Brewster McCloud

Last updated
Brewster McCloud
Brewster McCloud (1970 poster).jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Robert Altman
Written by Doran William Cannon
Produced by Lou Adler
John Phillips
Starring Bud Cort
Sally Kellerman
Michael Murphy
William Windom
René Auberjonois
Cinematography Lamar Boren
Jordan Cronenweth
Edited by Lou Lombardo
Music by Gene Page
Production
company
Distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release date
  • December 5, 1970 (1970-12-05)
Running time
105 minutes
LanguageEnglish
Box office$1.3 million (rentals) [1]

Brewster McCloud [2] is a 1970 American black comedy film directed by Robert Altman.

Contents

The film follows a young recluse (Bud Cort) who lives in a fallout shelter under the Houston Astrodome, where he is building a pair of wings in order to fly. He soon becomes a chief suspect in a series of bird-related murders.

Plot

The film opens with the usual MGM logo, but with a voice-over by René Auberjonois saying "I forgot the opening line" instead of the lion's roar. As the opening credits roll, wealthy Houstonian Daphne Heap begins to sing "The Star-Spangled Banner" on the field of the Astrodome, but stops the band, insisting that it's off-key. The band and Daphne start again, while the credits begin again as well. Daphne, who has been off-key herself, insists that this take is much better, but she is surrounded by the young Black band members as we hear Merry Clayton singing an upbeat version of "Lift Every Voice and Sing". All this time, a woman in a trench coat has been watching from the stands. As the credits end, we see Brewster in an Astrodome fallout shelter, where a pet raven defecates on a newspaper headline about a speech by then–Vice President Spiro Agnew. Scenes are interspersed throughout the film of a lecturer who regales an audience including an enthusiastic young woman with a wealth of knowledge of the habits of birds, as he becomes increasingly birdlike himself.

Owlish Brewster lives hidden and alone under the Houston Astrodome and dreams of creating wings that will help him fly like a bird. His only assistance comes from Louise, a beautiful woman who wants to help. Wearing only a trench coat, Louise has unexplained scars on her shoulder blades, suggestive of a fallen angel. She warns Brewster against having sexual intercourse, as it could kill his instinct to fly.

While Brewster works to complete his wings and condition himself for flight, Houston suffers a string of unexplained murders, the work of a serial killer whose victims are found strangled and covered in bird droppings. The victims are all authoritarian or overtly racist figures, including Daphne Heap and the aged, wealthy and vicious landlord Abraham Wright. Haskell Weeks, a prominent figure in Houston, pulls strings to have the Houston police call "San Francisco super cop" Frank Shaft to investigate. Shaft immediately fixates on the bird droppings and soon finds a link to Brewster. Brewster eludes the police with the apparent help of Louise but he eventually drives her away — and dooms himself — when he ignores her advice about sex by hooking up with Astrodome tour guide Suzanne Davis. Suzanne saves Brewster by evading Shaft in her stolen Road Runner. Severely injured after losing Brewster, Frank kills himself. Brewster eventually confesses his responsibility in the killings to Suzanne, who betrays him to the police.

A small army of Houston policemen enter the Astrodome but fail to nab Brewster before he takes flight using his completed wings. However, as a human, he cannot overcome his inherent unsuitability for flight. Exhausted by the effort, he falls out of the air, crashing in a heap on the floor of the Astrodome. The film ends with a circus entering the Astrodome, played by the cast of the film costumed as clowns, strongmen and other circus performers. The ringmaster announces the names of each cast member, finishing with Brewster, who remains crumpled on the floor.

Cast

Cultural references

Scenes and characters often allude to other films, some of which include the following:

Production

This film marks the first feature produced by Altman's Lion's Gate Films. It was produced in association with Lou Adler-John Phillips Productions. Adler was from the music business and had previously produced the recordings of The Mamas & the Papas. John Phillips from The Mamas & the Papas co-produced the film and wrote the songs. [4] The film was originally called Brewster McCloud's (Sexy) Flying Machine. [5]

The film was shot on location in Houston, Texas for eight weeks from May 22 to July 15, 1970. The original story was set in New York City but it was decided to set the film in Houston. [4] During the opening credits, shots of the downtown Houston skyline (with One Shell Plaza under construction) zoom toward the Houston Astrodome and Astrohall, with the emerging Texas Medical Center in the background. It was the first film shot inside the Astrodome. [6] The film records landmarks and streetscapes that later were demolished or radically changed. For instance, the hotel where Frank Shaft stays was once part of the Astrodome complex, and has undergone several significant changes since the making of the film.

Although Doran William Cannon is given credit for the screenplay, most of the film was rewritten by Altman and close associates or improvised during filming. After the film's release, Cannon wrote a column for The New York Times detailing the frustrations of his experience. [7]

Discovered in Texas, Shelley Duvall was cast in her first film role as Brewster's love interest Suzanne. She later co-starred in several of Altman's other films as well as playing memorable characters in films by other directors.

Release

The film's premiere was at the Houston Astrodome on December 5, 1970. An audience of 35,000 was anticipated. [4]

Reception

Critical reviews were mixed upon the film's original release, but have grown more positive over time. Brewster McCloud has a score of 86% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 22 reviews, with an average grade of 7.3 out of 10. [8]

Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film three and a half stars out of four and, comparing it to M*A*S*H, wrote that it was "... just as densely packed with words and action, and you keep thinking you're missing things. You probably are. It's that quality that's so attractive about these two Altman films. We get the sense of a live intelligence, rushing things ahead on the screen, not worrying whether we'll understand." [9]

Gene Siskel of the Chicago Tribune awarded three out of four stars and wrote, "Once again Altman has taken a story (this time a rather weak one) and given it a distinctive spirit and flavor thru casting, cinematic devices and odd juxtapositions. An Altman film, if two can make a genre, appears to be more of a mood than a story. This rarely works, but it does for him." [10]

Variety called the film "a sardonic fairy tale for the times. Extremely well cast and directed, Lou Adler's made-in-Houston production demands an intellectual audience which is satisfied with smiles instead of belly-laughs." [11]

Vincent Canby of The New York Times wrote that the film "... has more characters and incidents than a comic strip, but never enough wit to sustain more than a few isolated sequences." [12]

Charles Champlin of the Los Angeles Times believed that the film was "not in a class" with M*A*S*H, but opined that "I doubt that the new year will give us a more startling, bizarre and rowdy piece of business." [13]

John Simon wrote, Brewster McCloud is a pretentious, disorganized, modishly iconoclastic movie which, in the manner of its Icarus-like hero, aspires to fly high and merely drops dead." [14]

Stanley Kauffmann of The New Republic wrote, "A fairly promising comedy-fantasy is bumbled because the script idea lacks theme and clarity and point and the cast the ability to battle poor material". [15]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Altman</span> American filmmaker (1925–2006)

Robert Bernard Altman was an American film director, screenwriter, and producer. He was a five-time nominee of the Academy Award for Best Director and is considered an enduring figure from the New Hollywood era. His most famous directorial achievements include M*A*S*H (1970), McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971), The Long Goodbye (1973), Nashville (1975), 3 Women (1977), The Player (1992), Short Cuts (1993), Gosford Park (2001), and The Company (2003).

<i>McCabe & Mrs. Miller</i> 1971 film by Robert Altman

McCabe & Mrs. Miller is a 1971 American revisionist Western film directed by Robert Altman and starring Warren Beatty and Julie Christie. The screenplay by Altman and Brian McKay is based on the 1959 novel McCabe by Edmund Naughton. Altman referred to it as an "anti-Western" film because it ignores or subverts a number of Western conventions. It was filmed in British Columbia, Canada in the fall and winter of 1970, and premiered on June 24, 1971.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Astrodome</span> Stadium in Houston, Texas, United States

The NRG Astrodome, formerly and also known as the Houston Astrodome or simply the Astrodome, was the world's first multi-purpose, domed sports stadium, located in Houston, Texas, United States. It sat around 50,000 fans, with a record attendance of 68,266 set by George Strait in 2002.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">René Auberjonois</span> American actor (1940–2019)

René Marie Murat Auberjonois was an American actor, best known for playing Odo on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993–1999) and Clayton Endicott III on Benson (1979-1986).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marilyn Burns</span> American actress (1949–2014)

Marilyn Burns was an American actress. She was known for playing Sally Hardesty in Tobe Hooper's horror film The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974), which established her as a scream queen and a catalyst of the final girl trope. She was involved in two more films of its resulting franchise: a cameo in The Return of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1995) and a supporting role in Texas Chainsaw 3D (2013). In 2009, she was inducted into the Horror Hall of Fame at the Phoenix Film Festival.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sally Kellerman</span> American actress (1937–2022)

Sally Clare Kellerman was an American actress whose acting career spanned 60 years. Her role as Major Margaret "Hot Lips" Houlihan in Robert Altman's film M*A*S*H (1970) earned her an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress in a Supporting Role. After M*A*S*H, she appeared in a number of the director's projects, namely the films Brewster McCloud (1970), Welcome to L.A. (1976), The Player (1992), and Prêt-à-Porter (1994), and the short-lived anthology TV series Gun (1997). In addition to her work with Altman, Kellerman appeared in films such as Last of the Red Hot Lovers (1972), Back to School (1986), plus many television series such as The Twilight Zone (1963), The Outer Limits, Star Trek (1966), Bonanza, The Minor Accomplishments of Jackie Woodman (2006), 90210 (2008), Chemistry (2011), and Maron (2013). She also voiced Miss Finch in Sesame Street Presents: Follow That Bird (1985), which went on to become one of her most significant voice roles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shelley Duvall</span> American actress and producer (1949–2024)

Shelley Alexis Duvall was an American actress and producer. Known for her collaborations with Robert Altman and for playing eccentric characters, she won a Cannes Film Festival Award and was nominated for a British Academy Film Award and two Emmy Awards. Four of her films are preserved in the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Murphy (actor)</span> American film and television actor

Michael George Murphy is an American film, television and stage actor. He often plays unethical or morally ambiguous characters in positions of authority, including politicians, executives, administrators, clerics, doctors, law enforcement agents, and lawyers. He is also known for his frequent collaborations with director Robert Altman, having appeared in twelve films, TV series and miniseries directed by Altman from 1963 to 2004, including the title role in the miniseries Tanner '88. He had roles in the films Manhattan, An Unmarried Woman, Nashville, The Year of Living Dangerously, Phase IV, The Front, Shocker, Magnolia, Cloak & Dagger, Salvador, Away from Her, Strange Behavior, Fall, X-Men: The Last Stand, M*A*S*H and Batman Returns, among others.

<i>3 Women</i> 1977 film by Robert Altman

3 Women is a 1977 American psychological drama film written, produced and directed by Robert Altman and starring Shelley Duvall, Sissy Spacek and Janice Rule. Set in a dusty California desert town, it depicts the increasingly bizarre relationship between an adult woman (Duvall), her teenage roommate and co-worker (Spacek) and a middle-aged pregnant woman (Rule).

<i>Devil in a Blue Dress</i> (film) 1995 film by Carl Franklin

Devil in a Blue Dress is a 1995 American neo-noir mystery thriller film written and directed by Carl Franklin, based on Walter Mosley's 1990 novel of the same name and features Denzel Washington, Tom Sizemore, Jennifer Beals, and Don Cheadle. Set in 1948, the film follows World War II veteran Ezekiel "Easy" Rawlins who, desperate in need of a job, becomes drawn into a search for a mysterious woman.

<i>Images</i> (film) 1972 British film by Robert Altman

Images is a 1972 psychological horror film directed and co-written by Robert Altman and starring Susannah York, René Auberjonois and Marcel Bozzuffi. The picture follows an unstable children's author who finds herself engulfed in apparitions and hallucinations while staying at her remote vacation home.

McCloud may refer to:

<i>The Lusty Men</i> 1952 film by Nicholas Ray, Robert Parrish

The Lusty Men is a 1952 neo-Western film released by Wald-Krasna Productions and RKO Radio Pictures starring Susan Hayward, Robert Mitchum, Arthur Kennedy and Arthur Hunnicutt. The picture was directed by Nicholas Ray and produced by Jerry Wald and Norman Krasna from a screenplay by David Dortort and Horace McCoy, with uncredited contributions by Alfred Hayes, Andrew Solt, and Wald, that was based on the novel by Claude Stanush. The music score was by Roy Webb and the cinematography by Lee Garmes.

<i>Night Game</i> (film) 1989 film by Peter Masterson

Night Game is a 1989 American slasher film directed by Peter Masterson and starring Roy Scheider, Lane Smith, Karen Young, and Richard Bradford. It follows a police detective attempting to stop a hook-handed serial killer whose murders coincides with nighttime baseball games at the Houston Astrodome.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bert Remsen</span> American actor, casting director (1925–1999)

Herbert Birchell "Bert" Remsen was an American actor and casting director. He appeared in numerous films and television series.

<i>M*A*S*H</i> (film) 1970 film by Robert Altman

M*A*S*H is a 1970 American black comedy war film directed by Robert Altman and written by Ring Lardner Jr., based on Richard Hooker's 1968 novel MASH: A Novel About Three Army Doctors. The film is the only theatrically released feature film in the M*A*S*H franchise.

Doran William Cannon (1937–2005) was an American writer and producer for film and television.

Lou Lombardo was an American filmmaker whose editing of the 1969 film The Wild Bunch has been called "seminal". In all, Lombardo is credited on more than twenty-five feature films. Noted mainly for his work as a film and television editor, he also worked as a cameraman, director, and producer. In his obituary, Stephen Prince wrote, "Lou Lombardo's seminal contribution to the history of editing is his work on The Wild Bunch (1969), directed by Sam Peckinpah. The complex montages of violence that Lombardo created for that film influenced generations of filmmakers and established the modern cinematic textbook for editing violent gun battles." Several critics have remarked on the "strange, elastic quality" of time in the film, and have discerned the film's influence in the work of directors John Woo, Quentin Tarantino, Kathryn Bigelow, and the Wachowskis, among others. While Lombardo's collaboration with Peckinpah lasted just a few years, his career was intertwined with that of director Robert Altman for more than thirty years. Lombardo edited Altman's 1971 film McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971), which had "a radical approach to the use of dialogue and indeed other sound, both in and beyond the frame." Towards the end of his career Lombardo edited Moonstruck (1987) and two other films directed by Norman Jewison. While his editing is now considered "revolutionary" and "brilliant", Lombardo was never nominated for editing awards during his career.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bud Cort</span> American actor and comedian (born 1948)

Walter Edward Cox, known professionally as Bud Cort, is an American actor known for his unorthodox starring roles in Robert Altman's Brewster McCloud (1970) and Hal Ashby's Harold and Maude (1971). He also had supporting roles in films such as M*A*S*H (1970), Electric Dreams (1984), Heat (1995), Dogma (1999), Coyote Ugly (2000) and The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004).

References

  1. "AFI Catalog - Brewster McCloud". American Film Institute.
  2. "Brewster McCloud Original Trailer (1970)". Texas Archive of the Moving Image. Retrieved November 10, 2019.
  3. McGilligan, Patrick (1989). Robert Altman: Jumping Off the Cliff . St. Martin's Press. p.  376.
  4. 1 2 3 "Hofheinz Goes For Big At Party In Astrodome For MGM's 'McCloud' Pic". Variety . December 2, 1970. p. 5.
  5. "Same Pix, New Titles". Variety . June 3, 1970. p. 23.
  6. "AFS Honors Robert Altman's Texas-Made Film Brewster McCloud". Austin Film Society. March 2020. Retrieved November 12, 2020.
  7. Cannnon, Doran William (February 7, 1971). "The Kid Wanted to Fly--So They Gave Him the Air". The New York Times. Retrieved November 12, 2020.
  8. "Brewster McCloud". Rotten Tomatoes . Retrieved September 10, 2021.
  9. Ebert, Roger (December 24, 1970). "Brewster McCloud". RogerEbert.com . Retrieved November 29, 2018.
  10. Siskel, Gene (December 22, 1970). "'Brewster' & 'Lobo'". Chicago Tribune . Section 2, p. 3.
  11. "Film Reviews: Brewster McCloud". Variety . December 9, 1970. 14.
  12. Canby, Vincent (December 24, 1970). "The Screen: Innocence and Corruption". The New York Times . p. 8.
  13. Champlin, Charles (January 31, 1971). "'Brewster McCloud': Havoc for Some Traditions". Los Angeles Times . Calendar, p. 1.
  14. Simon, John (1982). Reverse Angle: A Decade of American Film. Crown Publishers Inc. p. 31.
  15. "Stanley Kauffmann on films". The New Republic. 1971-01-02.