Roller Boogie

It’s NOT QUITE OSCARS MONTH at Mondo Mondays, featuring a star-studded cast of Oscar-nominated actors appearing in mad Mondo movies that are definitely not ready for the Academy Awards!

Starring Oscar-nominee Linda Blair!

“It’s Love on Wheels!” Roller Boogie is the film that asks and answers the burning question: can a fun-loving classical flautist and a roller-skating dude in short-shorts find true love in the California sun while boogying on skates to non-stop ‘70s disco tunes? One guess! In this gloriously goofy ode to polyester and polyurethane, Oscar-nominee Linda Blair, in her first non-Exorcist leading film role, plays Terry Barkley, a genius flautist (and Juilliard hopeful) and Jim Bray (real-life roller skating phenomenon, and how many people can you say that about?) as Bobby James, a maniac on skates with all the right moves and his sights set on becoming an Olympic Roller Skater. After our roller couple “meets cute” when Bobby saves Terry from a skating accident at the local roller rink, Roller Boogie is kicked into high gear when a ruthless mobster plans to buy Jammers, the local roller rink, for nefarious reasons. Will Terry give up on her dreams of playing classical flute at Juilliard to team up with Bobby and enter the Jammer’s roller disco contest? Will Bobby see his Olympic skating dreams come true? Will the mobster really buy Jammers? Where’s the parental supervision here? A wacked-out exploitation classic capitalizing on the short-lived roller disco craze of the late ‘70s, from the director of Class of 1984, featuring hot moves and hot tunes by Cher, Earth Wind and Fire and more! (Dir. by Mark L. Lester, 1979, USA, 103 mins., Rated PG)