Underground Aces

This was a minor comedy that I'm pretty sure never made it to theatres. It is basically a Car Wash style comedy only with parking valets instead. It may have sat on the shelf for awhile as the opening theme song is very mid-70s ish. Most of the plot deals with the zany PG and PG-13 slapstick shenanigans of the guys and an obligatory romantic subplot involving a shiek masquerading as one of the valets in an attempt to win over a girl. There's plenty of knockabout humor and stunts. What really makes this film a curio is the cast: Dirk Benedict (The A-Team) Melanie Griffith (who would be a major movie star in a few years) Robert Hegyes (Welcome Back Kotter) Frank Gorshin (the Riddler) Michael Winslow (Police Academy,yes he does get to do his sound effects in this movie as well) and TK Carter (Punky Brewster) It's fascinating to see all of these actors together in one movie, mind you, Gorshin has an awful role. Another odd thing is that the actor playing the shiek, who is far less known than the other cast members, seems to get more screen time than them. The film as a whole isn't much and is fairly predictable. Oddly, the film doesn't turn up very often on TV and few seem to remember it, or even know of it's existence. Though no comedy classic, Underground Aces deserves a better fate.

I missed the plot basis for years until I rewatched it.

This is Much Ado About Nothing set in a snazzy hotel.

The Sheik is the Prince.

Frank Gorshin as the House Detective is the Sheriff.

We have the woman the Sheik is trying to woo as his bride. Dirk Benedict as his coach. Bunches of misunderstanding. Assorted recreation including Auto Soccer.

I'm not sure who the Commodores owed a favor to, but the ending theme is catchy and pop for the era.

Entertaining fluff, with decent actors. Worth an occasional watch.

Definitely "buck night" drive in fare but there are well-handled bits that recall Shakespeare, Mack Sennett, Chuck Jones, Rube Goldberg, The Three Stooges, and burlesque sketches ("I'm bearish!" "I'm bullish!" "I'm chicken!"). Frank Gorshin's cigarette shtick is fun as well. Enjoy those elements and ignore the excuse for stringing them together.

Dirk Benedict was two years between, before and after BATTLESTAR GALACTICA and THE A-TEAM when he starred in this CAR WASH clone where a group of misfits are supposed to park rich people's vehicles in the parking lot beneath a plush hotel - only to race them around, now and again...

The rest of the picture involves the gang of mostly minorities including Robert Hegyes as a Latin lover; cool black dudes Randy Brooks; the always optimistic T.K. Carter; the otherwise non-speaking, barking/howling human voice-box Michael Winslow; handsome Italian Rick Podell as a selfish mechanic boyfriend of ingenue Melanie Griffith, whose high-pitched voice is squeakier than ever as she predictably edges toward Benedict, the new guy/resilient con man and soon enough, leader of the pack...

One of those comedies where the cast is having more fun than the audience, the worst story involves a shy young Sheik who the cast spends so much time helping romance engaged blonde bombshell Audrey Landers, there's barely time for other random hijinks: all while dodging a security chief named Fred Kruger...

Meanwhile, miscast ladies' man Hegyes finds his "perfect girl" before acquiring a distinct persona to fit within the overall eclectic ensemble. In fact, pretty much everyone on board goes through cliché motions in a limited space with hardly any comedic breathing room, unlike its classic (and even more contained) mentor, CAR WASH...

And if the awesome-titled UNDERGROUND ACES had the decency to call itself ONE SHEIK FOR ONE BRIDE, fans of exploitation drive-in flicks wouldn't have been taken for such a ride.

"Underground Aces" had some good moments but there were some scenes that went on too long and some of the acting in the movie was second rate, fortunately the good moments outweigh the scenes that dragged and there were some good performances by Dirk Benedict, Melanie Griffith (before she became a household name), Robert Hegyes, Jerry Orbach and Frank Gorshin, some of my favorite moments of this movie includes them driving erratically in the hotel parking lot, bowling balls falling out of the back of a car, them reassembling a car at a fast pace, the Blitz night scene and the finale scene (won't give that away), this movie is similar to the better known "Car Wash" but they have parking lot attendants instead of car washing attendants, overall I give this movie a 6/10