why. The film looks like the store was the main source for the costumes - short shorts (on both girls and boys), leotards, metallic duffels, tights and skin tight tees abound. Look for Beverly Garland as Terry's mom.
This film has developed something of a cult following and can be found on DVD. The trailer for it is above, uploaded to YouTube by deadenddrivein.
Obscurity factor: 2 (has cult following, available on DVD, somewhat unknown to the uninitiated)
