The Horse's Head

#576) Rose Hobart (1936)

OR “The First Fanvid”

Directed by Joseph Cornell

Class of 2001

For a higher quality video, check out “Rose Hobart” at the National Film Preservation Foundation’s website.

The Plot: In “Rose Hobart”, experimental filmmaker Joseph Cornell takes a 16mm print of the 1931 B-picture “East of Borneo” and cuts it down to a 19 minute highlight of its leading lady…Rose Hobart. Lit with a romantic purple filter, and accompanied by selections from Nestor Amaral’s “Holiday in Brasil” album, “Rose Hobart” is a haunting, indefinable depiction of a filmmaker’s fixation with one of Hollywood’s lesser known starlets.

Why It Matters: Both the NFR and the accompanying essay by avant-garde film expert Holly Willis give a rundown of Cornell and how this film came to be.

But Does It Really?: It’s been a while since we’ve covered an experimental film that truly defies categorizing, and we have that in “Rose Hobart”. Upon first viewing, “Rose Hobart” is a head-scratcher, but the more research I did on the film (and the film within the film), the more I was fascinated by Joseph Cornell’s deconstruction of a Hollywood “product” into an ethereal examination of obsession. “Rose Hobart” presages the other avant-garde films of its kind by at least 20 years, and while you can read whatever you want into its editing (and many have), it’s a truly unique viewing experience from start to finish. I’m glad that the NFR has a place for “Rose Hobart”, and equally glad that I finally watched it.

Everybody Gets One: Unlike many experimental filmmakers on this list, Joseph Cornell had no formal training in filmmaking or any other art form. Most of Cornell’s art was boxed assemblage: shadow boxes filled with photos and objects that related to a theme, and had a hint of surrealism to them. At one point, Cornell obtained a print of 1931’s “East of Borneo”, and became infatuated with Rose Hobart. He cut the print down to focus on Rose’s scenes, and would project the film through a blue filter (Switching in later years to purple).

Everybody Gets One-Part II: The daughter of a cellist and an opera singer, Rose Hobart made her stage debut at age 15. She quickly made her way to Broadway, and her performance in the play “Death Takes a Holiday” caught the attention of Hollywood. She starred in a series of B-pictures for Universal, and 1931’s “East of Borneo” was her fourth film. In later years, she referred to “Borneo” as “that schlocky horror I did”, and cited the grueling work environment as the main reason she got involved with the burgeoning Screen Actors Guild.

Wow, That’s Dated: Mainly the cultural appropriation found within “East of Borneo”. They have a Mexican woman playing one of the natives!

Other notes 

• For the curious: “East of Borneo” is about a woman named Linda Randolph (Hobart) traveling to the island of Marado to find her husband Allan (Charles Bickford), who is now the physician for the island’s mysterious Prince Hashim (Georges Renavent). Allan refuses to go home with Linda, and Hashim takes a liking to her. A dramatic love triangle ensues. None of this comes across in “Rose Hobart”. And for the record: Marado is more north-north-east of Borneo.
• For “Rose Hobart”, Cornell slowed the film down from the typical sound frame rate of 24 frames per second, to the silent rate of 16-18 frames per second. It helps you really focus on Hobart’s performance, which is…the kind of typical ingenue performance you would expect it to be. What did you see in her, Joe?
• So many of the writings I have found regarding “Rose Hobart” mention that the film’s reduced frame rate has a “dreamlike quality”. Maybe it’s just me, but things always happen quickly in my dreams.
• The second female lead from “Borneo” (and “Rose Hobart”) is Lupita Tovar, who readers may remember as Eva in the Spanish Language version of “Drácula“. Her grandsons made “American Pie”!
• For a B-picture this movie has a lot going on: Volcanic eruptions, monkeys, crocodiles, a fight with the natives. Either that, or the new additions to the Jungle Cruise are weird.
• Ultimately, my experience with “Rose Hobart” feels like I’m watching a movie that’s playing on TV in a bar: no sound, just picture, and every time I look back it’s a different scene.
• One of the final shots in the movie is of an eclipse. This is one of a handful of shots that aren’t from “East of Borneo”, but rather an unidentified reel of nature shots.

Legacy 

• “Rose Hobart” premiered at New York’s Julien Levy Gallery in December 1936, later playing at the Museum of Modern Art. In attendance on MoMA’s opening night was Salvador Dalí, who confronted Joseph Cornell for “stealing” his idea of a film collage (Dalí had no definitive plans at the time to make one, nor had he told anyone about this idea. Dalí’s outburst has been quoted by some as “He stole my dreams!”). Upset by this attack, Cornell rarely screened his films in public after that night.
• Thankfully, Cornell continued to make experimental films for the rest of his life, including later collaborations with fellow NFR experimental filmmakers Stan Brakhage and Larry Jordan. With the encouragement of Jonas Mekas, Cornell finally started publicly screening “Rose Hobart” in the mid-60s, and donated the only print of the film to the Anthology Film Archives. Joseph Cornell died in 1972 at the age of 68.
• Cornell’s influence can be seen in another NFR movie with compiled film footage: Bruce Conner’s “A MOVIE“.

• The real Rose Hobart continued working steadily throughout the 1940s, but her career ended abruptly upon being named and blacklisted by the House Un-American Activities Committee. She made a brief return to acting on television in the late ’60s before retiring for good in 1971. To the best of my knowledge, Rose Hobart never saw “Rose Hobart”.

Further Viewing: “East of Borneo”…I guess.

As far back as I can remember, I always wanted to do a “Goodfellas” write-up.

The Plot: “Goodfellas” is the true story of Henry Hill, a mob associate who spent 25 years in New York’s organized crime scene. Hill (Ray Liotta) starts working for Paulie Cicero (Paul Sorvino) at age 12, doing small crimes like fencing merchandise. As he grows up, Hill becomes close with Paulie’s associates; cool-headed Jimmy Conway (Robert De Niro) and loose cannon Tommy DeVito (Joe Pesci). The mobster lifestyle is one of glamour and luxury for Henry, and he takes his new bride Karen (Lorraine Bracco) along for the ride. Henry’s position within the organization elevates, as does the intensity of the crimes, culminating in a heist of the Lufthansa vault at JFK in 1978. But the further the lifestyle consumes Henry, the more dangerous it gets for everybody.

Why It Matters: The NFR write-up gives a rundown of the story, and highlights the “standout performances” of De Niro and Pesci, as well as the soundtrack.

But Does It Really?: More like “Greatfellas”, am I right? But seriously, I got nothing that hasn’t already been said about this movie. “Goodfellas” manages to take the gangster world of “The Godfather” and make it stylish and accessible. Scorsese is a director with a vision, and it’s clear that he was able to fully realize it, from the pitch-perfect ensemble to the New Wave-influenced film language. Many have called “Goodfellas” Scorsese’s best, and while I personally think it’s second to the likes of “Raging Bull” and “Taxi Driver“, that’s still enough to qualify “Goodfellas” as one of the all-time great American films.

Shout Outs: Scorsese references a number of classic films in “Goodfellas”, including NFR entries “The Great Train Robbery“, “The Jazz Singer“, “Red River“, and “Shane“.

Everybody Gets One: Journalist Nicholas Pileggi was fascinated with the mafia, culminating in his book “Wiseguy” about Henry Hill. Scorsese was initially hesitant to do another mob movie, but after reading “Wiseguy” while filming “The Color of Money”, he knew he had to make this film. Ray Liotta was recommended to Scorsese by Robert De Niro, based on his performance as an unhinged ex-con in “Something Wild”. Liotta spent the better part of a year convincing Scorsese and producer Irwin Winkler that he was right for the part, while Warner Bros. preferred a bigger name like Tom Cruise.

Title Track: The title was changed from “Wiseguy” to “Goodfellas” to avoid confusion with the TV series “Wise Guy”, which was airing on CBS at the time, as well as the Brian de Palma film “Wise Guys”. Henry Hill sneaks in both titles during his narration: “We were goodfellas. Wiseguys.”

Seriously, Oscars?: A modest hit upon release, “Goodfellas” received six Oscar nominations, including Best Picture. The big winner of the night was the more epic “Dances with Wolves“, but the film picked up the Best Supporting Actor trophy for Joe Pesci. His acceptance speech was six words long.

Other notes

• I won’t go into every difference between “Goodfellas” and the real life events, suffice it to say that the film is highly accurate, with the exception of some name changes and dramatic license. 
• This is Saul Bass’ sneakiest credits sequence yet. Come back here!

• I must admit this movie does an excellent job of selling the glamour of mobster life, especially from a kid’s perspective: no school, lots of money, everybody treats you like an adult.
• De Niro’s biggest strength in this performance is that he is just another member of the ensemble. No flashy theatrics or big character monologues; his Jimmy blends in with the rest of the crew, with De Niro’s inherent star power doubling as Jimmy’s clout within the organization. 
• De Niro’s supposed to be 28 in the beginning!? Now I see why Marty experimented with de-aging technology.
• Paul Sorvino’s work is a lot like De Niro’s: deceivingly simple, but an irreplaceable part of the experience. Sorvino spent most of his career playing detectives and the like on TV, so it’s fun to see him play a cold criminal with a warm front.

• During rehearsals, Scorsese would let the actors come up with their own lines, which would then be transcribed and incorporated into the screenplay. When Joe Pesci mentioned an incident where he once insulted a mobster by calling him funny, the scene was added into the film, resulting in Pesci’s instantly iconic “How am I funny?” scene. 

• Speaking of great lines, is this where I got “Fuck you. Pay me” from? It’s such a common phrase I didn’t realize it’s from this movie.

• What makes Scorsese’s movies work is that everyone is making the same movie. You have a cast ranging from heavyweights like De Niro to real life mobsters in their first acting gig, but everyone comes off as natural. Scorsese and casting director Ellen Lewis know how to cast people for quality (as in characteristics) rather than talent. In a film with over 100 credited actors (and non-actors), there isn’t a weak link in the entire ensemble.
• Shoutout to Lorraine Bracco as Karen Hill. Bracco was worried that in a male-dominated movie her role would be pared down in editing, so she made a point to make her “work important”. And boy does she deliver: you are always aware of Karen and her vitalness to the story. It helps that this movie gives a damn about Karen’s perspective, even letting her narrate a few scenes.

• I can’t call this a movie blog without talking about “The Shot”: a three minute single take of Henry taking Karen to the Copacabana through the backdoor/kitchen area, ending with them getting a table front and center while Henny Youngman performs. I’m a sucker for single-takes, and this is no exception. It’s an exhilarating sequence that sweeps you up in the stylized fantasy of this world. That being said, I’m convinced at one point Henry & Karen just walk around in a big circle. 

• My favorite detail in the movie: when Karen asks for money to go shopping, she indicates the amount by spreading her thumb and forefinger, referring to the size of the cash wad.
• This movie is Round Two of “Joe Pesci vs. Frank Vincent”. Things got heated in “Raging Bull”, and now Pesci’s Tommy makes the first move by stomping Vincent’s Billy Batts to death. A powerful scene showing us how far off the deep end Tommy has gone, plus it’s got that “Atlantis” song I like! To be continued in “Casino”…

• Martin Scorsese cast his mother Catherine as Tommy’s mother. She is perfect, evoking some combination of Estelle Gettty and my own Italian grandmother. Martin’s father Charles shows up later as Vinny, the mobster who puts too many onions in the sauce.

• It took us 90 minutes, but we finally got a Rolling Stones song. Hopefully “Gimme Shelter” and “Monkey Man” will help you fill out your Scorsese Bingo card.
• You know this is early in Samuel L. Jackson’s career when he’s playing the minor character who fucks up, rather than the badass in charge.

• Don’t get me wrong, the Lufthansa heist is impressive (in real life and in the movie), but everyone benefits from pre-9/11 airport security. You could smuggle cocaine for god sake!
• Add “Goodfellas” to my “Die Hard” Not Christmas list; as seen here, the holiday season after the big heist is the last moment of joy any of these characters have before it all goes to hell.

• Ray Liotta is fantastic from beginning to end, but his best work is at the end when a coked-out Henry is increasingly paranoid that he’s being watched by the FBI. Liotta is so convincing that for a moment I thought I was high too. 

• Over the years, I’ve seen “Goodfellas” a few times, but not often enough that I remember every major story point, so several of the turns at the end still surprise me. Watching Lorraine Bracco walk down an empty alleyway is as suspenseful for me as anything Hitch ever did.

• Only Scorsese would end a gangster movie with an homage to “The Great Train Robbery”. Marty’s justification: “It hasn’t changed, 90 years later, it’s the same story, the gun shots will always be there.”

Legacy

• “Goodfellas” opened to a heap of critical praise that hasn’t slowed down in 30 years. The movie continues to be one of Scorsese’s top achievements, and is one of only seven films to make the NFR in its first year of eligibility.

• Henry Hill was still in Witness Protection when “Goodfellas” was released. Hill was quite pleased with the film and Liotta’s performance, and publicly revealed his true identity, which got him kicked out of Witness Protection. Hill spent the rest of his life promoting himself in association with the movie, including the publication of his cookbook, up until his death in 2012.

• While Nicholas Pileggi was preparing the “Goodfellas” screenplay, his wife Nora Ephron – a prolific writer in her own right – was inspired by Hill’s years in Witness Protection to write her own screenplay, which became the comedy “My Blue Heaven”. The film premiered a month before “Goodfellas” and is remembered today as a minor cult film.

• David Chase has cited “Goodfellas” as a major influence on his series “The Sopranos”. Throughout its six season run, the show had 27 different actors from “Goodfellas” in regular or guest roles, including Michael Imperioli, Tony Sirico, and Lorraine Bracco as Tony’s psychiatrist (well, she is qualified, I give her that…).

• “Goodfellas” continues to be parodied and referenced for its memorable dialogue and aesthetic. This is usually where I reference a classic “Simpsons” episode, but the pop culture references that immediately came to mind for me were scenes from “Family Guy” and “Saturday Night Live”.

• My other favorite recent example is this montage of various insurrectionists and white supremacists getting arrested after the January 6th attacks which, like an important montage in “Goodfellas”, is set to Derek & the Dominos’ “Layla”.

#574) Gunga Din (1939)

OR “The Waterboy”

Directed by George Stevens

Written by Joel Sayre & Fred Guiol. Story by Ben Hecht & Charles MacArthur. Based on the poem by Rudyard Kipling.

Class of 1999

The Plot: As the British Army treks across India in the early 1890s, three Sergeants – Archibald Cutter, “Mac” MacChesney, and Tommy Ballantine (Cary Grant, Victor McLaglen, Douglas Fairbanks Jr.) – are assigned to visit Tantrapur and determine the fate of a missing British outpost. The three are accompanied by Gunga Din (Sam Jaffe), an Indian bhisti (water carrier) who dreams of becoming a soldier. Their adventures include dangerous confrontations with the Thugs, as well as more comedic hijinks, such as keeping Ballantine enlisted so he doesn’t run off with fiancée Emaline (Joan Fontaine). During the climactic battle, Gunga Din shows real courage and proves that he is truly “a better man than I am, Gunga Din!”

Why It Matters: The NFR write-up is mainly just a rehash of the plot. The closest this paragraph gets to a superlative is pointing out that the subplot of keeping Ballantine in the army is reminiscent of “The Front Page“.

But Does It Really?: On the one hand, “Gunga Din” is the kind of fun adventure picture associated with the studio era, with an impressive scale and a cast of thousands. On the other hand, the title character is played by Sam Jaffe in brownface. Plus it’s kind of hard nowadays to watch a movie where the British Army are the heroes and all Indians are double-crossing thieves and murderers. “Gunga Din” is remembered today as an important movie of the time, and part of the collection of films that make up the greats of 1939. I can justify the film’s NFR designation as “historical significance”, but I doubt a modern audience would enjoy or tolerate “Gunga Din” as originally intended.

Wow, That’s Dated: This movie doesn’t just have a BROWNFACE WARNING, it has a BROWNBODY WARNING. Russian Jewish actor Sam Jaffe is made up head to toe in brown makeup as Gunga Din, as is Italian actor Eduardo Ciannelli as the Guru. It’s…rough.

Seriously, Oscars?: “Gunga Din” missed out on any Oscar nominations, although a few online sources claim that Joseph August was nominated for his cinematography. While August was on the initial shortlist of potential nominees, he did not make the final nomination ballot. Truly it’s an honor just to be…considered?

Other notes 

• “Gunga Din” was originally to be directed by none other than Howard Hawks (which explains why longtime Hawks collaborators MacArthur & Hecht get story credit). Following the box office disappointment of “Bringing Up Baby“, however, Hawks was fired and replaced by George Stevens, still a relative newcomer to film directing.
• Now that’s how you open a movie! Every credit appears on a giant gong, which dissolves into the next set of credits every time they get banged on. It’s very impressive.

• With a budget of $1.9 million, “Gunga Din” was RKO’s most expensive film at that time. And it shows: big vista shots with hundreds of extras, battle scenes with explosions, a recreation of Pakistan’s Khyber Pass; this movie is easily the most epic film of its day, and we won’t see another one like it until “Lawrence of Arabia“.
• Everyone has a different story of how Cary Grant and Douglas Fairbanks Jr. were cast. Most historians agree that Grant was originally cast as Ballantine with Fairbanks as Cutter, and that Grant preferred the role of Cutter. In some versions of this story, the switch happened because Grant won a coin toss. George Stevens biographer Marilyn Ann Moss, as well as TCM’s Ben Mankiewicz, believe that Grant switched to playing Cutter before Ballantine had been cast, and recommended Fairbanks for the part. According to Fairbanks himself, Howard Hawks originally cast him as Cutter, and then asked him to switch roles. As they say, success has many fathers.

• As with many a problematic studio movie on this list, you’re all lucky Cary Grant is so damn charismatic. This also may be the rare Cary Grant performance where his character is actually British, complete with his old Cockney accent.
• Joan Fontaine doesn’t get much to do in this movie, but it’s always nice seeing her in a part where she’s not being emotionally manipulated. Although it says a lot that she is second to Annie the elephant in terms of important female characters.

• This movie doesn’t necessarily have padding, but each episode takes its time. Perhaps basing your movie off of a poem wasn’t the best idea.
• The Thugs were an actual gang in India, and are the genesis of the slang term “thug” that we use today.
• I always enjoy the Curly-esque noises Cary Grant sneaks into his comedic performances. “Arsenic and Old Lace” is full of them.
• In the opening credits we are assured that “[t]hose portions of this picture dealing with the worship of the goddess Kali are based on historic fact.” Phew. For a minute I thought the filmmakers wouldn’t do their homework and offend a death cult.
• I honestly don’t have too much else to say about “Gunga Din”. It has the DNA of a classic adventure movie, but Jesus all of that Brownface. It doesn’t help that Gunga Din is a variant of the “happy slave” trope. Apparently Sabu was unavailable.

• In the final scene, a journalist named “Mr. Kipling” witnesses Gunga Din’s heroics and writes a poem about him. A bit meta, but there are worse ways to sneak the source material into your movie. Upon seeing “Gunga Din” in theaters, the Kipling family objected to Rudyard being a character in the film (Kipling had died three years earlier), and RKO removed the character from re-release prints for fear of a lawsuit. Thankfully, the current version of “Gunga Din” is restored to its original length.

Legacy 

• “Gunga Din” was a hit upon release, and in a very crowded field managed to be the sixth highest grossing film of 1939. Praise for the film was almost universal…except in India. When “Gunga Din” was planning to be released in India, the Indian National Congress called for a boycott of the film and its “insensitive” portrayal of its people, which led to RKO cancelling the engagement.
• The inevitable remake of “Gunga Din” was made in 1962, rewritten as a western vehicle for the Rat Pack. “Sergeants 3” starred Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, and Peter Lawford as three Cavalry sergeants, with Sammy Davis Jr. as a former slave who wishes to join their ranks. The film was directed by John Sturges, one of the original editors of “Gunga Din”.

• “Gunga Din” still gets referenced a surprising amount these days, mostly for the last line of the original poem. The most famous allusion to the film is the evil Thugee cult in “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom”.

• “Gonna see a movie called Gunga Din, pack up your money, pull up your tent McGuinn, you ain’t goin’ nowhere…”

• But of course, the main legacy of “Gunga Din” is as an example of White actors playing people of color in mainstream media. We are finally getting around to acknowledging the poor, poor taste involved in these decisions; Hank Azaria is apparently determined to apologize to every Indian person in the world for playing Apu on “The Simpsons”.

#573) Pass the Gravy (1928)

OR “Chicken Nugget”

Directed by Fred L. Guiol

Written by Reed Heustis

Class of 1998 

The Plot: Silent film comedian Max Davidson plays a gardener who has an ongoing feud with his neighbor Schultz (Bert Sprotte), owner of prize-winning rooster Brigham. The two decide to put their differences aside when it is announced that Schultz’s son (Gene Morgan) is engaged to Max’s daughter (Martha Sleeper). The two families have dinner, and Max’s son Ignatz (Spec O’Donnell) is tasked with buying a chicken. But Ignatz keeps the money for himself and steals Brigham instead. All goes smoothly, until Ignatz notices that the cooked chicken still has a First Prize tag on its leg, which has just been served to Schultz. Hilarity ensues.

Why It Matters: The NFR’s very brief write-up mentions Max Davidson’s status as a German-Jewish performer who “caricatured established Jewish stereotypes of the day”. Silent film expert Steve Massa is on hand with an essay with more information on Davidson’s film career.

But Does It Really?: I…guess? Max Davidson is all but forgotten today, but his comic facial expressions manage to stand out amongst the likes of Keaton and Chaplin. “Pass the Gravy” is still entertaining (although be warned there is a bit of animal cruelty), and thankfully doesn’t lean on the Jewish stereotypes Davidson was famous for. As a representation of Max Davidson, “Pass the Gravy” has just as much a right to be in the NFR as any other lesser-known silent star. “Pass the Gravy” gets one of my trademark “slight pass” designations for NFR inclusion.

Everybody Gets One: Emigrating to the US from Germany as a young adult, Max Davidson started out as a performer in vaudeville. These performances led to silent shorts with Biograph, where he played a Jewish caricature named Izzy. By the 1920s, Davidson was working for Hal Roach, eventually getting his own series of starring roles as a put-upon father.

Title Track: No one actually says “Pass the gravy” in this short, so…what was the point of that title?

Other notes 

• Leo McCarey is credited here as Production Supervisor, and I’m not sure what that means. McCarey started off as a gag writer for Hal Roach, working his way up to director and producer. The only description I can find of his supervisor work is that he “supervised the direction by others”. I guess it would be the equivalent of a TV showrunner today?
• There are already way too many intertitles in this movie. One states that while Max’s character raised flowers, Ignatz raised “what it’s not polite to mention”. I assume they mean Hell.
• Ignatz is played by Walter “Spec” O’Donnell, who earned his stage name thanks to the large amount of freckles on his face. It truly is a sight to behold.
• As I mentioned earlier, there is an uncomfortable amount of animal abuse in this movie. Chickens are being handled aggressively and thrown into the air, culminating in a shot where an entire flock is thrown over a fence. This is entertainment? For the record: American Humane did not start supervising on-set animal treatment until about 1940.
• I will admit, the reveal of the First Prize tag made me laugh out loud. Unfortunately the rest of the short is everyone slowly figuring it out, and then spending half the film trying to explain it to Max. There’s some fun pantomiming from Morgan and Sleeper, but man does it go on forever.
• Oh my god; figure it out, old man! And when is someone gonna pass the gravy!?

Legacy 

• Max Davidson transitioned to supporting roles in sound pictures, but a rise in complaints from Jewish communities (as well as the continued suppression of depictions of Judaism in film) led to Davidson’s career fading away. Davidson died in 1950 in a retirement home, his film career long over.
• Like Max Davidson, the rest of the cast transitioned to sound films, though none of them ever became big names. The only members of the “Pass the Gravy” team that would go on to fame and fortune were cinematographer George Stevens and production supervisor Leo McCarey; both of whom would go on to be successful film directors.

• “Gravy” director Fred Guiol would go on to collaborate with George Stevens on several of his movies, co-writing the screenplays for “Gunga Din” and “Giant“, and serving as associate director for “A Place in the Sun” and “Shane“.

• Hmmm, a movie where they kill off a character’s prized animal for retaliation. Where have I seen this before….?

#572) Return of the Secaucus Seven (1980)

OR “OK Boomer: The Motion Picture”

Directed & Written by John Sayles

Class of 1997

The Plot: More than 10 years after their college activist days, seven friends reunite for a weekend in New Hampshire. Teachers Mike and Katie (Bruce MacDonald and Maggie Renzi) serve as hosts for the weekend, coping with several shifting arrangements. J.T. (Adam LeFevre) is an aspiring folk singer aware that his window of opportunity is closing. Med student Frances (Maggie Cousineau) reunites with local gas station clerk Ron (David Strathairn). Political speechwriter Irene (Jean Passanante) brings along her somewhat square boyfriend Chip (Gordon Clapp). But the real drama comes from Maura (Karen Trott), who arrives without her longtime boyfriend Jeff (Mark Arnott), having just broken up. Jeff eventually shows up, after Maura has already rebounded with J.T. It’s a long weekend with these Baby Boomers coming to terms with what their lives have become.

Why It Matters: The NFR praises the film’s “insightful script”, “naturalistic acting”, and “Altman-like editing and overlapping dialog”.

But Does It Really?: Sure. There’s no shortage of movies in which boomers face the realities of adulthood, but Sayles did it first, and “Secaucus” perfectly captures time and generation. Like many a low-budget indie, “Secaucus” has a clear point of view and delivers it through a well structured script and an impeccably cast ensemble. While John Sayles may not be as well remembered or revered today as his contemporary filmmakers, he is more than worthy of NFR recognition, and “Secaucus” is a natural choice.

Shout Outs: Quick allusions to “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs“, “Bambi“, “The Hustler“, and a real odd passing mention of “Salt of the Earth“.

Everybody Gets One: John Sayles started off as a novelist, eventually pivoting to screenwriting. Sayles used the money he earned writing scripts for Roger Corman to fund “Secaucus 7”. Fun Fact: John Sayles also worked on the screenplay for “Night Skies”, the proposed “Close Encounters” sequel that eventually became “E.T.“.

Wow, That’s Dated: Filmed in the fall of 1978, “Secaucus” makes references to then-President Jimmy Carter, the Panama Canal Treaty of 1977, and Michael Dukakis, who was Governor of Massachusetts during filming, but had lost his re-election bid by the time the film was released.

Title Track: As explained in the movie, the title is an in-joke between the seven main characters when they were arrested in Secaucus, New Jersey on the way to a Vietnam protest in D.C.

Seriously, Oscars?: No Oscar nominations for “Secaucus”, though the film did win the Los Angeles Film Critics award for its screenplay. John Sayles would eventually receive Oscar nominations for Best Original Screenplay for his later films “Passion Fish” and “Lone Star”.

Other notes 

• John Sayles wanted to make an “audition film” he could show studios to get more directing gigs, and allotted himself a budget of $40,000 (about $163,000 today). Sayles shot “Secaucus” in 25 days, primarily at a rented ski lodge which doubled as cast and crew accommodations. The actors were all unknowns from local theaters, and Sayles wrote several subplots so that the movement between scenes would help make up for the lack of movement in the scenes.
• This movie suggests that there was a time when Boomers were young and not blaming all of society’s ills on Millennials and Gen Z. I don’t know…sounds like pure fantasy if you ask me.
• I’m used to David Strathairn’s more recent filmography of straight-laced business types, so it’s fun watching him pull a 180 as Ron, the guy who didn’t leave his hometown after high school. Seeing Strathairn in a jumpsuit being awkward and shooting the shit is a delight. Plus this is his film debut!
• I will try my best not to make the inevitable comparisons between this film and “The Big Chill”, but if forced to choose between Gordon Clapp or Meg Tilly as my movie’s audience surrogate, I think we all know who wins that round.

• There really isn’t a weak link in this ensemble. I particularly enjoyed Maggie Renzi as Katie, who gets several great one-liners, and Karen Trott, emitting some serious Lauren Bacall vibes as Maura.

• Side note: Maggie Renzi is the real-life partner of John Sayles. In addition to her performance, Renzi served as the film’s unit manager, location manager, and assistant editor.
• Despite the NFR’s praise of Altman-esque overlapping dialogue, very little of this film is improvised. The actors stuck to Sayles’ script for the most part.
• Longtime readers know I’m a sucker for scenes that are covered in a single take, and many of the film’s more intimate conversations are presented this way. As much as I like to write these off as a purely artistic choice, I also recognize that single-take scenes are a great time and money-saver for your low-budget indie.
• As well-made as this movie is, it does drag in a few places, at least through my modern lens. At one point I thought I was watching this weekend happen in real time.
• Just as I say this movie is dragging, along comes some full-frontal nudity from the male cast, including David Strathairn! It’s brief, but does give us the best line in the movie: Katie, upon seeing the men in the buff from a distance, “Jesus, now we know what Irene sees in Chip.”
• In true low-budget fashion, John Sayles cast himself in the small role of local friend Howie. Didn’t realize it was him until the credits, which says a lot about how well he blends in with his cast.
• While watching this, it occurred to me how many NFR movies center around groups of seven: this, “The Magnificent Seven“, the aforementioned Seven Dwarfs. Heck, “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers” does it twice! This bodes well for “The Trial of the Chicago 7”, less so for “Se7en”, but that’s for other reasons.

Legacy 

• “Return of the Secaucus 7” was never intended to get a theatrical release. John Sayles entered it into the Los Angeles Filmex festival in the hopes of getting a TV distribution deal, but the film ended up being the surprise hit of the festival, and got a theatrical release from Libra Films. “Secaucus” was a critical success, and earned $2 million at the box office.
• Since “Secaucus”, John Sayles has directed several films, his most recent being 2013’s “Go for Sisters”. Many of his films feature appearances by his “Secaucus” ensemble.

• Despite their great work in this movie, most of the cast didn’t appear in too many films after “Secaucus”, and for some this was their first and only movie. Major exception David Strathairn aside, Gordon Clapp would go on to be a regular on “NYPD Blue” (winning a Primetime Emmy), and Jean Passanante has written for every major network soap opera (winning 5 Daytime Emmys).

• “Secaucus” inspired the “Reunion movie” sub-genre of the 1980s, in which a bunch of Baby Boomers, now in their early 30s, reunite and discuss what happened to then between the idyllic ’60s of their youth and the more conservative ’80s of their adulthood. The most famous of these is 1983’s “The Big Chill”, whose director/screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan has gone on record saying he had never heard of or seen “Secaucus” before writing his movie.