SYMBM - Blast from the Past - Sooner or Later

 If you were a teen in or around 1979, you may remember this little gem of a movie called "Sooner or Later". It was an After School Special movie and quickly became a forever favorite for 1000's.. maybe millions.. I'm not really sure of the demographics on it, but it's definitely a much-loved memory for many. It stars Denise Miller, who was a pretty popular teenage star at the time..Lots of boys I knew then had a crush on her.  If you don't remember her, she was in Barney Miller and later the spinoff "Fish" and played Archie Bunker's niece on "Archie Bunker's Place". As popular as she was.. the real draw of this show ..for me anyway.. was her co-star.. supreme hottie Rex Smith! Gawd he was beautiful LOL Me and my friends would lie on our beds and listen to the songs from this one, "You Take My Breath Away" and "Simply Jessie" over and over..dreaming, of course, he was singing to us.. ahhh.. good times! LOL

The plot of the movie in a nutshell is, Denise Mller played a 13 year-old girl named Jessie who decides to take guitar lessons, and her teacher turns out to be a 17-year-old gorgeous guy named Michael Skye..(played by a then 24-year-old Rex Smith)..whom she first saw playing with his band at the mall, and she had a huge crush on him.. (Who could blame her!) So, she gets a makeover, dresses up to make herself look older and  when he gives her a ride home one day after class, she ends up telling him she's 16. Things progress, they start to flirt, . with her even going so far as to "just happen" to run into him during a jog in the park.. where he asks her to come to his band rehearsal and to bring her guitar. She ends up getting up on stage with him and playing a tune he taught her, and then he starts singing the song that they wrote..he put words to it for her..  "Stars that glisten,,,lips for kissin'.. honey listen, it's true.. noone ever loved ya better.. love ya honey, I love you " Watch it on YouTube :: sigh:: and he tells her he loves her and they kiss... 

Unfortunately, he eventually finds out she lied to him, and she's only 13 when he takes her to a drive-in and things get a little hot and heavy... lucky, lucky girl! hehehe.. anyway.. it's a great movie, and the most memorable After School Special I ever saw. I still love the songs from this movie, even though they are kinda schmaltzy.. but aren't most 70's love songs, really?

It has a great supporting cast too, including Judd Hirsch (Alex from Taxi), Barbara Feldon (who played agent "99" on Get Smart!), and Lynn Redgrave. If you haven't seen it, it's a very sweet movie for times when you want to remember the good old days, or maybe you're in the mood for a good old fashioned, sweet romantic movie...The two do have some really great chemistry.. and watching it now, really takes you back and helps you remember what it's like to be a 13-year-old girl with a mad crush on that perfect, hot older guy..  Everyone had one.. didn't you?  maybe a friend of an older brother.. a next door neighbor you had a secret crush on.. or maybe a senior in your high school? 

I've collected a little bit of YouTube-y goodness for you to check out..
 Sooner or Later 

You Take My Breath Away