Smile (1975)

Set in a small Northern California town where the Young American Miss Pageant is held. While a group of young and eager teenage girls compete, the adults have their own set of problems. Among them a car salesman (Bruce Dern) who is a judge at the pageant, the pageant's executive director (Barbara Feldon), her alcoholic husband (Nicholas Pryor) and the pageant's choreographer (Michael Kidd). Directed by Michael Ritchie (DOWNHILL RACER). A box office flop when first released, it has since developed into a cult movie. While it is entertaining, beauty contests are such an easy mark. Is there anything more kitsch than a beauty contest? How does one satirize something that is almost a satire in spite of itself. There's a slightly condescending attitude in the movie as well as an (unintended) exploitation factor that's icky. Are horny pubescent boys funny? The film seems to think so. The camera lingering over the butt cracks of adolescent girls seems exploitative in 2025 in a way it didn't in 1975 and in an era of Me Too, lecherous older men licking their chops over underage girls just isn't amusing. There are a few bright spots, like Michael Kidd's choreographer who seems to have a genuine concern for the girls and Feldon's "metal pole up her ass" uptight matron. With Melanie Griffith, Annette O'Toole, Geoffrey Lewis, Maria O'Brien, Colleen Camp and Eric Shea.