American Reel

Last updated
American Reel
Americanreeldvdcover.jpg
Directed by Mark Archer
Written by Junior Burke
Scott Fivelson
Produced byMark Archer
Scott Fivelson
Darrell Griffin
Jordan Rush
Starring David Carradine
Michael Maloney
Mariel Hemingway
Cinematography Tony Hettinger
Edited by George Kelly Jr.
Music by Thom Bishop
Distributed byLiberation Entertainment
Release date
1999
  • November 4, 2003 (2003-11-04)(DVD)
Running time
100 min.
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

American Reel is a 1999 drama film directed by Mark Archer and starring David Carradine, Michael Maloney, and Mariel Hemingway. Written by Junior Burke and Scott Fivelson, the film is set in Chicago, Illinois, though primary filming locations included Fort Wayne, Indiana, Waterloo, Indiana, and Hicksville, Ohio.

Contents

The film, which features Carradine singing five of his original songs, has been heralded as a "tailor-made" showcase of the late actor's little-known musical work. [1]

Synopsis

Country singer James Lee Springer (Carradine) has just become an overnight sensation—after 20 years of trying to make it by playing every honky-tonk west (and east) of the Big Muddy. But after so many years of waiting and hoping, the only question is whether it's all worth it. [2]

Cast

DVD

The DVD of the film was released in 2003 and contains interviews with the cast, and a behind the scenes gallery of photos. [3] In 2012, the film was re-released and made available on streaming services such as Netflix [4] and Amazon Prime Video.

Reprises

Though the film was initially released with little publicity, it has become appreciated by Carradine's more loyal fans, and has been screened multiple times since the actor's passing.

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>Manhattan</i> (1979 film) 1979 film by Woody Allen

Manhattan is a 1979 American romantic comedy-drama film directed by Woody Allen and produced by Charles H. Joffe from a screenplay written by Allen and Marshall Brickman. Allen co-stars as a twice-divorced 42-year-old comedy writer who dates a 17-year-old girl but falls in love with his best friend's mistress. Meryl Streep and Anne Byrne also star.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Margaux Hemingway</span> American fashion model and actress (1954–1996)

Margaux Louise Hemingway was an American fashion model and actress. She gained success as a supermodel in the mid-1970s, appearing on the covers of magazines including Cosmopolitan, Elle, Harper's Bazaar, Vogue, and Time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Carradine</span> American actor (born 1954)

Robert Carradine is an American actor. A member of the Carradine family, he made his first appearances on television Western series such as Bonanza and his brother David's TV series, Kung Fu. Carradine's first film role was in the 1972 film The Cowboys, which starred John Wayne and Roscoe Lee Browne. Carradine also portrayed fraternity president Lewis Skolnick in the Revenge of the Nerds series of comedy films.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mariel Hemingway</span> American actress

Mariel Hadley Hemingway is an American actress. She began acting at age 14 with a Golden Globe-nominated breakout role in Lipstick (1976), and she received Academy and BAFTA Award nominations for her performance in Woody Allen's Manhattan (1979).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Carradine</span> American actor (1936–2009)

David Carradine was an American actor, director, and musician, whose career included over 200 major and minor roles in film, television and on stage, spanning more than six decades. He was widely known to television audiences as the star of the 1970s television series Kung Fu, playing Kwai Chang Caine, a peace-loving Shaolin monk traveling through the American Old West.

<i>Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron</i> 2002 film directed by Kelly Asbury and Lorna Cook

Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron is a 2002 American animated western film produced by DreamWorks Animation and distributed by DreamWorks Pictures. The film was directed by Kelly Asbury and Lorna Cook from a screenplay by John Fusco, based on an idea by Jeffrey Katzenberg, who produced the film alongside Mireille Soria.

<i>Falling from Grace</i> (film) 1992 film by John Mellencamp

Falling from Grace is a 1992 American drama film directed by and starring John Mellencamp; it was met with more positive reviews than not.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Molly Parker</span> Canadian actress

Molly Parker is a Canadian actress, writer, and director. She garnered critical attention for her portrayal of a necrophiliac medical student in the controversial drama Kissed (1996). She subsequently starred in the television thriller Intensity (1997) before landing her first major American film role in the drama Waking the Dead (2000). She gained further notice for her role as a Las Vegas escort in the drama The Center of the World (2001), for which she was nominated for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Female Lead.

Mark Archer is an American film and television producer, director and writer. He was born in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

<i>Sunset</i> (1988 film) 1988 American film by Blake Edwards

Sunset is a 1988 American crime mystery western film written and directed by Blake Edwards and starring Bruce Willis as Western actor Tom Mix, who teams up with lawman Wyatt Earp, portrayed for the second time in a theatrical film by James Garner. Based on an unpublished novel by Rod Amateau, the plot has Earp and Mix solve a murder in Hollywood in 1929.

<i>Warning: Parental Advisory</i> 2002 American TV series or program

Warning: Parental Advisory is a 2002 television film created by VH1 and directed by Mark Waters. The film follows the story of Dee Snider, John Denver, and Frank Zappa, testifying before Congress against lyrics labeling laws.

Roger Kumble is an American film director, screenwriter, and playwright.

<i>The Golden Boys</i> 2008 American film

The Golden Boys is a romantic comedy, set on Cape Cod in 1905, about three 70-year-old retired sea captains who try to lure an attractive middle-aged woman into marriage. Developed under the working title Chatham, the film is an adaptation of the Joseph Lincoln novel Cap’n Eri and was released by Roadside Attractions on April 17, 2009.

<i>Alexanders Ragtime Band</i> (film) 1938 film by Henry King

Alexander's Ragtime Band is a 1938 American musical film released by 20th Century Fox that takes its name from the 1911 Irving Berlin song "Alexander's Ragtime Band" to tell a story of a society boy who scandalizes his family by pursuing a career in ragtime instead of "serious" music. The film generally traces the history of jazz music from the popularization of Ragtime in the early years of the 20th century to the acceptance of swing as an art form in the late 1930s using music composed by Berlin. The story spans more than two decades from the 1911 release of its name-sake song to some point in time after the 1933 release of "Heat Wave", presumably 1938.

Scott Fivelson is an American writer, playwright, and director, best known as the writer/producer of American Reel, starring David Carradine, and as writer/director of Near Myth: The Oskar Knight Story, which won Fivelson the "Breakthrough Director Spotlight" at the 2016 Hollywood Reel Independent Film Festival.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edward T. McDougal</span> American film director

Edward T. McDougal grew up in Winnetka, Illinois, and graduated from Colorado College in Colorado Springs. He is the son of C. Bouton McDougal, Vice President and General Counsel for R. R. Donnelley and former president of The Chicago Sunday Evening Club, a long-running religious radio (1922) and television (1955) broadcast program, which had world renowned speakers that included Billy Graham, Martin Luther King, Jr., John R.W. Stott, Ben Haden, Lloyd John Ogilvie, Bruce Larson, Stuart Briscoe, Jill Briscoe, Joni Eareckson Tada, Madeleine L'Engle, and Elisabeth Elliot.

<i>Unity</i> (film) 2015 American film

Unity is a 2015 documentary film written, directed and produced by Shaun Monson, and the sequel to the 2005 film Earthlings. The film is narrated by one hundred actors, artists, athletes, authors, businessmen, entertainers, filmmakers, military personnel and musicians. The film was released worldwide on August 12, 2015.

<i>In Her Line of Fire</i> 2006 American film

In Her Line of Fire is a 2006 American action film directed by Brian Trenchard-Smith and starring Mariel Hemingway, David Keith, David Millbern and Jill Bennett.

<i>Benjis Very Own Christmas Story</i> American TV series or program

Benji's Very Own Christmas Story is a 1978 American Christmas television special featuring Benji the dog and is one of two such Benji specials to have been nominated for an Emmy Award. Patsy Garrett and Cynthia Smith reprise their respective roles as Mary and Cindy. The special was broadcast on ABC on December 7, 1978.

<i>Desperate Rescue: The Cathy Mahone Story</i> American TV series or program

Desperate Rescue: The Cathy Mahone Story is a 1993 American made-for-television drama film starring Mariel Hemingway. It was directed by Richard A. Colla and originally premiered on NBC on January 18, 1993.

References

  1. "Annual David Carradine Birthday Tribute w/Cosmic Rescue Team Live This Thurs. 12/8/11!!!". 7 December 2011.
  2. "American Reel". Netflix.
  3. "American Reel". IMDb .
  4. "American Reel". Netflix.
  5. "Annual David Carradine Birthday Tribute w/Cosmic Rescue Team Live This Thurs. 12/8/11!!!". 7 December 2011.
  6. "Annual David Carradine Birthday Tribute w/Cosmic Rescue Team Live This Thurs. 12/8/11!!!". 7 December 2011.
  7. "American Reel (2003) - IMDb". IMDb .