Retro Respect: The Actress Phoebe Cates Only Needed Three Years (and One Scene) to become an ‘80s Film Icon

I found myself over the weekend looking for a free movie to watch on Encore On Demand. And what did I find? I found the 1983 (far-from-Oscar®-worthy) film, Private School, starring Phoebe Cates and Matthew Modine. Feeling like I wanted something incredibly simple and mindless to stare at for 88 minutes, I hit Play—let the catatonic-inducing series of “comedic” scenes, seemingly just edited together, begin. But first…

I’ve actually always liked Phoebe Cates—long brunette hair, big grin and just so darn cute. It was Cates who helped transition millions of young teenage boys into puberty with the famous (and at this point iconic) scene from 1982’s Fast Times at Ridgemont High. The scene, otherwise known as the red-bikini scene, shows a fantasy sequence, belonging to Brad (Judge Reinhold), where Linda (Cates) declares how cute she always thought he was. A shower of mist spraying behind Cates as she steps up in slow motion out of Brad’s pool; The Cars’ Moving In Stereo, playing over the scene; and then the reveal of what was under the red-bikini top. Cates became an instant ‘80s movie star, almost as iconic as Farrah in her red-bikini poster from the ‘70s or Ursula Andress in the white bikini in Dr. No in the ‘60s.

Private School followed a year after Fast Times. Cates played Christine Ramsey, a student at the Cherryvale Academy, spending most of the movie trying to organize a momentous weekend with her boyfriend, Jim, played by Modine (pre-Vision Quest). Again, certainly not the stuff that would garner “for-your-consideration” votes. However, Private School does have a classic ‘80s-aerobics scene that shows Cates and her fellow classmates performing morning calisthetics. It’s so ‘80s!: Rick Springfield’s The American Girl as soundtrack; Cates in a white cherry-decorated leotard, black tights and red legwarmers; ridiculously salacious camera work. The scene does manage to highlight some of Cates’ former ballet training, the coquette ear-to-ear smile, and stellar jumping-jack capabilities (wink-wink-nudge-nudge). I barely managed to get to the end credits of the movie, when I saw a familiar name listed as Choreographer… Paula Abdul!



After the teen comedies, Cates hit it blockbuster-style in 1984 with Gremlins, which was actually on Encore the night after I watched Private School, and thus the inspiration for this post. Cates (as Kate) sets out on a mission with Zach Galligan (Billy) to rid their town of evil little green creatures, reeking havoc during the Christmas season. Keeping them company, one of the good little furry creatures: Gizmo (voiced by Howie Mandel). In this scene, Cates got to show a little acting chops, as Kate describes yet another reason she hates Christmas:



Cates continued to act through the mid-‘80s: The tawdry TV mini-series, Lace and Lace II (both a must for amazing camp value, especially the classic line, uttered by Cates: “Which one of you b**ches is my mother?”); Gremlins 2; Bright Lights, Big City with Michael J. Fox; and more. Cates pretty much left acting by the mid-‘90s; married the actor Kevin Kline, to whom she’s still married; became a mother of two; and opened a boutique in New York, called “Blue Tree.” And, wow, here it is 2013, which finds Cates turning 50 (!) in July. Guess it is true: Times are fast! Much Retro Respect to Phoebe Cates, an actress who in three pivotal movies over three consecutive years easily became synonymous with the ‘80s. She never won an Oscar, but she made her mark, thanks, in part, to a red bikini and a great big smile. BSo