Hot Dog…The Movie

Hot Dog... The Movie!
Theatrical release poster by Phil Roberts
Directed by	Peter Markle
Written by	Mike Marvin
Produced by	Edward S. Feldman Mike Marvin
Starring	David Naughton Patrick Houser Tracy N. Smith John Patrick Neger Frank Koppola Shannon Tweed
Cinematography	Paul Ryan
Edited by	John Stewart
Music by	Peter Bernstein Mark Goldenberg John Stewart
Production companies	The Hotdog Partnership United Artists Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Distributed by	MGM/UA Entertainment Co.
Release date	January 13, 1984 (1984-01-13)
Running time	96 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$2 million
Box office	$17.7 million or $22 million

Hot Dog…The Movie is a teen sex comedy ski film released in January 1984. The film went on to gross over $17 million.

Plot

Harkin Banks, a young and ambitious freestyle skier, is traveling from Bonners Ferry, Idaho to the Squaw Valley Ski Resort for the Freestyle World Championship. At a gas station he picks up the 17-year-old runaway Sunny, who is on her way to San Francisco. The two hit it off straight away and check into the resort together. At dinner they meet Harkin's idol, the Austrian Rudolph "Rudi" Garmisch, but are disgusted by his arrogance. Back in their room, Harkin impresses Sunny with his guitar playing and the two sleep together.

The next day is the qualification for the main competition, which Harkin overcomes easily. However, two of his compatriots are passed over despite a good performance because the organizers want to satisfy their European sponsors. Harkin befriends a group of fun-loving skiers led by freestyle veteran Dan O'Callahan, who are also competing in the Championship and call themselves “The Rat Pack”. In the evening, Harkin and Sunny receive an invitation to a house party with the attractive skier Sylvia, who has her eye on him. After a disagreement with Sunny, Harkin allows himself to be seduced by the confident hostess and the two have sex in the bathtub. Sunny watches the whole thing and gets intimate with Rudi in the sauna.

The next morning, Rudi brags about his conquest on the slopes and provokes Harkin before the ski ballet segment. Thanks to excellent grades, Rudi wins and Harkin only ends up in fifth place, much to the audience's displeasure. Afterward, Sunny and Harkin confront each other about their missteps from the previous evening. Sunny prepares to leave, but ends up staying in town and trying to teach herself to ski. Despite Harkin's excellent performances on the moguls and aerials, Rudi also wins these two competitions and is crowned the superior freestyle world champion. Harkin has to be content with second place. The spectators suspect cheating and chase Rudi away with snowballs.

O'Callahan challenges Rudi and his entourage, the "Rudettes", to a so-called Chinese Downhill, a downhill race without rules, to clarify once and for all who the best skier is. The members of both groups compete against each other at the same time and race down the mountain. While one after the other falls, Harkin and Rudi at the front engage in a close race, which the former ultimately wins by the narrowest of margins. He grabs the World Cup trophy and is rewarded with a kiss by Sunny while the audience cheers him on.

Cast

• David Naughton as Dan O'Callahan
• Patrick Houser as Harkin Banks
• Tracy Smith as Sunny
• John Patrick Reger as Rudolph "Rudi" Garmisch
• Frank Koppala as "Squirrel" Murphy
• James Saito as Kendo Yamamoto
• Shannon Tweed as Sylvia Fonda
• George Theobald as "Slasher"
• Mark Vance as Heinz Hartman
• Eric Watson as "Fergy"
• Lynn Wieland as Michelle
• Sandy Hackett as T-Shirt Contestant M.C.
• Crystal Smith as The Motel Clerk
• Peter Vogt as Fader Black
• Robert Fuhrmann as Rick Lauter
• David Chilton as The Corrupt Ski Judge

Reception

Janet Maslin, writing in the New York Times, gave a generally positive review, describing the film as "light and less moronic than it might have been."

External links

• Hot Dog ... The Movie at IMDb
• Hot Dog... The Movie at AllMovie
• Hot Dog... The Movie at Rotten Tomatoes