Earth Angel
Tags: romantic

Plot synopsis:
In the spring of 1962, four high school seniors are arriving on school grounds, including Angela (Cathy Podewell) and Judith (Cindy Williams), who are both cheerleaders for the school football team, and Duke (Erik Estrada), school heartthrob and star player of the team. As they pull into a parking spot, they find Wayne Stein (Mark Hamill), bookish school nerd, tending to his bike there. Duke berates Wayne for parking in 'Angela's spot' even though Wayne is just trying to fix a flat on his bike. Trying to appease Duke, whom she's dating, Angela tells him she's 'never seen' Wayne before.Angela and Duke sneak in a few kisses while the national anthem begins playing in the school halls, and school history teacher and Angela's guidance counselor, Mr. Tatum (Roddy McDowall), promptly ushers Duke toward his home room, but orders Angela to come with him into his office. Angela is failing her history class because she hasn't been paying attention to the teachers. Mr. Tatums warns her that if she flunks her classes, she'll be denied graduation. Over her protests, Mr. Tatum has assigned her a tutor-- Wayne.But at a study session at Wayne's house, Wayne finds a way to reach her. Angela pays attention when she listens to music and is able to memorize the lyrics when singing along. He improvises a set of lyrics about D-Day to 'That'll be the Day,' and Angela smiles at his cleverness.Angela and Judith are helping set up the school gymnasium for senior prom. Angela is upset because Mr. Tatum overruled plans to feature a theme for late actor James Dean, because he'd been drinking the night of his fatal car accident. Angela wishes she could meet someone like Dean, and Cindy points out that Angela has Duke. Mr. Tatum interrupts their conversation with a reminder for Angela about final exams.During final exams, Wayne's tutoring pays off as Angela very quietly sings the improvised lyrics to herself. Mr. Tatum is surprised, but Wayne smiles to himself, glancing at Angela over his shoulder.Angela goes to Wayne's house and finds him playing a saxophone, and he shows a good deal of talent and ability at it. She's come to return some books he loaned her, but she curiously asks who he plans to bring to prom. Wayne scoffs; no girl would want to go to prom with him, and he's too awkward to dance. Angela is very surprised at his explanation, saying he knows a lot of songs. Although Wayne feels embarrassed at it, Angela puts on the song 'Earth Angel' and dances with Wayne, helping him through it as he helped her with her history lessons. Wayne starts to feel better about himself as he follows Angela's lead and tells her about some of his future plans, including working for the Peace Corps and becoming a UN Ambassador. But Wayne is still too embarrassed at the thought of attending prom until Angela insists he has likable qualities, and if he sees a girl he really likes, he has to take the plunge, give her a kiss and ignore anyone else. But to Angela's surprise, Wayne suddenly kisses her and asks her to be his prom date.Riding with Duke to the prom, Angela is trying to break the news that she's agreed to be Wayne's date. Duke is infuriated, berating Angela and threatening to bust Wayne up. Refusing to listen to her admonishments to slow down, as it's raining heavily, Duke continues driving fast as he lashes out at Angela.Another car is coming into a merge, and despite its honking horn, Duke doesn't notice until near the last second. He's forced to swerve, and loses control of the car. Angela screams as the car careens off the road and plows straight into a tree.Wayne checks his watch again as he stands alone on the dance floor, holding a corsage for Angela. Everyone around him is dancing and enjoying the prom. Some football team members make fun of him, surprised Wayne is even there. Judith tries to make her date leave Wayne alone. As she does this, she carelessly mentions that Angela and Duke are running late. Wayne turns, not understanding. He reveals that Angela had agreed to come to prom with him, which of course, is met with ridicule by most of the boys within earshot.Everyone stops dancing and turns as Duke staggers in to the gym. He walks in a half daze, diluted blood on his shirt. He rambles about the hospital trying to keep him for X-rays and the car coming out of nowhere, before he finally announces in tears, that Angela died in the crash. All the students are stunned and shocked to hear it, as Angela was the Prom Queen.Wayne grabs Duke by his lapels, demanding to know what he's done, saying he's in love with Angela. Enraged, Duke punches Wayne and knocks him to the floor, spitting in a fury that Angela never liked him, but just agreed to go with him because she felt sorry for him. Duke stalks off, and Wayne pulls himself to his feet; the corsage he bought for Angela slipping from his hands and falling to the gymnasium floor.We see Angela, still dressed up and made up for the prom, picking up the corsage, standing in the empty gymnasium. The gym glows with strange white light. The doors to the gym open, more light shining from behind them. Angela walks through the doors and suddenly runs into Mr. Tatum, dressed in a Napoleon costume. He's as surprised as she is to find her there, saying she died at least ten years before he did. Angela stares in disbelief as she learns that she's dead.Mr. Tatum brings Angela into his office. She's in his personal version of heaven; everyone gets their own. Pulling a file from his desk, Mr. Tatum sees that Angela's personal heaven would be an eternal night with James Dean. But Angela isn't guaranteed that heaven just yet. Mr. Tatum reveals she's left 'unfinished business' on Earth that she must complete... and she has to find out, by herself, what that is before she can take care of it. If Angela fails to complete her mission, she will return to the office for her personal hell: detention with Mr. Tatum, forever.It's 1990, and Judith, recently dumped by her husband for a new, younger woman, has had to return to town from Wisconsin to stay with her father, Norman (Alan Young)... Judith's teenage daughter, Cindy (Rainbow Harvest) in tow, before completion of her senior year in high school. Judith has enrolled Cindy in the same high school she herself attended. Cindy is a relatively shy girl who's uncomfortable about having to leave behind all the friends she made in Wisconsin, and unhappy about having had to pull up stakes and switch schools so close to graduation. Before she even gets out of her mother's pickup, two girls walk by, look at the lamb ranch logo on the door and mock Cindy by baaa'ing like sheep. No sooner does she step out, when a fancy red sports car drives into Angela's old spot and the driver, a handsome young boy named Mike Darren (Brian Krause), who captains the school wrestling team, hops out and promptly kisses one of the same two girls that mocked Cindy. Despite this, Cindy gets an immediate crush on this heartthrob.Looking for the history class room, she's shown to it by a shy, awkward young man named Peter (Dustin Nguyen), which promptly draws mocking from varsity jocks. And if Cindy wasn't miserable enough already, the teacher for history class is Wayne Stein, now a cold, angry, embittered man nicknamed "Flunken Stein" by the students for the harsh, uncompromising way he grades exams and papers. He gives a cold response to Cindy's attempted greeting as a new student, as he readies to give the students a full written exam.Judith brings her father to a car dealership to help her get a used car for Cindy. But Cindy is apathetic to the idea, saying that having her own car won't change her life. Until they arrive back home and find Norman's portable freezer broken, and when he brings it to a junk yard to sell it for scrap, Cindy sees a car atop a scrap heap that she feels is perfect for her.When fixed up, the car is a beautiful, if old, bright blue Chevrolet Belair. Cindy is eager to take the car for her first spin, but finds the radio dial seems to be stuck on an oldies station, playing 'Earth Angel' by The Penguins.As fate would have it, this is Angela's old car, and suddenly Angela is sitting in the back seat. Cindy jumps out of the car, and freaks out when Angela snaps her fingers and teleports right next to Cindy, and her hands pass right through Cindy's body. Angela figures that Cindy is as good a person as any to help her figure out her mission back here on Earth. The first tough step is trying to break the ice with a disbelieving Cindy, who still doesn't acknowledge Angela as real and refuses to listen to Angela's attempted advice aimed at making Cindy look and act 'cool.' It starts to work when Angela puts her dark shades on Cindy, and Mike, driving by, calls out, 'Hey, sexy.'The next tough step is when Cindy arrives back home. Angela is amazed to see that Cindy's mother is Judith and runs toward her-- but Judith cannot see or hear Angela. Judith's amazement is the new car, saying it looks just like the one her best friend in school drove. Cindy, not yet realizing that she's the only one who can see, hear and interact with Angela's spirit, is amazed to see that Angela and Judith were former high school best friends and blurts it out loud. Seeing her mother's dumbfounded reaction, Cindy decides she must simply be imagining Angela after all and pointedly ignores her as she does her homework in her room. Angela is trying to figure out why her former best friend can't see her, but Cindy can; she thinks that Cindy buying Angela's car must be what bonded the two-- if only she can re-convince Cindy of that. Trying to make small talk, Angela asks Cindy about Mike. Hearing Cindy complain of her social invisibility and hopelessness while Mike is the school dreamboat, Angela jumps up with excitement. She's now sure her mission involves helping Cindy achieve social acceptance and status-- who better to help with this than a 1962 high school prom queen?Angela takes Cindy to a mall to shop. She helps Cindy with a new hairstyle and outfit, and tries to teach her how to strut-- which at first, only succeeds in getting a wolf whistle from a parrot at a pet store, where Peter works. Suddenly Cindy sees Mike walking by with one of his girlfriends on his arm. Angela starts to give a hurried pep talk and advice on how to get Mike to notice Cindy, telling her that part of the act is to pretend she's bored and doesn't notice him. Cindy starts copying Angela's walk, and Angela is able to turn Mike around. He gives a surprised, impressed smile at Cindy before his girlfriend pulls him back around. Cindy is elated, as for her, this is bigger progress than she ever hoped for. Angela flashes a complacent smile and says that things are just starting.In the next instant, Angela is back in Mr. Tatum's office, and again she's smug, saying she could have finished that mission in her sleep. But Mr. Tatum tells Angela she's completely missed her mark, wasting her time with Cindy. Moreover, her mission has a deadline: the date of Angela's death... school prom night. Mr. Tatum has no advice to offer Angela other than that she has to get to work or she'll be sitting before his desk, in silence, perfect posture, for the rest of eternity.Judith is going through want ads looking for a new job, when the doorbell rings; a new freezer is being delivered. Judith opens the door and is surprised to find Duke as the delivery man. Duke has been going by his legal first name, Earl, ever since finishing high school. He and Judith reconnect and catch up; like Judith, Duke is recently divorced, though optimistic for a future marriage. Judith shows Duke a way through the house into the garage where the new freezer will go, and they continue making small talk.At school, Cindy finds she's starting to get noticed and get attention from a number of the football jocks. This improves her self-esteem and self-confidence, and she smiles as she walks through the halls to her next class. But she's still not rid of Angela, who is now desperate; she's found that Cindy isn't her mission, but Cindy is still the only person who can see or hear Angela, or otherwise be aware of her presence. However, Cindy isn't overly sympathetic; she still has school and all the assorted angst of teenage life to continue going through.Angela follows Cindy into history class, where Cindy is arriving late. Wayne is berating all the students over incorrect answers given on the exam. Angela, finding Wayne's attitude too abrasive, tears a small piece from one of the sheets of paper in Cindy's notebook, makes a spitball and throws it at Wayne, who suspects Cindy. Angela finally gets a close look at Wayne and is shocked to see what's become of him. She tells Cindy that Wayne was supposed to take her to prom, which Cindy finds hard to believe. Forgetting nobody else can hear Angela, she answers her by speaking Wayne's derogatory nickname of 'Flunkenstein' out loud, causing all the students to laugh. Wayne, of course, only gets very angry and orders Cindy out of the classroom, suspending her and telling her that he wants to talk to her parents to make sure she's very sorry she crossed him. Wayne's reaction to Cindy leaves Angela completely crushed at how he's changed from the shy, awkward young man who helped her to pass final exams.Angela follows Cindy out; she now believes that her mission is to help Wayne. The problem is, Wayne can't see or hear Angela, without Cindy. Of course, Cindy is now less interested than ever at helping Angela after the trouble she's gotten in because of her.Cindy despondently drives home, trying to come up with a lie to explain her early arrival home from school. Angela is suddenly there, trying to plead for help, explaining how Wayne's heart was broken, but Angela can't help him mend because he can't see or hear her. She offers to do anything in return for Cindy's help. Remembering Cindy's crush on Mike, Angela offers to help set her up with him for the prom. She can listen in, undetected, on all his conversations, learn when he's alone, everything that can help Cindy get a date with him.But Angela's idea to fix Wayne up with Judith outrages Cindy, who is as yet unaware that Judith and Wayne knew each other in school as well. Angela swears to Cindy that she remembers Wayne as a very sweet and gentle young man, anything other than the man-monster that Cindy wouldn't want within a mile of her mother. Angela insists that love has to be the one thing that will bring out the Wayne she remembers; a Wayne that nobody would fear.Angela finds Wayne arriving at a restaurant in the evening, where he moonlights as a saxophone player. Even though she knows he can't hear him, she pours her heart out to him, telling him to move on. Seeing his saxophone case and noting that he still plays music is a good sign in Angela's eyes.The next day, Judith arrives at the school to meet with Cindy's history teacher, and is amazed to recognize Wayne. Although he seems somewhat pleased to see Judith again, he dismissively says that she's not here to reminisce with him, but to discuss the trouble that he believes Cindy has caused in class. Angela rails on Wayne as she listens, even though he and Judith remain unaware of her presence. Judith tries to explain some of Cindy's troubles to Wayne, who again is dismissive, saying he had to impose disciplinary action on Cindy after she caused an incident in class.Wayne continues working on papers as he speaks to Judith, which irritates Angela. Remembering that she can manipulate some inanimate objects around her, she pushes a stack of papers off Wayne's desk. As Judith tries to help Wayne pick them back up, Angela pushes another stack. But this backfires as Wayne puts a foot down with Judith, warning her that he can't be pushed around at school anymore now that he's a teacher, and that both Cindy and Judith need to respect that for Cindy to pass. Without pausing for another breath, Wayne dismisses Judith, not even calling her by her first name.That evening, while making dinner, Judith takes the foot Wayne put down with her, and puts it back down with Cindy, warning her that she needs to get a tutor for history. Judith talks about how she used to go to school with Wayne, and he was a nobody back then, playing bassoon in a Gilbert and Sullivan club. Hearing this, Angela comes up with another plan. She starts by pushing over an open bottle of cooking oil, causing the skillet on the stove, that dinner is being cooked in, to catch fire. Norman runs in with a fire extinguisher to put it out. Refusing to get upset over the incident, Norman offers to take Judith and Cindy out for dinner.This of course, is at the Flaming Pit, where Wayne plays saxophone with the band. Angela plans on making another go at bringing Wayne and Judith together here. As it happens, the restaurant is getting short-staffed, prompting Judith to ask for a work application.Angela gets Cindy to ask the hostess to put them right near where the band will play, which Judith responds to with mild displeasure, but the hostess assures them the band only plays on Friday and Saturday. Cindy and Angela exchange a look. Angela's plans of playing matchmaker have been foiled again.The next day, Cindy goes to see Peter at the mall, asking him to help tutor her for history. She meets up again with the parrot who wolf-whistled at her, which Peter wants to buy as a pet for himself; he works at the pet shop to save up the money it will cost to buy the bird. Cindy hopes to start the lessons that night, but she can't bring Peter home for dinner because the stove was busted in the fire. But Peter says he knows a good spot.Peter takes Cindy to a quiet area outside of town where an old style, wooden covered bridge crosses a stream. As they talk over dumplings, Cindy shares some memories of her life back on a sheep ranch in Wisconsin, where she used to ice fish and had friends she could always rely on.Angela arrives to tell Cindy that Mike is alone. Asking Cindy if she's sure she wants to go through with things, Angela causes Peter to spill the container of take-out Chinese food onto his jacket and shirt. As Peter goes to clean up at the stream, Cindy comes up with an excuse to have to go once Peter returns.Angela brings Cindy to a video store where Mike is. This time her maneuvering pays off, as Mike notices Cindy, and there's some brief flirting small talk before Mike asks Cindy for a date, to take her to watch him and the wrestling team at a varsity match. Now all Angela needs is to try and make sure Judith has a date as well.But as Cindy and Judith are getting ready, a car horn honks to signal the arrival of the 'old high school friend' that Judith insists she's not truly dating. Angela goes to the window and cries out in horror and outrage as she sees Duke. Duke being the reason Angela is now dead, she's immediately dreading this turn of events, fearing that Duke could bring disaster for Judith... which would lead to eternal catastrophe for Angela. But when Angela begs Cindy to find a way to get Judith away from Duke, Cindy just says she has to get to her date, and leaves.Fortunately for Angela, Duke is the same old Duke, and he starts coming onto Judith far too strong, even pushing her down on the couch at his house, trying to neck. When she pushes him away, Duke thinks he just has to set the mood with some music, and uses the remote for the stereo to play some. Angela quickly turns the manual volume dial up to maximum, causing the stereo to blow, knowing that Duke will be left holding the bag. Angela then turns on the egg beater and blender, and then hits the master power switch for the house, putting it in darkness. Duke gets the power back under control, but by that time, Judith is gone.Cindy arrives home from her date riding on cloud nine. She had a great time watching Mike wrestle, and he treated her like the "Most Popular Girl in school," which in turn caused most of the rest of the team to do the same. Mike even kissed her good night, although when Angela asks if he asked her out for a second date, Cindy realizes he didn't, which frightens her that she might have really just been a one-night stand. That's not even the bad news for Angela: the school prom is in one week. She has to act really fast if she's going to help get Mike to ask Cindy to the prom.Judith has gotten a job at the Flaming Pit. Her shift is just ending when Wayne comes in. The two of them are surprised to see each other there; Judith just finding out that Wayne works in the restaurant on Friday and Saturday nights. Trying to make small talk, Judith mentions that Cindy is being tutored and is starting to speak well of Wayne, but Wayne takes the news with cynicism and even contempt, brushing past Judith rudely. To keep Judith from leaving too soon, Angela makes her drop the small basket holding her share of tips. Judith is just turning in the basket to the cashier for counting and recording when the band starts playing, and Judith turns around, shocked to see Wayne on the saxophone. But as beautifully as Wayne plays, Judith looks at him with scorn, calling it a 'waste' before leaving.Peter and Cindy are studying together when Peter notices Cindy is distracted. In fact, however, Angela is arriving with news: Mike is at the mall.Angela discretely coaches Cindy as she hangs out with Mike, some of the varsity jocks and their girlfriends. A big pre-prom party is being planned, and Mike suddenly says if Cindy goes, he'll take her to the prom. He asks if the party can be held at Cindy's house. Cindy first says she'll ask her mom if it's okay, but Angela tells her that's not a good enough answer, so Cindy says yes, the party can be at her place.Duke comes to bring flowers and an apology to Judith. Despite Judith's reluctance, Duke manages to find the right words to say so that Judith agrees to see him again.Angela takes the news much harder than Cindy. Cindy doesn't know much about Duke, but she knows that her mother and Wayne aren't getting along. She feels bad about Angela's impending fate, but insists she's done her part trying to help get Wayne and Judith together. Despite how Angela remembers Wayne, Cindy feels he's just changed and that the old Wayne who Angela took a liking to, is gone.But Angela refuses to believe this. She goes to Wayne's house at night while he's practicing. The music he plays on his saxophone is beautiful and heart-warming, and Angela knows that the old Wayne is still there. Angela pulls on one of the saxophone's keys to make Wayne stop playing, and pleads with him passionately. As Wayne starts to look at his reflection in a Window, Angela sees the pain in his eyes and face. Angela repeats what she told Wayne in that same room back in 1962, to 'grab her and kiss her, and don't be afraid what anyone thinks;' to let go of the past and move on. His face looking haunted, Wayne says Judith's name. Angela starts to cry with joy.Cindy is going to her locker with two other girls she's befriended thanks to Mike's influence. Peter asks Cindy if she wants to study for finals. Cindy tries to be polite in saying she thinks she's okay now as far as history class goes, but the girls with Cindy are more brusque, telling Peter that Cindy has other plans for the night. Mike comes up at that moment, touching Cindy on the shoulder. Peter understands that Cindy is going to a pre-prom party and asks what time it is. This leads to Cindy's friends and Mike both giving Peter a sharp reminder of the school's social pecking order and where Peter stands in it. Cindy feels uncomfortable at this, but doesn't resist as Mike leads her and the other girls away.Judith is again finishing her shift at the restaurant when Wayne comes in for his. Judith gives him a polite, perfunctory greeting before continuing on her way. Angela has to discreetly pull Judith back twice, to make her think that Wayne has something to say. Fumbling with his words for a moment, Wayne finally asks if he can take Judith for a drink after work. This time, however, it's Judith who gives Wayne a brush-off, saying she already has a date. Angela is more distraught than ever, but suddenly she gives a sly smile, her face lighting up with another idea, before she teleports out of the restaurant.Duke is driving down the road when his car gets a flat tire. As his car comes to a stop, Angela punctures all his other tires so he has four flats.Back at the restaurant, Judith is still waiting for Duke to show, as Wayne plays with the band. She applauds politely as the band finishes a number. Wayne looks up and sees Judith sitting at the bar, and goes to her. They start to break the ice between them, reminiscing about their time as schoolmates. Judith admits she likes Wayne's music; he thought of being a professional musician, but ended up detoured by the twists of life-- something Judith understands very well, from her recent divorce.Wayne starts to clumsily ask Judith if he can bring her to the school prom, where he will be acting as an adult chaperone. But before he can finish, the bar's phone rings and the bartender tells Judith that some guy is on the phone, asking for her.At a pay phone in a bar, Duke has just enough time for Judith to recognize his voice when Angela disconnects the call. As he tries to place another call, Angela picks his pocket, taking one of his business cards and a number of bills from his wallet, and discreetly passing them to a prostitute in the bar. As Duke gets back on the phone with Judith and starts to tell her that his car got a flat but he's on his way to pick her up, the prostitute saunters up to Duke, smiling, and tries to pick HIM up. Judith overhears this, of course, and moreover, Duke is more than distracted enough by the prostitute to clumsily ask for a rain check for the following evening, and hang up again.Judith turns back to Wayne, who starts to repeat his invitation, but Judith tells him she'd love to go, without even needing to hear the whole thing again.Pleased with herself, Angela snaps her fingers to teleport back to the Flaming Pit, but finds herself back in Mr. Tatum's office again. Angela has it out with Mr. Tatum, adamantly defending her actions with both Judith and Cindy, saying that Cindy is with her dream boy. Finally Mr. Tatum puts Angela back in her place with a dire warning that Angela's meddling has put Cindy down the same road that led to Angela's death back in 1962. Now Cindy is in danger, and this means that Angela is in even more serious danger.Angela finds herself back at Cindy's house where the party is going full swing, and Cindy is kissing Mike on the couch. Angela stops the stereo so that Mike gets up to fix it, and then threatens to haunt the party unless Cindy goes to talk with her in private.Angela understands now that she's re-created the same triangle as back in 1962-- with Cindy as Angela, Mike as Duke, and Peter as Wayne. Mike is no more Cindy's real friend, much less love interest, as Duke had been to Angela. Cindy had one real friend in Peter, but now she has no true friends, just a place at the top of the school social ladder that she's bound to topple down from. Of course, Cindy doesn't want to hear it. Going back to the nobody that everyone laughed at and made fun of is the last thing she's willing to consider. Considering her business with Angela finished, Cindy demands Angela leave her alone.The next morning, Cindy and Judith are with Norman at home when the doorbell rings. Judith answers and tells Cindy it's for her. Sitting on the doorstep is a bird cage with Lucille, the parrot Peter was saving up to buy... a note on the cage with Cindy's name, and the parrot's been trained to express Peter's feelings for Cindy.But when Cindy brings the parrot back to the pet shop, berating Peter for trying to make her feel guilty, Peter is even angrier than she is; Lucille was stolen from the pet shop, and Peter now thinks Cindy was responsible, as part of some prank on him. Peter and Cindy have it out over how she's changed, in a way that Peter doesn't like at all. Cindy is taken aback that Peter didn't send the bird to her, but it takes her only a second to figure out who did. She starts to storm out to find Angela, only to find Angela's already there. Cindy berates Angela over the trick, asking if sending her the parrot would change anything.It's changed something, for sure... Mike happens to be walking by, overhears, and thinks that Peter sent Cindy a present, which Mike takes as a direct challenge. He stomps over to Peter and floors him with a vicious punch, bloodying Peter's nose. He's about to hit him again when Angela grabs a chewy dog bone, whacks Mike over the back of the head, and then quickly puts the bone in Cindy's hand. Cindy gets a taste of Mike's true colors as he starts ordering her around as 'his girl,' warning her that she's not to give him any lip. Challenging him on whether he's going to beat her up the way he was going to do to Peter, Cindy tells Mike to get away. But before he leaves, he demands Cindy be at the tux shop in five minutes.Cindy apologizes to Peter and begs him to forgive her. Although he cracks a joke that she's already late to the tux shop, he says that he can. Cindy sees Peter not as a geek, but a wonderful young man. As they look into each other's eyes, Cindy suddenly stuns Peter by asking him to the prom. Slowly they lean in and kiss.It's raining as Cindy leaves the mall, and Mike is waiting. His demand that she get into the passenger seat of her car sounds like a threat, and getting intimidated, she complies.In the car, Cindy and Mike fall into an argument eerily reminiscent of the one between Duke and Angela. Mike is outraged at being dumped for the prom in favor of Peter, threatening to 'bust him' just as Duke threatened to do to Wayne.The car nears the same merge where Angela met her fate, and another car comes cruising down, honking loudly and forcing Mike to swerve. The car starts to careen out of control, heading toward the same tree. But this time a guardian angel for Cindy is there; Angela grabs the steering wheel with a panicked cry, guiding the car to a skidding stop away from the tree and off the road.This is the last straw for Cindy, and she demands Mike get out of the car, rain or no rain. As Mike gets out, he yells a warning and a threat that if Cindy shows up at the prom with Peter, then not only will he regret it, but so will she.As Mike storms off, Cindy catches her breath and is ready to own up to her mistakes in front of Angela... but she finds that Angela is suddenly gone. Cindy is alone in the car.Judith's doorbell rings, and she comes downstairs in a beautiful dress... only to find Duke there with a bottle of wine as an apology present, thinking he can simply pick up with Judith where he left off. Trying to explain the previous night, he starts fabricating a ridiculous story about saving the life of a young woman starting to have a heart attack at the bar he'd gotten to after his flat tire.He only gets partway through it when Wayne shows up in a tuxedo.. to 'take his girl to the prom.' Duke is shocked at this, at history repeating himself. Speaking with a lot of self-confidence, Wayne throws Duke's line from 1962 right back at him; that Judith just felt sorry for him.Wayne and Judith arrive at the prom. Wayne goes up to the band that's entertaining and whispers in the saxophonist's ear. The saxophone player nods and gives his saxophone to Wayne, who picks up the number with ease. All the students applaud enthusiastically at seeing this side of their history teacher that they'd never seen before. Even Mike, waiting impatiently, and fruitlessly, for Cindy, raises his eyebrows in surprise. When the number is finished, Wayne whispers to the saxophone player again as he returns the instrument. The band begins playing Earth Angel as Wayne steps off stage, and he and Judith dance along with the rest of the students.The camera pans out from the prom and shifts to the covered bridge where Cindy dances with Peter, to the music from her car radio; both dressed in prom finery. Peter notices that Cindy is, again, distracted, and asks if something is the matter.Cindy happens to look up, and sees Angela dancing on a cloud with James Dean. She smiles at Peter and tells him that everything is perfect. Angela has succeeded at her mission and has her personal heaven; an eternal night with James Dean. And Cindy has her dream prom with the true boy of her dreams. Angela looks down at Cindy, smiling and winking. Cindy smiles back, and then at Peter, before she leans in and kisses him.The movie closes with Angela still dancing on the cloud, before she and her dream date slowly fade out of view.

Review: Been done, but still good..
While Earth Angel's plot is not entirely unique (Heavenly Kid, Disney's Susie Q, among others I'm sure), the story line was done well.
Older, yet familiar actors (Cindy Williams, Erik Estrada, Mark Hamill) make it a very watchable movie.
"Newcomers" Rainbow Harvest (who bears a resemblance to Wynona Ryder in this one), and Cathy Podewell do  magnificent jobs as "typical" teens for their time.
Also of note is Roddy McDowall as Mr Tatum, pergatory's detention officer, who plays a pivotal, yet fairly minor role.
So sit back, suspend disbelief, and just enjoy a very nicely made movie.
P.S. Hope this doesn't spoil it, but Angela disappears immediately after completing her "mission", and this leaves no opportunity for Cindy to thank her.
This would have been the only thing I would have changed..
I loved this film.
I loved this film.
It may seem a little corny but the plot is well thought out.
I gave it a 10 out of 10 and would do again.
It may not be a film packed with action or car chases but it is still well worth the watch.
The performances from the actors and actresses should be recognised and loved.
The Casting Director couldn't find teenagers, so book a 40 year old to play a teenager?.
What a mess!
It would be hard to find this many actors who can "act really hard"!
But the cast director did.
This is the movie you wish you had done your laundry or washed all your windows, instead of waiting for it to get good.
I hope a lot of people lost their jobs when this came out..
Nice Story and Great Setting; Familiar Yet Refreshing.
One of my favs from the 90's.
I saw this late one night in the mid nineties in NY around 1am on ABC 7.
I was touched by the movie.
Very nice concept.
A nerd is a loser, but somehow the best girl in school likes him and then a tale of lost love.This was a joy to watch.
It has BIG name starts from the 70's and 80's doing a made for TV movie which has disappeared from television.It's about a ghost who died on her prom day.
It's about the classic nerd who somehow has a date with the hottest girl in school.
But it is not meant to be as it is a love lost, but found 30 years later.Very nice movie.
As a macho guy, this was touching.
This is a nice movie to watch alone or with a girlfriend.
I found the characters, the story and the plot very engaging.
You can relate to characters in the movie easily, and you do root for them.I HIGHLY RECOMMEND!!!
Yes, but never gets old..
Love this movie.
When i was a little girl i watched this with my family some one had recorded it or it was a original i am not for sure.
But my daddy loved the movie and so did I.
I took it to a friends house after i got much older well i forgot it over there so she was going to bring it to school.But The little town of pool ville i lived in caught on fire and my family got out lucky barley but my friends family along with many others lost there homes, along with the tape.
My dad was heart broken and i have searched every where for this great comedy that warms my daddy's heart!
My search is not over i will look until i can find it for my dad, i think everyone should watch this movie.It is so cute and funny and romantic..
Not bad, some fun 50's entertainment.
I accidentally found this movie on a tape I had recorded in 1991 while at college, and finally watched it in 2004.
The storyline is weak, but not overly obvious.
Has a couple of older stars near the end of their active careers.
Erik Estrada is as weak as ever as an actor, and Cindy Williams just can't re-ignite the old time flavor that distinguished her in the 1970's.
A few new actors, but mostly a bunch of pretty faces.
They take a nice 1956 Chevrolet Belair Convertible in the beginning, and smash it into a tree.
The car is brought back to life in the early 1990's (though the cars and attire are more like the mid-1980's).
From a classic car's viewpoint, they hit the tree quite hard, and probably bent the frame....hard to watch a classic piece of iron get creamed!
An average fun movie, with a few old cars, 50's lingo, and classic attire..
Nifty little fairy-tale.
Modern day fairy-tale made believable by the the acting of Cathy Pode-well.The intertwoven relationships made this movie interesting and involved to say the least.
However, the story was easy to follow and Cathy made it all fun to watch.
What ever happened to Cathy Podewell??