Taglines: It was a date that would change their lives forever.
On September 30, 1955 in Conway, Arkansas, University of Central Arkansas student Jimmy J. (Richard Thomas) watches the film ‘East of Eden’ in a movie theater alone. The next day at football practice, Jimmy J. hears that the actor and star of the film, James Dean, has been killed. He runs to the local radio station and confirms that the actor died in an automobile crash in California the day before (around the same time he was watching ‘East of Eden’ in the opening scene).
Jimmy J. calls his friend Billie Jean Turner (Lisa Blount), a working-class girl who also admires Dean, to commiserate. He then leads his girlfriend Charlotte Smith (Deborah Benson), his roommate Hanley (Tom Hulce), and another college couple, Frank (Dennis Quaid) and his girlfriend Pat (Mary Kai Clark), on an off-campus adventure. They order a takeout barbecue meal and Jimmy J. steals a few bottles of liquor from a store.
They evade the police and have a party near the Arkansas River, where Jimmy J. grows upset that his friends do not understand the depth of his grief. When Frank asks how Jimmy J. can care so much about someone he has never met, Jimmy J. explains that he has seen ‘East of Eden’ four times, and Billie Jean claims to have seen it 22 times; they were anticipating the releases of James Dean’s other two films, ‘Rebel Without a Cause’ later in October and ‘Giant’ the following year, Jimmy J. and Billie Jean met seeing ‘East of Eden’ a few months earlier, and though Charlotte claims Billie Jean presents no competition, she has asked Jimmy J. not to see her.
Later that afternoon, Jimmy J. sculpts an Academy Award statuette out of mud, strips to his underwear, smears himself with mud, and conducts a ceremony to summon Dean’s spirit. A dog barks in the distance and Jimmy J. perceives the bark as a sign. The police arrive, but the group escapes and heads back to town. When Frank and Pat are dropped off, they tell Jimmy J. that he is disturbed. When Jimmy J. asks Charlotte if he can continue the seance at her house since her parents are not home, she invites him and Hanley to visit once Jimmy J. is cleaned up.
Returning to the dormitory, Jimmy J. is surprised to see his mother (Collin Wilcox), his Aunt Ethel, and his little brother, Dickie, who have come to take him to a show in Little Rock. Jimmy J’s mother is disappointed by his dirty appearance and worries that he will end up a loser and deadbeat like his father. In the dormitory, as others prepare for a fraternity dance that evening, Jimmy J. calls Billie Jean and invites her to Charlotte’s for the seance.
Coach Haynes (Ben Fuhrman) awaits Jimmy J. in his room and disciplines him for leaving football practice that morning. A classmate named Eugene (Dennis Christopher) asks Jimmy J. and Hanley if he may accompany them to Charlotte’s house for the seance and the three escape out a side door as the state police, called by Frank and Pat, arrive.
The three young men escape from the building just as a college dance is starting to be held. They drive to Billie Jean’s house and once inside, Jimmy J. finds Billie Jean in her room dressed like the character Vampira, wearing heavy makeup and a black cape. She attempts to seduce Jimmy J., and when he rebuffs her, she tells him that James Dean would not have pulled away.
Charlotte is not pleased when the three young men arrive at her parents house with Billie Jean. Despite Charlotte’s protests, Billie Jean darkens the room, lights candles, and clears the furniture. When Charlotte and Jimmy J. are alone, she says she suspects that something is going on between him and Billie Jean. Jimmy J. admits he is untrustworthy, like his father, but he has not had sex with Billie Jean.
Later, the group uses a Ouija game board to contact Dean, but only Jimmy J. and Billie Jean feel his presence. Charlotte goes to another room and Billie Jean kisses Jimmy J. passionately. Hanley suggests he join in, and Jimmy J. is outraged that his friend would show such a lack of respect for the moment. Jimmy J. realizes that the college dance is over and Frank and Pat are likely parked by the cemetery. He suggests they take revenge on the couple by going to the graveyard and scaring them, so they paint their faces with ghoulish makeup.
September 30, 1955 (originally titled 9/30/55) is a 1977 drama film written and directed by James Bridges. Filming of this movie was delayed for a year after Richard Thomas broke his ankle. Thomas had never ridden a motorcycle before and was practicing when he had an accident resulting in the ankle injury. The original cast included some Arkansas actors, including the part of Eugene. Unfortunately, the delay in filming coincided with the young Arkansas actors’ growth spurt and the part of Eugene had to be re-cast.
September 30, 1955 (1978)
Directed by: James Bridges
Starring: Richard Thomas, Susan Tyrrell, Deborah Benson, Lisa Blount, Tom Hulce, Dennis Quaid, Mary Kai Clark, Ben Fuhrman, Dennis Christopher, Collin Wilcox, Katherine Satterfield
Screenplay by: James Bridges
Production Design by:
Cinematography by: Gordon Willis
Film Editing by: Jeff Gourson
Set Decoration by: Sharon Thomas
Art Direction by: Robert Luthardt
Music by: Leonard Rosenman
MPAA Rating: None.
Distributed by: Universal Pictures
Release Date: August 1977 (Montréal Film Festival), January 6, 1978 (Wide release)
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