Alan Arkin takes over and the result is a star vehicle you can't see anywhere today
Carol Burnett seems wasted in this Melvin Simon production
As I mentioned, we’re going to be doing one film at a time for a while, and today’s movie is a title you can’t see, even if you’re curious. Why?
Well, read on and find out, as August 28, 1981 continues…
Chu Chu and the Philly Flash
Alan Arkin, Carol Burnett, Jack Warden, Danny Aiello, Adam Arkin, Danny Glover, Sid Haig, Vincent Schiavelli, Ruth Buzzi, Vito Scotti, Lou Jacobi, Barbara Dana, Scott Beach, Geoff Hoyle, Morgan Upton, Neile Adams, Tony Arkin, Francine Lembi, Dabbs Greer, John Steadman, Jerry Anderson, Arnold Johnson, Ray Reinhardt, Sammy Warren, Steven Hirsch, Jim Haynie, Eugene Choy, Ralph Chessé, Jennifer Ann Lee, Michael Grodenchik, Valerie Caplan, Matthew Hautau, Jeanne Lauren, Carl Arena, Daniel Forrest, Matthew Arkin, Addington Wise,
cinematography by Victor J. Kemper
music by Pete Rugolo and Maurice Jarre
screenplay by Barbara Dana
story by Henry Barrow
produced by Jay Weston
directed by David Lowell Rich
Rated PG
1 hr 32 mins
A homeless alcoholic and an insufferable street performer join forces to try to collect a reward for a missing briefcase.
When you have two stars as beloved as Alan Arkin and Carol Burnett starring in a comedy that hasn’t been released on any home video format since VHS, you have to wonder why. I think Arkin is a generally underrated film presence, and there are a number of his films that I hold dear. One of the first reviews I wrote when I decided to start publishing this newsletter was the review of Simon, a very odd little Arkin vehicle that I like quite a bit. This film was important to him, which makes it hard to dismiss completely, but passion does not always result in a good movie.
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