Movie: Alice's Restaurant (1969)

I don't remember how it came up a couple weeks ago but a friend happened to mention the song or the movie, and I decided I had to go looking for a copy of the DVD.  I remember seeing the movie once in the early seventies, but haven't since.

Based on a true story, Arlo Guthrie plays himself, Pete Seeger plays himself, Officer Obie plays himself, Alice Brock (the real Alice) plays Suzy, a minor role.  It was actually filmed in Stockbridge, in the real locations described in the song. An actor plays the bedridden Woody Guthrie, who died of Huntington's Chorea in 1967 (the movie's events take place in 1965).

It reminded me of The Return of the Secaucus Seven, with a bunch of old friends coming together for Thanksgiving in an old church one of the couples has bought.  

It was amateurish, and partly poorly acted/scripted, but a real period piece.  Made me nostalgic for the late 1960s when everyone thought we could change the world.

There is a GREAT long review of the movie and its cultural significance, the first review listed, on IMDb.

I can't remember whether I ever saw the movie. I think I did, a long time ago. I do remember that the song gave me a good laugh.

It's been a long time since I saw the movie, but I remember it as being quite fun.

I was fortunate enough to see Arlo Guthrie perform here in town in the '90s. The venue was on the community college campus, and when we got to within a couple hundred feet of the building, the aroma of marijuana was quite noticeable. Some of the patrons walking to the event would notice it and I would see small smiles on their faces. Others would notice it and look around with perplexed looks, as if to see if there a something on fire. Easy to tell the real Arlo fans.

When he sang "Alice's Restaurant," the audience sang along at his invitation. Fun time.

You know what I hate?  I hate it when there's a director's commentary, or in this case an actor's commentary, and the person hasn't seen the movie in a long long time, like 30 years.  What you get is long long pauses, while the person watches with you, with occasional punctuations like, "wow, look at that shirt!" Or "I think I still have that guitar."  Absolutely no preparation, absolutely no insider information, absolutely no reason to bother with the commentary.

Bosh.