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The Last American Virgin

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The Last American Virgin
The Last American Virgin movie poster, emphasizing the bands present in the soundtrack
Directed byBoaz Davidson
Written byBoaz Davidson
Produced byYoram Globus
Menahem Golan
David Womark
StarringLawrence Monoson
Joe Rubbo
Diane Franklin
CinematographyAdam Greenberg
Edited byBruria Davidson
Music byDeborah Harry
Mark Allen
Distributed byCannon Film Distributors
Release dates
Japan June 26, 1982
Germany July 15, 1982
United States July 30, 1982
Finland October 1, 1982
Sweden June 3, 1983
Norway March 28, 1984
Running time
92 min.
CountryU.S.A.
LanguageEnglish

The Last American Virgin is a 1982 teen coming-of-age film in the same vein as Summer Break, Better Off Dead and Fast Times at Ridgemont High.

The Last American Virgin is a remake of the Israeli film Eskimo Limon (1978). After the success of the original and several sequels, writer/director Boaz Davidson re-teamed with producers Golan-Globus to attempt to re-create the same success in the United States. Davidson decided, however, to change a few key elements from the original. Eskimo Limon was a nostalgia film about kids growing up in 1950s Israel — similar to George Lucas's American Graffiti, however the remake was set in present day suburban Los Angeles. The soundtrack was also updated from golden oldies to more contemporary New Wave rock.

Plot synopsis

The plot closely follows the original Eskimo Limon, and revolves around protagonist Gary (Lawrence Monoson) a typical highschooler, and his friends Rick (Steve Antin) — the slick ladies man, and David (Joe Rubbo) — the "Belushi-esque" fat guy.

Most of the plot involves their numerous failed attempts to have sex. However, a love triangle develops between Gary, Rick and Karen (Diane Franklin, later of Better Off Dead fame). Gary is secretly in love with Karen, but his dreams of dating her are over when, after helping Karen get an abortion, her finds her back with Rick.

Carmela

THE GRAMMAR IN THIS SECTION IS SHIT, WRITTEN BY A RETARD WHO'S BEEN IN A CAR ACCIDENT.

One day Gary happens to be delivering pizza to Carmela, a lonely older woman whose sailor mate is never home, and she hints to him she wants more than just pizza. Being too afraid to follow on it, he goes away and convinces his friends to go along with him. They drop by her home using the pretext they were nearby on a pizza delivery and decided to bring her over some extra pizzas. She lets them in, puts on music and starts dancing.

Afterwards, she takes them in sequence - each in his turn - to have sex with her in her bedroom. Carmela's characteristic is that she moans loudly during the intercourse. Rick is the first to take initiative, and once he's done, he leaves her bedroom and sends David in. At first David hesitates, but follows up when Carmela tells him "Come to me, my big burrito!". After he's done, she exits her bedroom and points to Gary, but unfortunately for him just then Carmela's mate returns home. Gary and Rick manage to quickly dress before he sees them. Carmela pretends she was helping her "neighbor boys from downstairs" with their Spanish lessons, but then David walks out of her bedroom still in his underwear and says "What a nympho." Carmela's mate gets furious and the protagonists (with David just half dressed) have to run away.

"Nice guys finish last"

Eventually Rick gets Karen pregnant and leaves her. Gary decides to help Karen pay for her abortion by selling most of his possessions and borrowing money from his boss. After the abortion, Gary and Karen spend the remainder of the weekend alone together in Gary's grandmother's house. They seem to hit it off and Karen invites Gary to her birthday party the following week. Gary scrapes up a few more dollars and buys Karen a gold bracelet for her birthday.

However when Gary arrives at the party his dreams are shattered when he sees Karen making out with Rick. The film ends with the credits rolling over a close up of tears streaming down Gary's face as he drives home.

The Last American Virgin is memorable as the only film of the genre not to feature a happy ending.[1]

Cast

Soundtrack

The soundtrack is a memorable compendium of 1980s radio hits.

Trivia

  • Joe Rubbo (David) went on to work as a mortgage broker in Florida. He also had a part in another Golan-Globus sex comedy, Hot Chili, and he also had a small part in "The World According to Garp" as a wrestler. In 2001, he was indicted by the Securities and Exchange Commission (along with Peter Ragofsky) for allegedly offering false stock options on a company he was heading called Make It Reel Productions. SEC vs. MIR According to the complaint, the company falsely claimed to have deals with Tom Cruise, Catherine Zeta-Jones, and Quentin Tarantino. There has been no further public information posted by the government on the current disposition of the case in the years since its filing, so apparently it was quietly settled out of court.
  • The Last American Virgin was released two months before Lawrence Monoson's seventeenth birthday. All three of the male leads remain friends to this day.
  • Steve Antin is also known for his role in another 1980s film, The Goonies. He went on to other aspects of film production, mainly as a writer (Inside Monkey Zetterland) and director (The Good Mother).
  • Director Boaz Davidson had intended this as the first in a series of films, much like Eskimo Limon or Porky's, but since this one was only moderately successful at the box office during its original theatrical release, it never happened. Ironically, it later achieved a strong cult following from pay television showings in the 80s, and long out of print VHS releases of the film from the early 80s were big sellers on Ebay (not to mention numerous "black market" ones). It finally received a proper DVD release in early 2006, after the re-acquiring of the rights to the film's many 80s classics. This is often the reason a film like this remains unreleased to video, even though there is a strong public demand: many studios are reluctant to pay millions to reacquire the music rights for video.
  • After the abortion, Gary comes in with a pine tree, a symbol of fertility and birth, and oranges, a symbol of chastity and marriage.

References

  1. ^ Virgin Territory, Entertainment Weekly
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