Fame (1980)

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Directed by Alan Parker.

Starring Lee Curreri, Paul McCrane, Barry Miller, Gene Anthony Ray, Irene Cara.

Fame is set at New York's High School of Performing Arts, where talented teens train for show-business careers. The film concentrates on five of the most gifted students: singer Irene Cara, actors Paul McCrane and Barry Miller, dancer Gene Anthony Ray, and musician Lee Currieri. More so than the subsequent TV series Fame, the film emphasizes the importance of keeping up one's academic achievements in this specialized school. The faculty includes no-nonsense English teacher Ann Meara, erudite musical instructor Albert Hague, and martinet dance teacher Debbie Allen. Of the film's cast, Ray, Currieri, Allen and Hague were carried over to the TV version of Fame, which premiered in 1981. The score for the film version of Fame was honored with an Academy Award. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

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Reviews and discussions

Opening their eyes to the possi ...
by unclefestering in unclefestering Blog

hasn't rated it.

Was this review helpful? [Be the first to tell us!]
"The Commitments bring together two of Alan Parker's favorite themes: music and class. Both elements are well servied by this funny and touching story of a man with an unlikely goal: to create the next U2. It doesn't matter that he doesn't know anybody in the music business. He gets a motley crew together and forms them into a great soul band. He wheels and deals, doing whatever he has to, in order to get his band on stage. The final concert scene is one of my favorite musical moments in the movies. Alan Parker may have first staked out his rock credentials with Fame and Pink Floyd: The Wall, but nine years later, he reaffirmed them solidly with this movie. " [More]

Fame's Gonna' Live Forever
by pippin06 in Reel Thoughts

is neutral about it.

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"I moved Fame to the top of my Netflix queue in preparation for my sophomore directorial effort at a local high school. Watching this film, which I may have seen before but can't quite remember (maybe I'm thinking of the television show...), was research, though mainly for character foundation and basic story arc and not much else. The musical and the film are quite a bit different, but the basic themes and threads, especially using the trials and tribulations of learning to be a performer as a parallel for growing up and maturation, are there.Going into it, I wasn't watching it with any kind of real interest in it because of my empirical, background-research-type approach. I wasn't watching with my critics' eye, and I wasn't even looking to be entertained. I felt I should write a quick review, though, in case this was the first time I watched it and in case I decide to watch it again.Fame is basically a movie lacking any truly cohesive plot. The film fo ... " [More]

Queer Musicians + Film = ?
by unemployedwaif in Queer Cinema

hasn't rated it.

"The addition of our talented new member nathan503 got me to thinking about representations of queer musicians and how they are portrayed and/or their music is used in film.For me, at least what is coming to mind at this moment, are the glam rockers; specifically Todd Haynes' Velvet Goldmine and John Cameron Mitchell's Hedwig and the Angry Inch. Both films are written and directed by gay men about queer musicians and miraculously succeed at telling poignant, engaging stories that don't fall victim to the abundance of stereotypical cliches that so many others do.Within recent years, a number of films have begun to delve into the lives of rather famous musicians of the past whose queer sensibilities have only recently come to light. Irwin Winkler's De-Lovely which chronicles the life of Cole Porter, and Atom Egoyan's Where The Truth Lies. Unfortunately, due to the (homophobic) powers that be, the films tended to skim the surface of this aspect of their lives and ul ... " [More]

Summer Cramp : Camp
by jlgdrd in Wicked Fun

hasn't rated it.

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"Camp is a less polished cousin to Alan Parker’s Fame, and a film that pushes all my queer consciousness buttons. Once I knew the premise, I wanted to love the movie, and it spoke to me in a way that other movies, from their heterosexual world-view, could not. What teenager wouldn’t want to attend a retreat (like Camp Ovation) where all summer long you get to sing, dance and act in stage plays and musicals? As far as I’m concerned it would have been Mecca. And how delicious is it, that for once, the yummy, manly, straight guy is at the disadvantage? Feels like the freak? So, yes, when a movie like Camp comes along and I see an instance when Michael eyes Vlad (Daniel Letterle ) unapologetically, explaining, “I’m only human,” I can only say I’m deeply, sincerely grateful. But it helps no one if we pretend something is better than it is because we applaud the message. When we expect heterosexuals to make allowances, as if we were five-year-olds ... " [More]

Movies that Inspired You in the ...
by divinemsjunebug in Grew up in the 80's

loved it.

"Let's breathe some more life in this list, there are a LOT of cool movies and movie stars from the 1980s that I still LOVE to watch (don't let it fizzle like Ally Sheedy's career - oops did I say that?). I have to say that FAME was my absolute FAVORITE movie of the 1980s (or what kicked off the 80s) and I REALLY loved the TV Series that followed it. I must have seen it about 20 times. After that movie all I wanted to do was go to New York to Julliard (which I did a few years later as a nanny and just took a couple of classes there just to SAY I went there...hee hee). What are some of your FAVORITE movies? " [More]

Review by All Movie Guide

All Movie Guide

liked it.

Preceded by Saturday Night Fever and followed by Footloose and Dirty Dancing, Fame is one of the best films focused on dance as a metaphor for success and maturation. Director Alan Parker, showing unusual restraint, shepherds a heartwarming story of rough New York teenagers who grow up while attending a performing arts high school. Their talent at dance enables them to transcend their backgrounds, their sometimes terrifying social milieu, and their own shortcomings. It's a vision of ethnic and social harmony achieved through effort at a craft that in some ways parallels youth sports movies. Dancer-singer Irene Cara is the star, and the film launched her (short-lived) singing career. The music and the dancing are spectacular, helping to overcome a story that, despite a few directorial risks, is fairly predictable. Fame is a well-made feel-good movie. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide

Tags: song-and-dance , musical , Lauren-Hill , Best-Score , gritty
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