Movie: Corvette Summer
1978 PG 1 hr 45 min
Corvette Summer is a 1978 American adventure comedy film directed by Matthew Robbins. It was Mark Hamill's first screen appearance after the unexpected success of Star Wars the previous year. Hamill stars as a California teenager who heads to Las Vegas to track down his beloved customized Corvette Stingray. Co-star Annie Potts, playing the quirky young woman he meets along the way, was nominated for a Golden Globe Award in her first film role.
Corvette Summer was a box office success, making about $36 million at the worldwide box office, on a relatively small budget (for that era) of $1.7 million. The film however, received a divided response from critics.
Plot
Kenny Dantley is a car-loving high school senior from Newhall, California. For a project in his shop class, Kenny rescues a 1973 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray from inside an operating car crusher in a scrapyard and helps rebuild it as a customized right-hand-drive with flashy bodywork. Shortly after the new set of wheels is unveiled, the car is stolen from the streets of Van Nuys. After hearing that the car is in Las Vegas, Kenny immediately sets out to take back the stolen car. On the way, he meets the seemingly confident drifter Vanessa, who is a self-described "prostitute trainee."
Kenny finds work in a Vegas car wash, and spots his car on more than one occasion; the police eventually get involved but cannot help locate the vehicle once it is discovered that it bears a forged tag. Kenny tracks it down it to a local garage, where he has an incident with the garage owner, Wayne Lowry, before being bailed out by Vanessa. Kenny's high school teacher, Ed McGrath, comes to Las Vegas, and Kenny is upset to learn that the teacher he once admired had arranged for the theft of the Corvette to help supplement his low earnings as a teacher. McGrath arranges for Kenny to go to work for Lowry, who was one of his former students. For his sake and that of his family, McGrath begs Kenny not to take the matter to the police. McGrath also ominously notes that if Kenny does not agree, one of Lowry's men will "handle it his way." Kenny agrees, but secretly plans to take the Corvette back.
Eventually, Kenny takes the car back, saves the mermaid-costumed Vanessa from adult-film makers in a hotel, wins a wild car chase, and returns home with Vanessa riding shotgun in the Corvette. He keeps McGrath's secret, but rebuffs his attempts to repair their friendship. He gives the car back to the school, but walks away with Vanessa and his newly-earned high school diploma.
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