Alice's Restaurant DVD

Alice's Restaurant
Intrigued by the counterculture tale of Arlo Guthrie's epic 1968 talking-blues record The Alice's Restaurant Massacree, director Arthur Penn, co-scripting with playwright Venable Herndon, adapted the song into the 1969 feature Alice's Restaurant. Hippie outsider Arlo (Guthrie, playing himself) encounters suspicion from the straight world; visits his dying father, renowned leftist activist/singer Woody Guthrie (Joseph Boley), in the hospital along with friend Pete Seeger; and hangs out in the title converted church/commune created by his friends Alice (Pat Quinn) and her husband Ray (James Broderick). After Alice's "Thanksgiving dinner that couldn't be beat," Arlo is arrested for littering by rule-following Officer "Obie" Obanhein (William Obanhein, playing himself). That littering arrest helps Arlo avoid the Vietnam draft, but the commune is threatened after more personal, old-fashioned conflicts over sex and partnerships permeate Alice and Ray's alternative world. ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide

Cast Arlo Guthrie as Arlo Pat Quinn as Alice James Broderick as Ray Michael McClanathan as Shelly Geoff Outlaw as Roger Tina Chen as Mari-Chan Kathleen Dabney as Karin Pol. Chief William Obanhein as Officer obie Seth Allan as Evangelist Monroe Arnold as Bluegrass Joseph Boley as Woody Pete Seeger as Himself Sylvia Davis as Marjorie Simm Landres as Jacob Louis Beachner as Dean MacIntyre Dixon as lst Deconsecration Minister Rev. Dr. Pierce Middleton as 2nd Deconsecration Minister Donald Marye as Funeral Director Shelley Plimpton as Reenie M. Emmet Walsh as Group W Sergeant Lee Hays as Himself Eleanor D. Wilson as Landlady Simon Deckard as Medic Thomas DeWolfe as Waiter Judge James Hannon as Himself Graham Jarvis as Music Teacher John Quill as 2nd Cop Frank Simpson as Sergeant

Crew Harold Leventhal - Associate Producer Anna Hill Johnstone - Costume Designer Arthur Penn - Director Dede Allen - Editor Garry Sherman - Composer (Music Score) Arlo Guthrie - Composer (Music Score) Fred Hellerman - Musical Direction/Supervision Irving Buchman - Makeup Victor J. Kemper - Camera Operator Warren Clymer - Production Designer Michael Nebbia - Cinematographer Joseph Manduke - Producer Hillard Elkins - Producer John Mortensen - Set Designer Venabel Herndon - Screenwriter Arthur Penn - Screenwriter

Alice's Restaurant
Eschewing Hollywood polish, director Arthur Penn's loose narrative and partial use of non-professional actors in this feature meshed with a new youth culture predicated on rejecting convention. Like Penn's Bonnie and Clyde before it, Alice's Restaurant delved into rebellion against the establishment, but Penn keeps an eye on its potential limitations even as Arlo Guthrie and the commune live out its possibilities. The military-industrial complex may not prevail this time, but the communards and their protector are not necessarily any better off. Released the same year as the anti-establishment smash Easy Rider, Alice's Restaurant also became a hit (although not quite of the same magnitude). With its authentic counterculture milieu, down-home style, and narrative mix of drama, music, commentary, and comic satire, the film is at once a time capsule of the late '60s and a more timeless story of youthful idealism and adult compromise. ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide
 

Arthur Penn: Academy, Best Director (nominated)

General Specifications: Language Options: English Subtitle Options: English, French Sound Processing: 1: PCM mono Additional Features: Audio commentary by Arlo Guthrie Never-before-seen R-rated version Original theatrical trailer English: mono French and Spanish subtitles DVD Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1: Theatre Wide-Screen MPAA Rating: R DVD Discs Included: 1 DVD Sides: 1 DVD DVD Region Code: 1 Content Length: 111 min   DVD Chapters: Scene Selections 0. Scene Selections 1. Main Title/The Draft [3:47] 2. Small-Town Welcome [11:50] 3. "Amazing Grace" [4:11] 4. An Experienced Girl [6:44] 5. Shelly's Out [3:54] 6. Building Alice's [7:35] 7. The Race [8:06] 8. Serenading Woody [10:45] 9. Thanksgiving [5:19] 10. "The Town Dump" [5:05] 11. A Littering Felony [7:50] 12. "Defend Our Country" [9:19] 13. Off The Wagon [5:30] 14. Two Funerals... [8:55] 15. ...And A Wedding [10:51] 16. End Credits [:55]