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Dude, doesn't that stuff give you brain damage?
The ever gorgeous Phoebe Cates
Totally Trivia
Film facts for the 1982 Comedy movie starring Sean Penn, Judge Reinhold, Nicolas Cage, Phoebe Cates
Robert Romanus, Brian Backer, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Ray Walston, Scott Thomson, Vincent Schiavelli, Amanda Wyss, D.W. Brown, Forest Whitaker, Kelli Maroney, Tom Nolan, Blair Tefkin, Stanley Davis Jr., James Russo, James Bolt (II) Update Cast
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Writer Cameron Crowe also wrote and directed "Say Anything" and became very popular in the late 90's with movies like "Jerry Maguire" (1996) and "Almost Famous" (2000).Thanks to Jen
The original title of 'Fast Times' was 'Stairway to Heaven', as Crowe began writing it after his fast track education and time writing for Rolling Stone Magazine and on the road with Zeppelin at 15, (see almost famous, life imitating art??) Crowe wanted to write about the experience he missed and found the entire school year was about Zeppelin coming to town' only for the tour to be cancelled after Bonham died.Thanks to Joe Wheeler
Amy Heckerling who directed "Fast Times..." also wrote and directed the 1995 movie "Clueless"- In the short lived T.V series which followed, one particular episode saw the shows main character Cher (played by Rachel Blanchard, as aposed to the movies Alicia Silverstone) develop a crush on a pizza delivery boy, to seduce him, Cher asks for the pizza to be delivered beside the pool, what follows is a scene of Cher (in slow motion) emerging from the pool, drenched and an obvious homage to Pheobe Cates memorable scene in Fast times... This idea was also spoofed in the video for the song "Stacey's Mom" by the band Fountains of Wayne.Thanks to Rebecca
The alternative rock group "Damone" took it's name from the character Damone.Thanks to Jason
The front of the mall which is shown in the opening credits is not the Sherman Oaks mall, but the mall in Santa Monica, which can still be seen today. The Sherman Oaks Mall had to be destroyed due to heavy damage done during the Northridge earthquake.Thanks to keith
Amanda Wyss, as Lisa in the movie, had a memorable role as Beth, John Cusack's girlfriend, in the classic 'Better Off Dead'Thanks to Rene Thurston
Andy Rathbone was the student Cameron Crowe based Mark "Rat" Ratner on. Rathbone was known as "the rat" in high school, and was initially extremely upset at the portrayal of his character. He said that Crowe only accentuated his bad attributes and gave cool things he had done to other characters, such as ordering a pizza during class - that was done by Jeff Spicolli in the film but done by Rathbone in real life. Crowe said he worked diligently to "disguise" all the characters and give them mixed personalities so as NOT to point to anyone specifically. Rathbone has since grown to appreciate the role. He is now famous in his own right for creating the "for Dummies" help books series, which he writes with his wife.Rewind Archive
In the Ridgemont High book, it was actually Ratner who ordered the pizza, but when the film was being made, they decided it was cooler if Spicoli did it.Thanks to Hector
Nicolas Cage is the nephew of famed director Francis Ford Coppola. In this movie he appears under the name Nicolas Coppola for the first and only time. Nicolas Cage might have had a bigger role in the movie, but he was just 17 when it was getting made, and thus couldn't take on a meatier partThanks to LoverswithCassie
Fast times marked the film debuts of Forest Whitaker, Eric Stoltz, Anthony Edwards, and Nicholas Cage (billed under his real name, Nicholas Coppola).Thanks to GoldTransAM
Phoebe Cates was a model in her teens and appeared on a few covers of Seventeen magazine.Thanks to John W. Evans III
Nicholas "Cage" Coppola appears only four times in the movie. First, he's standing in line listening to Brad (Judge Reinhold) when Arnold comes up to ask for a job at All American Burger. Two, when Brad gets fired, and he looks at the two guys in the grill, the two guys quickly hang their heads, well, the guy on the right is Nick. Third, is a quick shot of him in the crowd cheering at the football game.Fourth time...during the opening sequences, While "An American Girl" by Tom Petty is playing, He's the guy in the green jacket with a green hat and red backpack that's putting a sign on another guy's back that says "I'm a homo". He had no speaking parts.Thanks to Chris
Nicholas Cage had two speaking scenes.First is in the gym when Stacy tells her brother she has Mr. Hand U.S. History first period. Clearly you can see Brad (Rhinehold) & his two buddies, one of which is Nicholas Cage, they are all saying "OOOOH MR. Hand Aloha" and when Stacy leaves the scene Nicholas Cage says "Brad, your sister is turing into a fox".
The other scene is when Brad arrives at school in his blue car. His two buddies are waiting for him, one of them is Nicholas Cage, before brad gets out his car you hear Cage say "Big Cruising Missile" (or is it "Big Cruising Vessel"?). THE gym scene where N. Cage talks about Brad's sister is only in the Cable T.V version.
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Damone, the film character, is actually a mesh of two book characters. This bummed me out big time when I realized this -- Damone is one of my favorite movie characters of all time!Thanks to Charles Stump &Amp; Steven Strauss
The girl in the car that pulls up next to Brad when he's in his pirate uniform is, I believe, Nancy Wilson from the group "Heart". She was Cameron Crowe's girlfriend at the time. They later married and remain so.Thanks to Jeff Kennedy
Anthony Edwards (ER) and Eric Stoltz play Spicoli's 'stoner buds'. It was actually Anthony Edward's first film role.Rewind Archive
According to Amy Heckerling (the films director); Sean Penn and pals were actually smoking marijuana in the van as they exited for the prom.Thanks to Matthew Smith
After initial review, the MPAA gave the film a X rating, resulting from a full-frontal nudity scene in the pool house at Stacy & Brad's house. It was later re-edited for an R-rating.Thanks to Phil Smith
There were actually TWO reasons the MPAA decided to give Fast Times At Ridgemont High an X rating. First and foremost was because of a full frontal nude shot of Robert Ramanus (Damone) during the pool house love scene with Jennifer Jason Leigh. Now, the SECOND reason is because of a filmed, but cut scene of Jennifer Jason Leigh (Stacey) having an abortion done. In the film, we see Brad's reaction to Stacey walking across the street from the bowling alley and going into the hospital which is IMMEDIATELY followed by a nurse telling Stacey she can go home if she has a ride. Between these two scenes was a scene that showed Stacey actually getting the abortion done. After a negative test screening, the scene was cut along with the pool house scene. Stills from this sequence can be found on the E! Special, "Fast Times At Ridgemont High, The E! True Hollywood Story".Thanks to Kevin Miller
The aforementioned hospital scene (or parts from it, not seen in the theatrical release) now appears in the cable TV version.Thanks to chimpanshane
Anime TV series YuYu Hakusho also had a character who sold scalping tickets, wearing a vest and 504 caps, similar to Mike Damone's character.Thanks to Matthew Smith
There are several scenes that appear only in the television broadcast version of the film; including Brad's meeting with his guidance counsellor, Mr. Hand signing yearbooks at the prom and a story about how Spicoli received a pick from Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones. There are also several soundtrack alterations.Thanks to Matthew Smith
The film was released only on the West Coast initially, as there was fear that the rest of the country "wouldn't understand" the feel of the film. After initial success, it received full nationwide distribution.Thanks to ZaBBa D
Two different Camaros were used filming, which is common. Most scenes show a Camaro equipped with optional Fisher T-tops which are stamped out of the roof at the factory. The wrecked Camaro is equipped with smaller Hurst T-tops which are aftermarket/dealer installed, which means the car started out as a hardtop then had the roof cut for installation.Thanks to Mason
Bruce Springsteen's sister, Pamela Springsteen, is credited in the movie. She's the brunette cheerleader during the PeP Rally. Pamela Springsteen would go on to play the murderous Angela Baker in the Sleepaway Camp sequels.Rewind Archive
Cameron Crowe makes a cameo appearance as one of the students in Mr. Hand's class. He can be seen sitting in the back row as one of the many students that received an F on the papers Mr. Hand is handing back.Rewind Archive
Cameron Crowe WAS NOT in a cameo seated in the back of Mr. Hand's class. He WAS shown, in some versions of the film, being led off in handcuffs by police at the mall.Rewind Archive
Jennifer Jason Leigh actually worked at Perry's Pizza (the place her character, Stacy worked at) before she landed the part in the film.Rewind Archive
Stacy & Linda were actually both naked in a hot tub. This contributed to earning the film an X-rating, so the scene was cut & the setting was changed to the school cafeteria.Rewind Archive
Sean Penn dated Bruce Springsteen's sister, Pamela Springsteen (she was the the brunette cheerleader in the pep rally) in the early '80s.Thanks to Stephanie
Brian Backer said Jennifer Jason Leigh & her family were the sweetest people he knew, they allowed him to stay at their house for no charge till filming wrapped being that he flew down to star in the film from his hometown of Brooklyn, NY & was pretty broke.Thanks to Juan
Amanda Wyss, who plays Lisa, Brad's girlfriend in the movie, also appeared in another cult 80's teen hit, "A Nightmare On Elm Street".Thanks to Stacy Johnson
Phoebe Cates and Judge Reinhold also starred together in another popular 80's movie, "Gremlins".Thanks to DPC And Lori, Dave And Robert Duff
The woman who plays Mrs. Vargas, wife of the science teacher, is none other than Lana Clarkson, the woman who Phil Spector is accused of murdering. Clarkson died of a gunshot wound, aged 40, at Spector's house on February 3, 2003.Thanks to Samantha Taylor
The guy who plays Hamilton's boss at the Pirate Restaurant is Stuart Cornfeld who went to film school with Amy Heckerling. He has numerous one-liners in many films, most recent was 'Old School', as the taxi driver in the beginning of the film. He is the other half of the production company, Red Hour Films, co-owned by Ben Stiller.Thanks to Gene Wright
In the lunchroom scene where Phoebe Cates is schooling Jennifer Jason Leigh on how to give a man head, allegedly, an uncredited Ralph Macchio of "Karate Kid" fame is among the group of guys seated at the opposite table that starts clapping. This has been published in many places. Can anyone confirm?Thanks to Beancounter
The type of car (Jeffersons') that Spicoli and Jefferson's little brother wreck is a 1979 Z28 Camaro.Bogus Trivia
There's often fake stuff floating round, y'know? -Like the 'ghost boy' that can allegedly be seen in "Three Men And A Baby".
The following trivia for "Fast Times At Ridgemont High" is apparently bogus. If you disagree or have additional info, please update us.Next: Behind The Scenes
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1982 Universal Pictures
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