Shag: The Movie

Think that women getting wild and crazy in movies started with "Bridesmaids?" You might want to check out the 1989 Zelda Barron flick "Shag: The Movie," now out in a new Blu-ray edition from Olive Films.

This new edition of the South Carolina-set comedy lacks any extras, but it's full of fun. "Shag" chronicles a wild weekend in 1963, in Myrtle Beach. Four girlhood friends go on as a last hurrah before they go their separate ways -- some to college, one to marriage, and one (if she can manage it) to Hollywood.

Uptight Luanne (Page Hannah) is at the wheel, but that doesn't mean she's in control. When she takes her friends to her father's beach house it's not with a view to a crazed party and yet that's exactly what unfolds, thanks to the ambitions of preacher's kid and starlet wannabe Melaina (Bridget Fonda), who targets visiting Hollywood heart-throb Jimmy Valentine (Jeff Yagher) as her entree to show business.

But what's a coming of age comedy without some good looking exemplars of the opposite sex? Enter chums Buzz (Robert Rusler) and Chip (Scott Coffey). Buzz is confident with women, as befits his philosophical views -- he believes in "free love." (This is 1963, remember.) Instantly smitten with Carson (Phoebe Cates), Buzz slowly draws her closer, but he's not just playing; at least, he'd better not be, given that Carson is already engaged, to fussy, straight-laced Harley (Tyrone Power, Jr.), whose fetish for control has him chasing after the girls to keep an eye on his fiancee.

Chip is sweet and awkward, but he quickly forms a connection with the equally shy Pudge (Annabeth Gish), and the two make plans to enter a "shag" contest. (If that sounds startlingly racy, be assured that in this context, "shag" is a sort of dance. How innocent we used to be.)

The movie is built on tropes that were well-worn at the time, and have only become more so since. And yet, there's an undercurrent of wit, warmth, and charm that buoys this flick and makes it a delight.

"Shag"
Blu-ray
$18.99
https://olivefilms.com/product/shag-the-movie