Swap Meet

Using a drive-in (the old ROADIUM in Torrance, Ca) in a swap meet as a plot can't go wrong, but it did. This film is so unfunny it gets boring. Several basic plots is centered in this forgotten film. Character actor Jonathan Gries, Ruth Cox, Debi Ricter and gang battle a rich snob and his evil sidekick who destroyed Gries dad's car. Danny DeVito isn't even funny as a mixed up mechanic, nor is his real-life wife Perlman who plays a shoplifter. Maybe if they trimmed what little nudity this film has and get a PG rating, maybe this film would've been a Saturday Morning UHF classic. Many original pop tunes are heard but no song credits are listed! Not recommended.

I saw this movie in the late 1970s as part of a double feature with "H.O.T.S"...thus, more T & A than one can shake a stick at! The movie was filmed mostly at the Roadium Swap Meet in Torrance, CA, not even a mile from where I grew up! The Roadium started in the 1950s as a drive-in theater but by the mid 1970s had abandoned movies in favor of being a full time "open air market." Weekend trips to the swap meet were a regular occurrence...it wasn't the nicest place on earth (not very clean, parking issues, dirty toilets, mediocre food, etc.) but one could always find a bargain!! About the movie...I saw it mainly because it was showing with "H.O.T.S" then I recognized the locations in the film (the review in the Los Angeles Times made no mention of that fact). I don't want to spoil anything but how the producers and actors got some of the scenes filmed within the property amazed me!! The film certainly earns its "R" rating (lots of nudity and sexual content; incidental violence). Cheryl Rixon had (according to the ads) been Penthouse Magazine's "Pet of the Year"...I can see why!! Several 1970s/1980s/1990s actors such as Ruth Cox (Nancy Drew, Happy Days, now a professor); Jon Gries (Martin, The Pretender); Debi Richter (Hill Street Blues); as well as Danny De Vito (Taxi, many movies) and his wife Rhea Perlman (Cheers, many TV shows and movies) in what were essentially cameo roles. This movie was a great way to spend a Saturday afternoon (especially with a T & A classic such as "H.O.T.S.") and it would certainly be that on DVD. I give it a "seven" for the curio factor. The Roadium is still there after these years...I just hope they've taken care of the above problems...then maybe more movies will be made there!!!

Guys and gals try to make money by starting a Swap Meet at their local market, which means they get couples to sleep together in their car ( they call it a Happy Wagon) then pay for the services provided. Meanwhile, we the audience wonder how it is possible to make a movie devoid of any good jokes, and pity poor Danny Devito who was obviously forced to appear in this crap by his agent before he became famous. Savour his five minute appearance as a harassed mechanic, it's the best thing about this sorry effort. It makes the Carry On series look like the golden age of Ealing.

The front of the box proudly proclaims "Starts Where H.O.T.S Finished!" With a benchmark as high as that, how could it possibly go wrong?! Umm.. 1/10