The Great American Girl Robbery

There are a LOT of really awful sexploitation films out there, and normally I would admit that this is one of them. Except that there was ONE SCENE in this film that I found to be REALLY EROTIC, and because of that one scene I'm upping my rating from a "1" to a "9" (my credibility would be completely shot if I went any higher!) One of the other reviewers (lazarillo) mentions a topless beauty contest in which the kidnapped cheerleaders entertain themselves by dancing almost naked. It is during that scene when one of the bad guys grabs one of the girls (a very pretty blonde) whom he has already declared to be his favorite. But the female kidnapper stops him (threatening to shoot him), and then she takes the frightened girl into the bathroom with her, offering to give the girl a bath. The ensuing scene is very tender and soft as she bathes and comforts the girl. As a lesbian seduction scene it was cut short by the appearance by one of the stupid guys, but it was INCREDIBLY EROTIC until that point! I've never seen another sexploitation film come close to matching it. In fact, it was hotter than most XXX films, not that that's saying much.

This is an apparent late 1970's film about a group of "high school" cheerleaders travelling by bus whom gets stopped by a few kidnapped in former football players wanting to use these cheerleaders as some sort of prize. The topic is quite serious but there is a bit of light heartedness along the way.

The acting isn't too bad as there are a lot of women cheerleaders displayed. It is certainly more of a feature film than a straight softcore though of course there are few scenes of explicit nudity (including a lengthy "beauty contest" scene as one of the highlights with several cheerleaders forced to strip and prance around- roughly around the 39:00 marker). Then the brief bathroom scene with the nurse and one cheerleader (44:10).

The conclusion finale heist scene involving the elevator and how things were set up with the ransom money was well done and quite intriguing. A little bit flawed such as how did they know to get the same exact paper bag as the hostages.

In the end it's a decent enjoyable drama comedy for what's it's meant to serve.

This movie seems to combine the 70's drive-in fascination with the Patty Hearst kidnapping with its fascination for sexy cheerleaders. Three squads of cheerleaders are on their way to a competition and for some reason are sharing a single school bus (even though one is a tough, inner-city squad and another is from an elite private school) when they are all kidnapped and held for ransom by a group of ex-jocks who call themselves the National American Liberation Army. There's the usual sexploitation filler--the captors and the cheerleaders kill time by having a topless beauty contest, lead Kristine DeBell has (offscreen) sex with the good guy kidnapper,and the lone female kidnapper (who is of course a lesbian) seduces one of the other girls in a bathtub. Finally, the three teams ban together to fight back, which mainly involves a long, gratuitous scene where they all strip off their underwear and fashion it into a rope which they use to trip one of the kidnappers. (Someone could have just stuck her foot out, but where's the fun in that?)

This movie is surprisingly politically incorrect. The black kidnapper is the bad guy while the handsome white kidnapper turns out to be a sympathetic good guy. Still it's refreshing to actually see a black villain for a change and he's the best actor in the movie next to Kristine DeBell. DeBell, of course, was the talented and appealing actress whose career was ruined when it was found out that she had earlier appeared in a porno movie (strangely, a similar thing happened to untalented boob-job Michelle Bauer, but that didn't stop her from going on to appear in 500 low-budget movies that were even worse than her early porno efforts--go figure). This is neither the best of the cheerleader movies (try "The Swinging Cheerleaders", "The Pom-Pom Girls", or "Satan's Cheerleaders")nor the best of the Patty Hearst/kidnapping movies (try "The Candy Snatchers", "Sweet Sugar" or "Abduction"), but if you like mixing your poisons, by all means, check it out.

Evidently, different people are looking for different things in a soft core comedy. Me, I just want to be playfully titillated, and this movie does it very well. How many times have we been disappointed when the cover artwork looked very juicy but the movie didn't deliver? This is one of the gems that makes me say, "Now that's what I'm talking' about!"

You have a bevy of cute, vibrant, teenage girls in colorful cheerleader uniforms, and one somewhat more mature woman who enriches the mix a bit. The acting is good; the girls are very animated with personality and attitude. The game of nudie peek-a-boo is well played, with teasing, finesse, and suspense around how much we are going to see and when. And then when the nudity comes, the girls are perky, succulent, and natural, with "a wiggle in the walk and a giggle in the talk" (as Big Bopper put it in "Chantilly Lace").

There is enough of an unpredictable story line to hold interest and clear the palette between nude scenes, and enough yada yada yada so you don't lose track if you get distracted by girl watching. To wit: A busload of cheerleaders from three different high schools is hijacked en route to a state competition and held for ransom. The girls are taunted sexually, and six of the cuties are goaded into a musical striptease contest. The other highlight is a tender, soapy bath administered to one of the girls by the more mature school nurse--Ooh!

Technically, the camera work is well done, with good composition and close-ups, and the dialog is clearly audible. It's easy to take these things for granted until you come across a poor movie with cluttered pictures, nudity only in fuzzy long shots, and muffled dialog. The music is fresh and lively (not bump-and-grind techno).

Also, I'm a big fan of Marilyn Joi. I've seen 9 of her movies, and this is definitely the best display her feminine charms, along with the other 14 cuties who make up the cast of cheerleaders. Have I sufficiently explained why this is one of my favorite soft-core collectables?

Outside of some gratuitous nudity, there is precious little to recommend this. This was made by some of the people involved with FLESH GORDON and ALICE IN WONDERLAND, the two mid 70's porno films. Both were released in a hard version and then re-cut and played for years in toned down R versions. CHEERLEADERS features Kristine Debell ( who played Alice ) and Jason Williams ( who played Flesh, and who co-wrote this disaster ), the only other cast member of note is Marilyn Joi. The movie veers wildly between dumb T & A and a ridiculous kidnapping plot, never finding any stable tone or providing any laughs or thrills. In fact, the plot is so ridiculous it's not even worth touching on. The acting is poor all around and the direction is laughable to non existent. Kristine should be the sole reason to watch this but the film fails miserably on this level as well. While top billed, she's barely in this, has very little to say or do, and never gets naked. A huge let down as Kristine was so beautiful back then. She was involved with producer Osco for several years following ALICE and perhaps that relationship allowed her to participate in a T & A film without showing any skin. She would go from this to MEATBALLS and onto bigger things, but her career never caught fire.