The Gas Pump Girls

The Gas Pump Girls (1978) is not exactly a great movie, but it comes from a genre that I miss, to tell you the truth: inoffensive, light-hearted, R-rated movies with a Hollywood "little guy vs. the bullies/establishment" plot, lots of (attempted) humor, and a high breast count. This isn't a great example of the genre, but can be amusing if you place your brain cells on hold. At one point it even becomes a musical - Kirsten Davis breaks into a surprise song about that time in life when we lose our friends and gain our gas pumps.

Besides, how can you hate a movie which gave Huntz Hall some work?

The plot is simple stuff. A bunch of teenagers help out an old man when a heart attack keeps him from running his tiny mom 'n pop gas station, which is being driven out of business by a modern new super-pumper. It was typical of the quickies churned out in the late 70s and early 80s to feed the burgeoning new market for home video product with appeal to the college-age market (and to fill out the second feature slot at the declining drive-in circuit). Like many of the films of that type, it is located in the summer immediately following high school graduation, that bittersweet time when we enjoy good times with our old friends, always aware that those youthful frolics are laden with an underlying sadness, for many of the gang are about to move away and move apart, and the crowd will never be together again in quite the same way.

This little flick does have some cool elements:

It has copious female nudity which has rarely been seen, to my knowledge, since the movie is not available on tape or DVD. (One reader sent me a homemade VHS tape that he created from a subscription cable broadcast)

There are fairly interesting stories behind the three women who got topless:
- Rikki Marin was the wife of the famous professional stoner "Cheech"
- Here's the IMDb bio on Kirsten Baker: "Throughout the late 1970s and early 1980s, she worked as an actress in feature films and television, as well as a print model for Cannon Pictures. This led to a modeling career which she pursued into the early 1990s. Circa 1993, Kirsten was no longer acting or modeling; she was employed at an art gallery on Melrose Ave. in Los Angeles, CA."
- Sandy Johnson, who supplied 95% of the nudity by removing her top in several scenes, was a former staplewoman at the Hefmag. (June, 1974)

NUDITY REPORT

see the main commentary

not available on home media

The flick has a bunch of nostalgia value for you older folks - supporting players include
- Joe E. Ross - Toody from Car 54 "ooh ... ooh"
- Wrestler/actor Mike Mazurki
- former Bowery Boy Huntz Hall
- Cousin Brucie - the legendary New York DJ

The Critics Vote

no major reviews on file

The People Vote ...

IMDB summary. 3.6/10.

The meaning of the IMDb score: 7.5 usually indicates a level of excellence equivalent to about three and a half stars from the critics. 6.0 usually indicates lukewarm watchability, comparable to approximately two and a half stars from the critics. The fives are generally not worthwhile unless they are really your kind of material, equivalent to about a two star rating from the critics. Films rated below five are generally awful even if you like that kind of film - this score is roughly equivalent to one and a half stars from the critics or even less, depending on just how far below five the rating is.

My own guideline: A means the movie is so good it will appeal to you even if you hate the genre. B means the movie is not good enough to win you over if you hate the genre, but is good enough to do so if you have an open mind about this type of film. C means it will only appeal to genre addicts, and has no crossover appeal. (C+ means it has no crossover appeal, but will be considered excellent by genre fans, while C- indicates that it we found it to be a poor movie although genre addicts find it watchable). D means you'll hate it even if you like the genre. E means that you'll hate it even if you love the genre. F means that the film is not only unappealing across-the-board, but technically inept as well.

Any film rated C- or better is recommended for fans of that type of film. Any film rated B- or better is recommended for just about anyone. We don't score films below C- that often, because we like movies and we think that most of them have at least a solid niche audience. Now that you know that, you should have serious reservations about any movie below C-.

Based on this description, this film is a C-. It is a watchable example of the lowbrow, made-for-video, youthploitation movies of the day. If you aren't interested in those movies, it is not worth a watch. It is poorly acted, and the humor is juvenile.