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Fame (1980 film)

1980 film by Alan Parker

Fame is a 1980 musical film about teenagers who must prove their mettle as they begin their journey at the New York High School of Performing Arts. They must navigate through heartbreak, school work, adolescence and challenges.

Directed by Alan Parker. Written by Christopher Gore.
If they've really got what it takes, it's going to take everything they've got.taglines

Coco Hernandez

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  • Graduating from PA is no Academy Award, if you know what I mean. Look, it is better than real school. Like, its free and you don't get raped in the hallways; but, its still small change. I'm just killin' time here. Waitin' for my opportunity. Might be in a movie or a Broadway musical. But, it's comin'! I keep my eyes open. I read "Backstage", "Show Business" and "Variety". You see, I do the whole thing. Dancing's just the tip of this iceberg. A friend of my sister's, she tells fortunes and stuff. She says I'm doing my last dance on this dark little planet. So, its gotta be spectacular, you know. How bright our spirits go shooting out into space, depends on how much we contributed to the earthly brilliance of this world. And I mean to be a major contributor!

Doris Finsecker

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  • I'm about as flamboyant as a bagel.
  • I HATE Ralph Garci! I must remember this feeling and use it in my acting!

Montgomery McNeil

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  • I'm always worried maybe people aren't going to like me when I go to a party. Isn't that crazy? Do you ever get a kind of a sick feeling in the pit of your stomach when you dread things? Gee, I wouldn't want to miss a party for anything, but, every time I go to one, I keep feeling like the whole world's against me.
  • Never being happy isn't the same as being unhappy. Is it?

Leroy Johnson

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  • I's young, I's single, and I loves to mingle!

Other

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  • Shirley: It's just not fair. I didn't wanna come here, anyway. This school sucks. You done me a favour, shithead. You saved me four fuckin' years from this ass-lickin' school. You're lookin' at one happy lady. Who wants to go to a fuckin' school to learn to dance, anyway?
  • Mr. Farrell: There are 50,000 people walking around calling themselves actors and maybe 500 are making a living at it. Most of those do commercials to pay the rent. The rest wait tables, clean other people's apartments, living on welfare and hope. And don't think talent's enough to get you through. You've gotta have a strong technique, a good agent, and, most of all, a thick skin; because, now you're part of an underprivileged minority and you're going to suffer.

Dialogue

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Doris: I mean, if I don't have a personality of my own, so what? I'm an actress! I can put on as many personalities as I want!
Montgomery: [raises his glass] To schizophrenia!
Doris: [also raising glass] Abso-fucking-lutely!
Montgomery: You wanna get a pizza? We could split an Angie's special - with anchovies!
Ralph: Anchovies? Man, fuck anchovies. Man, I died out there and you're talking about fucking pizza?
Montgomery: No, I'm talking about eating pizza.
Shorofsky: No! No! No! Hold the bow like this! Not like this! This isn't your dick you're holding! It's a violin bow! Hold it with respect, like...
Bruno: ...Your dick?
Farrell: Diction! Watch your diction, Ralph. You're slurring your words.
Ralph: What? Wait a minute. Wait a minute. Marlon Brando slurred his words, you know. Montgomery Cliff slurred his words. James Dean slurred his words. They were the greatest actors in the whole world and nobody could understand a word they said.
Hilary: [about Leroy] Son derriere noir... c'est formidable!
Lisa: Wow, I love your accent. What did you say?
Hilary: I dig his black ass.
Coco: I'm a professional. A few unkind words aren't going to bother me. I know its not going to be all standing ovations.
Hilary: Certainly not for you, my dear.
Coco: Look, I'm not my dear! You can fuck my dear.
Hilary: Well, thank you. [Looks at Leroy] That might be fun.
Coco: That might be impossible. He's not into vanilla.
Hilary: Might be a nice change, from black cherry.
Coco: You know what they say? The darker the berry, the sweeter the juice.
Hilary: Yes, but who wants diabetes?
Miss Berg: Where's his application?
Lydia: He doesn't have one.
Miss Berg: Well, get him one! [Watching Leroy's dance moves] What do you call that?
Lydia: Wicked!
Hilary: You see, I was offered this place in the San Francisco Ballet. I haven't told anyone yet, but I'm gonna take it. I don't care what they think. I'm a good dancer. Better than good. Maybe even the best in the school. And that's not conceit, it's just simple honesty. If I stay in New York, everyone will think I bought my way into ABT. And I'm not starving myself for Balanchine's City Ballet. Not that I mind doing the corps de ballet bullshit. I'd sooner do it out of town. I'll pay my dues on the west coast, come back to New York a star. You see, I've always had this crazy dream of dancing all the classical roles before I'm twenty-one. I want Giselles and CoppÈlias coming out of my feet. And Sleeping Beauties, and the Swan. I want bravos in Stuttgart and Leningrad and Paris. Maybe even a ballet created especially for me. You see? There's no room for a baby.
Nurse: Will this be Master Charge or American Express, honey?
Montgomery: 'A pie in the face comes with the job.' That's what my mom says; she should know.
Doris: I don't get it.
Montgomery: A real artist must never be afraid of what other people are gonna say about him.
Mrs. Sherwood: Speak English.
Leroy: I speak like I likes.
Mrs. Sherwood: This is my home room. You'll speak as I like. I teach English. Now, if that's a foreign language, you're going to learn it.
Shorofsky: One man is not an orchestra.
Bruno: Who needs orchestras? You can do it all with a keyboard, an amp and enough power.
Shorofsky: You going to play all by yourself?
Bruno: You don't need anybody else.
Shorofsky: That's not music, Martelli. That's masturbation.
Leroy: I told you I done it and I forgot it.
Mrs. Sherwood: My hearing is fine. It's your homework that's missing. And these couple of pages I have are unintelligible.
Leroy: It's a secret language, all right? It ain't meant for whiteys to understand!
Mrs. Sherwood: This is no Mickey Mouse school. You're not getting off easy. Because you're talented, you'll work twice as hard. Now, I don't care how well you dance or how many colored tutus you have. If you don't give your academic subjects equal time, you're out.
Leroy: Bullshit!
Mrs. Finsecker: Barbra Streisand didn't change her name.
Doris: I don't want to talk about it any more!
Mrs. Finsecker: Well, I'll call you Doris, like I always have.
Doris: Well, I won't answer!
Mrs. Finsecker: It's a perfectly good name!
Doris: Yeah, for a perfectly good person. A skinny, boring, nondescript, perfectly good person.

Songs

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For soundtrack, see also Wikipedia article.
  • Fame! I'm gonna live forever/ I'm gonna learn how to fly (high!)/ I feel it coming together/ People will see me and cry!
  • Remember. Remember. Remember my name.
    • "Fame"

Taglines

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  • If they've really got what it takes, it's going to take everything they've got.
  • Remember my name...
  • Study, drill and technique do not stifle the talent, they free it.

Cast

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