I saw this film on the BBC in about 1984, long before it had a cinema release in the UK. Was it really shown in theatres in the US in 1979?
If anyone can explain the strange release history this movie suffered I'd be very interested to read about it.
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Many thanks for that. I thought there was also some effort by the Kennedy family to have it shelved.
By the way, my favorite Perkins movie is Pretty Poison, although I admit I saw it many years ago at an impressionable age.
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I read the book and I was waiting for the movie.
So, I saw the movie just like any other movie coming through.
I was a little shocked when I heard the movie was "killed".
Maybe it didn't get much promotion, but I had no trouble seeing it.
Its an "art film" in that its far too sophisticated for the mass audience.
One of the best films I've seen.
Easy to get on DVD.
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I have no idea what was in this thread that the administrators took objection to, but the OP seems to have gotten a worthwhile answer out of it; too bad somebody decided to deny that to the rest of us and make hash out of this thread.
shareI'm not sure why there needs to be a conspiracy to explains why this film flopped. I just watched it, and it was dead boring. Terrific idea, inept execution.
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This film doesn't make sense because it is not meant to make sense. It is a satire on conspiracy theories and all those suckers who keep them alive. It is very, very funny but the humour is so bone-dry that I'm not surprised many people didn't realise it was intended to raise laughs. One scene in particular should alert people to this film's true intentions: when the paterfamilas is visited by his son in a private suite in a hospital which is manically out of this world.
shareI saw this great flick in Westwood, CA, in 1979. It was fun and provocative. Then, it disappeared, despite the overwhelming talent in the cast (Bridges, Huston, Boone, Perkins, Liz Taylor cameo, et al), a significant writer (Condon), and a plot line even better than Parallax View or Executive Action. Perhaps it's because it was the first JFK Assassination film that didn't blame right wing extremists or Southern business interests.
There was a thorough and explicative article in Harper's, circa 1980/81, about how Hollywood let this imaginative film die. My copy is long lost, or I'd scan and post it.
But it's so fun to blame right wing extremists and Southern business interests!
I'm from the south--take it from me, most of the nasty stereotypes are true! (lol)
I remember seeing it on HBO in late 1979-early 1980. I didn't think much of it at the time, but it was one of those films that seems to have been "rediscovered" about five years after its release and became something of a cult classic black comedy.
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The article in Harper's was by Richard Condon. If I recall correctly some of the financing for the film was provided by questionable characters who wound up dead or missing. The rights to the movie went into legal limbo and at the end of the piece the director was trying to find money to buy it out. Condon never did get a straight answer as to why it had such a short life in theaters on first release.
shareI'll forgo the conspiracy theories and just assume this film didn't get the promotion of distribution it deserved unless someone can prove otherwise. I remember this being reviewed by Siskel and Ebert, but it seemed to disappear from theaters quickly. It certainly deserves a wider reissue on DVD, especially with all the talent involved and the sad state of political thrillers today.
shareYou're everywhere I go. I think there's a conspiracy!
--
LBJ's mistress tells all:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPdviZbk-XI&;