Health (film)
HealtH | |
---|---|
20th Century-Fox | |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 105 min. |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | US$6 million[2]: 84 |
HealtH (also known as Health[3] and H.E.A.L.T.H.)[4] is a 1980 American ensemble comedy film, the fifteenth feature project from director Robert Altman. It stars Carol Burnett, Glenda Jackson, James Garner, Lauren Bacall, and Paul Dooley, and was written by Altman, Dooley and Frank Barhydt.[5] The film's title is an acronym for "Happiness, Energy, and Longevity through Health".
A parody and satire of the U.S. political scene of the time, HealtH is set at a
personalities of the time, are mentioned prominently in the film.HealtH was made by Robert Altman's company, Lion's Gate Films (no relation to
Plot
Bearing similarities to Altman's 1975 film : 113
On the first day of the conference, The Steinettes (a female quartet dressed in green and yellow) introduce Dick Cavett, who is hosting his show on location and covering the details of the event.[9] He interviews Gloria Burbank and Esther Brill, two of the candidates competing for the new Presidency of the HealtH organization. Burbank, a White House representative, has been sent to this venue on the President of the United States' behalf. Later that day at the hotel lounge, Burbank's ex-husband[8]: 113 Harry Wolff plans to reschedule the Cavett interview, due to difficulties with Brill during her profile. The moment Burbank heads to her room, Gil Gainey (a minor candidate) stops her and debates on the worth of her strategy.
On the morning of the second day, several conventioneers notice a seemingly dead body sunk to the bottom of the pool from their balconies. Harry Wolff and the President's advisor on health, Gloria Burbank, are chatting by the deep end of the pool. Gloria then dives into the pool, not realizing there is a body floating on the bottom. As she approaches it, she finally sees it and screams in fear, heading back to the surface. Some other men dive in to rescue the drowned body, but it turns out that Gainey had been using an oxygen tank in order to play a publicity stunt.[8]: 113
That night, Garnell announces a serious message from the top of the hotel through her loudspeaker; many guests take notice, and some complain. Around that time, a businessperson named Colonel Cody arrives at the conference, and heads to Garnell's room to interrogate and find out her plans.
Next morning, Harry finds out that Burbank is beginning to support Garnell, and thinks that this is not right. Later on, while discussing
After another discussion with Brill, Burbank enters the empty convention hall, where Cody interrupts her. He finds her title, and the ideals of the HealtH organization, worthless. Ashamed and in tears, Burbank is shocked that he controls not only HealtH, but also the ongoing election; he even plans to
On the fourth and final day, the results of the HealtH election are announced live on Cavett's show, and Esther Brill comes out as the victor. Burbank and her ex-husband watch on from their balcony outside, and also take a glimpse at Cody proposing an offer to Brill. Some time later, Cody, who turns out to be her harmless nut brother, gets into a fit of anger, knocking down everything in his path, and demands to get away immediately.
With the HealtH convention over, another one involving hypnotists is taking root at the hotel.[10]: 385 Before he and the candidates leave, Cavett briefly greets Dinah Shore,[11]: 476 the host on hand for this event.[10]: 385 As the HealtH sign is taken down in front of the hotel, the Steinettes perform a Broadway-style show tune that closes the film.
Cast
Name | Character | Description | Source |
---|---|---|---|
Carol Burnett | Gloria Burbank | A candidate for the HealtH election, and a White House representative. She becomes sexually aroused whenever she is frightened.[10]: 383 Burnett appeared in another Altman film, 1979's A Wedding.[12] |
[11]: 476, 612 |
Lauren Bacall | Esther Brill | An 83-year-old virgin[8]: 113 [10]: 383 who is the most popular pick for the election; her motto is "Feel Yourself".[10]: 383 Suffering from narcolepsy, she drifts into sleep every time she tries finishing a sentence, and also believes that orgasms shorten a woman's life by 28 days.[10]: 383 | |
Glenda Jackson | Isabella Garnell | Brill's rival in the HealtH campaign,[10]: 383 she borrows her speeches from Illinois governor Adlai Stevenson[8]: 113 and commits her thoughts to a tape recorder.[10]: 383 | |
James Garner | Harry Wolff | Gloria Burbank's ex-husband,[8]: 113 and Esther Brill's campaign manager.[10]: 383 | |
Paul Dooley | Dr. Gil Gainey | A salesperson for "Vita-Sea", a powdered kelp product.[8]: 113 Twice in the film, he pretends to drown in a pool in order to receive publicity, after his part in the campaign gets little attention.[10]: 383 His character is similar to John Triplette in Altman's Nashville.[8]: 113
Dooley co-scripted HealtH along with Altman and Barhydt.[4]: 82 | |
Henry Gibson | Bobby Hammer | Specializes in dirty tricks in the political field. transsexual, he disguises himself as a female navy officer.[4] : 82
| |
Alfre Woodard | Sally Benbow | An African-American, and the hotel's public relations director.[10]: 383 At one point in the film, she observes that the convention's guests may not be as healthy as they seem. | |
Donald Moffat | Colonel Cody | A businessperson who claims to own not only the convention, but the government as well.[10]: 384 He is actually Esther Brill's brother, Lester.[4]: 82 | |
Dick Cavett | Himself | A talk show host at hand for the coverage of the HealtH events. | |
Dinah Shore | Herself | Appears at the end of the film in a small cameo, as she prepares for a hypnotists' convention.[10]: 385 | |
Nancy Foster | Gilda Hoffintz | A Jewish model who is also Bobby Hammer's girlfriend | |
Nathalie Blossom | The Steinettes | An a cappella quartet from Greenwich Village, New York,[13]: 1-D who are dressed in different outfits during the convention. Gerard Plecki calls their songs "ironic commentary on the health crisis implied in the film".[8]: 113 | |
Julie Janney | |||
Patty Katz | |||
Diane Shaffer |
Production
Under the supervision of
In response to the diminishing box office returns of his last three efforts (
To capture the authenticity of the convention in the movie, art director Bob Quinn and co-writer Frank Barhydt visited an actual one in Boston, Massachusetts before shooting.[12] Over one hundred health food companies contributed to the set.[12] One of them, Sovex Granola, participated during the shoot; their scenes did not make it into the finished film, but they received end-credit billing.[16]
Robert Altman was known to wear different hats on every new production of his;: 486
Garner recalled "we had a lot of fun making it... I loved Bob Altman."[19]
A short while after HealtH finished production, producer
Release
Distributor 20th Century-Fox originally planned HealtH for a Christmas 1979 release.[21] But by the time editing was complete,[20]: 17 a change of management took place at the studio,[1][11]: 474 and Alan Ladd, Jr. was among those to leave;[4]: 84 as a result, Fox shelved the film. After canceling plans for a March debut in January 1980,[22] they moved it to their summer schedule;[20]: 17 Altman's strategy was to have the film released in time for that year's presidential campaign.[1][6][20]: 19
Before that could take place, the company's new president, Norman B. Levy, planned an April 1980 run in
Save for Sherry Lansing, who loved the film, Robert Altman had a fallout with Fox personnel over their handling of HealtH.[2][23] After filming Popeye, Altman tried to contact Norman Levy on its status. The filmmaker complained, "[Levy] didn't return my phone calls for seven weeks. That's just basic rudeness. I don't think he knows what a movie is anyway."[2] Moreover, he said of the studio's distribution unit: "Norman Levy and the rest are scum. [...] They're not interested in movies. They're interested in ski lifts and Coca-Cola."[2]
Amid this situation, Altman began to distribute HealtH on his own[10]: 329–330 by taking it to the film festival circuit.[8]: 115 The comedy was screened at the Montreal World Film Festival in August 1980,[24] and later appeared at Telluride[2]: 84 and Venice.[8]: 115 Of the response at those venues, the director said: "It has a love-hate reaction—but what's wrong with that?"[2]: 84
By September 1980, the festival exposure prompted 20th Century-Fox to hold over a month
On March 7, 1981, a 16 mm print of HealtH was shown at the facilities of Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois.[28] The film also received a screening in Baltimore, Maryland, on March 28.[20]: 17 On April 7, 1982, it received its official cinema opening[21] at the Film Forum 1 in New York City.[1]
The film was released in at least two European markets: in Germany under the title Der Gesundheitskongress,[29] and in the United Kingdom, where prints ran a few minutes longer than the original U.S. cut.[4]: 131, 135
HealtH aired on the Philadelphia-based
Reception
On the day of the film's Los Angeles opening on September 12, 1980, a review from Charles Champlin of the Los Angeles Times described the film as "essentially a revue sketch, giving the boys and girls of the chorus a chance to dress up funny and mill about. All a revue sketch needs is a thin premise, a point of view and an exit line. But having only one out of three won't make it for a movie." He concluded, "If indeed Altman weren't so original and so talented, an indulgent mess like HealtH would merely be another unsuccessful film in a bad year. It is instead mournful and exasperating in about equal measure."[33]
At the time of the Film Forum premiere, The New York Times' Vincent Canby wrote: "HealtH is, I suppose, a mess, but it is a glorious one in the recognizable manner of a major film maker who sometimes gets carried away—by his subject, by his own enthusiasms and those of his actors, and by the collaborative creative process he loves. As do so many of his films, HealtH gives one the feeling of being on a nonstop party with the people who made it." He added that it "is no masterpiece, but it is one of the most appealing entertainments that Mr. Altman has ever put together".[1] In a later article, he declared: "HealtH deserves to be seen by anyone interested in the career of this most eccentric and unpredictable of contemporary American film directors."[23]
Gene Siskel of the Chicago Tribune called it "a pretty bad movie" and "anemic. Altman sets himself up as superior to his insipid characters, laughs at them, and invites us to do likewise. That's not much of an achievement."[28] Leonard Maltin gave HealtH two stars out of four in his Movie Guide, and added: "Non-Altman fans may love this more than devotees; Woodard steals the film—no easy feat considering that incredible cast—as [the] hotel's ultra-patient manager."[3] Halliwell's Film Guide referred to it as a "zany satirical all-star romp on the lines of A Wedding but by no means as likeable or laughable, considering its cast, as it should be".[34] The Film Bulletin called it a "misfired satire", and commented that its "major stars [...] are otherwise wasted".[35]
In a 1985 book on Altman, Gerard Plecki called HealtH "a humorous companion piece to Nashville", adding that it "was certainly a major improvement over his two previous films".[8]: 113 In regards to the studio shelving the film, Plecki remarked that it "certainly deserved mass marketing and a large promotion campaign".[4]: 115
On June 12, 1982, U.S. President Ronald Reagan screened the film at Camp David during stormy weather. In his diaries that day, he called it "the world's worst movie".[36] On the other hand, director Martin Scorsese named it one of the "85 Films You Need to See to Know Anything about Film".[37]
Themes
Since its release, HealtH has been viewed as a parody, and satire, of the U.S. political scene at the time of its filming;[3][6] critic Daniel O'Brien also noticed "the parallels between the [HealtH] election and the U.S. Presidency explicitly spelt out (several times)" in the film.[4]: 82 In his book A Cinema of Loneliness, Robert Phillip Kolker stressed this aspect, writing that "Altman creates a world that is a parody of a political phenomenon that is itself already a parody of show business, for political conventions always mediate the realities of power with the signifiers of spectacle. [HealtH] is, finally, a representation of a representation."[10]: 384
Kolker also observed Altman's use of the carnivalesque, a style from Russian critic Mikhail Bakhtin that the filmmaker employed in many of his productions.[10]: 382 O'Brien called this the film's "strongest asset [...], complete with hucksters and suckers (a handy metaphor for most aspects of American society".[4]: 84
In Kolker's words, HealtH is "a hilarious documentation of politics and culture at the end of the Carter era when passivity began to disguise itself as self-satisfaction and marginal interests requested majority attention".[10]: 382 The convention in the film "becomes a small mirror of larger political follies, of silly, self-serving people so convinced of their importance that they take for granted the fact that major significance attends their ridiculous activities".[10]: 382
O'Brien noted that in HealtH, "most of the main characters exhibit the expected Altman eccentricites", including the candidates in the election. "All this comes across as a little forced," he continued, "recalling the random weirdness of Brewster McCloud rather than the carefully etched idiosyncrasies of The Long Goodbye or Three Women."[4]: 84 Moreover, someone says "Hit it!" just before the convention band replaces the opening Fox fanfare.[10]: 384
See also
References
- ^ a b c d e f g Canby, Vincent (1982-04-07). "Robert Altman's Satire 'HealtH'". New York Times. The New York Times Company. p. C19. Retrieved 2010-04-28.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Wolf, William (1980-11-17). "The Filmmaker as Houdini". New York. 13 (45). New York Media LLC. Retrieved 2010-04-29.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-451-22186-5.
- ^ ISBN 0-8264-0791-9.
- Time Warner). Retrieved October 24, 2016.
- ^ ISBN 0-8166-3790-3. Retrieved 2010-04-28.
Robert Altman's HealtH.
- ^ ISBN 1-57806-187-3.
- ^ ISBN 0-8057-9303-8.
- ^ Ebert, Roger (1979-05-19). "Altman's new film: It's very healthy". The Spokesman-Review. p. 41. Retrieved 2010-05-01.
- ^ ISBN 0-19-512350-6.
- ^ ISBN 0-312-30467-6.
- ^ a b c d e f Huisking, Charles (1979-02-23). "Regarding Robert Altman's 'Health'". Sarasota Herald-Tribune. p. 1-C. Retrieved 2010-05-01.
- ^ St. Petersburg Times. Retrieved 2010-05-01.
- ^ a b Ross, Robert Alan (1981-02-13). "Altman's anemic 'HEALTH' shown on cable television". St. Petersburg Times. p. 3D. Retrieved 2010-05-01.
- ^ McLeod, Michael J. (1979-04-29). "Altman in a State of 'HealtH'". Los Angeles Times. p. N1. Retrieved 2010-04-30.
- ISBN 1-58333-241-3. Retrieved 2010-05-01.
- ISBN 978-0-307-26768-9. Retrieved 2010-05-01.
hat.
- ^ Knight News Service (1979-04-29). "A Day in the Life of Robert Altman, Director". Lakeland Ledger. p. 5E. Archived from the original on 2012-07-14. Retrieved 2010-04-30.
- ^ Garner, James; Winokur, Jon (2011). The Garner Files: A Memoir. Simon & Schuster. p. 259.
- ^ ISBN 0-7914-6156-4.
- ^ a b c d Hall, Phil (2008-07-25). "Bootleg Files 243: "HealtH"". Film Threat. Hamster Stampede LLC. Retrieved 2010-04-30.
- ^ Beck, Marilyn (1980-01-23). "What they're doing to 'Health' probably makes Altman sick". Chicago Tribune. p. B7. Retrieved 2010-04-30.
- ^ a b Canby, Vincent (1982-04-18). "Film View; Robert Altman—An Endangered Species". New York Times. p. D17. Retrieved 2010-04-30.
- ^ "FILM FESTIVALS...some good, some bad, some special". The Sherbrooke Forum. 1980-08-29. p. Forge 11. Retrieved 2010-04-30.
- ^ "CALENDAR". Los Angeles Times. 1980-09-14. p. T37. Archived from the original on 2012-10-26. Retrieved 2010-04-30.
- ^ Beck, Marilyn (1980-09-01). "Film clips (Beck on Hollywood personalities)". St. Petersburg Times. p. 3D. Retrieved 2010-04-30.
- ^ Associated Press (AP) (1980-09-30). "Robert Altman's latest film is in ill health". Tri-City Herald. p. Ent. 11. Retrieved 2010-04-30.
- ^ a b Siskel, Gene (1981-03-15). "Poor 'Health' gets strange but robust local premiere". Chicago Tribune. p. D12. Retrieved 2010-04-30.
- ISBN 3-9806528-3-1. Retrieved 2010-05-10.
- ^ Wyatt, Justin (1996). "Economic Constraints/Economic Opportunities: Robert Altman as Auteur". Velvet Light Trap. n/a. Archived from the original on 2016-03-06.
- ^ Flander, Judy (1983-08-16). "TV highlights: Burnett, the triple threat". Chicago Tribune. p. B5. Retrieved 2010-05-06.
- News Corporation). Archived from the originalon 2010-11-29. Retrieved 2010-05-01.
- ^ Champlin, Charles (September 12, 1980). "Altman's 'Health' Arrives". Los Angeles Times. Part VI, p. 8-9.
- ISBN 978-0-00-726080-5.
- ^ "HealtH". Film Bulletin. 49. Wax Publications. 1980. Retrieved 2010-05-10.
- ISBN 978-0-00-726305-9.
- ^ "Martin Scorsese's Film School: The 85 Films You Need to See to Know Anything About Film". 24 February 2012.
External links
- HealtH at IMDb
- H.E.A.L.T.H. at AllMovie