Tune in Tomorrow...

Tune in Tomorrow...
November 1990
Odyssey
Comedy, Romance, Historical
VHS
B-

This is an uneven but pretty good film, where the main plot, of a 1951 romance between Martin, a 21-year-old New Orleans man (played by 26-year-old Keanu Reeves with a shaky Southern accent) and his 36-year-old "aunt" (actually his aunt-by-marriage's sister) Julia (42-year-old Barbara Hershey), who's been living in New York, is overshadowed by the goings on, on and off the air, at the radio station where Martin works.  Reeves and Hershey have decent chemistry together, and the age difference doesn't seem like an especially big deal, but the problem is that their characters aren't particularly interesting or likable, together or separately.  And the way that soap-opera writer Pedro Carmichael (Peter Falk) manipulates them, and that they fall for it, adds to the faultiness of the romance.  (When Martin shows up with a gun and then it's resolved through unfunny humor, it leaves a bad taste.)

Luckily, Pedro's machinations for the characters of Kings of the Garden District more than make up for this.  While some plain-looking and -sounding radio performers act, we see the scenes played out with stars like John Larroquette and Dan Hedaya (as two brothers), Hope Lange, Elizabeth McGovern, Buck Henry (as a priest) and so on.  Incest is a theme on the radio soap as well, but taken to ridiculous heights.  And Pedro's unremitting and unmotivated hatred for Albanians leads to some of the funniest lines.  I'd almost recommend you fast-forward through the romance parts, but that "reality impacts" the soap.  And the Wynton Marsalis soundtrack is nice, although I'm not a jazz fan generally.

Richard B. Shull, who was Emery Bush in The Big Bus, is Leonard Pando (the actor Pedro convinces to masturbate to improve his acting).  Irving Metzman, who was the Theater Manager in The Purple Rose of Cairo, is the Producer of Detroit Radio here, while Crystal Field was in the audience there and is Josephine Sanders here.  (She was also in Radio Days.)  Bill Moor, who's Duke Vermont here, was U.S. Consul in Ishtar.

Peter Gallagher, playing sister-lover Richard Quince here, would be Dan Riley in Bob Roberts.  Jerome Dempsey who plays Sam & Sid (the split-personality/ twins who run the station), would be a board member in The Hudsucker Proxy.

This movie is based on the Mario Vargas Llosa novel Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter (obviously not set in New Orleans), which I couldn't get through when I tried it years ago.

Hot to Trot

Believe me, there are worse comedy teams.

Hot to Trot
August 26, 1988
Warner Bros.
Comedy, Fantasy
VHS
B-

This goofy take on Mr. Ed and Francis the Talking Mule (with a stock brokerage, because it's the '80s) provided the first starring role for the sometimes irritating and sometimes endearing Bobcat Goldthwait, then 26.  The voice of the horse is provided by John Candy, who of course has some of the best lines and sounds like he might be ad-libbing some of them.  There are moments of great silly comedy, although by the time Bobcat has become the most implausible big-screen jockey since Harpo Marx, things are wearing a bit thin, and there are a few too many ethnic and other stereotypes (especially Hispanic).  If nothing else, you'll have fun with the cast, including Dabney Coleman as the villain (yeah, big surprise) and 80-year-old Burgess Meredith as Candy's equine father.  Buck Henry plays Goldthwait's father in a flashback.

Peter Hobbs, who plays the veterinarian, was Dr. Dean in Sleeper and the Doctor at St. Ambrose Hospital in 9 to 5 (yes, this is a reunion for him and Coleman).  Jocko Marcellino of Sha-Na-Na appears as Marvin.  Donald Hotton, the minister here, was Mr. Wicher in Soul Man.  Barbara Whinnery, who played Sister Sara in Hamburger, is Denise here.

James Hong who's "Boss" here, would be Frank, Sr. in Too Much Sun.  Kevin Furlong would play a jockey again in Wag the Dog.

There's also a fairly early role, as a dentist, for 33-year-old Gilbert Gottfried.  (He'd start hosting USA Up All Night on cable the next year.)  And 35-year-old Mary Gross (post-SNL) appears briefly as Ms. French.

Note, this movie has an incredible amount of profanity for a PG-rated movie.

The Graduate

The Graduate
December 22, 1967
Embassy
Drama, Musical
DVD
B-

Thirty-six-year-old Anne Bancroft seduces 30-year-old Dustin Hoffman, who then pursues 27-year-old Katharine Ross in this generation-gap comedy that's actually a drama.  Confused?  I think this movie has confused a lot of people over the decades.  Is Hoffman's character Benjamin a hero or an antihero?  Neither?  Is he a stalker, and if so, why is Elaine encouraging him somewhat?  Is Mrs. Robinson sexy or deranged, or both?  Neither?

Watching it this time-- and I did buy the DVD specifically for this project, although I had it on VHS-- I was most struck by how joyless the three main characters are.  The only moments of delight are when Benjamin "carries Elaine off" from her wedding, and when Benjamin is amused by the details of Elaine's out-of-wedlock conception in a Ford.  (Honestly, they couldn't come up with a funnier car?)  Is the message that upper-class suburbia is unsatisfying?  If so, why are Ben's parents and most of the other characters generally content?

I review the 1963 book here:  http://rereadingeverybookiown.blogspot.com/2012/07/graduate.html.  I just want to add a few things.  One, I do consider the movie superior, although not great.  (I'd probably give it a B if not for the last half hour, when everyone goes off the rails.)  We do see more of the emotions of the characters, including Mr. Robinson's.  The soundtrack isn't as good as I remembered, mostly due to the songs being repeated too often, although they're integrated well, especially the way the beats and scatting of "Here's to You, Mrs. Robinson" are used for humor when Ben tries to find the church and his car runs out of gas.

Aside from its relatively explicit sexual themes for its time, and the way it shows alienated youth, I think the film is most remarkable for its cast.  Even if you're bored (which I don't think you will be), you can at least have fun spotting familiar faces.  Buck Henry cowrote the script and has a nice little cameo as the desk clerk in what's probably the funniest sequence, showing Ben's nervousness about checking into the hotel.  Later, that's director Mike Nichols's comedy partner Elaine May as the girl bringing Elaine's note to Benjamin.  Mike Farrell plays one bellhop, while little person Buddy Douglas plays another.  (Douglas would go on to Pufnstuf, the show and movie.)  Two Bewitched ladies appear in a reception line, Alice Ghostley (Esmeralda) and Marion Lorne (Aunt Clara).

Arthur Tovey was an onlooker at the soap factory in Boy, Did I Get a Wrong Number, is a hotel guest here, and would be a club patron in The Love God?  Another hotel guest, Frank Baker, was Bearded Gentleman in Bank in Mary Poppins.  Walter Brooke, who plugs plastics as Mr. McGuire, would be Haskell Wax in How Sweet It Is!  Brian Avery, who plays Elaine's WASPy groom Carl Smith, would be a more ethnic Herald Cohen in Sleeper.  Elizabeth Fraser, who plays Second Lady, would do 9 to 5.  Elizabeth Wilson, who plays Ben's mother, would still look young enough (at almost 60) to play Roz in that movie.  William Daniels, most famous for St. Elsewhere, I think doesn't show up in any of my other movies until The Blue Lagoon.  As Norman Fell would point out on It's Garry Shandling's Show a couple decades later, Fell was not only Jack & Janet's landlord but Dustin Hoffman's.  One of his other tenants, the one who suggests calling the cops, is 20-year-old Richard Dreyfuss, who would have a much larger and sillier role in Hello Down There.

Hoffman, Dreyfuss, Fell