The In Crowd (1988)

Donovan Leitch Jr., stars as 60s teenager Del Green. Del is a nerdy guy, who lives in the suburbs of Philadelphia. Though Del is a scholar, he loves to dance to songs on the radio. He also digs the Perry Parker show, which is an after school teen dance show, much like American Bandstand. And Del has a wicked crush, on the Perry Parker Show's reigning queen of the cast of dancers, Vicki (played by the gorgeous Jennifer Runyon).Meanwhile, Del's suburban friends, especially his neighbor Gail, think that Del should concentrate on studying to take the College Board exam, so that he can get into a good college. Gail thinks that Del's infatuation with Vicki, is just Del's 'hood fantasy', and that he ought to wise-up, and forget about Viki.Nevertheless, Del tells Gail, that he want to go and try out as one of the dancers, on the Perry Parker show. Del is hassled outside of the dance studio, by some tough, working class guys, who are regulars on Perry's show. But with a stroke of luck, and some clever thinking, Del get into the set of Perry's show. Del is hand-picked by Perry to be Vicki's dance partner, since Vicki's old partner and boyfriend Dugan, was banned from Perry's show. Seems that Dugan is a trouble-maker, who went to jail for stealing a car. For a while, Del dates Vicki, and is even accepted by Vicki's over protective father, who never liked Dugan. But Del is unaware that he's just being used by Vicki, as part of her convoluted plan, to run away to California with Dugan, without her father finding out. This film has a lot of nice touches. The glamor of the Perry Parker show, including the dancers, is palpable. The gritty, urban environment of the Perry Parker show, and the mid-60s ruffians, are very authentic. As is the the sheltered suburban environment, in which Del lives. I also liked the spot-on 60s radio jingles and commercials, that Del was listening to on his portable transistor radio. The music in this movie, was excellent. It featured many of the stellar recording stars of the 60s; Mitch Ryder, Dionne Warwick, Wilson Pickett, and many others.Donovan Leitch did an excellent job, in his portrayal of the gawky, awkward, yet charismatic Del Green. The supporting cast, was wonderful too. Especially Joe Pantoliano as the shifty, yet vulnerable Perry Parker, Scott Plank, as the charming hood Dugan, and Sean Sullivan, as Del's tough-guy, mad-cap pal Popeye. The In Crowd, is quite an enjoyable film, and I recommend it to all, who are nostalgic for the 60s.

Or Dance party as it was when i had it years ago. This is a classic film, how can anybody not like it! Saying that i like all the teenage music films like hairspray, shag, footloose etc. Why has this not been released on DVD yet?, its a classic, it should be. Its all about this guy, Del who falls for a good looking girl (Cant remember her name)who obviously has a boyfriend (as they all do) but he gets put inside and Del manages to worm his way in with his girlfriend on the TV show. She ends up falling for him but the X is always there in the back ground. You have to watch it to see but if you like the cheesy teenage dance films you will love this... I Do

The earlier review saying this is one of the worst movies ever made is obviously from someone who hasn't seen a lot of bad movies. All I can guess is that it brought back too many bad memories of the reviewer's teen-age years, teen-age angst being one of the things with which this movie deals. All in all, I found it quite enjoyable, especially because it made such good use of the music from the time, including Vince Guaraldi's big hit "Cast Your Fate to the Wind" (and when that song plays in the background, it is really telling you something about what is going to happen). The story line is not much, dealing with teen-age romance and growing pains, and with the difficulties of trying to fit into the currently popular styles, whatever they may be, but it's not terrible either. Joey Pants' speech in the classroom is a classic, and a lot of the other scenes in the movie transcend the story. I certainly wouldn't call it a great movie, but if you enjoyed "Ferris Bueller's Day Off", or "Some Kind of Wonderful", then you'll have a good time watching this one too.

I wasn't going to comment until I read one other comment extolling the "hotness" of Donovan Leitch. As my subject line says, Jennifer Runyon is no slouch either. Not really a tough city girl, more of a naive, simple minded girl who is very appealing. One of the main stars of a dance show, she has to be one of the least talented dancers in the movie and the most watched. But, as in the scene at the bus stop, she does the best "standing there" and groovin' to the music I have ever seen...hehehe... She is the catalyst for the movie's action and does an excellent job as the female lead...