Synopsis – Girls Just Wanna Have Fun
- Though she’s a talented gymnast, Janey has always followed the orders of her strict Army colonel father and stayed out of the spotlight. However, when she moves to Chicago and meets the carefree Lynne Stone, she disobeys her father for the first time in her life. With Lynne’s encouragement, Janey enters a TV dance competition she’s dreamed about her whole life — and soon finds herself with both a cute dance partner and an archrival who is dead set on getting Janey eliminated from the contest.
Actors & Crew
- Sarah Jessica Parker (born in 1965 in Nelsonville, OHIO) is an American actress and television producer. In a career spanning over five decades, she has performed across several productions of both screen and stage. Her accolades include six Golden Globe Awards and two Primetime Emmy Awards. Time magazine named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2022. Parker made her Broadway debut at 11 in the 1976 revival of The Innocents, and went on to star in the title role of the musical Annie in 1979. She made her first major film appearance in the 1984 drama Footloose.
Parker attended the School of American Ballet in New York City, the New York Professional Children’s School, the School for Creative and Performing Arts in Cincinnati, and Hollywood High School in Los Angeles.
Parker was in a relationship with actor Robert Downey Jr. from 1984 until 1991. They met on the set of Firstborn. His drug problem affected their relationship. She later briefly dated John F. Kennedy Jr. Parker married actor Matthew Broderick on May 19, 1997. They have 3 children.
Parker gained global stardom with her portrayal of Carrie Bradshaw in the HBO comedy drama series Sex and the City which ran from 1998 to 2004), for which she won two Primetime Emmy Awards, four Golden Globe Awards for Best Actress in a Comedy Series, and three Screen Actors Guild Awards. In 2008 She reprised the role in the films Sex and the City and Sex and the City 2 in 2010. And Just Like That… from 2021 to 2025, exists. The character was widely successful and has been included in various lists of the greatest female American TV characters. - 19 at the time of filming
- Lee Montgomery (1961 – ) is a former actor. In addition to this movie, he is best known for his roles as a lonely little boy who befriends a pack of killer rats in the 1972 film Ben and as Karen Black’s son Davey in the 1976 cult classic Burnt Offerings. He acted with Walter Matthau and Carol Burnett in the 1972 fil, Pete ‘n’ Tillie. On TV, Montgomery made cameo appearances in shows such as CHiPs, Family Ties, Hotel, Fame, and Dallas. After dropping out of the limelight, Lee composed a soundtrack to a movie that was never released it appears, and then disappeared for about 20 years, rumored to be working in marketing. He resurfaced around 2016, hit the horror-con circuit, and is currently reported to be a, take a guess, a REALTOR in Solvang, California.
- 23 at time of filming
- Helen Hunt (1963 – ) is an American actress and director. Her accolades include an Academy Award, four Primetime Emmy Awards, and four Golden Globe Awards. Hunt graduated from Providence High School in Burbank, California, and she also studied ballet and briefly attended the University of California, Los Angeles. She’s made appearances on shows like The Mary Tyler Moore Show, The Bionic Woman, Swiss Family Robinson, and as a marijuana-smoking classmate in an episode of Facts of Life.
Hunt rose to fame as the newlywed Jamie Buchman on the sitcom Mad About You which ran from 92-99,, earning her three Golden Globe Awards for Best Actress and four Primetime Emmy Awards for Lead Actress. Hunt won the Academy Award for Best Actress for starring as a single mother in the romantic comedy film As Good as It Gets, and she established a film career by starring in Twister, Cast Away,, What Women Want, and Pay It Forward.
In December 2018, Hunt was a guest narrator at Disney’s Candlelight Processional at Walt Disney World. She has one daughter. - 21 at time of filming
- Edward Lauter Jr. (1938 – 2013) was an American actor and stand-up comedian.He appeared in more than 200 films and TV series episodes over a career spanning more than 40 years.
- Thomas Woodward (1925 – 2019) was an American actor who is best known for his recurring role as Marvin “Punk” Anderson on the television soap opera Dallas and for his portrayal of Boss Godfrey, the sunglasses-wearing “man with no eyes”, in the 1967 film Cool Hand Luke. On the long-running Western Gunsmoke TV show, he played 16 different characters in 19 episodes. In 2009, Woodward was inducted into the Hall of Great Western Performers at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum. Woodward appeared in more than 250 television shows and films throughout his acting career
- Terence McGovern (Ira, Happy Days, Three’s Company, Mork & Mindy, Ducktales, “Dan Steven”l, “Wookie”), Biff Yeager (Mr. Malene, Gilmore Girls, Star Trek, Parks & Rec). Robert Downey Jr (uncredited). Shannon Doherty (Beverly Hills 90210, Riverdale) passed away in 2024 of breast cancer.
Shooting locations/budget:
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-KyASItEVg&t=407s
- $5m budget / $6.3 BO
- Directed by Alan Metter (Back to School with Dangerfield, Billboard Dad with the Olsen Twins). Written by Amy Spies (13 eps of 90210), and Produced by Chuck Russell (Nightmare 3, The Blob, The Mask)
- Distributed by New World Pictures
- Release date April 12, 1985
The New York Times called it “standard high school antics” where Metter “has a lighthearted if unremarkable style. The best thing he does here is to assemble a cute cast and simply let the kids bubble along. Helen Hunt is a real scene-stealer.”
The Philadelphia Inquirer said “Its main characters are appealing and well-acted” and has “a very clever parody of rock TV shows” but “degenerates into a mirthless comedy about young love and the generation gap, with a few feeble dance sequences thrown in to give viewers a chance to ogle young girls in leotards.”
The Los Angeles Times called it “infectious good fun”.
