Cannery Row (film)
| Cannery Row | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster by John Solie | |
| Directed by | David S. Ward |
| Screenplay by | David S. Ward William Graham |
| Based on | Cannery Row Sweet Thursday by John Steinbeck |
| Produced by | Michael Phillips |
| Starring | |
| Narrated by | John Huston |
| Cinematography | Sven Nykvist |
| Edited by | David Bretherton |
| Music by | Jack Nitzsche |
Production companies |
|
| Distributed by | MGM/United Artists Distribution and Marketing |
Release date |
|
Running time | 120 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $11.5 million[1] |
| Box office | $1.8 million[1] |
Cannery Row is a 1982 American
Plot
During World War II, declining fish stocks lead to the shutdown of the fishing and canning industry in Monterey, California. The bums and prostitutes living on the city's skid row lead colorful and adventurous lives in a balmy seaside setting.
Eddie "Doc" Daniels, a self-employed
A collection of linked vignettes describes life on Cannery Row. It is depicted as an impoverished area inhabited by a motley band of people who have experienced failures, but somehow have found their niche and a community of strangely kindred souls.
Doc and Suzy do not quite fit in, but are accepted. Mack and the boys gather frogs and sell them to give a surprise party for Doc, which turns into a brawl and breaks the tank housing Doc's octopus collection. To make amends, they decide to make him a present of a microscope, but mistakenly purchase a telescope instead.
A deeper mystery revolves around why Doc stays in Cannery Row. Suzy discovers that Doc was once a professional baseball pitcher but quit.
Another character, Maxie Baker - known locally as "The Seer" - spends his days playing his trumpet on the beach. He depends on the gifts that mysteriously appear, such as groceries. Suzy eventually learns that the Seer is a former baseball player whom Doc injured with a pitch to the head; Doc has been looking after him. Doc and Suzy ultimately find love.
Cast
- Nick Nolte as Doc Eddie Daniels
- Debra Winger as Suzy DeSoto
- Audra Lindley as Fauna
- M. Emmet Walsh as Mack
- Tom Mahoney as Hughie
- John Malloy as Jones
- James Keane as Eddie
- Sunshine Parker as Maxie "The Seer" Baker
- Rosanna DeSoto as Ellen Sedgewick
- Frank McRae as Hazel
- Santos Morales as Joseph and Mary
- Anne Lockhart as Barmaid
- John Huston as Narrator
Production
Reception
Critical reception
In his two-and-a-half star review, Chicago Sun-Times film critic Roger Ebert wrote of the film: "The movie is almost always good to look at, thanks to Richard MacDonald's sets (he linked together two giant sound stages) and Sven Nykvist's photography. And Nolte and Winger are almost able to make their relationship work, if only it didn't seem scripted out of old country songs and lonely hearts columns. It's tough to pull off a movie like this, in the semi-cynical 1980s (it would have been impossible in the truly cynical seventies). I guess we no longer believe in the essential heroism of the little guy, and in the proposition that anyone can succeed with a little luck."[8] Vincent Canby of The New York Times dubbed the film 'precious nonsense' and felt it was a poor adaptation of Steinbeck.[9] Variety praised Nolte and Winger's performance, but felt the material wasn't up to them.[10]
Cannery Row holds a 71% rating on Rotten Tomatoes film review aggregator based on 7 reviews by critics.[11]
MGM reaction
MGM head of production David Begelman later said he should not have greenlit the film, saying it "was beyond the reach of the filmmaker to realise the wonderful, wonderful values he had in a brilliant script."[1]
References
- ^ a b c Boyer, Peter; Pollock, Dale (28 March 1982). "MGM-UA AND THE BIG DEBT". Los Angeles Times. p. 11.
- ISBN 978-0140177381.
- ISBN 978-0670686865.
- ^ Caulfield, Deborah (28 June 1986). "Welch Licks Wounds Of Battle". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 3 April 2016.
- ^ Murphy, Kim (25 June 1986). "Raquel Welch Awarded $10.8 Million Over Firing". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 3 April 2016.
- ^ Higgins, Bill (10 December 2015). "Hollywood Flashback: When Raquel Welch, Fired and Replaced by an Actress 15 Years Younger, Sued MGM (and Won)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 3 April 2016.
- ^ (1983-12-01). Spotlight on filming in SD County. Daily Times-Advocate, 52, 56-57.
- ^ Ebert, Roger. Chicago Sun-Times film review, January 1, 1982. Accessed: June 22, 2013.
- ^ Canby, Vincent (12 February 1982). "The Fanciful Dropouts on 'Cannery Row'". The New York Times.
- ^ "Cannery Row". January 1982.
- ^ "Cannery Row". Rotten Tomatoes.
External links
- Cannery Row at IMDb
- Cannery Row at Rotten Tomatoes
- Cannery Row at AllMovie
- Cannery Row at the TCM Movie Database
