Alice's Restaurant [Blu-ray]

Director: Arthur Penn Arthur Penn

Overview

Intrigued by the counterculture tale of Arlo Guthrie's epic 1968 talking-blues record "The Alice's Restaurant Massacree," director Arthur Penn, co-scripting with playwright Venable Herndon, adapted the song into the 1969 feature Alice's Restaurant. Hippie outsider Arlo (Guthrie, playing himself) encounters suspicion from the straight world; visits his dying father, renowned leftist activist/singer Woody Guthrie (Joseph Boley), in the hospital along with friend Pete Seeger; and hangs out in the title converted church/commune created by his friends Alice (Pat Quinn) and her husband Ray (James Broderick). After Alice's "Thanksgiving dinner that couldn't be beat," Arlo is arrested for littering by rule-following Officer "Obie" Obanhein (William Obanhein, playing himself). That littering arrest helps Arlo avoid the Vietnam draft, but the commune is threatened after more personal, old-fashioned conflicts over sex and partnerships permeate Alice and Ray's alternative world.

Product Details

Release Date:	03/31/2015
UPC:	0887090095006
Original Release:	1969
Rating:	R
Source:	Olive
Presentation:	[Wide Screen]
Sound:	[DTS 5.1-Channel Surround Sound]
Language:	English
Time:	1:51:00
Sales rank:	13,515

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Arlo Guthrie	Arlo Guthrie,Composer
Patricia Quinn	Alice Brock,Alice
James Broderick	Ray Brock
Michael McClanathan	Shelly
Geoff Outlaw	Roger Crowther
Tina Chen	Marichan
Kathleen Dabney	Karin
William Obanhein	Officer Obie
Seth Allan	Evangelist
Monroe Arnold	Bluegrass
Joseph Boley	Woody
Pete Seeger	Himself
Vinette Carroll	Lady Clerk
Sylvia Davis	Marjorie
Simm Landres	Jacob
Eulalie Noble	Ruth
Louis Beachner	Dean
MacIntyre Dixon	lst Deconsecration Minister
Pierce Middleton	2nd Deconsecration Minister
Donald Marye	Funeral Director
Shelley Plimpton	Reenie
M. Emmet Walsh	Group W Sergeant
Lee Hays	Himself
Ron Weyand	1st Cop
Eleanor Wilson	Landlady,Landlady
Simon Deckard	Medic
Thomas De Wolfe	Waiter
James Hannon	Himself
Graham Jarvis	Music Teacher
John Quill	2nd Cop
Frank Simpson	Sergeant
Alice Brock	Suzy
Judge James Hannon	Himself
Garry Sherman	Composer

Technical Credits

Arthur Penn

Venable Herndon

Arthur Penn	Director,Screenwriter
Venable Herndon	Screenwriter
Hillard Elkins	Producer
Joe Manduke	Producer,Producer

Editorial Reviews

Eschewing Hollywood polish, director Arthur Penn's loose narrative and partial use of non-professional actors in this feature meshed with a new youth culture predicated on rejecting convention. Like Penn's Bonnie and Clyde before it, Alice's Restaurant delved into rebellion against the establishment, but Penn keeps an eye on its potential limitations even as Arlo Guthrie and the commune live out its possibilities. The military-industrial complex may not prevail this time, but the communards and their protector are not necessarily any better off. Released the same year as the anti-establishment smash Easy Rider, Alice's Restaurant also became a hit (although not quite of the same magnitude). With its authentic counterculture milieu, down-home style, and narrative mix of drama, music, commentary, and comic satire, the film is at once a time capsule of the late '60s and a more timeless story of youthful idealism and adult compromise.

All Movie Guide - Lucia Bozzola