''Starhops'' is 1978 exploitation film directed by Barbara Peeters. It was based on a script by

Stephanie Rothman Stephanie Rothman (born November 9, 1936, in Paterson, New Jersey) is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter, known for her low-budget independent exploitation films made in the 1960s and 1970s, especially ''The Student Nurses'' (1 ...

, writing under a pseudonym, and was edited by Steve Zaillian, who later became an Oscar-winning screenwriter.

Premise

Three carhops team up to save their cash-strapped

Venice Beach Venice is a neighborhood of the city of Los Angeles within the Westside region of Los Angeles County, California. Venice was founded by Abbot Kinney in 1905 as a seaside resort town. It was an independent city until 1926, when it was annexed by ...

drive-in A drive-in is a facility (such as a restaurant or movie theater) where one can drive in with an automobile for service. At a drive-in restaurant, for example, customers park their vehicles and are usually served by staff who walk or rollerskat ...

restaurant from the clutches of a greedy oil baron who wants the land it sits on.

Cast

*Dorothy Buhrman as Danielle *Sterling Frazier as Cupcake *

Jillian Kesner Jillian Kesner-Graver (August 9, 1949 – December 5, 2007), credited onscreen as Jillian Kesner, was an American actress and historian who worked with her husband, Gary Graver, to preserve the work and legacy of director Orson Welles. She was b ...

as Angel *Anthony Mannino as Kong *Paul Ryan as Norman *Al Hobson as Carter Axe *

Dick Miller Richard Miller (December 25, 1928 – January 30, 2019) was an American character actor who appeared in more than 180 films, including many produced by Roger Corman. He later appeared in the films of directors who began their careers with Corm ...

as Jerry *Peter Liapis as Ron

Production

Rothman originally wrote the script, then entitled ''Carhops'', while she was at Dimension Pictures. She took it with her when she left Dimension in 1975 and sold it to some producers, only to have them hire Barbara Peeters as the director instead. The movie was retitled due to the fact there was another film released with the same title. Rothman took her name off the movie, using a pseudonym (Dallas Meredith), as she felt "there was not an idea, a scene, a word, or even a comma left from my original script." The drive-in was located on the northeast corner of Knox St. and N. Maclay Ave. The Masonic Lodge with its distinctive white pillars and square sign is still across the street.

References

External links

*
''Starhops''
at

TCMDB Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is an American movie-oriented pay-TV network owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in 1994, Turner Classic Movies is headquartered at Turner's Techwood broadcasting campus in the Midtown business district of Atl ...

1970s exploitation films 1978 films American exploitation films Films directed by Barbara Peeters 1970s English-language films 1970s American films {{exploitation-film-stub