Trivia / Rock 'n' Roll High School

---

• Dawson Casting: Despite playing a high school student, P. J. Soles was 28 when the movie was filmed, and was actually older than three of the four members of The Ramones (only Johnny Ramone was older than Soles) and seven years younger than Mary Woronov, who played Evelyn Togar. Also, Vince Van Patten, who played Kate's love interest Tom, was 31, and Clint Howard, who played Eaglebauer, was 29. Dey Young, who played Kate, was a moderate example at 24.
• He Also Did: Joseph McBride, one of the credited screenwriters, is best known as a film historian, having written biographies of Frank Capra, John Ford, Steven Spielberg, and Orson Welles. He's also written a book about Who Shot JFK?.
• No Budget: Par for the course on a Roger Corman production. P.J. Soles purchased her own wardrobe because the film's budget was so low that they could not afford decent clothes for her. She spent her entire salary, $2100.00, on her clothes. The red satin jacket was $300.00 from Fred Segal. According to Soles, Rod Stewart was at the store and wanted to buy the jacket but she had claimed it before him.
• Prop Recycling: The motorcycle ridden by the hall monitors was a "death machine" from Deathsport, which Roger Corman had produced and directed the previous year.
• Throw It In!:
  • Dick Miller improvised his line "They're ugly. Ugly, ugly people."
  • Apparently, some of the shots of Riff and Kate at the concert were accidentally filmed with the camera running at the wrong speed, resulting in said shots being sped up. The filmmakers decided to leave them in.
• What Could Have Been:
  • Originally, Todd Rundgren was to star as the musical act, but both sides could not come to an agreement. Next, Cheap Trick was contacted, but a similar situation happened. After that, talks were conducted with Warner Bros. Records, where Allan Arkush had a connection, to decide on which band they should use in the film. The first suggestion was Devo, but Arkush decided that they had too much of their own concept. Another band considered for the movie was Van Halen, but Warner execs warned Arkush that they were raucous and would be difficult to handle. Finally, an exec name-dropped The Ramones, who recorded for Sire Records, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Records. Arkush, being a huge fan of the band, agreed. To this day, Rundgren regrets passing up the role he was offered.
  • The role of Eaglebauer was meant for Eddie Deezen, but he was busy working on 1941 (1979), so the role went to Clint Howard.
• Working Title: Roger Corman's original title was Disco High. Other titles included High School Spirit of '76, Heavy Metal Kids, Girls' Gym and California Girls.

---