'QUARTERBACK PRINCESS' W/ KATHLEEN WILHOITE INTERVIEW

year: 1983 cast: Helen Hunt, John Stockwell rating: ***1/2

Helen Hunt plays Tami Maida, a nice girl that really wants to be a high school football quarterback… The only catch is that it’s a sport not fitting to girls – well that’s what the narrow minded locals in a new small town think...

With her very supportive parents behind her, Tami tries out and makes the cut. Becoming a media phenom, her life changes as she goes from second to first string, winning game after game. Yet she really wants a normal life that she gets from John Stockwell’s lumberjack hopeful Scott Massey.

Rare VHS

The best scene in this made-for-TV film has Scott bringing Tami on a date he assumed she’d prefer – taking part in a makeshift exercise training camp through the forest. But Tami wants to be a regular girl when she's not on the field. The main problem with this PRINCESS, newly released on DVD, is that several scenes are cut – one minute she’s embracing her boyfriend at a bonfire, the next she’s limping and might not play the final game. What happened?

The story often plays out like a Hallmark Channel propaganda at times, with not enough obstacles for our heroine to overcome. But it's an intriguing portrait of an underdog athlete and it’s a true story to boot...

Other cast members include a young Tim Robbins as a fellow player; Daphne Zuniga as her jealous little sister; Don Murray and Barbara Babcock as the stalwart parents: the first overdoing the progressive, optimistic dad character; Dana Elcar as the town's chauvinistic naysayer; and Kathleen Wilhoite as Tami’s tomboy best friend.

Interview Selection with actress KATHLEEN WILHOITE

KATHLEEN WILHOITE: Helen's performance was timeless. I'll never forget being blown away when her character won some award at the end and they shot her walking through the crowd up to her logger boyfriend, John Stockwell.

My memory is a little fuzzy, but her performance was something I'll never forget... She walked through the crowd of people with real tears in her eyes, so moved, so focused on the moment...

She was and is still a real inspiration to me. She told me on that film that it was super important that we stay in touch because many times, she said, you make friends on a movie and then you never hear from the person again. She gave me her number. I called her when I got back and we've been friends ever since. 

Quarterback Princess DVD signed by Daphne Zuniga

Helen Hunt with Daphne Zuniga in QUARTERBACK PRINCESS

Extremely gorgeous Making The Grade actress Jonna Lee in Quarterback Princess

Helen Hunt consuls a defeated John Stockwell

Kathleen Wilhoite as Carolyn

A scruffy Tim Robbins (resembling Corey Feldman here) in an early role

Tim Robbins and Helen Hunt

Daphne Zuniga apologizes to her big sister

Daphne Zuniga and John Stockwell

Helen Hunt (Tami) ready for action

The beautiful Daphne Zuniga

Kathleen Wilhoite with gossipy high school girls w/ Dominique Steffanoff, middle

Helen and Kathleen stare at Tim Robbins