“I’m gonna live forever.  Baby, remember my name.” – Lyric from the title song

High school – perhaps the most exhilarating, provocative and oftentimes frightening four years of a young person’s life – is brilliantly explored in FAME, directed by Alan Parker from a screenplay by Christopher Gore.  The musical drama follows a group of talented students at a New York performing arts high school from freshman year through graduation, exploring challenges that confront many teens: self-esteem, sexuality, drugs, friendship and – achieving fame. 

Featuring Michael Gore's foot-thumping, body-gyrating, Academy Award®-winning score and songs as humorous as “Hot Lunch Jam” and as emotionally resonant as “Out Here On My Own,” FAME was a hit when it opened in the spring of 1980 and has since spawned a successful television series, a reality show and an Off-Broadway musical.  The film also introduced to audiences a new generation of young performers like Irene Cara, Paul McCrane, Boyd Gaines, Meg Tilly, the late Gene Anthony Ray and future fashion designer Isaac Mizrahi.

Screened courtesy of Warner Bros.  Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.  1980.  35mm.  134 minutes.

Academy Award winner: Music – Original Score (Michael Gore) 
Music - Original Song (“Fame,” Music by Michael Gore; Lyric by Dean Pitchford)

Academy Award nominee: Film Editing (Gerry Hambling), Music - Original Song (“Out Here On My Own,” Music by Michael Gore; Lyric by Lesley Gore), Sound (Michael J. Kohut, Aaron Rochin, Jay M. Harding, Chris Newman), Writing – Screenplay written directly for the screen (Christopher Gore)