Popi

Last updated
Popi
PopiPoster.JPG
Original poster
Directed by Arthur Hiller
Written byTina Pine
Lester Pine
Produced byHerbert B. Leonard
Starring Alan Arkin
Rita Moreno
Cinematography Andrew Laszlo
Edited byAnthony Ciccolini
Music by Dominic Frontiere
Distributed by United Artists
Release date
  • May 27, 1969 (1969-05-27)
Running time
113 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Box office$2 million (US/ Canada rentals) [1]

Popi is a 1969 American comedy-drama film directed by Arthur Hiller, and starring Alan Arkin (in the title role) and Rita Moreno. The screenplay was written by Tina Pine and Lester Pine. The film focuses on a Puerto Rican widower struggling to raise his two young sons in the New York City neighborhood of Spanish Harlem.

Contents

Plot

Abraham Rodriguez, known as Popi to his sons Luis and Junior, supports them by working three jobs, leaving him little time to supervise them. He hopes to earn enough to marry his girlfriend Lupe and move the family into a better home in Brooklyn. Then reality crashes in as the boys see gangs do violence in the neighborhood and are even victimized when their clothes are stolen from them. While working at a banquet in New York for Cuban exiles, he hatches an idea. Realizing his boys have a better chance of making good as political refugees than products of the ghetto in which he's raising them, he plots to set them adrift in a rowboat off the coast of Miami Beach in the hope they will be mistaken for escapees from Cuba and offered asylum. After teaching them how to row a boat in the lake in Central Park and how to handle a motorboat on the East River, they depart for Florida.

Popi steals a boat in Miami Beach and tells the boys to take it out until they run out of fuel, then remove the outboard motor and begin to row back to shore. When he is unable to convince the Coast Guard that the boys are out there, he fears they are lost until he hears a radio report about the heroic rescue of two young "Cuban" boys. Luis and Junior, suffering from dehydration and severe sunburn. The boys are hospitalized, and soon find themselves indundated with flowers and toys from thousands of well-wishers, many of whom offer to adopt them. Wearing a disguise, Popi sneaks into their hospital room and tries to convince them they are better off being raised by wealthy parents. The three begin to argue loudly in English, alerting the staff and prompting Popi to flee, followed by his sons. Much to the relief of the boys, their hoax is exposed, and they happily return to their impoverished life in the barrio with their loving father.

Cast

Critical reception

The movie opened to good reviews, with Arkin especially being singled out for praise. Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times said the film "splits apart in the middle. The first half, set in New York, is rich and warm, filled with the flavor of city life. The second half, involving the Florida plan, functions only on the level of TV situation comedy. It is simply not believable . . . That is not to say that Popi isn't an engaging movie. It is, largely because the kids were well cast and because of Arkin." [2]

Variety observed, "Arkin is given too much free rein for his very personal style, and is sometimes guilty of working a scene, meant to be poignant or even dramatic, for a laugh, which he usually gets. The undecided mood of the film works against it for any lasting impression on the viewer." [3]

Awards and nominations

For the second year in a row, Alan Arkin won the Kansas City Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor, after being honored the previous year for his performance in The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter . He was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama but lost to John Wayne in True Grit .

Tina Pine and Lester Pine were nominated for the Writers Guild of America Award for Best Original Screenplay but lost to William Goldman for Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid .

TV series

A TV series with the same name, a sitcom based on the same subject, aired in 1976, starring Héctor Elizondo as Popi.

Home media

The film was released on DVD in fullscreen format on April 1, 2003. It has audio tracks in English and Spanish and subtitles in English, Spanish, and French.

Related Research Articles

<i>The Russians Are Coming the Russians Are Coming</i> 1966 film by Norman Jewison

The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming is a 1966 American Cold War comedy film directed and produced by Norman Jewison for United Artists. The satirical story depicts the chaos following the grounding of the Soviet submarine СпруT off a small New England island. The film stars Alan Arkin in his first major film role, Carl Reiner, Eva Marie Saint, Brian Keith, Theodore Bikel, Jonathan Winters, John Phillip Law, Tessie O'Shea, and Paul Ford.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alan Arkin</span> American actor and filmmaker (1934–2023)

Alan Wolf Arkin was an American actor, filmmaker and musician. In a career spanning seven decades, he received numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Tony Award as well as nominations for six Emmy Awards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rita Moreno</span> Puerto Rican singer, dancer, and actress (born 1931)

Rita Moreno is an American actress, dancer, and singer. She has performed on stage and screen in a career spanning over eight decades. Moreno is one of the last remaining stars from the Golden Age of Hollywood. Among her numerous accolades, she is one of the few actors to have been awarded an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar, and a Tony (EGOT) and the Triple Crown of Acting, with individual competitive Academy, Emmy, and Tony awards. Additional accolades include the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2004, the National Medal of Arts in 2009, the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award in 2013, the Kennedy Center Honor in 2015, and a Peabody Award in 2019.

<i>Born in East L.A.</i> (film) 1987 film by Cheech Marin

Born in East L.A. is a 1987 American satirical comedy film written and directed by Cheech Marin in his feature film directorial debut, who also starred in the film. It co-stars Paul Rodriguez, Daniel Stern, Kamala Lopez, Jan-Michael Vincent, Lupe Ontiveros and Jason Scott Lee in his first feature film debut. The film is based on his song of the same name, released as a 1985 single by Cheech & Chong. The film focuses on Rudy Robles, a Mexican-American from East Los Angeles who is mistaken for an illegal alien and deported.

<i>Slums of Beverly Hills</i> 1998 American film

Slums of Beverly Hills is a 1998 American comedy-drama film written and directed by Tamara Jenkins, and starring Natasha Lyonne, Alan Arkin, Marisa Tomei, David Krumholtz, Kevin Corrigan, Jessica Walter, and Carl Reiner. The story follows a teenage girl (Lyonne) struggling to grow up in 1976 in a lower-middle-class nomadic Jewish family that relocates every few months.

<i>El derecho de nacer</i> (film) 1951 film

El derecho de nacer is a 1952 Mexican film directed by Zacarías Gómez Urquiza and starring Gloria Marín, Jorge Mistral and Martha Roth. based on a Cuban radionovela (radioplay) of the same name by Félix B. Caignet. The movie broke box office records in Mexico when it was first released; during its release in Mexico City in June 1952, it was shown at the downtown Cine Orfeón for seven straight weeks.

<i>And Starring Pancho Villa as Himself</i> 2003 American television film by Bruce Beresford

And Starring Pancho Villa as Himself is a 2003 American made-for-television western film for HBO in partnership with City Entertainment and starring Antonio Banderas as Pancho Villa, directed by Bruce Beresford, written by Larry Gelbart and produced by Joshua D. Maurer, Mark Gordon, and Larry Gelbart. The cast also includes Alan Arkin, Jim Broadbent, Michael McKean, Eion Bailey, and Alexa Davalos.

<i>Chu Chu and the Philly Flash</i> 1981 film by David Lowell Rich

Chu Chu and the Philly Flash is a 1981 American comedy film starring Alan Arkin, Carol Burnett, Jack Warden, Ruth Buzzi, Adam Arkin and Danny Aiello. It was directed by David Lowell Rich and produced by Jay Weston, with the screenplay being written by Arkin's wife, Barbara Dana. Arkin plays a down-on-his-luck former baseball player and Burnett plays a Carmen Miranda-style performer.

Luis Ávalos was a Cuban character actor. He made numerous film and television appearances, most notably in the 1971–1977 children's television show The Electric Company.

<i>Marlowe</i> (1969 film) 1969 film by Paul Bogart

Marlowe is a 1969 American neo-noir film starring James Garner as Raymond Chandler's private detective Philip Marlowe. Directed by Paul Bogart, the film was written by Stirling Silliphant based on Chandler's 1949 novel The Little Sister.

The Ritz is a comedic farce by Terrence McNally. Rita Moreno won a Tony Award for her performance as Googie Gomez in the 1975 Broadway production, which she and many others of the original cast reprised in a 1976 film version directed by Richard Lester.

<i>Cry of Battle</i> 1963 film by Irving Lerner

Cry of Battle is a 1963 American coming-of-age action war film based on the 1951 novel Fortress in the Rice by Benjamin Appel, who was a journalist and special assistant to the U.S. commissioner for the Philippines from 1945–46. The film stars Van Heflin, James MacArthur, Rita Moreno and Leopoldo Salcedo. Set during the Japanese occupation of the Philippines, the working title was To Be a Man.

<i>Stand-In</i> 1937 American film directed by Tay Garnett

Stand-In is a 1937 American screwball comedy directed by Tay Garnett and starring Leslie Howard, Joan Blondell and Humphrey Bogart. The film's screenplay was written by Gene Towne and C. Graham Baker from a story by Clarence Budington Kelland. It was produced by independent producer Walter Wanger, and released by United Artists. The film is set in Hollywood and satirizes the film industry during the classical Hollywood era.

<i>The Ritz</i> (film) 1976 film by Richard Lester

The Ritz is a 1976 British-American comedy farce film directed by Richard Lester based on the 1975 play of the same name by Terrence McNally. Actress Rita Moreno – who had won a Tony Award for her performance as Googie Gomez in the Broadway production – and many others from the 1975 original cast, such as Jack Weston, Jerry Stiller, and F. Murray Abraham, reprised their stage roles in the film version. Also in the cast were Kaye Ballard and Treat Williams. The film, Jack Weston, and Rita Moreno all received Golden Globe nominations in the comedy category. It opened to mixed reviews.

<i>The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter</i> (film) 1968 film

The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter is a 1968 American film adaptation of the 1940 novel of the same name by Carson McCullers. It was directed by Robert Ellis Miller. It stars Alan Arkin and Sondra Locke, who both earned Academy Award nominations for their performances. The film updates the novel's small-town Southern setting from the Depression era to the contemporary 1960s. The film is recognized by the American Film Institute in AFI's 100 Years of Film Scores – Nominated.

<i>Wait Until Dark</i> (film) 1967 film by Terence Young

Wait Until Dark is a 1967 American psychological thriller film directed by Terence Young and produced by Mel Ferrer, from a screenplay by Robert Carrington and Jane-Howard Carrington, based on the 1966 play of the same name by Frederick Knott. The film stars Audrey Hepburn as a blind woman, Alan Arkin as a violent criminal searching for drugs, and Richard Crenna as another criminal, supported by Jack Weston, Julie Herrod, and Efrem Zimbalist Jr.

<i>Last of the Red Hot Lovers</i> (film) 1972 film by Gene Saks

Neil Simon's Last of the Red Hot Lovers is a 1972 American comedy film based on Neil Simon's 1969 play of the same name. Alan Arkin, Sally Kellerman, Paula Prentiss and Renée Taylor star in it.

Popi is an American sitcom which aired on CBS from January 20, 1976 to August 24, 1976. The show, which ran for eleven episodes, was adapted from the 1969 film of the same name and was one of the first series on American network television to feature a Latino cast and theme. Popi starred actor Héctor Elizondo as a Puerto Rican widower, and Edith Diaz.

<i>Million Dollar Arm</i> 2014 film by Craig Gillespie

Million Dollar Arm is a 2014 American biographical sports drama film directed by Craig Gillespie and produced by Walt Disney Pictures from a screenplay written by Tom McCarthy. The film is based on the true story of baseball pitchers Rinku Singh and Dinesh Patel who were discovered by sports agent J. B. Bernstein after winning a reality show competition.

Mi querida Isabel is a Mexican telenovela produced by Angelli Nesma Medina for Televisa. This telenovela is a remake of the 1975 Mexican telenovela Paloma, original story by Marissa Garrido. It premiered on Canal de las Estrellas on December 9, 1996 and ended on April 25, 1997.

References

  1. "Big Rental Films of 1969", Variety, 7 January 1970 p 15
  2. Chicago Sun-Times review
  3. Variety review