Back to school - Wikipedia Back to school For other uses, see Back to school ( disambiguation ). Back to School Film poster Directed by Alan Metter Produced by Chuck Russell Screenplay by Steven Kampmann Will Porter Peter Torokvei Harold Ramis Story by Rodney Dangerfield Greg Fields Dennis Snee Starring Rodney Dangerfield Sally Kellerman Burt Young Keith Gordon Adrienne Barbeau Robert Downey, Jr. Sam Kinison Ned Beatty Music by Danny Elfman Cinematography Thomas E. Ackerman Edited by David Rawlins Production company Paper Clip Productions Distributed by Orion Pictures Release date June 13, 1986 ( 1986 - 06 - 13 ) Running time 96 min. Country United States Language English Budget $11 million Box office $91,258,000 ( theatrical ) $41,948,000 ( rentals ) Back to School is a 1986 American comedy film starring Rodney Dangerfield, Keith Gordon, Sally Kellerman, Burt Young, Terry Farrell, William Zabka, Ned Beatty, Sam Kinison, Paxton Whitehead and Robert Downey, Jr. It was directed by Alan Metter. The plot centers on a wealthy but uneducated father ( Dangerfield ) who goes to college to show solidarity with his discouraged son ( Gordon ) and learns that he can not buy an education or happiness. Author Kurt Vonnegut has a cameo as himself, as does the band Oingo Boingo, whose frontman Danny Elfman composed the score for the film. The University of Wisconsin -- Madison was used as a backdrop for the movie, although it was called `` Grand Lakes University. '' The diving scenes were filmed at the since - demolished Industry Hills Aquatic Club in the City of Industry, California. Before the end credits, the message `` For ESTELLE Thanks For So Much '' is shown. This is a dedication to Estelle Endler, one of the executive producers of the film, who died during filming. She was Dangerfield 's long - time manager, who helped him get into films such as Caddyshack. The diving competition scene from this film was parodied in the music video for Canadian rock band Sum 41 's 2001 single `` In Too Deep ''. Contents 1 Plot 2 Cast 3 Reception 4 Soundtrack 4.1 Track listing ( soundtrack ) 5 See also 6 References 7 External links Plot This article 's plot summary may be too long or excessively detailed. Please help improve it by removing unnecessary details and making it more concise. ( July 2015 ) Thornton Melon 's is a rags - to - riches story. The son of an Italian immigrant tailor, he is shown as a boy ( Jason Hervey ) in his father 's shop, bearing a report card with poor grades. His ambition is to go into his father 's line of work, but his father reprimands Thornton for his poor schoolwork, and tells him no matter how hardworking, skilled or wealthy one may be, `` if a man has got no education, he has got nothing ''. As decades pass, Thornton is shown opening his first `` Tall and Fat '' clothing store and eventually becoming a corporate giant, complete with a TV commercial in which he asks : Are you a large person ? Pleasantly plump ? A little on the hefty side, perhaps ? Well, let 's face it : are you fat ? When you go jogging, do you leave potholes ? When you make love, do you have to give directions ? At the zoo, do elephants throw you peanuts ? Do you look at a menu and say, ' Okay ' ? He also has changed his last name to `` Melon '' ( from the original `` Meloni '' ). After his college - student son Jason ( Keith Gordon ) cancels a visit, Thornton goes home to Vanessa ( Adrienne Barbeau ), his second wife. Thornton is a widower and Vanessa is a social climbing gold digger, unable to bear her crude husband. Upon agreeing to a divorce, he threatens to expose her adulterous affairs ( showing her Polaroids of her with other men, including a midget ) after she threatens to sue him for half of his net worth. Thornton tells his friend, chauffeur and bodyguard Lou ( Burt Young ) to drive him to Jason 's college. It turns out Jason has been keeping secrets from his father. He is not on the Grand Lakes diving team, but instead works as a towel boy, treated badly by star diver Chas Osborn ( William Zabka ). Jason has only his best friend Derek Lutz ( Robert Downey, Jr. ) for support and intends to drop out. Thornton pleads with him, offering to go to college with his son if he 'll stay, and also tells Jason that he has no reason to be ashamed of his failures, considering Thornton 's early mediocre life. Possessing neither a high school diploma nor any transcripts or SAT scores, Thornton 's efforts seem to be stalled. But when the university 's `` Dean '' Martin -- a play on the crooner Dean Martin -- played by Ned Beatty, asks how he can possibly admit an unqualified student, the next scene cuts to a groundbreaking of the university 's new Thornton Melon School of Business. Thornton 's bribery earns him the wrath of Dr. Philip Barbay ( Paxton Whitehead ), dean of the business school. The wrath is further exacerbated when Dr. Barbay 's ivory tower ways are at odds with Thornton 's knowledge of business gained from actual experience. Thornton promptly strikes up a romance with Dr. Diane Turner ( Sally Kellerman ), an attractive literature professor and free spirit, who is dating Barbay. At the same time, Jason begins to attract the interest of Valerie Desmond ( Terry Farrell ), a girl that Chas has been trying to impress. Jason 's popularity on campus also increases thanks to his father 's generosity and party - throwing. Jason even earns a spot on the diving team as well after Thornton -- who claims to have once been a spectacular diver himself -- talks the Grand Lakes coach ( M. Emmet Walsh ) into giving the kid another look. As a student, even though Diane is inspiring a deeper appreciation of literature, Thornton prefers partying to studying. He hires a team of professionals to complete his assignments, including author Kurt Vonnegut, to write a paper on Kurt Vonnegut for literature class. To Thornton 's surprise, a disappointed Diane, recognizing the fraud, gives Thornton an F on his paper, telling him that she will not accept work from him that was written by someone else, and adding that whoever did write the paper does n't know the first thing about Kurt Vonnegut. Meanwhile, Jason is fed up with his father, his school, his status and his own failures. At his dad 's big party, he gets drunk, punches Chas and disappears. Thornton 's fraud is further exposed by Dr. Barbay, who challenges him before Dean Martin to pass an oral examination from all of his professors. If Thornton fails any part of it, he will be expelled. Not believing that he will be able to pass that oral exam, Thornton packs up and prepares to leave, knowing that he ca n't be expelled if he drops out. But Jason stops him and reminds him of how he wanted to drop out, too, but Thornton talked him out of it. Jason believes that Thornton can do it and says that they 'll help him. Thornton then decides that he 's up to the challenge. With limited time to prepare, Thornton crams for exams with help from Jason, Derek, Lou and Diane. When the big day comes, Barbay begins by telling Thornton that he has only one question, ``... in 27 parts. '' Thornton seems to falter, but is inspired to answer the question with the screaming assistance of crazed Contemporary American History professor ( and as revealed earlier, a Vietnam vet ), Terguson ( Sam Kinison ). He passes, nevertheless, after Dr. Turner inspires him by having him recite Dylan Thomas ' poem `` Do not go gentle into that good night. '' At the championship dive meet, father and son patch things up and, with a little distraction, Derek fouls up the opposing team 's dives, while Chas gives a lackluster effort, followed by a near - perfect performance from Jason. Chas fakes a cramp out of spite in an effort to make the team lose. This gives the coach an inspiration. He calls upon Thornton, who comes out of the grandstand to perform an `` impossible '' dive, the legendary `` Triple Lindy, '' to win the meet. Thornton learns that he has passed all his classes with D 's, except from Diane, who has given him an A. The movie closes with Thornton lecturing the graduating class that the real world is hard, so : `` Move back in with your parents... let them worry about it ! '' and `` Look out for Number One, but do n't step in Number Two ! '' Cast Rodney Dangerfield as Thornton Melon Sally Kellerman as Dr. Diane Turner Burt Young as Lou Keith Gordon as Jason Melon Robert Downey, Jr. as Derek Lutz Paxton Whitehead as Dr. Phillip Barbay Sam Kinison as Professor Terguson ( a.k.a. Turgeson ) Terry Farrell as Valerie Desmond M. Emmet Walsh as Coach Turnbull Adrienne Barbeau as Vanessa Melon William Zabka as Chas Osborne Ned Beatty as `` Dean '' David Martin Severn Darden as Dr. Borozini Robert Picardo as Giorgio Jason Hervey as Young Thornton Edie McClurg as Marge Sweetwater Kurt Vonnegut as Himself ( cameo ) Reception The film received mainly positive reviews from critics, and is the 6th highest - grossing film of 1986, as well as the second highest grossing comedy film of the year, behind `` Crocodile '' Dundee ( records state that in addition to the rental and theatrical gross it received, it went on to gross $108,634,920 globally ). Kevin Thomas of the Los Angeles Times noted that `` Dangerfield seems to be setting the film 's brisk pace and flawless timing himself. '' Nina Darnton wrote in The New York Times that `` the film is a good - natured potpourri of gags, funny bits, populist sentiment and anti-intellectualism. '' Rotten Tomatoes ' Tomatometer shows that 85 % of 33 critics ' reviews were positive. Roger Ebert 's Chicago Sun - Times review read : `` This is exactly the sort of plot Marx or Fields could have appeared in. Dangerfield brings it something they might also have brought along : a certain pathos. '' Soundtrack Back to School Soundtrack album by Various Artists Released 1986 Genre Pop, Rock, Soul Length 35 : 34 Label MCA The soundtrack was released on MCA, available in LP or Cassette ( no CD ), but cues from the score were released that year with selections from the score of Pee - wee 's Big Adventure ( both re-recordings made in London ) on CD. Original film recordings were issued in 2010 on The Danny Elfman & Tim Burton 25th Anniversary Music Box. Track listing ( soundtrack ) No. Title Writer ( s ) Performer ( s ) Length 1. `` Back to School '' Richard Wolf & Mark Leonard Jude Cole 4 : 16 2. `` Educated Girl '' Bobby Caldwell 4 : 07 3. `` Learnin ' and Livin ' '' Tyson & Schwartz 3 : 25 4. `` Everybody 's Crazy '' ( from Everybody 's Crazy, 1985 ) Bolton Michael Bolton 4 : 37 5. `` I 'll Never Forget Your Face '' Wolf Phillip Ingram 4 : 07 6. `` Twist and Shout '' ( Isley Brothers cover, original 1962 ) Phil Medley, Bert Russell Rodney Dangerfield 2 : 51 7. `` Dead Man 's Party '' ( from Dead Man 's Party, 1985 ) Danny Elfman Oingo Boingo 6 : 17 8. `` On My Way '' Tyson & Schwartz 3 : 30 9. `` Respect '' ( from I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You, 1967 ) Otis Redding Aretha Franklin 2 : 24 See also High Time List of American films of 1986 References Jump up ^ `` Blockbuster Lull No Problem At Box Office ''. Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 3 February 2015. ^ Jump up to : `` Box office / business for Back to School ''. Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 7 January 2013. Jump up ^ Dangerfield, Rodney ( 2004 ). `` It 's Not Easy Bein ' Me : A Lifetime of No Respect but Plenty of Sex and Drugs ''. HarperCollins. ISBN 9780060779245. I was right about Estelle -- she was the best manager anyone could ever have. She got me into movies. Jump up ^ Dangerfield, Rodney ; Fields, Greg ; Snee, Greg ( 1986 ). Back to School. United States : Orion Pictures. access - date = requires url = ( help ) Jump up ^ Thomas, Kevin ( 12 June 1986 ). `` Movie Review : ' Back ' Gets Laughs, And Respect, Too ''. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 7 January 2013. Jump up ^ Darnton, Nina ( 13 June 1986 ). `` Back to School ''. New York Times. Retrieved 7 January 2013. Jump up ^ Back to School at Rotten Tomatoes Jump up ^ Ebert, Roger ( 13 June 1986 ). `` Back to School ''. Chicago Sun Times. Retrieved 7 January 2013. External links Wikiquote has quotations related to : Back to School Back to School on IMDb Back to School at AllMovie Back to School at Rotten Tomatoes Back to School at Box Office Mojo Films directed by Alan Metter The Winds of Whoopie ( 1983 ) Girls Just Want to Have Fun ( 1985 ) Back to School ( 1986 ) Moving ( 1988 ) Cold Dog Soup ( 1990 ) Working Tra $ h ( 1990 ) Police Academy : Mission to Moscow ( 1994 ) Billboard Dad ( 1998 ) Passport to Paris ( 1999 ) The Growing Pains Movie ( 2000 ) Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Back_to_School&oldid=842446200 '' Categories : 1986 films English - language films American films 1980s sports comedy films 1980s teen comedy films American sports comedy films American teen comedy films Films scored by Danny Elfman Films set in universities and colleges Films shot in California Films shot in Wisconsin Orion Pictures films Screenplays by Harold Ramis Screenplays by Rodney Dangerfield Swimming films University of Wisconsin -- Madison 1980s high school films Hidden categories : Pages using citations with accessdate and no URL Wikipedia articles with plot summary needing attention from July 2015 All Wikipedia articles with plot summary needing attention Articles with hAudio microformats Album infoboxes lacking a cover Talk Contents About Wikipedia Wikiquote Català Deutsch فارسی Français Italiano Português Русский Edit links This page was last edited on 22 May 2018, at 14 : 23. 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Question: who played rodney dangerfield son in back to school
Answer: Keith Gordon