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Hollywood Boulevard (1976 film)

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Hollywood Boulevard
Theatrical release poster by John Solie
Directed by
Written byDanny Opatoshu[a]
Produced byJon Davison
Starring
CinematographyJamie Anderson
Edited by
Music byAndrew Stein
Production
company
Distributed byNew World Pictures
Release date
  • February 20, 1976 (1976-02-20)[2]
Running time
83 minutes[1]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$54,039[3]
Box office$1 million (North American rentals)[3][4]

Hollywood Boulevard is a 1976 American satirical exploitation film[5] directed by Allan Arkush and Joe Dante (in their respective directorial debuts), and starring Candice Rialson, Paul Bartel, and Mary Woronov. It follows an aspiring actress who has just arrived in Los Angeles, only to be hired by a reckless B movie film studio where she bears witness to a series of gruesome and fatal on-set accidents. The film blends elements of the comedy, thriller, and slasher film genres.[5][6]

The film was made as a result of a bet between producers Jon Davison and Roger Corman to make the cheapest ever film for New World Pictures. This was accomplished by extensive use of footage from other New World films, and it features a number of references and inside-jokes to the studio's previous features.[7] Principal photography took place in October 1975 over a ten-day period on a budget of $54,000.

Plot

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Pompous film director Eric Von Leppe is shooting a skydiving sequence for low-budget Miracle Pictures in which an actress is killed. Candy Wednesday arrives in Los Angeles from Indiana to make it as an actor. She swiftly gets an agent, Walter Paisley, but struggles to find work until she inadvertently gets involved in a bank robbery as a getaway driver. This leads her to getting hired by Miracle Pictures as a stunt driver. She meets Eric Von Leppe, temperamental starlet Mary McQueen, sleazy producer P.G., and friendly scriptwriter, Pat. Candy and Pat fall in love and she starts to get work as an actor, becoming friends with fellow starlets Bobbi and Jill.

The group travel to the Philippines to make a violent war film, Machete Maidens of Mora Tau, starring Candy, Mary, Bobbi and Jill. Candy has to play a character who is raped, which upsets her. Later on during the shoot, Jill, Bobbi and P.G. have a threesome. During the filming of a battle sequence, Jill is shot dead by an unseen attacker. Von Leppe and Mary choose not to call the authorities, instead leaving Jill's corpse behind in the rural shooting location. Candy is traumatized by the incident.

Back in the United States, Candy, Walter and Pat all go to see Machete Maidens at a local drive-in. Candy is extremely self-conscious watching her performance, and gets drunk during the screening. She leaves the car and visits the projectionist's booth, where she tries to force him to stop the film. The projectionist tries to rape Candy, but she is rescued by Walter.

Candy, Mary, and Bobbi are next cast in a 1950s-set science fiction Western film. While shooting a car chase scene in the desert, Mary, Candy and Bobbi are almost killed in an accident after the brakes in Candy's car mysteriously malfunction. Bobbi is enraged by the incident, and tells Patrick she wants to quit working for Miracle Pictures. Late that night, Bobbi is called back to the Western town set to perform retakes. Upon arrival, she is met by an unknown individual cloaked in a black shawl. The assailant slashes Bobbi with a hunting knife before chasing her through the set and eventually stabbing her to death.

Bobbi's murder makes front-page news, and the city goes on high alert for the unknown "slasher killer". Fearing for her life, Candy announces she is leaving Los Angeles. Meanwhile, Von Leppe, P.G., Patrick, and Walter screen rushes of the film, during which they observe snuff footage of Bobbi's murder that is present on the reel. Candy drives to the Hollywood Sign, where she tearfully overlooks the city. Mary arrives, revealing herself to be the killer, and attempts to murder Candy with an axe. Pat arrives to stop Mary as she and Candy tussle. Mary is killed, however, when the Hollywood Sign topples over on her, crushing her to death.

Candy goes on to become a renowned film star, and attends the premiere for a biographical film based on her experiences while working with Miracle Pictures.

Cast

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Production

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Development

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The film came out of a bet made between producer Jon Davison and Roger Corman that Davison could make a film cheaper than any other that had been made at New World Pictures.[8] Corman granted him a budget of $60,000 and only allowed ten days of shooting instead of the usual 15. The filmmakers achieved this by coming up with a story about a B-movie studio which could incorporate footage from other movies that Corman owned.[1]

Casting

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According to the audio commentary on the film's DVD by Joe Dante, Jon Davison and Allan Arkush, Roger Corman originally wanted Roberta Collins to play the lead, but they fought for Candice Rialson. Diabolique magazine argued that "I'm a Collins fan, but it was the right decision because Rialson brings not just looks and comic timing, but also a plucky underdog persona that is immensely appealing."[9]

Paul Bartel credits the film with launching his acting career. He later said they were worried the film would not be long enough so they improvised a series of "TV interviews" in which each of the major characters sketches in something of his background. Bartel tried to mimic "the kind of spiel Roger [Corman] used to feed the press, speaking of the exploitation films which he often loaded with doses of ersatz social consciousness: "In this film we've taken the myth of Romeo and Juliet, combined it with high speed car action and a sincere plea for nuclear controls in our lifetime."[10]

Mary Woronov was cast in the film based on her performance in Death Race 2000 (1975), another film produced by New World Pictures.[11]

Dante, Davison and Arkush also state the part of producer PG was turned down by Barry Gordon and Dwayne Hickman, and that Rita George was dating Dean Martin during filming.

Filming

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The film was shot over a period of ten days in October 1975[6] on short ends of raw stock left over from other movies. The script was a send up of the "three girls" movies New World were making at the time such as Summer School Teachers, with the murder plot borrowing heavily from an old Bela Lugosi movie, The Death Kiss (1932).[12]

The movie was also known as The Starlets, Hollywood Starlets, The Actresses and Hello, Hollywood.[3] Dante says at one stage Corman wanted to call it Hollywood Hookers but the directors did not like that "even though it probably would have made more money if it was called Hollywood Hookers".[13]

Intertextuality

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The film features footage from the following Corman pictures:

Inside jokes

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The movie features a number of in-jokes:

Release

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The film opened in Orlando, Florida on February 20, 1976[2] before having its Los Angeles premiere on April 28, 1976.[1]

Box office

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In the United States and Canada, the film grossed approximately $1 million in rentals.[3][4]

Critical response

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The Los Angeles Times critic Kevin Thomas called the film "a hilarious, often outrageous spoof of the zany world of low budget exploitation filmmaking."[14] "Definitely not for people who are looking for anything elegant or high tone", said Kenneth Turan of The Washington Post.[15]

Scott Hammen of the Courier Journal praised the film as "the funniest movie in town" upon its release in Louisville, Kentucky, adding: "Unlike most of the things on our screens nowadays which are bad without intending to be, Hollywood Boulevard is purposefully and conscientiously rotten...  One may need a basic affection for low-brow Americana to really enjoy [it]. But just as there are those who indulge in a secret taste for junk food occasionally, there are a lot of us with a similar passion for junk movies and, for us, Hollywood Boulevard is a constant delight."[16]

Nathan Rabin, reviewing the film in 2002 for The A.V. Club, wrote: "The directors' ability to inject innocence into a film crawling with gratuitous sex, nudity, violence, and sexual abuse says much about the Corman contingent's unique ability to be creepy and strangely endearing at the same time. For those willing to overlook periodic missteps into the nether regions of bad taste, Hollywood Boulevard is the sort of scrappy, resourceful, smart B-movie that threatens to give shameless opportunism a good name."[17]

Home media

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Concorde Video released the film on DVD in 2001.[18] Scorpion Releasing released a limited edition Blu-ray on August 4, 2016, featuring a new color-corrected restoration from the original film elements, along with new interviews from cast and crew members and other bonus materials.[19]

Notes

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  1. ^ Opatoshu is credited under the pseudonym "Pat Hobby".[1]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e "Hollywood Boulevard". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. American Film Institute. Retrieved March 8, 2023.
  2. ^ a b "Movies on the Screen". Orlando Sentinel. February 20, 1976. p. 37 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ a b c d Koetting 2009, pp. 93–95.
  4. ^ a b "Big Rental Films of 1976". Variety. January 5, 1977. p. 14.
  5. ^ a b Rausch 2015, p. 57.
  6. ^ a b Jones 2011, p. 404.
  7. ^ a b c d e f Renshaw, Jerry (January 11, 2002). "Review: Hollywood Boulevard (1976)". The Austin Chronicle. Archived from the original on March 8, 2023.
  8. ^ LoBrutto 2021, p. 164.
  9. ^ Vagg, Stephen (November 26, 2019). "The Cinema of Exploitation Goddess Candice Rialson". Diabolique Magazine. Archived from the original on March 11, 2023.
  10. ^ Bartel, Paul (September–October 1982). "Paul Bartel's Guilty Pleasures". Film Comment (18.5 ed.). pp. 60–62.
  11. ^ Woronov, Mary (2016). "An Interview with Mary Woronov". Hollywood Boulevard (Blu-ray documentary short). Scorpion Releasing.
  12. ^ "Jon Davison on Hollywood Blvd". Trailers From Hell. September 6, 2013. Archived from the original on March 12, 2023. Retrieved March 12, 2023 – via YouTube.
  13. ^ Nashawaty 2013, p. 150.
  14. ^ Thomas, Kevin (April 28, 1976). "Corman Gang Spoofs Itself". Los Angeles Times. p. F17 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ^ Turan, Kenneth (October 14, 1976). "Hollywood: Born To Be Bad: Film". The Washington Post. p. 51.
  16. ^ Hammen, Scott (October 20, 1976). "'Boulevard' isn't good, just funny". Courier Journal. p. B5 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. ^ Rabin, Nathan (April 19, 2002). "Hollywood Boulevard". The A.V. Club. Archived from the original on March 8, 2023.
  18. ^ "Hollywood Boulevard DVD". Blu-ray.com. Archived from the original on March 8, 2023.
  19. ^ "Hollywood Boulevard Blu-ray (Limited Edition)". Blu-ray.com. Archived from the original on March 8, 2023.

Bibliography

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  • Jones, Stephen Graham (2011). Demon Theory: A Novel. Toronto, Ontario: Doubleday. ISBN 978-0-385-67271-9.
  • Koetting, Christopher T. (2009). Mind Warp!: The Fantastic True Story of Roger Corman's New World Pictures. Bristol, England: Hemlock Books. ISBN 978-0-9557774-1-7.
  • LoBrutto, Vincent (2021). The Seventies: The Decade That Changed American Film Forever. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 978-1-538-13719-2.
  • Nashawaty, Chris (2013). Crab Monsters, Teenage Cavemen and Candy Stripe Nurses: Roger Corman: King of the B Movie. New York City, New York: Abrams. ISBN 978-1-61312-981-4.
  • Rausch, Adam J. (2015). Fifty Filmmakers: Conversations with Directors from Roger Avary to Steven Zaillian. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland. ISBN 978-0-786-48409-6.
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