House Party

Plot synopsis:
In their high-school cafeteria, Peter, also known as "Play" (Christopher "Play" Martin) announces to his friends Christopher aka "Kid" (Reid) and Bilal (Martin Lawrence) that he will be having a party at his house that night, as his parents are on vacation. The reluctant Bilal is to be the DJ. Kid is then involved in an altercation with school bully Stab (Paul Anthony) and his two brothers Pee-Wee and Zilla (Bowlegged Lou and B-Fine). When Kid comes home, he tries to convince his father, "Pop" (Robin Harris) to let him go to the party. Pop relents at first, but when a note from school informs him of the fight, he grounds him. Rather than miss the party of the year, Kid sneaks out while Pop is sleeping in front of Dolemite - but the door closing behind Kid awakens Pop. On his way to the party Kid runs into Stab and his brothers, jumps over a fence, and is shot at by the homeowner. The punks are also shot at and Kid ducks into a nearby Alpha Delta Sigma reunion to escape them. Crashing the reunion, Kid has the DJ (George Clinton) scratch and mix a few of his old doo wop records so that he can liven the party with a rap, until Stab and the others arrive. Trying to escape from Stab, Kid accidentally knocks down an older man. Kid and the bullies are caught by the neighborhood police, who humiliate the four teenagers before letting them go.
The party is in full swing when Kid finally arrives. Kid and Play soon get into a dance contest with attractive girls Sydney (Campbell) and Sharane (Johnson), then have a quick freestyle battle. Stab and his friends attempt to break up the party, but are arrested a second time by the policemen, who take delight in the prospect of beating them up. Kid's father eventually makes his way to the party, demanding to know where Kid is (upstairs helping Sharane get her coat) and, not finding him, Pop vows to wait for him at home. Play stops the party because his bathroom toilet was broken by party members. Although Kid and Sydney have eyes for each other, Sharane decides to flirt with Kid openly, much to Sydney's disgust. The three soon leave the party, but when Kid tries to make advances on Sharane, she rebuffs him. Kid then walks Sydney back home, and after some argument the pair finally calm down and talk quietly.
Sydney allows Kid to sneak into her house, and the two are about to have sex in Sydney's room when she stops him, wanting to know if she is simply his second choice. Kid admits that Sydney was his first choice all along, but they do not do anything when they see that the only condom Kid has is too old to be used. When Sydney's parents come home - now revealed as one of the couples at the high-school reunion, including the man Kid ran into - Sydney hastily helps Kid sneak out of the house. He manages to get out of yet another scrape with Stab and his brothers, and they all end up in a jail cell. The men tell Kid what they're in jail for and Kid entertains the rest of the men in the cell by rapping, distracting them long enough for Play, Sharane, Bilal, and Sydney to arrive with enough cash to bail him out. Later, the five friends say their goodnights. Kid and Sydney share a long passionate kiss goodnight. After Play and Bilal drops him off, Kid sneaks in the house and gets undressed. As he is about to get into bed, he looks up to find Pop holding a belt, as the credits roll, we can hear Pop whacking Kid (Kid yelping with each hit) during the credits.

Tags: non fiction

Review:
The best and longest running daytime variety show.. Art Linkletter's House Party ran from 1952-1969 due totally to the easy going style of Art Linkletter himself. It was a half hour format airing at 11:30AM on the West Coast that featured a variety of special guests, games,and popular interviews with young school children at the end of each show.Linkletter would eventually write a best selling book about his conversations with the kids called, Kids Say The Darndest Things.. great memories. The show aired on radio for years then went to BOTH radio and TV before it ran exclusively on TV.Opening Line; COME ON IN, IT'S TIME FOR ART LINKLETTR'S HOUSE PARTY. The opening shot was a rectangular sign that said ART LINKLETTER'S HOUSE PARTY with "traveling" lights around the perimeter.Music was provided by MUZZY MARCELLINO - a small music group. Muzzy was the guy that WHISTLED in the hit record, "THE HIGH & THE MIGHTY." Art often went into the audience and interviewed people.Art's program featured the winners of the Pillsbuy Bake-off (Pillsbury was a big sponsor).The announcer for the program was JACK SLATTERY.The last 5 minutes of the program featured 5 primary school kids, whom Art asked questions, usually designed to embarrass their parents. This segment led to a series of books "Kids Say the Darndest Things.". Middle America's Voice. From the Forties right through to the Seventies, on radio and then on television, middle America or what we would now call Red State America had its own articulate voice in Art Linkletter and his House Party show.Now retired and into his middle nineties, Linkletter was quite an institution back in the day. I well remember coming home from school and seeing House Party on television. My grandmother who lived with us was a devoted viewer. She also watched his night time show, People Are Funny.Linkletter's easygoing manner and strong conservative politics made him an institution in those Republican leaning states. He even had quite a few fans in the decadent east. For the America which liked Ike, they loved Art.Two things that stand out for me personally. Occasionally he would showcase young talent and I still remember a young comedian named Don Adams doing a stand up routine on one of his shows. This was years before he starred in Get Smart.When the fabled Hollywood gossip columnists began losing their clout due to television, Art Linkletter provided a venue for Hedda Hopper. She must have made a dozen or more appearances a year on House Party, dispensing the latest Hollywood gossip. Her right wing politics and his meshed very well together. I remember her being on his show days before she died.Another show I remember was Dale Evans as guest. Art Linkletter was the adopted son of a minister and Dale Evans and her husband Roy Rogers were well known as born agains. I still remember a show where Dale chided Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor for their Roman escapades on the set of Cleopatra. Dale, Roy, and Art certainly came from a whole different life experience than Liz and Dick had. Of course what we remember the most about the show were the grade school kids. Some lucky school every day got to send four little urchins on the show, they were never more than 10 years old. Art was very good at this segment because he interviewed those kids like Edward R. Murrow would interview a celebrity. Most of the time he kept an absolutely straight face, but sometime a child who had not learned to be discreet and guarded in their answers came up with a beauty. Then Art lost it along with the rest of the audiences. Kids really did say the darndest things on that show.House Party reflected the warmth and innate decency of its creator and host. Politics aside, I wish it was around now.. A Show For All Ages. I remember this show from when I was a preteen. I enjoyed watching the children that were my own age that he would have on as guests; it was what kept me watching what was otherwise an adult show. He would have several kids sitting in chairs and would ask them various questions. It was very interesting to me at that age to hear what kids from other parts of the country had to say.Art Linkletter had a talent as a TV host that appealed to people of all ages. House Party aired on TV and was also broadcast on the radio during its history. This show is a reminder of how television has evolved over the past 50-60 years and how it will never be the same again. Somehow, life seemed much simpler back then, as was television in those days.