| | | | Heaven Help Us
(1985) |
eaven Help Us is not simply one of the countless “buddy movies” that pervaded the silver screen throughout the 80s; it is a hugely underrated and finely crafted film that has both the broad comedy and teen pathos that defined the era.
Set in an austere Catholic school in 1965, Heaven Help Us follows the stories of a group of school friends suffering under the heavy hands of love, the future, their parents, and the teaching Brothers of St. Basil’s School.
Starring is Andrew McCarthy as Michael Dunn, a quiet soul who only wants to dance with the soda shop girl, while his grandparents pressure him to become Pope. Mary Stuart Masterson is Danni, a hard-nosed soda jerk who cares for her depressed father by day, and caters to St. Basil’s students by night.
Rounding out the cast are Kevin Dillon and Malcolm Danare as Michael’s fellow students and hellraisers, and Donald Sutherland as the Principal of St Basil’s.
Finally, in a hysterically funny bit role, the ever manic Wallace Shawn as Brother Abruzzi; a monk with the recipe for eternal damnation: LUST!!!
The story follows Michael and his friends as they try to escape the suffocating morality of St. Basil’s, avoid the violent attentions of Brother Constance, plan for their futures, and have some fun. The film has the fine ensemble cast chemistry of "Diner", and a lot of the outrageously ridiculous situational comedy of "Ferris Bueller's Day Off". However, the movie is not near as broad as many 80's comedies, and they are some somber moments, mostly delegated to Danni, and her psychologically ill father.
With a terrific, and time-appropriate soundtrack, and excellent period filming, this is not kitsch or camp. It can be taken seriously as a relatively accurate depiction of Catholic school life in the 1960's, and is also gut-splittingly funny.
I love this film, and while it has been very difficult to find for home viewing, now that it's available on DVD, get a copy and watch it. It's two hours out of your life that won't have been wasted...
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"Heaven Help us" is also known as "Catholic Boys" in Europe. 
The passage that Dani reads to her father is from "Sophistication" a short story by Sherwood Anderson.
The teaching Brothers of Saint Basil School are not a fiction. The characters in the movie are modeled after the Franciscan Brothers of Brooklyn. To this day, the Brothers conduct several schools in the New York area, wear exactly the same garb as depicted in the film, and probably don't take any nonsense from their students either! -Thanks to Joseph Schaedel
John Heard (the father on Home Alone) plays Brother Timothy, the "cool" down to earth brother/teacher at St Basils.
Yeardley Smith (better known for the voice for Lisa Simpson) plays Janine's (one of the catholic school girls linked to Kevin Dillon's character) best friend.
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When the studio decided to produce this film, it was tough to track down the writer, Charles Purpura. He was in Tibet and they had to wait for him to return before they started working on the film.
Though set in 1965, virtually every school bus in the film was manufactured in the late-1970s and early-1980s. Most of them were built on truck cowls that didn't exist at the time and contained features such as amber flashing lights next to the red ones above the windshield, which didn't exist in New York State until 1973.
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|  |  |  | | Heaven Help Us
Locations |
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Many scenes were shot at Saint Michaels Grammar, Saint Michaels High School and Saint Michaels Church in Brooklyn N.Y., Sunset Park section.
Can you help? Do you know any of the (or any other) filming locations used for Heaven Help Us? [Please send them in]
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The soundtrack for this movie is perfect, with a blend of church classical and early 1960's doo-wop and rock. Especially appropriate is the use of Handel's "Halleujah Chorus" and the songs of the early Temptations, Drifters, and, (I believe) Buddy Holly.
A 'Limited Archival Pressing' of James Horner's score was produced on CD. Although the movie only used about fifteen minutes of Horner's Irish folk music score, the CD had nearly one hour of music. This is because Horner actually wrote three different scores for the film before the producers settled for his first attempt, the Irish folk music. The second score is very mock classical, not at all Horner like, while the third is typical Horner, soft strings, piano and flute. The latter two scores have never been heard before, making this release a delight for Horner fans.
Buyers, good luck in findinmg this rare treat. Your best bet is to use our search feature to try to locate a copy.
In a pivotal scene between Danni and Michael at the beach, the original theatrical track was "I've Been Loving You" by Otis Redding. However, in every version shown subsequently, the music was changed to "Under the Boardwalk" by the Drifters. (In my opinion, the latter was a vast improvement to the former.)
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| | "The Brothers preached against vice, lust, and disrespect. But that never stopped these guys."
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Year:
| 1985 | Studio:
| Tristar Pictures | Director:
| Michael Dinner | Starring:
| Andrew McCarthy,
Donald Sutherland, Mary Stuart Masterson, Patrick Dempsey, Kevin Dillon,
Matt Winkler, Malcolm Danare, Stephen Geoffreys | | - | - | Genre:
| Comedy | | | | + | Fantastic acting(McCarthy's best work),wonderful characterizations, great soundtrack, an awesome story. Alltogether fantastic! | - | This is not completely a light movie. If one can't handle strong corporal punishment, I'd give it a miss. |
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