Porky's Information

Porky's is a 1982 comedy film about the escapades of teenagers at the fictional Angel Beach High School in Florida in 1954.

It was released in the United States in 1982 with an R rating, and spawned three sequels: Porky's II: The Next Day (1983), Porky's Revenge! (1985) and Pimpin' Pee Wee (2009), and influenced many writers in the teen film genre.

Plot

A group of Florida high school students plan on losing their virginity. They go to Porky's nightclub believing that they can hire a prostitute to satisfy their sexual desires. Porky takes their money but humiliates the kids by dumping them in the swamp. When the group demand their money back, the sheriff, who turns out to be Porky's brother, arrives to drive them away, but not before his minions extort the rest of their money and cause them more embarrassment. After Mickey (who returned to Porky's for revenge) is beaten so badly he has to be hospitalized, the gang becomes hellbent on exacting revenge on Porky and his brother, eventually succeeding in sinking his establishment in the swamp. Porky and his men, joined by the sheriff, chase after the group, but they make it across the county line (where Porky's brother is out of jurisdiction), where they are met by a group of the local police officers, one of whom is Mickey's older brother Ted, and the high school band. After Ted repeatedly damages Porky's car, he says that all charges against Porky for driving an unsafe vehicle will be dropped if the night's events are forgiven. Because the boys were too young to be legally allowed in Porky's in the first place, Porky and his brother have no choice but to agree. The film ends with the group getting their revenge and Pee Wee finally losing his virginity.

In a subplot, the boys also peep on female students in their locker room shower. After (apparently) several unsuccessful attempts, Tommy, Billy and Pee Wee finally see several girls showering, but Pee Wee gives them away when he shouts at a particularly fat girl (who has been blocking his view) to move so he can see. While a few girls run out, most stay, finding the situation funny. To test their attitude, Tommy sticks his tongue out through his peephole, but gets it smeared with soap. Infuriated, he drops his pants and sticks his penis through the opening just before female coach Beulah Balbricker (who has a running feud with Tommy) walks into the shower area. Spotting the protruding member, she sneaks up on Tommy, grabs his protruding part and pulls with all her might. Tommy manages to pull free and escape, but Beulah is now determined to prove that the offending member (which has a mole on it) belongs to Tommy, going so far as to request that Principal Carter hold a police-type line-up of the boys in the nude so she can identify it. However, Carter balks at such a request, and while the other basketball coaches laugh almost uncontrollably, Coach Brackett suggests getting the police involved. When this gets even Carter laughing, Balbricker leaves in a huff. The film ends with Ms. Balbricker sneaking out of the bushes to ambush Tommy and actually dragging his pants down, but she is pulled off of him by police and dragged away screaming that she saw "it" and that she can identify him. The film ends as Tommy breaks the fourth wall and saying "Jeez!" to the audience.

Cast

• Dan Monahan as Edward "Pee Wee" Morris
• Wyatt Knight as Tommy Turner
• Mark Herrier as Billy McCarthy
• Roger Wilson as Mickey Jarvis
• Tony Ganios as Anthony "Meat" Tuperello
• Cyril O'Reilly as Tim Cavanaugh
• Kaki Hunter as Wendy Williams
• Scott Colomby as Brian Schwartz
• Nancy Parsons as Coach Beulah Balbricker
• Boyd Gaines as Coach Roy Brackett
• Bill Hindman as Coach Goodenough
• Doug McGrath as Coach Warren
• Eric Christmas as Mr. Carter
• Kim Cattrall as Miss Lynn "Lassie" Honeywell
• Chuck Mitchell as Porky Wallace
• Art Hindle as Ted Jarvis
• Ilse Earl as Mrs. Morris
• Alex Karras as Sheriff Wallace
• Susan Clark as Cherry Forever
• Rod Ball as Steve
• Jack Mulcahy as Frank Bell
• Lisa O'Reilly as Ginny
• Wayne Maunder as Cavanaugh
• Randy Rosenthal as Student

Reception

Critical response

Porky's received mixed reviews. The film holds a 32% "Rotten" rating on the review aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes, based on reviews from 22 critics.

Film critics Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel were offended by Porky's and later called it one of the worst films of 1982.

Box office

Although it was written and directed by an American and was filmed in Miami, Florida, Porky's was produced by the Canadian company Astral Media. As a result, Porky's can be classed as the highest-grossing Canadian film of all time in Canada's domestic box office, with a total of C$111 million by 1999. In October 2006, Bon Cop, Bad Cop appeared to surpass Porky's in nominal box office revenues, but as of the end of its theatrical run, Bon Cop, Bad Cop had not surpassed the inflation-adjusted revenues for Porky's.

History and significance

The first two Porky's films were directed by Bob Clark and produced by Harold Greenberg, who founded Astral Communications (now known as Astral Media). James Komack directed the third film, Porky's Revenge. Clark based the original Porky's on actual occurrences at Boca Ciega High School in Gulfport, Florida and Fort Lauderdale High School in the early 1960s, and on a joint called Porky's in Oakland Park, Florida.

The first film featured Canadian actors Art Hindle, Doug McGrath, and Susan Clark (the director's sister). The British-Canadian actress Kim Cattrall appeared in one of her first major roles in a sex scene in the boys' locker room. Her character's nickname was "Lassie" due to the way she howled during intercourse.

Following the success of Porky's in America and Europe there was a sequel in 1983 titled Porky's II: The Next Day. The sequel was poorly accepted by the critics, and was less commercially successful than the original. Bob Clark didn't want to make another film in the series, so director James Komack made the third and last part of the saga. The film was called Porky's Revenge, and was the worst of the series both critically and commercially. It was released in theaters but not quite sold worldwide since it was a complete failure. In Spain it did not have any DVD sales, but it was dubbed into Castilian and aired once on television Antena 3 chain. In 2009 Twentieth Century Fox (the producer of the original trilogy) accepted a Porky's remake by Brian Trenchard-Smith. This new film was anticipated for 2011, but has not yet been released.

Home media

On May 22, 2007, 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment released all three films in an "Ultimate Collection" box set.

Remake

In 2002, Howard Stern acquired the remake rights and has long hoped to produce a remake of the film. The potential remake ran into legal trouble in 2011 when two other production companies stepped forward claiming to own the rights to the franchise.

A VOC sequel, Pimpin' Pee Wee was filmed in 2009.