Class of '63

Though its title may have been an attempt to cash in on the then popular "Summer of '43" sequel, "Class of '63" was one of ABC's best movie of the week offerings in the 70s. The plot concerns the ten year reunion of a group of college students, one of whom has hommicidal intentions towards his former classmates, stemming from a romantic slight. But it's not a by the numbers revenge flick. The script is literate and intelligent, Korty's direction is very sharp, and the acting (especially by Cliff Gorman and Joan Hackett) is surprisingly good. I would call it almost noirish. And there is a haunting use of the song "Louise," that contributes to the suspense.

The problem with this film about a ten year class reunion is that there is no one to root for; it has no protagonist. Everyone in the film is sleazy. The wife, the husband, Nicky, Brolin, and even the classmates are slimy and pathetic. The ten year reunion of Northern Sleazy University is an exercise in painful self-absorption. These people supposedly lived through 63-73, and yet there not one mention of Nixon, Watergate, Vietnam, the Civil Rights movement or anything of any substance whatsoever from that time period. Even conservative students went to Vietnam. Thank God I never went to a crappy school like this one. I mean, really; who brings a rifle to a class reunion except some sick psycho. I had to take a shower after watching the film.