Alice's Restaurant (1969)

Watch something else. There are very few redeeming qualities to this film.

Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Except for the bloody politician's war in Vietnam, I still have some affection for the '60's. The period was certainly a liberating experience from the uptight 1950's. However, viewed now apart from the hype of the time, Penn's movie has not worn well at all. It does convey something of the communal spirit of the day; plus the sweet-faced Guthrie has an appropriately congenial screen presence. But too many passages now seem pointlessly meandering, having lost whatever topicality they might have had. Another reviewer's comparison of the film with that of a home movie captures, I think, the basic flaw.Nonetheless, the movie manages a couple of amusingly revealing episodes. It's no surprise for the '60's, that both have to do with authority run amok. First the cops go to absurd lengths to convict Guthrie of littering, of all things; then in the film's highpoint, the tyrannical army- processing center treats him like a criminal. Though done satirically, each represents a popularly rebellious attitude of the time. Then too, unlike the rest of the film, the impact here is structured for effect. One other noteworthy point—it's no accident, I think, that it's a church the youngsters convert for their purposes. This can be understood as another subversion of authority by replacing the formal rules of authoritarian religion with those of the more easy-going humanism established by the communal restaurant. (At the same time, the sacramental wine of the former is replaced by a ceremonial joint that gets passed around.) Of course, without anything like formal rules, a downside is revealed once Alice ends up doing all the restaurant work, which the others happily shirk.The ending remains something of a puzzle. I take the forlorn bride (Alice) as a comment on the Hollywood cliché of 'they lived happily ever after'. Shrewdly, Penn doesn't want to leave us with the impression that a hippie ethic solves all social problems. Anyway, seeing the movie now, I realize how far into obscurity it has sunk after the big splash it made on initial release. For a much more entertaining and insightful glimpse of the period, check out Hal Ashby's mordant black comedy Harold and Maude (1972).

This is such a beautiful movie. In some ways, Arthur Penn was truly the cinematic voice of the '60s, at least in America. The decade was a mass of contradictions, and, no, I don't think I'm the first to say that. In the face of Vietnam, racism, and political division, young people everywhere suddenly pulled together, until drugs pulled them apart. The casualties weren't all on the battle fields of Southeast Asia, as Penn and Herndon's screenplay aptly demonstrates. Comedy and tragedy go hand in hand in this adaptation of Arlo Guthrie's simple-minded (yet edgy) song. I can still recall the chill I felt at Shelly's funeral--"Songs for Aging Children," indeed! But this is really Alice and Ray's story. Drugs may have been the Trojan Horse that ultimately destroyed the movement, but the sexual revolution put the troops in disarray. It's fine to say that we are free, even in marriage, but somebody always suffers. The iconic final scene, of Alice in her wedding dress standing at the church door, is a haunting reminder of the ambivalence we all felt at the end of the '60s. And what a memorable performance from Pat Quinn!

A moment in the life of a folk singer, Arlo(Arlo Guthrie)who spends time trying to make it in the music biz by doing the bar scene while also frequenting at a hippie commune/restaurant derived from a former Catholic church. His many numerous acquaintances are a major part of this story as we get to know those who hang around the commune. Arlo also pays visits to his ailing father, Woody. We see the humor, tragedy, and response towards living the hippie lifestyle.Alice(Pat Quinn, who is simply delightful)runs the kitchen at the commune often tired of her man, Ray's(James Broderick)constant decisions to bring more and more off the street for her to cook for. She's the surrogate mother for those that choose this way of living, but often yearns for more. The tragic element of the film is Shelly(Michael McClanathan), a young man trying endlessly to kick a nasty drug habit and loved almost as a son by Ray & Alice. We see in a love-making scene that Alice also cares for him sexually. They try their damnedest to keep him off the pipe, but seeing the agony of that decision leads us to believe it's only a matter of time before he caves in.Through Arlo's narration, we get some witty interludes such as the "littering" sequence where Deputy Obie(William Obanhein)obsessively goes completely by the rules in exact, hilarious detail. The sequence where Arlo goes in for his numerous tests to see if he's fit for Vietnam is also quite funny(in that sequence, there's a hilarious cameo from a young E Emmet Walsh as a fast-talking test-giver).But, the film depicts the characters and dialogue with such richness, intelligence, and heart..there isn't a false note amongst the cast. The film's subject matter and portrait of this lifestyle rings true. The narration is marvelous and the film keeps that tone pretty much throughout.

This excellent film was written by my late screen writing teacher Venable Herndon, but I saw it and fell in love with it long before I took his class. It manages to be both good humored and effortlessly profound at the same time. The recruitment scenes are hysterically funny. I miss movies with this laid-back quality. A lot of people are adverse to this type of loose narrative structure, but since almost every flick and TV show has such a rigid structure why can't the rest of us have a couple of films to ourselves. The final shot of Alice's Restaurant with all its beautiful ambiguity has affected me more than the final shot of the "Searchers" every time I've seen it. It manages to celebrate something and take it with a grain of salt at the same time. Hurrah for the director of photography!A beautiful trip all round.