Overdrawn at the Memory Bank
Encyclopedia
Overdrawn at the Memory Bank was a 1983 television movie. It was produced by Canada
’s RSL Productions in Toronto
. Financing was provided by WNET
/PBS
New Jersey
, which had hoped to create an entire science fiction
series adapting famous works, but due to lack of funding this was the last of three such productions, the other two being The Lathe of Heaven
and Between Time and Timbuktu
.
The script was based on a 1976 John Varley
short story
. The production was not a critical success and was satirized by Mystery Science Theater 3000
(MST3K) in 1997, complete with a spoof of a public television pledge drive.
Overdrawn at the Memory Bank was not shot on film, but rather was videotaped, with extensive use of chroma key
and blue screen special effects. Pixelation
artifacts are clearly visible in many of the effects.
, Aram Fingal (Raúl Juliá
) is a lowly programmer working for Novicorp. Arts are prohibited and he is caught watching the classic film Casablanca
(“scrolling up cinemas”) on his workstation. To rehabilitate him, the company transfers his mind (“doppels” him) into a wild baboon
(a process which has become routine, with people buying "doppeling vacations"). For a few minutes, Julia narrates over footage of wild animals (actually taken from the documentary Animals Are Beautiful People
). Eventually, Fingal begins to enjoy his baboon existence until he finds his peaceful perch in a tree threatened by an elephant shaking it for fruit. He then activates an escape clause that is supposed to return his mind to his original body. Unknown to Fingal, however, his body has been accidentally tagged for transfer to separate wing for a sex change
, and with the computer unable to return him to his body, Fingal’s mind must be kept active by storing it in Novicorp’s central computer — the HX368, which controls everything from finances to the weather — until his body is located. His mind can only be maintained in such a way for a limited time before it is destroyed, forming one of the central plot points of the film.
Fingal's disappearance is reported to a rival corporation
. The news is broadcast worldwide, causing Novicorp's share price
to crash. Majority shareholders force Novicorp's Chairman (the film's main antagonist) to divert resources to keep Fingal alive and find his body. Apollonia (Linda Griffiths
), a computer controller, is assigned to locate Fingal and keep him from hacking into Novicorp’s mainframe. With Appolonia’s help, Fingal creates a virtual world where he encounters characters from Casablanca, including a version of Humphrey Bogart
’s character, Rick (played also by Raul Julia). Over time he grows bored (while only minutes pass in the real world, days pass in the virtual one) and plots to bring down Novicorp’s finances without being removed and, thus, killed. Appolonia tries to keep Fingal out of trouble, placing her in opposition with Novicorp’s leaders, especially when she finds herself falling in love with Fingal and develops a conflict of interest
. With Appolonia’s considerable help, Fingal eventually “interfaces” with the mainframe and defeats his antagonists. He also returns to his body, which has been discovered before undergoing the aforementioned sex change operation. Finally corporeal and reunited with his accomplice, Fingal and Appolonia experience a traditional happy ending
, with Fingal having taken complete control of the HX368. After ordering bonuses and stocks for every employee, committing Novicorp's Chairman to a month of "compulsory rehab" via doppeling and changing both his and Apollonia's identity to Rick and Ilsa (respectively), the characters from Casablanca, Fingal, who by now has absolute and total access to and control of the system, vows to fight against the dystopian government. The film ends with the new couple walking out the door and, now free from Novicorp's oppression, talk about opening a club on the other side of town: Rick's Place.
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
’s RSL Productions in Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
. Financing was provided by WNET
WNET
WNET, channel 13 is a non-commercial educational public television station licensed to Newark, New Jersey. With its signal covering the New York metropolitan area, WNET is a primary station of the Public Broadcasting Service and a primary provider of PBS programming...
/PBS
Public Broadcasting Service
The Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....
New Jersey
Newark, New Jersey
Newark is the largest city in the American state of New Jersey, and the seat of Essex County. As of the 2010 United States Census, Newark had a population of 277,140, maintaining its status as the largest municipality in New Jersey. It is the 68th largest city in the U.S...
, which had hoped to create an entire science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
series adapting famous works, but due to lack of funding this was the last of three such productions, the other two being The Lathe of Heaven
The Lathe of Heaven (film)
The Lathe of Heaven is a 1979 film based on the 1971 Science Fiction novel The Lathe of Heaven by Ursula K. Le Guin. It was produced in 1979 as part of New York City public television station WNET's Experimental TV Lab project, and directed by David Loxton and Fred Barzyk. Ursula K...
and Between Time and Timbuktu
Between Time and Timbuktu
Between Time and Timbuktu is a television film directed by Fred Barzyk and based on a number of works by Kurt Vonnegut. Produced by National Educational Television and WGBH-TV in Boston, Massachusetts, it was telecast March 13, 1972 as a NET Playhouse special.The script was primarily written by...
.
The script was based on a 1976 John Varley
John Varley (author)
John Herbert Varley is an American science fiction author.-Biography:Varley grew up in Fort Worth, Texas, moved to Port Arthur in 1957, and graduated from Nederland High School. He went to Michigan State University on a National Merit Scholarship because, of the schools that he could afford, it...
short story
Short story
A short story is a work of fiction that is usually written in prose, often in narrative format. This format tends to be more pointed than longer works of fiction, such as novellas and novels. Short story definitions based on length differ somewhat, even among professional writers, in part because...
. The production was not a critical success and was satirized by Mystery Science Theater 3000
Mystery Science Theater 3000
Mystery Science Theater 3000 is an American cult television comedy series created by Joel Hodgson and produced by Best Brains, Inc., that ran from 1988 to 1999....
(MST3K) in 1997, complete with a spoof of a public television pledge drive.
Overdrawn at the Memory Bank was not shot on film, but rather was videotaped, with extensive use of chroma key
Chroma key
Chroma key compositing is a technique for compositing two images together. A color range in the top layer is made transparent, revealing another image behind. The chroma keying technique is commonly used in video production and post-production...
and blue screen special effects. Pixelation
Pixelation
In computer graphics, pixelation is an effect caused by displaying a bitmap or a section of a bitmap at such a large size that individual pixels, small single-colored square display elements that comprise the bitmap, are visible to the eye...
artifacts are clearly visible in many of the effects.
Plot
In a future dystopiaDystopia
A dystopia is the idea of a society in a repressive and controlled state, often under the guise of being utopian, as characterized in books like Brave New World and Nineteen Eighty-Four...
, Aram Fingal (Raúl Juliá
Raúl Juliá
Raúl Rafael Juliá y Arcelay was a Puerto Rican actor.Born in San Juan, he gained interest in acting while still in school. Upon completing his studies, Juliá decided to pursue a career in acting. After performing in the local scene for some time, he was convinced by entertainment personality Orson...
) is a lowly programmer working for Novicorp. Arts are prohibited and he is caught watching the classic film Casablanca
Casablanca (film)
Casablanca is a 1942 American romantic drama film directed by Michael Curtiz, starring Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman and Paul Henreid, and featuring Claude Rains, Conrad Veidt, Sydney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre and Dooley Wilson. Set during World War II, it focuses on a man torn between, in...
(“scrolling up cinemas”) on his workstation. To rehabilitate him, the company transfers his mind (“doppels” him) into a wild baboon
Baboon
Baboons are African and Arabian Old World monkeys belonging to the genus Papio, part of the subfamily Cercopithecinae. There are five species, which are some of the largest non-hominoid members of the primate order; only the mandrill and the drill are larger...
(a process which has become routine, with people buying "doppeling vacations"). For a few minutes, Julia narrates over footage of wild animals (actually taken from the documentary Animals Are Beautiful People
Animals Are Beautiful People
Animals Are Beautiful People is a 1974 nature documentary about the wildlife in Southern Africa. It was filmed in the Namib Desert, the Kalahari Desert and the Okavango River and Okavango Delta...
). Eventually, Fingal begins to enjoy his baboon existence until he finds his peaceful perch in a tree threatened by an elephant shaking it for fruit. He then activates an escape clause that is supposed to return his mind to his original body. Unknown to Fingal, however, his body has been accidentally tagged for transfer to separate wing for a sex change
Sex reassignment surgery
Sex reassignment surgery is a term for the surgical procedures by which a person's physical appearance and function of their existing sexual characteristics are altered to resemble...
, and with the computer unable to return him to his body, Fingal’s mind must be kept active by storing it in Novicorp’s central computer — the HX368, which controls everything from finances to the weather — until his body is located. His mind can only be maintained in such a way for a limited time before it is destroyed, forming one of the central plot points of the film.
Fingal's disappearance is reported to a rival corporation
Industrial espionage
Industrial espionage, economic espionage or corporate espionage is a form of espionage conducted for commercial purposes instead of purely national security purposes...
. The news is broadcast worldwide, causing Novicorp's share price
Share price
A share price is the price of a single share of a number of saleable stocks of a company. Once the stock is purchased, the owner becomes a shareholder of the company that issued the share.-Behavior of share prices:...
to crash. Majority shareholders force Novicorp's Chairman (the film's main antagonist) to divert resources to keep Fingal alive and find his body. Apollonia (Linda Griffiths
Linda Griffiths
Linda Griffiths is a Canadian actor and playwright.Born in Montreal, Quebec, Griffiths studied at Dawson College, the National Theatre School for one year, and McGill University....
), a computer controller, is assigned to locate Fingal and keep him from hacking into Novicorp’s mainframe. With Appolonia’s help, Fingal creates a virtual world where he encounters characters from Casablanca, including a version of Humphrey Bogart
Humphrey Bogart
Humphrey DeForest Bogart was an American actor. He is widely regarded as a cultural icon.The American Film Institute ranked Bogart as the greatest male star in the history of American cinema....
’s character, Rick (played also by Raul Julia). Over time he grows bored (while only minutes pass in the real world, days pass in the virtual one) and plots to bring down Novicorp’s finances without being removed and, thus, killed. Appolonia tries to keep Fingal out of trouble, placing her in opposition with Novicorp’s leaders, especially when she finds herself falling in love with Fingal and develops a conflict of interest
Conflict of interest
A conflict of interest occurs when an individual or organization is involved in multiple interests, one of which could possibly corrupt the motivation for an act in the other....
. With Appolonia’s considerable help, Fingal eventually “interfaces” with the mainframe and defeats his antagonists. He also returns to his body, which has been discovered before undergoing the aforementioned sex change operation. Finally corporeal and reunited with his accomplice, Fingal and Appolonia experience a traditional happy ending
Happy ending
A happy ending is an ending of the plot of a work of fiction in which almost everything turns out for the best for the protagonists, their sidekicks, and almost everyone except the villains....
, with Fingal having taken complete control of the HX368. After ordering bonuses and stocks for every employee, committing Novicorp's Chairman to a month of "compulsory rehab" via doppeling and changing both his and Apollonia's identity to Rick and Ilsa (respectively), the characters from Casablanca, Fingal, who by now has absolute and total access to and control of the system, vows to fight against the dystopian government. The film ends with the new couple walking out the door and, now free from Novicorp's oppression, talk about opening a club on the other side of town: Rick's Place.