A Boy and His Dog (1975 film)

Last updated

A Boy and His Dog
1976 movie poster for the movie 'a boy and his dog'.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by L.Q. Jones
Screenplay byL.Q. Jones
Based on A Boy and His Dog
by Harlan Ellison
Produced by Alvy Moore
Starring
CinematographyJohn Arthur Morrill
Edited by Scott Conrad
Music by
Production
company
LQ/Jaf Productions
Distributed byLQ/Jaf Productions
Release dates
  • March 15, 1975 (1975-03-15)(Filmex Festival, Los Angeles) [1]
Running time
91 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$400,000

A Boy and His Dog is a 1975 American black comedy science fiction film directed by actor L. Q. Jones, from a screenplay by Jones based on the 1969 novella of the same title by fantasy author Harlan Ellison. [2] The film stars Don Johnson, Susanne Benton, Alvy Moore, and Jason Robards. It was independently produced and distributed by Jones' company LQ/Jaf Productions. The film's storyline concerns a teenage boy, Vic, and his telepathic dog, Blood, who work together as a team in order to survive in the dangerous post-apocalyptic wasteland of the Southwestern United States. Shout! Factory released the film on DVD and Blu-ray in August 2013. [3]

Contents

Plot

In the post-nuclear war United States of 2024, Vic is an 18-year-old boy, born in and scavenging throughout the wasteland of the former southwestern United States. Vic is most concerned with food and sex; having lost his parents, he has no formal education and does not understand ethics or morality. He is accompanied by a well-read, misanthropic, telepathic dog named Blood, who helps him find women to rape, in exchange for which Vic finds food for the dog. Blood cannot forage for himself due to the same genetic engineering that granted him telepathy. The two steal for a living, evading bands of raiders, berserk military androids and mutants. Blood and Vic have an occasionally antagonistic relationship (Blood frequently annoys Vic by calling him "Albert," after the wholesome writer about dogs Albert Payson Terhune), though they realize that they need each other to survive. Blood wishes to find the legendary promised land of "Over the Hill" where above-ground utopias are said to exist, though Vic believes that they must make the best of what they have.

Searching a bunker for a woman for Vic to rape, they find one but she has already been severely mutilated and is on the verge of death. Vic displays no pity. He is merely angered by the "wastefulness" of such an act, as well as disgusted by the thought of satisfying his urges with a woman in such a condition. They move on, only to find slavers excavating another bunker. Vic steals several cans of their food, later using them to barter for goods in a nearby shanty town.

That evening, while watching old vintage stag films at a local outdoor "cinema", Blood claims to smell a woman, and the pair track her to a large underground warehouse. There, Vic attempts to rape Quilla June Holmes, a scheming and seductive teenage girl from Downunder, a society in a large underground settlement. Unknown to the pair, Quilla June's father, Lou Craddock, had sent her above ground to "recruit" surface dwellers. Blood takes an instant dislike to her, but Vic ignores him. After Vic saves Quilla June from raiders and mutants, they have repeated sex. Eventually, she secretly returns to her underground society. Enticed by the thought of more women and sex, Vic follows her, despite Blood's warnings. Blood remains on the surface at Downunder's portal.

Downunder has an artificial biosphere, complete with forests and a city, which is named Topeka after the ruins of the destroyed city that it lies beneath. The city is ruled by a triumvirate known as the Committee, who have shaped Topeka into a bizarre caricature of pre-nuclear war United States, with all residents wearing whiteface and clothes evocative of rural United States prior to World War II. When Vic is told that he has been brought to Topeka to help fertilize the female population, he is elated to learn of his "stud" value. His joy is short-lived, when he is informed that Topeka meets its need for exogamous reproduction by electroejaculation and artificial insemination, which will deny him the sexual pleasure that he had envisioned. People who refuse to comply with the Committee are sent off to "the farm" and never seen again, as they are murdered. Vic is informed that when his semen has been used to impregnate 35 women, he will also be sent to "the farm".

Quilla June helps Vic escape only because she wants him to kill the Committee members and destroy their android enforcer, Michael, so that she can usurp their power. Vic has no interest in politics or remaining underground. He only wants to return to Blood and the wasteland. The rebellion is quashed by Michael, who crushes the heads of Quilla June's co-conspirators before Vic disables him. She proclaims her "love" for Vic and wants to escape to the surface with him—now that her rebellion has been quashed, and the Committee has decreed that she will be sent to the farm.

On the surface, Vic and Quilla June discover that Blood is starving and near death. She pleads with Vic to abandon Blood, forcing him to face his true feelings. Vic decides that his loyalties lie with his dog. Off-camera, Vic murders Quilla June and cooks her flesh so that Blood can eat and survive. Blood thanks Vic for the food, and they both comment on Quilla June. Vic says that it was her fault that she followed him, while Blood wryly jokes that she had marvelous judgment but did not have particularly good "taste". The boy and his dog continue to talk as they walk off together into the wasteland.

Cast

Production

Harlan Ellison wrote the original novella A Boy and His Dog and began an adaptation for film. In an interview, Harlan Ellison said: "When he [Blood] calls Vic 'Al' or 'Albert', he is referring to the Albert Payson Terhune dog stories, whereas a traditional boy and his dog relationship is turned upside down in this movie." [5] [6] After Ellison encountered writer's block, actor/director L. Q. Jones came onboard to write the script. Jones' own company, LQ/Jaf Productions (L.Q. Jones & Friends), independently produced the film. Distributors initially were reluctant to finance the production, so Jones raised $400,000 through family and business associates. [7] The film was shot at Pacific Ocean Park in Venice, California, and on location around Barstow, California [1] and Coyote Dry Lake in the Mojave Desert.

James Cagney's voice was considered as the voice of Blood, but was dropped because it would have been too recognizable and prove to be a distraction. [8] Eventually, after going through approximately 600 auditions, they settled on Tim McIntire, a veteran voice actor who also did most of the music for the film. Ray Manzarek (misspelled in the film credits as "Manzarec"), formerly of The Doors, was also among those credited for the score. McIntire sang the main theme. Bolivian composer Jaime Mendoza-Nava provided the music for the Topeka underground segment.

Reception

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a 78% approval rating based on 36 reviews, with an average rating of 6.6/10. The site's consensus states: "An offbeat, eccentric black comedy, A Boy and His Dog features strong dialogue and an oddball vision of the future". [9] On Metacritic the film has a score of 68% based on reviews from 10 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". [10]

Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film 2.5 stars out of a possible 4, writing that Ellison's novella "seemed almost to defy filming" but nonetheless Jones managed to offer "a sort of wacky success". [11] Richard Eder of The New York Times wrote that the realistic world set up in the beginning and the underground community introduced later "don't really work together; their contrast, and a ridiculous ending, shatter the picture. And the talking dog chews up the pieces". [12] Variety called the film "a turkey" and "an amateurish blend of redneck humor, chaotic fight scenes, and dimwitted philosophizing". [13] Gene Siskel of the Chicago Tribune gave the film 1.5 stars out of 4 and wrote: "Rather than illuminate the present through a glance at a possible future, 'A Boy and His Dog' is simply a dim-witted collection of tired sex gags and anti-American imagery". [14] Charles Champlin of the Los Angeles Times praised the film as "an offbeat delight" with performances that "have that comfortable naturalness often detectable when an actor is directing other actors". [15] Gary Arnold of The Washington Post panned the film as a "shoddy, puerile science-fiction parable" that "mistakes juvenile facetiousness for wit and glorifies a juvenile concept of freedom, which means making it in the wild, away from such unmanly encumbrances as civilization and girls". [16]

The film was not commercially successful at its release. It has since become a cult film [17] and also inspired the video game series Fallout "on many levels, from underground communities of survivors to glowing mutants", according to Jess Heinig, a developer of the game. [18] On the film's DVD audio commentary, Jones states that Ellison was generally pleased with the film, with the exception of some lines of dialogue. Ellison particularly objected to the film's final line, which did not originate from his original short story, in which Blood said of Quilla, "Well, I'd say she certainly had marvelous judgement, Albert, if not particularly good taste". Ellison referred to it as a "moronic, hateful chauvinist last line, which I despise". [19] [20]

The film was controversial for alleged misogyny; the script included lines that were not in Ellison's original stories and that authors such as Joanna Russ, in her essay "A Boy and his Dog: The final solution," found to be objectionable. [21] Ellison did, however, accept that the ending remained popular with fans, saying: "I would have kept the original last line from the original story, which I think is much more human and beguiling than the sort of punchline that L.Q. Jones used. But L.Q. knew what he was doing in terms of the market, I suppose." [5] On the other hand, Harlan also loved the movie (as stated in an interview conversation with L.Q. Jones on the Shout Factory Blu-ray); [22] after Jones screened it to him, he said it was exactly what the story was supposed to be on screen. It was a few days after he brought up his problems, mostly concerning the way Blood talked about the girl during the locker room scene when they first meet.

Accolades

The film won the 1976 Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation at MidAmeriCon, the 34th World Science Fiction Convention in Kansas City, Missouri, located not far from the real Topeka, Kansas. [23] Johnson won the Golden Scroll for Best Actor, which was shared with James Caan for his performance in Rollerball . [24] In 2007, it ranked #96 on Rotten Tomatoes' "Journey Through Sci-Fi" (100 best-reviewed science fiction films). [25]

Legacy

According to L.Q. Jones, George Miller cited the 1975 film adaptation of A Boy and His Dog as an influence on the Mad Max films, particularly The Road Warrior (1981). [26] The poster for this film decorates the room that the Eli character in The Book of Eli is held in by the Carnegie character. The 2024 television series Fallout refers to the film via the in-universe movie A Man and His Dog.

Sequel

There were rumors regarding a sequel, but it never materialized. On the film's Blu-ray audio commentary, L.Q. Jones states that he had started to write a script sequel to the film that would have picked up where the first film ended and featured a female warrior named Spike, and we would have seen this world through the eyes of a female instead of a male (this happens in Ellison's story, Blood's a Rover, when Blood partners with Spike after the ostensible death of Vic). [22] Jones and Ellison reportedly collaborated on this short-lived effort, although Ellison said that such 'collaboration' never went beyond a short "what if?" conversation, and that any efforts were solely that of Jones.[ citation needed ]

According to Cult Movies 2, Jones had a sequel planned called A Girl and Her Dog, but the plan was scrapped when Tiger, the dog who portrayed Blood, died. In a December 2003 interview, Jones claimed that he had been repeatedly approached to make a sequel, but funding was always an issue. [27] In 2018, Ellison's teleplay featuring Spike — the girl in the proposed A Girl and Her Dog film — was finally published. Blood's a Rover by Harlan Ellison, a "fix-up" novel, consisting of "Eggsucker" and "Run Spot, Run", two short stories from the 1970s and 1980s, as well as "A Boy and His Dog" (Ellison's novella) and an unproduced teleplay from the 1970s, "Blood's a Rover", was published in a limited number of hardcovers. [28]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harlan Ellison</span> American writer (1934–2018)

Harlan Jay Ellison was an American writer, known for his prolific and influential work in New Wave speculative fiction and for his outspoken, combative personality. His published works include more than 1,700 short stories, novellas, screenplays, comic book scripts, teleplays, essays, and a wide range of criticism covering literature, film, television, and print media.

<i>A Boy and His Dog</i> Post-apocalyptic novella cycle by Harlan Ellison

A Boy and His Dog is a cycle of narratives by author Harlan Ellison. The cycle tells the story of an amoral boy (Vic) and his telepathic dog (Blood), who work together as a team to survive in the post-apocalyptic world after a nuclear war. The original 1969 novella was adapted into the 1975 film A Boy and His Dog directed by L.Q. Jones.

<i>The Salute of the Jugger</i> 1989 Australian film

The Salute of the Jugger is a 1989 post-apocalyptic film written and directed by David Webb Peoples, produced by Charles Roven, and starring Rutger Hauer, Joan Chen, and Vincent D'Onofrio. The film has inspired the creation of the sport Jugger.

<i>Creep</i> (2004 film) 2004 film

Creep is a 2004 horror film written and directed by Christopher Smith. The film follows a woman locked in the London Underground overnight. She later finds herself being stalked by a hideously deformed killer living in the sewers below. The film was first shown at the Frankfurt Fantasy Film festival in Germany on 10 August 2004.

<i>Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes</i> 1984 film by Hugh Hudson

Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes is a 1984 adventure film directed by Hugh Hudson based on Edgar Rice Burroughs' novel Tarzan of the Apes (1912). Christopher Lambert stars as Tarzan and Andie MacDowell as Jane; the cast also includes Ralph Richardson, Ian Holm, James Fox, Cheryl Campbell, and Ian Charleson.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">L. Q. Jones</span> American actor (1927–2022)

Justus Ellis McQueen Jr., known professionally as L. Q. Jones, was an American actor. He appeared in Sam Peckinpah's films Ride the High Country (1962), Major Dundee (1965), The Wild Bunch (1969), The Ballad of Cable Hogue (1970), and Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid (1973). His later film roles include Casino (1995), The Patriot, The Mask of Zorro (1998), and A Prairie Home Companion (2006).

<i>Silver Bullet</i> (film) 1985 film by Dan Attias

Silver Bullet is a 1985 American horror film based on the 1983 Stephen King novella Cycle of the Werewolf. It stars Gary Busey, Everett McGill, and Corey Haim, with Megan Follows, Terry O'Quinn, Lawrence Tierney, Bill Smitrovich, Kent Broadhurst, David Hart, and James Gammon in supporting roles. The film is directed by Dan Attias, written by King and produced by Martha De Laurentiis.

<i>Vamp</i> (film) 1986 film by Richard Wenk

Vamp is a 1986 American black comedy horror film directed by Richard Wenk, co-written by Wenk and Donald P. Borchers, and starring Chris Makepeace, Sandy Baron, Robert Rusler, Dedee Pfeiffer, Gedde Watanabe, and Grace Jones.

<i>Raw Deal</i> (1948 film) 1948 film by Anthony Mann

Raw Deal is a 1948 American film noir crime film directed by Anthony Mann and starring Dennis O'Keefe, Claire Trevor and Marsha Hunt. It was shot by cinematographer John Alton with sets designed by the art director Edward L. Ilou. An independent production by Edward Small, it was distributed by Eagle-Lion Films.

<i>Innocent Blood</i> (film) 1992 film by John Landis

Innocent Blood is a 1992 American black comedy horror film directed by John Landis and written by Michael Wolk. The film stars Anne Parillaud as a beautiful French vampire who finds herself pitted against a gang of mobsters led by Salvatore Macelli who eventually becomes a vampire and schemes to build a criminal syndicate of vampires.

<i>Ultraviolet</i> (film) 2006 film by Kurt Wimmer

Ultraviolet is a 2004 American science fiction action film written and directed by Kurt Wimmer and produced by Screen Gems. The film stars Milla Jovovich as Violet Song, Cameron Bright as Six, and Nick Chinlund as Ferdinand Daxus. It was released in North America on July 9, 2004, to negative reviews and performed poorly at the box office. The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray Disc on June 27, 2006.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Glynn Turman</span> American actor, writer, director (born 1947)

Glynn Turman is an American actor, director, writer, and producer. First coming to attention as a child actor in the original 1959 Broadway production of A Raisin in the Sun, Turman is known for his roles as Lew Miles on the prime-time soap opera Peyton Place (1968–1969), high school student Leroy "Preach" Jackson in the 1975 coming-of-age film Cooley High, math professor and retired Army colonel Bradford Taylor on the NBC sitcom A Different World (1988–1993), and Baltimore mayor Clarence Royce on the HBO drama series The Wire. He received the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series for his role on the HBO drama series In Treatment.

<i>Mad Dog Time</i> 1996 film by Larry Bishop

Mad Dog Time is a 1996 American ensemble crime comedy film written and directed by Larry Bishop and starring Ellen Barkin, Gabriel Byrne, Richard Dreyfuss, Jeff Goldblum and Diane Lane. The film is notable for the various cameo appearances, including the first film appearance by Christopher Jones in over a quarter-century.

<i>Georgia Rule</i> 2007 American film by Garry Marshall

Georgia Rule is a 2007 American comedy-drama film directed by Garry Marshall, written by Mark Andrus, and starring Jane Fonda, Lindsay Lohan, Felicity Huffman, Dermot Mulroney, Cary Elwes, and Garrett Hedlund. The original score was composed by John Debney.

<i>Lipstick</i> (1976 film) 1976 film by Lamont Johnson

Lipstick is a 1976 American rape and revenge thriller film directed by Lamont Johnson and starring Margaux Hemingway, Chris Sarandon, Perry King, and Anne Bancroft. Mariel Hemingway also has a supporting role as Margaux's onscreen sister. The film follows a fashion model who is raped by her teenage sister's music teacher. Upon his acquittal in court, he rapes her sister, leading her to enact a brutal revenge.

<i>Deathdream</i> 1974 film directed by Bob Clark

Deathdream is a 1974 horror film directed by Bob Clark and written by Alan Ormsby, and starring Richard Backus, John Marley, and Lynn Carlin. Filmed in Brooksville, Florida, it was inspired by the W. W. Jacobs short story "The Monkey's Paw".

A Boy and His Dog is a 1946 American Technicolor short drama film directed by LeRoy Prinz. It won an Oscar at the 19th Academy Awards in 1947 for Best Short Subject (Two-Reel).

Susanne Benton is a retired Canadian actress known for her film roles as General Dreedle's WAC in Catch-22 (1970) and Quilla June Holmes in A Boy and His Dog (1975). In 1972, she appeared in the Andy Griffith film The Strangers in 7A, credited under her birth name, Susanne Hildur. She also used that name when appearing in an episode of Barnaby Jones a year later in 1973.

<i>Sinister</i> (film) 2012 film by Scott Derrickson

Sinister is a 2012 American supernatural horror film directed by Scott Derrickson, and written by C. Robert Cargill and Derrickson. It stars Ethan Hawke as a struggling true-crime writer whose discovery of snuff films depicting gruesome murders and strange supernatural elements in his new house puts his family in danger. Juliet Rylance, Fred Thompson, James Ransone, Clare Foley, Michael Hall D'Addario, and Vincent D'Onofrio appear in supporting roles.

<i>The Last Movie Star</i> 2017 film by Adam Rifkin

The Last Movie Star is a 2017 American comedy-drama film written and directed by Adam Rifkin, and starring Burt Reynolds, Ariel Winter, Clark Duke, Ellar Coltrane and Chevy Chase.

References

  1. 1 2 "A Boy and His Dog - Details". AFI Catalog of Feature Films . American Film Institute . Retrieved December 24, 2018.
  2. ↑ "A Boy and His Dog (L.Q. Jones, 1975)". Vimeo.
  3. ↑ "Blu-ray Review: A Boy and his Dog". High-Def Digest. Retrieved January 19, 2014.
  4. 1 2 3 "A Boy and His Dog". Spectacle Theater.
  5. 1 2 Ragogna, Mike (August 13, 2013). "A Boy And His Dog: A Conversation with Harlan Ellison, Plus Exclusives from Gary Lucas, Donovan Woods and Balcony TV". HuffPost. Retrieved October 22, 2024.
  6. ↑ Robinson, Tasha (August 7, 2013). "Harlan Ellison on taking flak for, but admiring, A Boy And His Dog". The Dissolve. Retrieved October 22, 2024.
  7. ↑ "A Boy and His Dog". New Beverly Cinema . 2022. Retrieved February 6, 2022.
  8. ↑ "24 Things We Learned From the 'A Boy And His Dog' Commentary". Film School Rejects. August 15, 2013. Retrieved October 22, 2024.
  9. ↑ "A Boy and His Dog (1975)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media . Retrieved October 20, 2022.
  10. ↑ "A Boy and His Dog". Metacritic. Retrieved May 4, 2020.
  11. ↑ Ebert, Roger (March 30, 1976). "A Boy and His Dog movie review (1976)". Chicago Sun-Times.
  12. ↑ Eder, Richard (June 17, 1976). "Film: 'Boy and His Dog':L.Q. Jones Fantasizes a Postholocaust World". The New York Times. p. 32. Retrieved October 22, 2024.
  13. ↑ "Film Reviews: A Boy And His Dog". Variety . March 26, 1975. p. 32.
  14. ↑ Siskel, Gene (March 30, 1976). "'Boy and Dog' runs tired". Chicago Tribune. Section 3, p. 3.
  15. ↑ Champlin, Charles (October 10, 1975). "After the Dust Has Settled". Los Angeles Times. Part IV, p. 1.
  16. ↑ Arnold, Gary (July 14, 1975). "'Boy and His Dog' Trying to Survive". The Washington Post. p. B6.
  17. ↑ "Art House Science Fiction Films You Might Have Missed". Flavorwire.com. May 11, 2014.
  18. ↑ Fiegel, Michael (July 21, 2009). "Junktown Dog". The Escapist. Archived from the original on January 20, 2013. Retrieved July 29, 2011.
  19. ↑ Ellison, Harlan. "Ellison Webderland Bulletin Board Archives". harlanellison.com. Harlan Ellison. Archived from the original on August 13, 2006. Retrieved September 4, 2006.
  20. ↑ Ellison, Harlan; Corben, Richard (2003). Vic and Blood. Simon & Schuster. pp. 5–6.
  21. ↑ Russ, Joanna (Autumn 1975). "Review: "A Boy and His Dog": The Final Solution". Frontiers: A Journal of Women Studies. 1 (1). doi:10.2307/3346428. JSTOR   3346428.
  22. 1 2 Jones, L.Q. (director) (2013). A Boy and His Dog (Blu-ray). Shout Factory.
  23. ↑ "1976 Hugo Awards". The Hugo Award. July 26, 2007. Retrieved October 22, 2024.
  24. ↑ "Saturn Award Past Winners". Saturn Awards. Retrieved October 22, 2024.
  25. ↑ "RT's Journey Through Sci-Fi". Rotten Tomatoes. Archived from the original on June 19, 2013.
  26. ↑ Yamato, Jen (February 6, 2008). "LQ Jones on A Boy and His Dog: The RT Interview". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved March 30, 2021.
  27. ↑ "L.Q. Jones". Scifidimensions.com. 2003. Archived from the original on August 15, 2012. Retrieved January 19, 2014.
  28. ↑ Ellison, Harlan (2018). Blood's a Rover. Subterranean Press. ISBN   978-1596068681.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.