March 1973 (USA)
Paul Glickler
Stephanie Fondue ... Jeannie Davis
Denise Dillaway ... Claudia
Jovita Bush ... Bonnie
Brandy Woods ... Debbie
Kimberly Hyde ... Patty
Clair Dia ... Suzie
Richard Meatwhistle ... Jon
Jonathan Jacobs ... Norm
The Cheerleaders paved the way for raunchy teen comedies such as the Porkys and American Pie series, and without it, these franchises may not even exist! But don't hold this against The Cheerleaders, because it really is a pretty cool movie.
From the moment the Partridge Family-esque theme song starts playing, and the gals start bearing their bosoms, you'll be hooked. This movie is very, very 70s.
Double-entendres and dirty jokes abound in this proto-raunchfest, most will make you grimace, but some are pretty creative and you got to give the writers credit for being able to come up with so many! Even so, this film is guaranteed to keep you laughing.
Jeannie, our virgin-protagonist is stuck in a crappy relationship with a frigid nerd and although willing, she certainly isn't able as she just doesn't have what it takes to be a flirtatious vixen. She's also dead set on becoming a cheerleader because she just knows she'll be able to land a better guy if she becomes one as all guys have a thing for cheerleaders.
She invites a bunch of gals from the team over in order to get some good training and advice for landing the gig. They coerce her into putting on some clothes that she grew out of years ago, which she now keeps on her stuffed teddy bear. The girls from the squad are such nymphs that they begin to seduce her brother and father!
"Stay out of the rough!"his wife says to him. "Let's try for a hole in one"he responds with a grin.
Things begin to look grim when her father catches Jeannie sans bra and forbids her from leaving the house. "I'll never make cheerleaders."She whimpers as she wallows in her own self pity. It's at this point that she divulges the dirty secret that she's a "you know,"and that she's always have been one and if she doesn't make cheerleaders she'll be a for the rest of her life!
At the tryouts her mediocre performance is rewarded and she's given a spot on the team because they've just lost another cheerleader due to a pregnancy so they're really looking for a virgin good-girl so they don't have to keep replacing girls.
Things aren't that easy however, as she now has to be 'nitiated' by taking a shower in the boy's shower room. This of course results in her being chased around nude by the entire football team, which, according to the commentary, was her favorite scene in the film. Her boyfriend, Norman, comes to the rescue, however, and her virginity is vouchsafed.
The plot takes a break for a bit as we're treated to a few soft-core scenes including a cheerleader with a soda-jerk, another cheerleader with the football coach(!), and yet another teenager with the girl's gym teacher(!!!).
At this point, the other cheerleaders ask Jeannie if she's gotten any since she became a cheerleader which she has to admit she hasn't. A peer of her's who apparently never was a "you know" explains: "When I was 13 I rode my bike to the gas station to get air in the tires. A guy there said he had a special hose for that. He did."Another gal helps out by demonstrating how to come onto a guy by using hip slang-speak and then doing it with him on the schoolbus. Jeannie attempts this on boring Norman, but she just can't get it right:
"Norm, you got pies in your Levis. Keep a mule on the stool, you know my thighs got a sty in your eyes." "What's got into you?" "Nothing, that's the trouble"
Now this whole subplot appears where a student, Big John, who speaks in rhyme, has to fix a football game because the school janitor has some bet on the game or something. The cheerleaders approach Big John and ask him to lay Jeannie, and he seems interested. That night things are going well, but it turns out John's trying to pull a double-cross and get the janitor laid instead. A Marx brothers like farce ensues as the janitor, clad in a bear costume messes up the mood and Jeannie remains a virgin.
Jeannie now decides to make it with a couple greaser types against the advice of Claudia, the captain of the cheerleaders. Things go south once again, unfortunately, and her father finds them going at it and a chase through the family garden party ensues.
Jeannie throws a slumber party which the father keeps interrupting. Claudia decides to distract him by seducing him. The football team shows up and the slumber party turns into an orgy, but once again Jeannie is out of luck and she turns out to be the odd one out. In sports there's a commonly held superstition that if a guy is sexually active before a guy he'll lose his edge and won't perform well, so when Claudia busts into the room and finds what they've been doing she is worried that the team will now lose the big game.
In order to even things up, the squad must know go around the time seducing the entire opposing team, and they seem to be quite up to the task. The plan works and during the big game both teams perform horribly and can barely stay on their feet. However, it turns out the gals missed one and there is still a member of the opposing team that can play. The gals go out to get him, but allow Jeannie to tag along to keep watch.
The girls are kidnapped by the janitor however, and it's up to Jeannie to save the day. The rouge player is immediately drawn to Jeannie and she finally loses her cherry. They win the game and the movie is nicely wrapped up.
Cheerleaders, although quite raunchy, is practically family-friendly compared to the Hollywood drivel of today, certainly worth watching especially if you're a young man suffering from sexual frustration or a want-to-be cheerleader.
