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Brewster McCloud

Brewster McCloud[1] is a 1970 American black comedy film directed by Robert Altman. The film follows a young recluse (Bud Cort, as the title character) who lives in a fallout shelter of the Houston Astrodome, where he is building a pair of wings in order to fly. He is helped by his comely and enigmatic "fairy godmother," played by Sally Kellerman, as he becomes a suspect in a series of murders and a haughty hot-shot detective lieutenant from San Francisco, played by Michael Murphy, is soon hot on his trail.

Brewster McCloud
Theatrical release poster
Directed byRobert Altman
Written byDoran William Cannon
Produced byLou Adler
John Phillips
StarringBud Cort
Sally Kellerman
Michael Murphy
William Windom
René Auberjonois
CinematographyLamar Boren
Jordan Cronenweth
Edited byLou Lombardo
Music byGene Page
Production
company
Distributed byMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release date
  • December 5, 1970 (1970-12-05)
Running time
105 minutes
LanguageEnglish

Plot

The film opens with the usual MGM logo, but with a voice-over by René Auberjonois saying "I forgot the opening line" instead of the lion's roar. As the opening credits roll, wealthy Houstonian Daphne Heap (Margaret Hamilton) begins to sing "The Star-Spangled Banner" on the field of the Astrodome, but stops the band, insisting that it's off-key. The band and Daphne start again, while the credits begin again as well. Daphne, who has been off-key herself, insists that this take is much better, but she is surrounded by the young Black band members as we hear Merry Clayton singing an upbeat version of "Lift Every Voice and Sing," often called the "Black National Anthem." All this time, a woman (Sally Kellerman) in a trench coat has been watching from the stands. As the credits end, we see Brewster (Bud Cort), in an Astrodome fallout shelter, where a pet raven defecates on a newspaper headline about a speech by then-Vice President Spiro Agnew. Scenes are interspersed throughout the film of a Lecturer played by Auberjunois regales an audience including an enthusiastic young woman (Jennifer Salt) with a wealth of knowledge of the habits of birds, as he becomes increasingly birdlike himself.

Owlish Brewster lives hidden and alone under the Houston Astrodome and dreams of creating wings that will help him fly like a bird. His only assistance comes from Louise (Sally Kellerman), a beautiful woman who wants to help. Wearing only a trench coat, Louise has unexplained scars on her shoulder blades, suggestive of a fallen angel. She warns Brewster against having sexual intercourse, as it could kill his instinct to fly.

While Brewster works to complete his wings and condition himself for flight, Houston suffers a string of unexplained murders, the work of a serial killer whose victims are found strangled and covered in bird droppings. The victims are all authoritarian or overtly racist figures, including Daphne Heap and the aged and wealthy but vicious landlord Abraham Wright (Stacy Keach). Haskell Weeks (William Windom), a prominent figure in Houston, pulls strings to have the Houston police call "San Francisco super cop" Frank Shaft (Michael Murphy) to investigate. Shaft immediately fixates on the bird droppings and soon finds a link to Brewster. Brewster eludes the police with the apparent help of Louise but he eventually drives her away—and dooms himself—when he ignores her advice about sex by hooking up with Astrodome tour guide Suzanne Davis (Shelley Duvall). Suzanne saves Brewster by evading Shaft in her stolen Road Runner. Severely injured after losing Brewster, Frank kills himself. Brewster eventually confesses his responsibility in the killings to Suzanne, who betrays him to the police.

A small army of Houston policemen enter the Astrodome but fail to nab Brewster before he takes flight using his completed wings. However, as a human he cannot overcome his inherent unsuitability for flight. Exhausted by the effort, he falls out of the air, crashing in a heap on the floor of the Astrodome. The film ends with a circus entering the Astrodome, played by the cast of the film costumed as clowns, strongmen and other circus performers. The ringmaster announces the names of each cast member, finishing with Brewster, who remains crumpled on the floor.

Cast

Cultural references

Scenes and characters often allude to other films, some of which include the following:

  • Daphne Heap is played by Margaret Hamilton, whose best-known role was as the Wicked Witch of the West in the 1939 film version of The Wizard of Oz. When Daphne is killed, she is wearing sparkling red shoes like those that the Witch wants to take from Dorothy, and a few bars of the film's most famous song, "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" are heard.
  • During the final credit scene, the character Hope (Jennifer Salt) is wearing a blue-and-white gingham dress similar to Dorothy's in The Wizard of Oz and carrying a dog that looks like Dorothy's Toto from the film.
  • Michael Murphy's character of Frank Shaft wears only turtleneck sweaters and has blue eyes (from contact lenses) to make him look like American actor Steve McQueen in the action cop movie Bullitt (1968).
  • Character Haskell Weeks' name resembles that of Haskell Wexler, a cinematographer whom Altman admired and with whom he considered working on California Split (1974).[2]
  • Suzanne's apartment features a poster for Altman's previous film, M*A*S*H (1970).
  • Sally Kellerman's character briefly romps in a fountain, recalling both her nude scene in M*A*S*H and the fountain scene in Federico Fellini's La Dolce Vita (1960).
  • The circus parade during the closing credit scene of the film is reminiscent of the finale of Fellini's film (1963).

Production

This film marks the first feature produced by Altman's Lion's Gate Films. It was produced in association with Lou Adler-John Phillips Productions. Adler was from the music business and had previously produced the recordings of The Mamas & the Papas. John Phillips from The Mamas & the Papas co-produced the film and wrote the songs.[3] The film was originally called Brewster McCloud's (Sexy) Flying Machine.[4]

The film was shot on location in Houston, Texas for eight weeks from May 22 to July 15, 1970. The original story was set in New York City but it was decided to set the film in Houston.[3] During the opening credits, shots of the downtown Houston skyline (with One Shell Plaza under construction) zoom toward the Houston Astrodome and Astrohall, with the emerging Texas Medical Center in the background. It was the first film shot inside the Astrodome.[5] The film records landmarks and streetscapes that later were demolished or radically changed. For instance, the hotel where Frank Shaft stays was once part of the Astrodome complex, and has undergone several significant changes since the making of the film.

Although Doran William Cannon is given credit for the screenplay, most of the film was rewritten by Altman and close associates or improvised during filming. After the film's release, Cannon wrote a column for The New York Times detailing the frustrations of his experience.[6]

Discovered in Texas, Shelley Duvall was cast in her first film role as Brewster's love interest Suzanne. She later co-starred in several of Altman's other films as well as playing memorable characters in films by other directors.

Release

The film's premiere was at the Houston Astrodome on December 5, 1970. An audience of 35,000 was anticipated.[3]

Reception

Critical reviews were mixed upon the film's original release, but have grown more positive over time. Brewster McCloud has a score of 86% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 22 reviews, with an average grade of 7.3 out of 10.[7]

Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film three and a half stars out of four and, comparing it to M*A*S*H, wrote that it was "... just as densely packed with words and action, and you keep thinking you're missing things. You probably are. It's that quality that's so attractive about these two Altman films. We get the sense of a live intelligence, rushing things ahead on the screen, not worrying whether we'll understand."[8]

Gene Siskel of the Chicago Tribune awarded three out of four stars and wrote, "Once again Altman has taken a story (this time a rather weak one) and given it a distinctive spirit and flavor thru casting, cinematic devices and odd juxtapositions. An Altman film, if two can make a genre, appears to be more of a mood than a story. This rarely works, but it does for him."[9] Variety called the film "a sardonic fairy tale for the times. Extremely well cast and directed, Lou Adler's made-in-Houston production demands an intellectual audience which is satisfied with smiles instead of belly-laughs."[10]

Vincent Canby of The New York Times wrote that the film "... has more characters and incidents than a comic strip, but never enough wit to sustain more than a few isolated sequences."[11]

Charles Champlin of the Los Angeles Times believed that the film was "not in a class" with M*A*S*H, but opined that "I doubt that the new year will give us a more startling, bizarre and rowdy piece of business."[12]

John Simon wrote, "Brewster McCloud is a pretentious, disorganized, modishly iconoclastic movie which, in the manner of its Icarus-like hero, aspires to fly high and merely drops dead."[13]

References

  1. ^ "Brewster McCloud Original Trailer (1970)". Texas Archive of the Moving Image. Retrieved November 10, 2019.
  2. ^ McGilligan, Patrick (1989). Robert Altman: Jumping Off the Cliff. St. Martin's Press. p. 376.
  3. ^ a b c "Hofheinz Goes For Big At Party In Astrodome For MGM's 'McCloud' Pic". Variety. December 2, 1970. p. 5.
  4. ^ "Same Pix, New Titles". Variety. June 3, 1970. p. 23.
  5. ^ "AFS Honors Robert Altman's Texas-Made Film Brewster McCloud". Austin Film Society. March 2020. Retrieved November 12, 2020.
  6. ^ Cannnon, Doran William (February 7, 1971). "The Kid Wanted to Fly--So They Gave Him the Air". The New York Times. Retrieved November 12, 2020.
  7. ^ "Brewster McCloud". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved September 10, 2021.
  8. ^ Ebert, Roger (December 24, 1970). "Brewster McCloud". RogerEbert.com. Retrieved November 29, 2018.
  9. ^ Siskel, Gene (December 22, 1970). "'Brewster' & 'Lobo'". Chicago Tribune. Section 2, p. 3.
  10. ^ "Film Reviews: Brewster McCloud". Variety. December 9, 1970. 14.
  11. ^ Canby, Vincent (December 24, 1970). "The Screen: Innocence and Corruption". The New York Times. p. 8.
  12. ^ Champlin, Charles (January 31, 1971). "'Brewster McCloud': Havoc for Some Traditions". Los Angeles Times. Calendar, p. 1.
  13. ^ Simon, John (1982). Reverse Angle: A Decade of American Film. Crown Publishers Inc. p. 31.

External links

brewster, mccloud, 1970, american, black, comedy, film, directed, robert, altman, film, follows, young, recluse, cort, title, character, lives, fallout, shelter, houston, astrodome, where, building, pair, wings, order, helped, comely, enigmatic, fairy, godmoth. Brewster McCloud 1 is a 1970 American black comedy film directed by Robert Altman The film follows a young recluse Bud Cort as the title character who lives in a fallout shelter of the Houston Astrodome where he is building a pair of wings in order to fly He is helped by his comely and enigmatic fairy godmother played by Sally Kellerman as he becomes a suspect in a series of murders and a haughty hot shot detective lieutenant from San Francisco played by Michael Murphy is soon hot on his trail Brewster McCloudTheatrical release posterDirected byRobert AltmanWritten byDoran William CannonProduced byLou AdlerJohn PhillipsStarringBud CortSally KellermanMichael MurphyWilliam WindomRene AuberjonoisCinematographyLamar BorenJordan CronenwethEdited byLou LombardoMusic byGene PageProductioncompanyLion s Gate FilmsDistributed byMetro Goldwyn MayerRelease dateDecember 5 1970 1970 12 05 Running time105 minutesLanguageEnglish Contents 1 Plot 2 Cast 3 Cultural references 4 Production 5 Release 6 Reception 7 References 8 External linksPlot EditThe film opens with the usual MGM logo but with a voice over by Rene Auberjonois saying I forgot the opening line instead of the lion s roar As the opening credits roll wealthy Houstonian Daphne Heap Margaret Hamilton begins to sing The Star Spangled Banner on the field of the Astrodome but stops the band insisting that it s off key The band and Daphne start again while the credits begin again as well Daphne who has been off key herself insists that this take is much better but she is surrounded by the young Black band members as we hear Merry Clayton singing an upbeat version of Lift Every Voice and Sing often called the Black National Anthem All this time a woman Sally Kellerman in a trench coat has been watching from the stands As the credits end we see Brewster Bud Cort in an Astrodome fallout shelter where a pet raven defecates on a newspaper headline about a speech by then Vice President Spiro Agnew Scenes are interspersed throughout the film of a Lecturer played by Auberjunois regales an audience including an enthusiastic young woman Jennifer Salt with a wealth of knowledge of the habits of birds as he becomes increasingly birdlike himself Owlish Brewster lives hidden and alone under the Houston Astrodome and dreams of creating wings that will help him fly like a bird His only assistance comes from Louise Sally Kellerman a beautiful woman who wants to help Wearing only a trench coat Louise has unexplained scars on her shoulder blades suggestive of a fallen angel She warns Brewster against having sexual intercourse as it could kill his instinct to fly While Brewster works to complete his wings and condition himself for flight Houston suffers a string of unexplained murders the work of a serial killer whose victims are found strangled and covered in bird droppings The victims are all authoritarian or overtly racist figures including Daphne Heap and the aged and wealthy but vicious landlord Abraham Wright Stacy Keach Haskell Weeks William Windom a prominent figure in Houston pulls strings to have the Houston police call San Francisco super cop Frank Shaft Michael Murphy to investigate Shaft immediately fixates on the bird droppings and soon finds a link to Brewster Brewster eludes the police with the apparent help of Louise but he eventually drives her away and dooms himself when he ignores her advice about sex by hooking up with Astrodome tour guide Suzanne Davis Shelley Duvall Suzanne saves Brewster by evading Shaft in her stolen Road Runner Severely injured after losing Brewster Frank kills himself Brewster eventually confesses his responsibility in the killings to Suzanne who betrays him to the police A small army of Houston policemen enter the Astrodome but fail to nab Brewster before he takes flight using his completed wings However as a human he cannot overcome his inherent unsuitability for flight Exhausted by the effort he falls out of the air crashing in a heap on the floor of the Astrodome The film ends with a circus entering the Astrodome played by the cast of the film costumed as clowns strongmen and other circus performers The ringmaster announces the names of each cast member finishing with Brewster who remains crumpled on the floor Cast EditBud Cort as Brewster McCloud Sally Kellerman as Louise Michael Murphy as Detective Frank Shaft William Windom as Haskell Weeks Shelley Duvall as Suzanne Davis Rene Auberjonois as The Lecturer Margaret Hamilton as Daphne Heap Corey Fischer as Officer Hines Stacy Keach as Abraham Wright John Schuck as Officer Johnson Bill Adair as Detective Bert Remsen as Officer Breen Jennifer Salt as Hope G Wood as Captain Crandall Dean Goss as Officer Ledbetter William Baldwin as Bernard Ronnie Cammick as Wendel Marilyn Burns as Tour GuideCultural references EditScenes and characters often allude to other films some of which include the following Daphne Heap is played by Margaret Hamilton whose best known role was as the Wicked Witch of the West in the 1939 film version of The Wizard of Oz When Daphne is killed she is wearing sparkling red shoes like those that the Witch wants to take from Dorothy and a few bars of the film s most famous song Somewhere Over the Rainbow are heard During the final credit scene the character Hope Jennifer Salt is wearing a blue and white gingham dress similar to Dorothy s in The Wizard of Oz and carrying a dog that looks like Dorothy s Toto from the film Michael Murphy s character of Frank Shaft wears only turtleneck sweaters and has blue eyes from contact lenses to make him look like American actor Steve McQueen in the action cop movie Bullitt 1968 Character Haskell Weeks name resembles that of Haskell Wexler a cinematographer whom Altman admired and with whom he considered working on California Split 1974 2 Suzanne s apartment features a poster for Altman s previous film M A S H 1970 Sally Kellerman s character briefly romps in a fountain recalling both her nude scene in M A S H and the fountain scene in Federico Fellini s La Dolce Vita 1960 The circus parade during the closing credit scene of the film is reminiscent of the finale of Fellini s film 8 1963 Production EditThis film marks the first feature produced by Altman s Lion s Gate Films It was produced in association with Lou Adler John Phillips Productions Adler was from the music business and had previously produced the recordings of The Mamas amp the Papas John Phillips from The Mamas amp the Papas co produced the film and wrote the songs 3 The film was originally called Brewster McCloud s Sexy Flying Machine 4 The film was shot on location in Houston Texas for eight weeks from May 22 to July 15 1970 The original story was set in New York City but it was decided to set the film in Houston 3 During the opening credits shots of the downtown Houston skyline with One Shell Plaza under construction zoom toward the Houston Astrodome and Astrohall with the emerging Texas Medical Center in the background It was the first film shot inside the Astrodome 5 The film records landmarks and streetscapes that later were demolished or radically changed For instance the hotel where Frank Shaft stays was once part of the Astrodome complex and has undergone several significant changes since the making of the film Although Doran William Cannon is given credit for the screenplay most of the film was rewritten by Altman and close associates or improvised during filming After the film s release Cannon wrote a column for The New York Times detailing the frustrations of his experience 6 Discovered in Texas Shelley Duvall was cast in her first film role as Brewster s love interest Suzanne She later co starred in several of Altman s other films as well as playing memorable characters in films by other directors Release EditThe film s premiere was at the Houston Astrodome on December 5 1970 An audience of 35 000 was anticipated 3 Reception EditCritical reviews were mixed upon the film s original release but have grown more positive over time Brewster McCloud has a score of 86 on Rotten Tomatoes based on 22 reviews with an average grade of 7 3 out of 10 7 Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun Times gave the film three and a half stars out of four and comparing it to M A S H wrote that it was just as densely packed with words and action and you keep thinking you re missing things You probably are It s that quality that s so attractive about these two Altman films We get the sense of a live intelligence rushing things ahead on the screen not worrying whether we ll understand 8 Gene Siskel of the Chicago Tribune awarded three out of four stars and wrote Once again Altman has taken a story this time a rather weak one and given it a distinctive spirit and flavor thru casting cinematic devices and odd juxtapositions An Altman film if two can make a genre appears to be more of a mood than a story This rarely works but it does for him 9 Variety called the film a sardonic fairy tale for the times Extremely well cast and directed Lou Adler s made in Houston production demands an intellectual audience which is satisfied with smiles instead of belly laughs 10 Vincent Canby of The New York Times wrote that the film has more characters and incidents than a comic strip but never enough wit to sustain more than a few isolated sequences 11 Charles Champlin of the Los Angeles Times believed that the film was not in a class with M A S H but opined that I doubt that the new year will give us a more startling bizarre and rowdy piece of business 12 John Simon wrote Brewster McCloud is a pretentious disorganized modishly iconoclastic movie which in the manner of its Icarus like hero aspires to fly high and merely drops dead 13 References Edit Brewster McCloud Original Trailer 1970 Texas Archive of the Moving Image Retrieved November 10 2019 McGilligan Patrick 1989 Robert Altman Jumping Off the Cliff St Martin s Press p 376 a b c Hofheinz Goes For Big At Party In Astrodome For MGM s McCloud Pic Variety December 2 1970 p 5 Same Pix New Titles Variety June 3 1970 p 23 AFS Honors Robert Altman s Texas Made Film Brewster McCloud Austin Film Society March 2020 Retrieved November 12 2020 Cannnon Doran William February 7 1971 The Kid Wanted to Fly So They Gave Him the Air The New York Times Retrieved November 12 2020 Brewster McCloud Rotten Tomatoes Retrieved September 10 2021 Ebert Roger December 24 1970 Brewster McCloud RogerEbert com Retrieved November 29 2018 Siskel Gene December 22 1970 Brewster amp Lobo Chicago Tribune Section 2 p 3 Film Reviews Brewster McCloud Variety December 9 1970 14 Canby Vincent December 24 1970 The Screen Innocence and Corruption The New York Times p 8 Champlin Charles January 31 1971 Brewster McCloud Havoc for Some Traditions Los Angeles Times Calendar p 1 Simon John 1982 Reverse Angle A Decade of American Film Crown Publishers Inc p 31 External links EditBrewster McCloud at IMDb Brewster McCloud at Rotten Tomatoes Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Brewster McCloud amp oldid 1153268048, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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