MovieChat Forums > Can't Stop the Music (1980) Discussion > Actually it needs a movie about its prod...

Actually it needs a movie about its production

posted 15 years ago by cifra2
4 replies | jump to latest

I'm watching it right now, and frankly, one thing is clear from minute 20 in the movie, crystal water clear, this is a movie that you can't blame the actors, nor the Village People, nor the writers, nor Nancy Walker. There are hints here and there of what the film could have been without execs and producers telling them what to do... It killed - or almost killed - many careers and it's of course a bomb and specially an insult to the gay community itself (the first "openly" gay band to suceed and they always surround the boys with girls, inducing they would be actually straight, not to scare audiences).

Can you actually believe that by the same date gay community - but the leather one - was protesting against "Cruising", which actually didn't chicken to show gay facts - even if extreme - as they really are?.

I'd love to watch John Waters, Todd Haynes, Gus van Sant, Alejandro Amenabar or Pedro Almodovar (just to mention 5 great gay filmmakers) take on how this movie was conceived and done, how Hollywood wanted to start gayxplotation, disneyfying it.

[–] lcrews 15 years ago

Right now I'm reading the biography of Allan Carr, a new book called Party Animals.

I just finished the section on Can't Stop the Music (known as Discoland for most of its production, really right up until before its release. The disco backlash had occurred during production and they needed a title change).

Amazingly, there is more in the book about the production of this movie than there is about Grease.

I can say for sure there is a movie about its production to be made. But some of your assumptions are wrong. Nancy Walker should carry a ton of the blame. She didn't know how to direct, and left it up to cinematographer Bill Butler and the choreographer to direct most of it. Nancy was so jealous of Valerie Perrine and berated her so much on the set until Valerie threatened to walk. Halfway through the production, any scenes with Valerie were shot with Nancy off set, watching soap operas on TV.

But most of all, Allan Carr himself is to blame for this disaster. He was a genius, but a mad genius, and the making of this film was more mad than genius.

[–] 15 years ago

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[–] BugisStreetAnnie (1297) 7 years ago

Nancy was so jealous of Valerie Perrine and berated her so much on the set until Valerie threatened to walk. Halfway through the production, any scenes with Valerie were shot with Nancy off set, watching soap operas on TV.

Nancy Walker sounds like her character Angela on The Golden Girls. Maybe she was actually playing herself.

[–] haileybaron 14 years ago

Theres a lot of gay talk in your post considering there was only ONE gay member of Village People and that was the indian Felipe Rose
Gay people related to the village people which is great, but I dont think a band made up of almost all straight guys would OWE anything to the gay community. I especially dont think they should have to ACT gay.