MovieChat Forums > Straight Time (1978) Discussion > why have I never herd of this movie befo...

why have I never herd of this movie before??

posted 17 years ago by mrprovolone
4 replies | jump to latest

great cast well made movie

[–] pbl1 17 years ago

?

What the $%*& is a Chinese Downhill?!?

[–] nosnojsirhc 17 years ago

i think OP means why isn't this film more discussed/referenced, given its quality. and that, my friends, is a mystery. i heard of it only a couple weeks ago and lucked out seeing it come up on a schedule on an arab satellite channel that broadcasts in english in the part of the world where i live - only by chance can i now say i've seen it, and of course loved it, with busey and stanton, etc...

[–] tabbycat 16 years ago

Because it bombed.

After disappearing from theaters, it had a shaky history on home video also.
Given the Warners bottom-barrel treatment, it was only released on VHS (no laserdisc or DVD) until recently. It was actually produced by First Artists, the "artist-controlled" subsidiary of Warner Brothers devoted to giving stars like Paul Newman and Barbara Streisand creative freedom in making low-budget films. (A history of First Artists: http://www.barbratimeless.com/07firstartists.htm)

Warners has a shameful history of abandoning its unsuccessful or cult films -- especially if controversial -- even those considered classic.

A partial list:

Performance
The Devils
Fritz the Cat
Heavy Traffic
The Damned

Contrast that with the studio's treatment of controversial films that were big hits:

A Clockwork Orange
Deliverance
The Exorcist

A cynic could claim that First Artists was merely a sandbox created to assuage big stars' egos. Throw 'em three mil a pic, let 'em have some fun, then shelve the result after it fails to draw an audience.

[–] mobocracy 16 years ago

What's strange is that it's a really good movie AND pretty much unheard of.

I can appreciate any studio burying a low budget ego project that also sucked, but this cast and the quality of the movie really make that a strange decision.

Even more bizarre is how they made it kind of fall off the map. I worked in a video store circa 1992-1993 and this one never even popped onto anyone's radar screen, meanwhile we all watched "Who's That Knocking At My Door" a zillion times.