Roller Boogie (1979)

Poor little rich girl Terry Barkley (Linda Blair) has a big house, a fancy car, parents who don’t pay attention to her, and a scholarship to play flute at the Juilliard School in New York. But all she wants to do is skate, and so she runs away from home to get into the Venice Beach skating scene.

Down at the beach, the king of the skaters is Bobby James (Jim Bray) who dreams of going to the Olympics.

Bobby meets Terry at Jammer’s, the local disco rink, and she offers to pay him to teach her to skate dance so she can enter the upcoming roller boogie contest. He agrees and (despite their different backgrounds) romance blooms.

A mob led by Thatcher (Mark Goodard from Lost In Space) attempts to take over Jammers so Thatcher can build a shopping mall.

Jammer (Sean McClory) refuses but the thugs threaten to torch the place. Fearing for the safety of the kids, Jammer reluctantly takes the deal.

Thanks to Bobby’s pal Phones (Stoney Jackson) – who always carries a tape recorder – the kids end up with a recording of Jammer being threatened and Bobby, Terry and the skaters rout the baddies, reopen the rink and continue with their roller boogie contest.

The plot is puerile but the skating sequences are very impressive, the roller disco scenes are a lot of fun, and the soundtrack is superb.

Terry Barkley
Linda Blair
Bobby
Jim Bray
Mrs Barkley
Beverly Garland
Barkley
Roger Perry
Hoppy
James Van Patten
Lana
Kimberly Beck
Complete Control
Rick Sciacca
Jammer
Sean McClory
Thatcher
Mark Goddard
Gordo
Albert Insinnia
Phones
Stoney Jackson
J.D
M.G. Kelly
Franklin
Chris Nelson
Ada
Dorothy Meyer
Mrs Potter
Shelley Golden
Nick
Bill Ross
Sonny
Carey Fox
Bobby’s friend
Nina Axelrod

Director
Mark L. Lester