Cultural Representations of Higher Ed, No. 3

I am working backwards through this list. Here are films 251 to 300, which are generally ridiculous, but perhaps somewhat less ridiculous than those numbered 301-400.

The first post in this series, covering films ranked 351 to 400 is available at: https://academeblog.org/2013/07/09/400-films-about-higher-education-or-at-least-set-on-campuses-351-400/

The second post in this series, covering films ranked 301-350 is available at: https://academeblog.org/2013/07/10/400-films-about-higher-education-or-at-least-set-on-campuses-301-350/

The rankings are my own and in most cases somewhat arbitrary. The descriptions of the films are paraphrases of summaries found in a half-dozen print and online film guides. I compiled the list about a decade ago, and it needs some updating.

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251. Sorority House: a young woman from a modest family lies about her background to fit in among her uppercrust sorority sisters.

252. Thirteen Women: Myrna Loy is a half-Japanese and half-Indian woman who gets her revenge against the members of a sorority that rejected her.

253. Sorority Girl: a Roger Corman film about a sorority reject’s revenge.

254. The House on Sorority Row: sorority sisters kill their horrid housemother and are haunted by their guilt.

255. Love and Kisses: Ricky Nelson wants to get married before he heads off to college.

256. One Way Ticket: the daughter of a prison guard leaves with her convict lover in the trunk of her car when she heads off to college.

257. How I Got into College: a young man pursues a young woman while ostensibly pursuing an education.

258. The First Time: a freshman who thinks he’s a “player” falls in love.

259. Freshman Love: a film about the love lives of college freshmen.

260. Happy Together: roommates in a coed dorm learn a lot about each other and a lot about themselves.

261. The Love-Ins: a college professor become the guru to a hippie cult.

262. Heat of Desire: a French film about a professor who is transformed by a week in a Barcelona hotel with a young woman.

263. New Girl: a farce with dramatic pretensions about a college student who escapes a dangerous situation by dressing in drag and finds that he can pass as a coed.

264. Little Sister: as a prank a college student dresses in drag, is invited to join a sorority, and falls for one of his “sisters.”

265. Nobody’s Perfect: a college student dresses in drag and tries out for the women’s tennis team, all to be closer to a young woman with whom he is hopelessly infatuated.

266. Ski Party: two college students dress in drag to spy on and learn from a fellow student who’s a real “player.”

267. College Holiday: Jack Benny is a hotel owner who seeks to balance his books by attracting college students on holiday.

268. Louisiana: the son of a sharecropper sings his way through college.

269. Do You Love Me?: a romantic farce set in a college music department.

270. Freshman Year: college freshmen adjust more quickly to college life by staging a musical variety show.

271. C’mon Let’s Live a Little: a singer returns to college and falls in love with the daughter of the dean.

272. For Those Who Think Young: college students frequent a nightclub that features celebrity has-beens.

273. College Humor: Bing Crosby is a singing professor dealing with infatuated co-eds and jealous football players.

274. Eleven Men and a Girl: the daughter of a college president connives to lure star football players to the college.

275. Mr. Doodle Kicks Off: through the connivance of college administrators, a wealthy donor’s son becomes a star football player.

276. Maker of Men: a college football coach must deal with the fact that his son has chosen to play for one of his school’s chief rivals.

277. The All-American: a college football star confronts life after and off the gridiron.

278. Glory Days: in this made-for-television film, Robert Conrad is a middle-aged man who returns to college in order to fulfill his dream of playing college football.

279. Return to Campus: a middle-aged man returns to college to try to relive the best years of his life.

280. Father Was a Fullback: Fred MacMurray is a college football coach with as many problems as inspirational quips.

281. College Coach: Pat O’Brien straightens out a cocky football player.

282. The Spirit of Notre Dame: a star player has to learn the value of teamwork.

283. The Big Fix: gangsters try to rig college basketball games.

284. Corsair: a former college football star turns to bootlegging.

285. Pardon My Stripes: a college football player loses a package of money that belongs to a gangster.

286. Chasing Dreams: a college student finds his focus through playing baseball.

287. The Big Leaguer: a college baseball star is determined to get his shot at the major leagues.

288. Let’s Go Collegiate: a college crew needs a new rower after one of them is drafted into the army.

289. Spiker: the best college volleyball players in the country vie for spots on the Olympic team.

290. Rose Bowl: a small university hopes to balance its books by competing in big-time

collegiate athletics.

291. The Water Boy: Adam Sandler stars as the unlikely linebacker who transforms a hopelessly hapless college football team into a winner.

292. Necessary Roughness: Scott Bakula stars as the quarterback of a hopelessly hapless college football team that finds its heart and wins.

293. Gridiron Flash: a convict gets a chance to go to college on a football scholarship.

294. Hold That Line: a college student discovers vitamins that transform him into a football star.

295. The Monkey’s Uncle: a financially strapped college is depending on its brightest student to produce victories on the gridiron and prize-winning inventions.

296. Life Begins in College: the Ritz Brothers aren’t quite the Marx Brothers–but this film may hold the record for the number of gags involving footballs.

297. Hold That Line: the Bowery Boys try college football.

298. Bonzo Goes to College: the chimp proves himself not only as a star football player but also as a star student.

299. Fast Break: Gabe Kaplan imports New York players to revive the basketball program at a Nevada college.

300. The Air Up There: Kevin Bacon goes to Africa to find a dominating basketball player who can propel his college team to greatness and save the college.