'80's TEEN DOUBLE-FEATURE! LITTLE DARLINGS and OVER THE EDGE!
Schedule
Thu, 14 May, 2026 at 07:00 pm
UTC-04:00Location
4014 Walnut St, Philadelphia, PA, United States, Pennsylvania 19104 | Philadelphia, PA
BRIGHT BULB SCREENINGS, Free Screening Series @ The Rotunda (4014 Walnut, Philly) Follow Bright Bulb Screenings on Facebook, Instagram
Thursday, May 14th, 7pm, FREE SCREENING!
LITTLE DARLINGS (1980, dir. Ronald F. Maxwell, 113 min., 95 US)
OVER THE EDGE (1979, dir. Jonathan Kaplan. 106 min. U.S.)
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Starring Emmy Award-winning teen actress Kristy McNichol and Oscar-winning actress Tatum O'Neal, LITTLE DARLINGS was a massive hit in the spring of 1980. The provocative plot involves a cabin of young girls at a summer sleepover camp placing bets on whether Tatum or Kristy's characters would be the first to lose their virginity.
Directed by Ronald F. Maxwell (later writer & director of the GETTYSBURG series) but more importantly screen-written by Kimi Peck and Dalene Young, LITTLE DARLINGS stands out as one of the few mainstream Hollywood films to take seriously the sexual lives of young women, a subject perhaps even more taboo today.
Director Maxwell was making his big screen debut after learning his craft on the predecessor of PBS' "Great Performances" program. While Peck and Young's sensitive script took sex more seriously than your typical male-centric "coming of age" film, LITTLE DARLINGS pairing of two of the era's most popular teenage actresses had Paramount was very optimistic about the film's commercial promise.
But when the studio screened Maxwell's first edit they were vocally unhappy. "We want MEATBALLS (Bill Murray's recent summer camp comedy) not some European art film!" Maxwell re-edited, conceding a few more comic moments but he didn't budge on the dramatic core of the film. A particularly receptive teenage preview audience finally changed the studio's perspective and Paramount went ahead with major promotion and a big nationwide opening.
Filling the soundtrack with hit pop needle-drops is part of the film's charm but the pricey music licensing later meant that the film would be mostly unavailable for four decades, only recently being restored to its widescreen glory. The new transfer shows off the beautiful camerawork of Beda Botka, cinematographer of the Czech classic MARKETA LAZAROVA. But front and center is the able cast, including Kristi McNichol, then seen in the critically-acclaimed ABC series FAMILY, Tatum O'Neal, the star of the hit films PAPER MOON and THE BAD NEW BEARS, Matt Dillon in just his second film role and in her feature debut young Cynthia Nixon, years before SEX & THE CITY.
“A delightful and refreshingly real look at life among today's teenage girls''
- Eleanor Ringel, Atlanta Constitution
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Jonathan Kaplan's OVER THE EDGE did not have LITTLE DARLINGS success at the box-office yet it remains one of the era's best-remembered youth films.
Inspired by a news article on vandalism in the planned community of Foster City, California, OVER THE EDGE sets the action “New Granada” Colorado, where the transplanted kids rebel against their boring suburban lives. Despite the adults best intentions, their heavy-handed discipline makes matters worse, leading to death and destruction across this suburban paradise gone wrong..
OVER THE EDGE fits neatly into the juvenile delinquent genre that began in earnest with REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE, reliably stirring up societal fears of reckless youth mindlessly skidding towards disaster. Giving the film its distinction is the cast of real teenagers from the New York suburbans, not polished 20-something L.A. actors. Standing out from the cast is first-timer Matt Dillon, oozing rowdy charisma as the doomed bad boy Richie. Director Jonathan Kaplan, who learned his exploitation chops in the school of Roger Corman, sticks our face into the world of drunk and drugged out kids, riding their spider bikes through the nihilistic teenage wasteland.
OVER THE EDGE features a dramatic score from the director's once-Blacklisted father Sol Kaplan but is best remembered for its fantastic rock soundtrack, including tunes from Cheap Trick, Ramones, Van Halen and Jimi Hendrix.
“(OVER THE EDGE) is staged with such vivid efficiency and concern that, as you watch it, you are frequently caught halfway between a giggle and a gasp.“
- Vincent Canby, New York Times
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