Alice's Restaurant
- Thread starter danmand
- Start date
O
OnTheWayOut
I could make the case that Hal Ashby was the best Writer/Director of the 70's. Look at the films he made:
Harold and Maude
The Last Detail
Shampoo
Coming Home
Being There
Perhaps the best of the lot is Bound For Glory, David Carradine broke away from Kung Fu to play Woody Guthrie.
Harold and Maude
The Last Detail
Shampoo
Coming Home
Being There
Perhaps the best of the lot is Bound For Glory, David Carradine broke away from Kung Fu to play Woody Guthrie.
Hal Ashby was a workaholic, to the detriment of his health. He didn't make it to his 60th Birthday.
A guilty pleasure of mine.
Between this and Carl Reiner's Where's Poppa, Ruth Gordon was in two of the best dark comedies ever.
Hal Ashby and Peter Sellers, a marriage made in Purgatory.
Ashby was bi-polar, although more manic than depressive. Sellers suffered from social anxiety all his life, he was only comfortable performing. Shampoo and Being There are two of the best political satires ever. Neither fared very well after Being There wrapped.
Arlo Guthrie had a very tough act to follow, Woody is considered an icon of American folk music, influencing Bob Dylan and Neil Young. Correct me if I'm wrong, I've only seen parts of Alice's Restaurant, does the film begin with Woody's passing?
Ashby was bi-polar, although more manic than depressive. Sellers suffered from social anxiety all his life, he was only comfortable performing. Shampoo and Being There are two of the best political satires ever. Neither fared very well after Being There wrapped.
Arlo Guthrie had a very tough act to follow, Woody is considered an icon of American folk music, influencing Bob Dylan and Neil Young. Correct me if I'm wrong, I've only seen parts of Alice's Restaurant, does the film begin with Woody's passing?
At a concert here in Michigan several years ago Arlo said that during the filming of the movie he and Obie (William Obanhein) became friends and the friendship lasted until Obie's death. Obie played himself in the movie. Another famous resident of Stockbridge Massachusetts was Norman Rockwell. Obie posed for a Rockwell drawing.
https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/norman-rockwell-original-drawing-515566754
In addition to being a fine songwriter, Arlo is one of the funniest story tellers you will ever hear. He said one of his most embarrassing moments was the time his teenage children rented the Woodstock video and made him watch it with them. Arlo performed at Woodstock but was so stoned he did not remember much about it. His kids asked questions like how come you fell off the stage?
Last time I saw him he said that Woody Guthrie left him over a thousand lyrics he had written down over the years. Arlo is giving Woody's best lyrics to songwriters he admires and asking them to write music for them. He sang one with music by Janis Ian. It was awesome.
Last time I saw him he said that Woody Guthrie left him over a thousand lyrics he had written down over the years. Arlo is giving Woody's best lyrics to songwriters he admires and asking them to write music for them. He sang one with music by Janis Ian. It was awesome.
