It was no "Purple Rain," but the movie Prince shot at Minneapolis Central High School had some of the artist's hallmark themes: He wrote, directed and starred. He played the self-conscious underdog. And, of course, he got the girl.

Schoolmate Robert Plant remembers the film class well. He was in a group with Prince and his best friend, Paul Mitchell. Prince conceived of a movie in which a small, shy kid tried to win the heart of a pretty cheerleader.

"He had a crush on a girl named Kim Upsher," said Plant. "So the movie was about him trying to get the girl. Paul Mitchell played the team quarterback -- which he was -- and every time Prince was with the cheerleader, Paul would come by and push him out of the way and walk away with the girl."

Cut to Prince in the library, reading a book on kung fu. In the final scene, "Prince pulls this kung fu move and walks away with the girl," Plant said.

To those of us who roamed Central High in south Minneapolis, he was the little guy with the big name and the Afro to match: Prince Rogers Nelson.

http://www.startribune.co.../11527586/

http://prince.org/msg/5/420481?pg=1 Kim Upsher Passed Away