Tough Guys Don't Dance (film)
Encyclopedia
Tough Guys Don't Dance is a 1987
film written and directed by Norman Mailer
based on his novel of the same name. It is a murder mystery/film noir
piece that was scorned by audiences and critics alike. It was screened out of competition at the 1987 Cannes Film Festival
.
The script had revisions done by Chinatown and Last Woman on Earth
scribe/script doctor
Robert Towne
. The title comes from an anecdote told to Norman Mailer by a prizefighter
named Roger Donahue: Frank Costello
, the Murder Inc. honcho, and his gorgeous girlfriend greet three champion boxers in the Stork Club
. Costello demands that each, in turn, dance with the woman, and each nervously complies. The last, Willie Pep
, suggests that Mr. Costello dance. Costello replied, "Tough guys don't dance."
police chief, Captain Luther Regency, shacked up with his former girlfriend Madeleine.
As his father Dougy helps try to unravel the mystery, Madden is dogged by the psychotic Capt. Regency, who has it in for him because a car crash that he was involved in with Madeline has left her unable to have children. Flashing back, Madden remembers the time when he encouraged Madeline to swing with a Li'l Abnerish couple from down South, the fundamentalist preacher Big Stoop and his Daisy Mae-ish wife, Patty Lareine, whose ad Tim had come across in Screw magazine. It is on the trip back that the car crash occurs, Madeline incensed along the way that Tim has so enjoyed Patty Lareine's charms.
Except for his father, who is dying of cancer, Tim suspects everyone, including Patty Lareine, multi-millionaire prep-school pal Wardley Meeks III — and even himself — of murder. Patty Lareine had left Big Stoop, married Wardley, left him in a messy divorce which netted her a rich cash settlement, and in turn married Tim, whom she fancied. Patty Lareine disappears, and Tim goes on his fatal bender that has left his memory in shards after receiving a letter from Madeline informing him that her husband is having an affair with his wife.
Tim remembers his assignation in the local tavern's parking lot with the blond porn star Jessica Pond, while her effete husband Lonnie Pangborn watched from the sidelines, distraught. It was Jessica's head in the Hefty bag with his grass, but soon another head turns up in his marijuana stash, that of Patty Lareine.
We eventually learn that she and Wardley, a bisexual skewed towards the gay side, had been involved in a massive marijuana deal, one that also involved Pond and Pangborn, who are also missing. Will Tim be able to get to the bottom of the mystery and save himself from another stretch in stir? As Dougy reminds him, "Tough guys don't dance," and Tim has been doing everything but the Charlston in his attempt to keep ahead of the forces closing in on him.
, in a 2½ star review in the Chicago Sun-Times praised the cinematography, the Provincetown setting, and said that the relationship between Tim and Dougy was the best aspect of the film, but also had to say that "what is strange is that Tough Guys Don't Dance leaves me with such vivid memories of its times and places, its feelings and weathers, and yet leaves me so completely indifferent to its plot. Watching the film, I laughed a good deal."
However, the film had at least two supporters. Jonathan Rosenbaum of the Chicago Reader, said "Norman Mailer's best film, adapted from his worst novel, shows a surprising amount of cinematic savvy and style." Also, "He translates his high rhetoric and macho
preoccupations (existential tests of bravado
, good orgasms, murderous women, metaphysical cops) into an odd, campy, raunchy comedy-thriller that remains consistently watchable and unpredictable--as goofy in a way as Beyond the Valley of the Dolls
. Where Russ Meyer
featured women with oversize breasts, Mailer features male characters with oversize egos, and thanks to the juicy writing, hallucinatory lines such as "Your knife is in my dog" and "I just deep-sixed two heads" bounce off his cartoonish actors like comic-strip bubbles; even his sexism is somewhat objectified in the process." Vincent Canby of the New York Times said that "Not the high point of the Mailer career, but it's a small, entertaining part of it."
The film did poorly at the box office, making only $858,250, nearly a fifth of its $5,000,000 budget. It (as of May 12, 2011) holds a 39% "rotten" rating at Rotten Tomatoes
.
In the years since the film's release on video, the film has become a cult classic
in bad movie circles. Channel 4 Film said "The overkill is strangely compelling and Mailer's disregard for taste and convention ensure his film is a massive but spectacular and unmissable folly." The movie apparently got enough of a following for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
, who owns much of Cannon's film library, to release an anamorphic widescreen
DVD
of the film on September 16, 2003. The disc contained an interview with Norman Mailer
, a tour of Provincetown and the film's trailer.
This film also includes the unofficially-proclaimed "worst line reading ever", wherein Ryan O'Neal's character Tim Madden reads a note from his ex-girlfriend Madeline informing him that his wife was having an affair with her husband, whereupon he exclaims "Oh man! Oh God! Oh man! Oh God! Oh man! Oh God! Oh man! Oh God! Oh man! Oh God!". This scene has become a popular internet meme
. Norman Mailer
, in an interview featured on the DVD release of the film, said that he was counseled to cut the ending of the scene due to O'Neal's poor performance, but kept it in because he thought the poor line-reading actually added something to the picture. O'Neal, who had been friendly with Mailer, turned on him as he felt his reputation could be jeopardised by the scene (O'Neal had been nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor several years previously).
1987 in film
-Events:*January 31 - The Cure for Insomnia premieres at The School of the Art Institute in Chicago, Illinois, to officially become the world's longest film according to Guinness World Records....
film written and directed by Norman Mailer
Norman Mailer
Norman Kingsley Mailer was an American novelist, journalist, essayist, poet, playwright, screenwriter, and film director.Along with Truman Capote, Joan Didion, Hunter S...
based on his novel of the same name. It is a murder mystery/film noir
Film noir
Film noir is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and sexual motivations. Hollywood's classic film noir period is generally regarded as extending from the early 1940s to the late 1950s...
piece that was scorned by audiences and critics alike. It was screened out of competition at the 1987 Cannes Film Festival
1987 Cannes Film Festival
- Jury :*Yves Montand*Danièle Heymann*Elem Klimov*Gérald Calderon*Jeremy Thomas*Jerzy Skolimowski*Nicola Piovani*Norman Mailer*Theo Angelopoulos-Feature film competition:...
.
The script had revisions done by Chinatown and Last Woman on Earth
Last Woman on Earth
Last Woman on Earth is an American science-fiction film produced and directed by Roger Corman. It tells the story of three survivors of a mysterious apocalypse which appears to have wiped out all human life on earth. The screenplay is by Robert Towne, who also appears in the film billed as...
scribe/script doctor
Script doctor
A script doctor, also called script consultant, is a highly-skilled screenwriter, hired by a film or television production, to rewrite or polish specific aspects of an existing screenplay, including structure, characterization, dialogue, pacing, theme, and other elements...
Robert Towne
Robert Towne
Robert Towne is an American screenwriter and director. His most notable work may be his Academy Award-winning original screenplay for Roman Polanski's Chinatown .-Film:...
. The title comes from an anecdote told to Norman Mailer by a prizefighter
Prizefighter
A prizefighter is a boxer.Prizefighter may also refer to:*Don King Presents: Prizefighter, a video game by 2k Sports released in 2008*Prize Fighter, a video game by Digital Pictures released in 1994 for the Sega CD...
named Roger Donahue: Frank Costello
Frank Costello
Frank Costello was an Italian New York City gangster who rose to the top of America's underworld, controlled a vast gambling empire across the United States and enjoyed political influence.Nicknamed the "Prime Minister of the Underworld", he became one of the most powerful and influential Mafia...
, the Murder Inc. honcho, and his gorgeous girlfriend greet three champion boxers in the Stork Club
Stork Club
The Stork Club was a nightclub in New York City from 1929 to 1965. From 1934 onwards, it was located at 3 East 53rd Street, just east of Fifth Avenue...
. Costello demands that each, in turn, dance with the woman, and each nervously complies. The last, Willie Pep
Willie Pep
Guglielmo Papaleo was an American boxer who was better known as Willie Pep. Pep boxed a total of 1956 rounds in the 241 bouts during his 26 year career, a considerable number of rounds and fights even for a fighter of his era. His final record was 229-11-1 with 65 knockouts...
, suggests that Mr. Costello dance. Costello replied, "Tough guys don't dance."
Plot
Writer, ex-con and 40-something bottle-baby Tim Madden, who is prone to blackouts, awakens from a two-week bender to discover a pool of blood in his car, a blond woman's severed head in his marijuana stash, and the new Provincetown, MassachusettsProvincetown, Massachusetts
Provincetown is a New England town located at the extreme tip of Cape Cod in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 3,431 at the 2000 census, with an estimated 2007 population of 3,174...
police chief, Captain Luther Regency, shacked up with his former girlfriend Madeleine.
As his father Dougy helps try to unravel the mystery, Madden is dogged by the psychotic Capt. Regency, who has it in for him because a car crash that he was involved in with Madeline has left her unable to have children. Flashing back, Madden remembers the time when he encouraged Madeline to swing with a Li'l Abnerish couple from down South, the fundamentalist preacher Big Stoop and his Daisy Mae-ish wife, Patty Lareine, whose ad Tim had come across in Screw magazine. It is on the trip back that the car crash occurs, Madeline incensed along the way that Tim has so enjoyed Patty Lareine's charms.
Except for his father, who is dying of cancer, Tim suspects everyone, including Patty Lareine, multi-millionaire prep-school pal Wardley Meeks III — and even himself — of murder. Patty Lareine had left Big Stoop, married Wardley, left him in a messy divorce which netted her a rich cash settlement, and in turn married Tim, whom she fancied. Patty Lareine disappears, and Tim goes on his fatal bender that has left his memory in shards after receiving a letter from Madeline informing him that her husband is having an affair with his wife.
Tim remembers his assignation in the local tavern's parking lot with the blond porn star Jessica Pond, while her effete husband Lonnie Pangborn watched from the sidelines, distraught. It was Jessica's head in the Hefty bag with his grass, but soon another head turns up in his marijuana stash, that of Patty Lareine.
We eventually learn that she and Wardley, a bisexual skewed towards the gay side, had been involved in a massive marijuana deal, one that also involved Pond and Pangborn, who are also missing. Will Tim be able to get to the bottom of the mystery and save himself from another stretch in stir? As Dougy reminds him, "Tough guys don't dance," and Tim has been doing everything but the Charlston in his attempt to keep ahead of the forces closing in on him.
Cast
- Ryan O'NealRyan O'NealCharles Patrick Ryan O'Neal , better known as Ryan O'Neal, is an American actor best known for his appearances in the ABC nighttime soap opera Peyton Place and for his roles in such films as Paper Moon , Stanley Kubrick's Barry Lyndon , A Bridge Too Far , and Love Story , for which he received...
– Tim Madden - Isabella RosselliniIsabella RosselliniIsabella Fiorella Elettra Giovanna Rossellini is an Italian actress, filmmaker, author, philanthropist, and model. Rossellini is noted for her 14-year tenure as a Lancôme model, and for her roles in films such as Blue Velvet and Death Becomes Her.-Background and early life:Rossellini is a...
– Madeleine Regency - Debra SandlundDebra SandlundDebra Sandlund is an American television and film actress. Won Miss Dream Girl USA 1987 Pageant.Television series appearances:Film appearances:...
– Patty Lareine - Wings HauserWings HauserWings Hauser is an American actor, director and film writer.-Life and career:Hauser was born Gerald Dwight Hauser in Hollywood, California, the son of Geraldine and Academy Award-winning director and producer Dwight Hauser...
– Capt. Alvin Luther Regency - John Bedford Lloyd – Wardley Meeks III
- Lawrence TierneyLawrence TierneyLawrence Tierney was an American actor, known for his many screen portrayals of mobsters and hardened criminals, which mirrored his own frequent brushes with the law....
– Dougy Madden - Penn JillettePenn JillettePenn Fraser Jillette is an American magician, comedian, illusionist, juggler, bassist and a best-selling author known for his work with fellow illusionist Teller in the team Penn & Teller, and advocacy of atheism, libertarian philosophy, free-market economics, and scientific skepticism.-Early...
– Big Stoop - Frances FisherFrances FisherFrances Fisher is a British actress. She is known for her work on television, in theater and in films, including roles as Strawberry Alice, the madame prostitute in Unforgiven , and Ruth DeWitt Bukater, the mother of Kate Winslet's character in Titanic .- Early life and education :Fisher was born...
– Jessica Pond - R. Patrick Sullivan – Lonnie Pangborn
- John SnyderJohn Snyder (actor)John Snyder is an American voice actor best known for voicing Daisuke Jigen in The Castle of Cagliostro and Kazundo Gouda in Ghost in the Shell: S.A.C. 2nd GIG...
– Spider - Stephan Morrow – Stoodie
- Clarence Williams IIIClarence Williams IIIClarence Williams III is an American actor.-Early life:Williams was born in New York City. His grandfather was Clarence Williams, the jazz pianist and composer. He was raised by his grandmother.-Career:...
– Bolo - Kathryn Sanders – Beth
- Ira Lewis – Merwyn Finney
- Ed Setrakian – Lawyer
Reception
The critical reception was less than stellar. Hal Hinson of the Washington Post said that the film was "hard to classify; at times you laugh raucously at what's up on the screen; at others you stare dumbly, in stunned amazement." Roger EbertRoger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
, in a 2½ star review in the Chicago Sun-Times praised the cinematography, the Provincetown setting, and said that the relationship between Tim and Dougy was the best aspect of the film, but also had to say that "what is strange is that Tough Guys Don't Dance leaves me with such vivid memories of its times and places, its feelings and weathers, and yet leaves me so completely indifferent to its plot. Watching the film, I laughed a good deal."
However, the film had at least two supporters. Jonathan Rosenbaum of the Chicago Reader, said "Norman Mailer's best film, adapted from his worst novel, shows a surprising amount of cinematic savvy and style." Also, "He translates his high rhetoric and macho
Macho
Macho typically refers to machismo. Other uses include:*Macho , a short-lived disco group in the late 1970s*Pique macho, Bolivian dish*Macho Man , a 1978 disco song performed by the Village People...
preoccupations (existential tests of bravado
Bravado
Bravado may refer to:* A pretense of bravery* The quality or state of being foolhardy* A blustering swaggering conduct* The Bravados* "Bravado" is the second track by the Canadian power trio Rush on their 1991 album, Roll the Bones...
, good orgasms, murderous women, metaphysical cops) into an odd, campy, raunchy comedy-thriller that remains consistently watchable and unpredictable--as goofy in a way as Beyond the Valley of the Dolls
Beyond the Valley of the Dolls
Beyond the Valley of the Dolls is a 1970 American schlock melodrama film starring Dolly Read, Cynthia Myers, Marcia McBroom, John LaZar, Michael Blodgett and David Gurian...
. Where Russ Meyer
Russ Meyer
Russell Albion "Russ" Meyer was a U.S. motion picture director, producer, screenwriter, cinematographer, editor, actor and photographer....
featured women with oversize breasts, Mailer features male characters with oversize egos, and thanks to the juicy writing, hallucinatory lines such as "Your knife is in my dog" and "I just deep-sixed two heads" bounce off his cartoonish actors like comic-strip bubbles; even his sexism is somewhat objectified in the process." Vincent Canby of the New York Times said that "Not the high point of the Mailer career, but it's a small, entertaining part of it."
The film did poorly at the box office, making only $858,250, nearly a fifth of its $5,000,000 budget. It (as of May 12, 2011) holds a 39% "rotten" rating at Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
.
In the years since the film's release on video, the film has become a cult classic
Cult Classic
Cult Classic is a Blue Öyster Cult studio recording released in 1994, containing remakes of many of the band's previous hits.-Track listing:# " The Reaper" - 5:05# "E.T.I...
in bad movie circles. Channel 4 Film said "The overkill is strangely compelling and Mailer's disregard for taste and convention ensure his film is a massive but spectacular and unmissable folly." The movie apparently got enough of a following for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. is an American media company, involved primarily in the production and distribution of films and television programs. MGM was founded in 1924 when the entertainment entrepreneur Marcus Loew gained control of Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures Corporation and Louis B. Mayer...
, who owns much of Cannon's film library, to release an anamorphic widescreen
Anamorphic widescreen
Anamorphic widescreen, when applied to DVD manufacture, is a video process that horizontally squeezes a widescreen image so that it can be stored in a standard 4:3 aspect ratio DVD image frame. Compatible playback equipment can then re-expand the horizontal dimension to show the original widescreen...
DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
of the film on September 16, 2003. The disc contained an interview with Norman Mailer
Norman Mailer
Norman Kingsley Mailer was an American novelist, journalist, essayist, poet, playwright, screenwriter, and film director.Along with Truman Capote, Joan Didion, Hunter S...
, a tour of Provincetown and the film's trailer.
This film also includes the unofficially-proclaimed "worst line reading ever", wherein Ryan O'Neal's character Tim Madden reads a note from his ex-girlfriend Madeline informing him that his wife was having an affair with her husband, whereupon he exclaims "Oh man! Oh God! Oh man! Oh God! Oh man! Oh God! Oh man! Oh God! Oh man! Oh God!". This scene has become a popular internet meme
Internet meme
The term Internet meme is used to describe a concept that spreads via the Internet. The term is a reference to the concept of memes, although the latter concept refers to a much broader category of cultural information.-Description:...
. Norman Mailer
Norman Mailer
Norman Kingsley Mailer was an American novelist, journalist, essayist, poet, playwright, screenwriter, and film director.Along with Truman Capote, Joan Didion, Hunter S...
, in an interview featured on the DVD release of the film, said that he was counseled to cut the ending of the scene due to O'Neal's poor performance, but kept it in because he thought the poor line-reading actually added something to the picture. O'Neal, who had been friendly with Mailer, turned on him as he felt his reputation could be jeopardised by the scene (O'Neal had been nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor several years previously).
Awards
| Group | Award | Won? |
|---|---|---|
| Independent Spirit Awards Independent Spirit Awards The Independent Spirit Awards , founded in 1984, are awards dedicated to independent filmmakers. Winners were typically presented with acrylic glass pyramids containing suspended shoestrings representing the paltry budgets of independent films. In 1986, the event was renamed the Independent Spirit... 1988 |
||
| Best Cinematography (John Bailey John Bailey (cinematographer) John Bailey, A.S.C. is an American Cinematographer and Film Director.Born in Moberly, Missouri, Bailey attended Santa Clara University and Loyola University Chicago. During his junior year he studied German language and culture at the University of Vienna, where he developed an appreciation for... ) |
||
| Best Feature (Menahem Golan Menahem Golan Menahem Golan is an Israeli director and producer. He has produced movies for such stars as Sean Connery, Sylvester Stallone, Chuck Norris, Jean-Claude Van Damme, and Charles Bronson, and was known for a period as a producer of comic book-style movies like Masters of the Universe, Superman IV:... and Yoram Globus Yoram Globus Yoram Globus Yoram Globus Yoram Globus (born 21 October 1941 in Tiberias, Israel, is an Israeli director and producer who is most famous for his association with Cannon Films Inc., a company he ran with his cousin Menahem Golan.... ) |
||
| Best Female Lead (Debra Sandlund Debra Sandlund Debra Sandlund is an American television and film actress. Won Miss Dream Girl USA 1987 Pageant.Television series appearances:Film appearances:... ) |
||
| Best Supporting Male (Wings Hauser Wings Hauser Wings Hauser is an American actor, director and film writer.-Life and career:Hauser was born Gerald Dwight Hauser in Hollywood, California, the son of Geraldine and Academy Award-winning director and producer Dwight Hauser... ) |
| Group | Award | Won? |
|---|---|---|
| Golden Raspberry Awards 1988 | ||
| Worst Director (Norman Mailer Norman Mailer Norman Kingsley Mailer was an American novelist, journalist, essayist, poet, playwright, screenwriter, and film director.Along with Truman Capote, Joan Didion, Hunter S... ) |
, tied with Elaine May Elaine May Elaine May is an American film director, screenwriter and actress. She achieved her greatest fame in the 1950s from her improvisational comedy routines in partnership with Mike Nichols... for Ishtar Ishtar (film) Ishtar is a 1987 American comedy film directed by Elaine May and starring Warren Beatty and Dustin Hoffman as "Rogers and Clarke" – a duo of incredibly untalented lounge singers who travel to Morocco looking for work, and stumble into a four-party Cold War standoff.It also starred Isabelle Adjani... |
|
| Worst Actor (Ryan O'Neal Ryan O'Neal Charles Patrick Ryan O'Neal , better known as Ryan O'Neal, is an American actor best known for his appearances in the ABC nighttime soap opera Peyton Place and for his roles in such films as Paper Moon , Stanley Kubrick's Barry Lyndon , A Bridge Too Far , and Love Story , for which he received... ) |
||
| Worst Actress (Debra Sandlund Debra Sandlund Debra Sandlund is an American television and film actress. Won Miss Dream Girl USA 1987 Pageant.Television series appearances:Film appearances:... ) |
||
| Worst New Star (Debra Sandlund Debra Sandlund Debra Sandlund is an American television and film actress. Won Miss Dream Girl USA 1987 Pageant.Television series appearances:Film appearances:... ) |
||
| Worst Picture (Menahem Golan Menahem Golan Menahem Golan is an Israeli director and producer. He has produced movies for such stars as Sean Connery, Sylvester Stallone, Chuck Norris, Jean-Claude Van Damme, and Charles Bronson, and was known for a period as a producer of comic book-style movies like Masters of the Universe, Superman IV:... and Yoram Globus Yoram Globus Yoram Globus Yoram Globus Yoram Globus (born 21 October 1941 in Tiberias, Israel, is an Israeli director and producer who is most famous for his association with Cannon Films Inc., a company he ran with his cousin Menahem Golan.... ) |
||
| Worst Screenplay (Norman Mailer Norman Mailer Norman Kingsley Mailer was an American novelist, journalist, essayist, poet, playwright, screenwriter, and film director.Along with Truman Capote, Joan Didion, Hunter S... ) |
||
| Worst Supporting Actress (Isabella Rossellini Isabella Rossellini Isabella Fiorella Elettra Giovanna Rossellini is an Italian actress, filmmaker, author, philanthropist, and model. Rossellini is noted for her 14-year tenure as a Lancôme model, and for her roles in films such as Blue Velvet and Death Becomes Her.-Background and early life:Rossellini is a... , also for Siesta Siesta (film) Siesta is a 1987 film directed by Mary Lambert, and starring Ellen Barkin, Gabriel Byrne and Jodie Foster. It also stars Martin Sheen, Isabella Rossellini, Grace Jones, Julian Sands and Alexei Sayle.... ) |