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Poison Ivy (1985 film)
Encyclopedia
Poison Ivy is a 1985 comedy
television movie
starring Michael J. Fox
. Directed by Larry Elikann, the screenplay was written by Bennett Tramer. The film was produced by NBC
and aired just months before Fox's feature film breakthrough Back to the Future
and follow-up Teen Wolf
.
called Camp Pinewood, located in Clifton, Maine
. He falls in love with the new camp nurse Rhonda (Nancy McKeon
) and spends the summer trying to convince her to leave her fiancee for him. Baxter's campers include the slick-talking Jerry Disbro, the sensitive writer Brian, the baseball star Bobby, the overweight comedian Toby, and the shy Timmy Mezzy who is afraid of the water
and wants to run away. The camp is run by 'Big Irv' Klopper and his wife Margo. Baxter's arch-rival is fellow counselor Ike, who is much more serious about his job than Baxter. Maintenance man Walter carries around a red-stained axe and is rumored to be a murderer.
As the summer progresses, Timmy makes friends with the other kids and stops trying to run away. Eventually he learns to swim and enters a swimming race in the annual Color War competition. Jerry, who is on the opposite team in the Color War, tells Timmy the story of "Tough Break Thompson", a camper who supposedly drowned
after conquering his fear of water
at the camp. Timmy panics during the swimming event when Jerry says "Timmy - tough break!" to him right before the race. Later, Jerry apologizes and the kids learn that their friendship is more important than the winner of the Color War, and the Color War is declared a tie. The climactic moment of the movie occurs when a camper shouts "Timmy Mezzy's swimming the lake!" and the whole camp runs to watch Timmy swims across the lake, finally conquering his fear of water. Walter is also revealed to be a painter who uses his axe to create art. At the end of the summer, Baxter is offered the job of head counselor for the following year, having been chosen over Ike. Rhonda and Baxter end up together.
Comedy film
Comedy film is a genre of film in which the main emphasis is on humour. They are designed to elicit laughter from the audience. Comedies are mostly light-hearted dramas and are made to amuse and entertain the audiences...
television movie
Television movie
A television film is a feature film that is a television program produced for and originally distributed by a television network, in contrast to...
starring Michael J. Fox
Michael J. Fox
Michael J. Fox, OC is a Canadian American actor, author, producer, activist and voice-over artist. With a film and television career spanning from the late 1970s, Fox's roles have included Marty McFly from the Back to the Future trilogy ; Alex P...
. Directed by Larry Elikann, the screenplay was written by Bennett Tramer. The film was produced by NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
and aired just months before Fox's feature film breakthrough Back to the Future
Back to the Future
Back to the Future is a 1985 American science-fiction adventure film. It was directed by Robert Zemeckis, written by Zemeckis and Bob Gale, produced by Steven Spielberg, and starred Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson, Crispin Glover and Thomas F. Wilson. The film tells the story of...
and follow-up Teen Wolf
Teen Wolf
Teen Wolf is a 1985 American fantasy comedy film released by Atlantic Releasing Corporation starring Michael J. Fox as Scott Howard, a high school student who discovers that his family has an unusual pedigree when he finds himself transforming into a werewolf...
.
Main cast
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Michael J. Fox Michael J. Fox Michael J. Fox, OC is a Canadian American actor, author, producer, activist and voice-over artist. With a film and television career spanning from the late 1970s, Fox's roles have included Marty McFly from the Back to the Future trilogy ; Alex P... |
Dennis Baxter |
| Nancy McKeon Nancy McKeon Nancy Justine McKeon is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Jo Polniaczek on the NBC sitcom The Facts of Life.-Early life & career:... |
Rhonda Malone |
| Caren Kaye Caren Kaye Caren Kaye is an American television and film actress who is best known for her roles in the 1983 film My Tutor and the short-lived NBC sitcom It's Your Move.- Career :... |
Margo Klopper |
| Adam Baldwin Adam Baldwin Adam Baldwin is an American actor, known for his roles as Animal Mother in Stanley Kubrick's Full Metal Jacket, Ricky Linderman in My Bodyguard, Knowle Rohrer in The X-Files, and Marcus Hamilton in Joss Whedon's Angel... |
Ike Dimick |
| Robert Klein Robert Klein Robert Klein is an American stand-up comedian, singer and actor.-Early life:Klein was born in the Bronx, the son of Frieda and Benjamin Klein, and was raised in a "prototypical 1950s Bronx Jewish" environment. After graduating from DeWitt Clinton High School, Klein planned to study medicine... |
Irwin 'Big Irv' Klopper |
| Joe Wright | Jerry Disbro |
| Cary Guffey Cary Guffey Cary Guffey is a former American child actor. He is best remembered for his debut in the role of Barry Guiler in the film Close Encounters of the Third Kind .-Biography:... |
Timmy Mezzy |
Plot summary
Michael J. Fox plays camp counselor Dennis Baxter, who works at a boys' summer campSummer camp
Summer camp is a supervised program for children or teenagers conducted during the summer months in some countries. Children and adolescents who attend summer camp are known as campers....
called Camp Pinewood, located in Clifton, Maine
Clifton, Maine
Clifton is a town in Penobscot County, Maine, United States. The population was 743 at the 2000 census.It is part of the Bangor, Maine Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:...
. He falls in love with the new camp nurse Rhonda (Nancy McKeon
Nancy McKeon
Nancy Justine McKeon is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Jo Polniaczek on the NBC sitcom The Facts of Life.-Early life & career:...
) and spends the summer trying to convince her to leave her fiancee for him. Baxter's campers include the slick-talking Jerry Disbro, the sensitive writer Brian, the baseball star Bobby, the overweight comedian Toby, and the shy Timmy Mezzy who is afraid of the water
Aquaphobia
Aquaphobia is an abnormal and persistent fear of water. Aquaphobia is a specific phobia that involves a level of fear that is beyond the patient's control or that may interfere with daily life. People suffer aquaphobia in many ways and may experience it even though they realize the water in an...
and wants to run away. The camp is run by 'Big Irv' Klopper and his wife Margo. Baxter's arch-rival is fellow counselor Ike, who is much more serious about his job than Baxter. Maintenance man Walter carries around a red-stained axe and is rumored to be a murderer.
As the summer progresses, Timmy makes friends with the other kids and stops trying to run away. Eventually he learns to swim and enters a swimming race in the annual Color War competition. Jerry, who is on the opposite team in the Color War, tells Timmy the story of "Tough Break Thompson", a camper who supposedly drowned
Drowning
Drowning is death from asphyxia due to suffocation caused by water entering the lungs and preventing the absorption of oxygen leading to cerebral hypoxia....
after conquering his fear of water
Aquaphobia
Aquaphobia is an abnormal and persistent fear of water. Aquaphobia is a specific phobia that involves a level of fear that is beyond the patient's control or that may interfere with daily life. People suffer aquaphobia in many ways and may experience it even though they realize the water in an...
at the camp. Timmy panics during the swimming event when Jerry says "Timmy - tough break!" to him right before the race. Later, Jerry apologizes and the kids learn that their friendship is more important than the winner of the Color War, and the Color War is declared a tie. The climactic moment of the movie occurs when a camper shouts "Timmy Mezzy's swimming the lake!" and the whole camp runs to watch Timmy swims across the lake, finally conquering his fear of water. Walter is also revealed to be a painter who uses his axe to create art. At the end of the summer, Baxter is offered the job of head counselor for the following year, having been chosen over Ike. Rhonda and Baxter end up together.