Come Back to the 5 & Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean (1982) Online
The Disciples of James Dean meet up on the anniversary of his death and mull over their lives in the present and in flashback, revealing the truth behind their complicated lives. Who is the mysterious Joanne and what's the real story behind Mona's son, James Dean Junior ?
Complete credited cast: | |||
Sandy Dennis | - | Mona | |
Cher | - | Sissy | |
Karen Black | - | Joanne | |
Sudie Bond | - | Juanita | |
Kathy Bates | - | Stella Mae | |
Marta Heflin | - | Edna Louise | |
Mark Patton | - | Joe Qualley | |
Caroline Aaron | - | Teenager | |
Ruth Miller | - | Teenager | |
Gena Ramsel | - | Teenager | |
Ann Risley | - | Teenager | |
Dianne Travis | - | Teenager (as Dianne Turley Travis) |
After a string of flops, Robert Altman sold his Lion's Gate Films company and quit Hollywood to make low-budget independent films based on stage plays. This was the first of them; the others were Streamers (1983), Secret Honor (1984), Beyond Therapy (1987) and Fool for Love (1985).
Director Robert Altman previously directed the 1957 documentary The James Dean Story (1957).
Cher, Karen Black and Sandy Dennis reprised their roles from the stage production that played on Broadway at the Martn Beck Theatre in 1982. Director Robert Altman also directed this stage season.
Three of the film's cast have won Academy Awards for acting--Cher, Kathy Bates and Sandy Dennis. Karen Black has also been nominated for Best Supporting Actress without winning, as have Cher and Bates, who both won the Best Actress Oscar after this movie.
Shot in 19 days.
The film received a ten-minute standing ovation at the Chicago Film Festival.
The film's one set was actually one double-set with two-way mirrors which were utilized for the flashback sequences. The two-way mirrored double-set was operated by computerized lighting modules which caused their own unique problems for the production.
The picture was Cher's first since 1969's Chastity (1969).
Apart from a couple of 1960s outings, this was the first serious dramatic role in a prominent picture for Cher. It was this film and the next year's Silkwood (1983) that introduced her as a serious actress.
The film was shot in Super 16mm film stock and then blown-up to 35mm for the answer print.
First of a number of 1980s filmed adaptations of stage plays by director Robert Altman.
Having worked on the stage production, Robert Altman was convinced the material would make a good film despite bad critical notices and a short run in theaters for the play.
Despite the powerful performances, Cher, was the only cast member to win awards recognition. She was nominated for a Golden Globe award.
Playwright Ed Graczyk said of his play at its premiere at the Players Theatre, Columbus: " . . . 'Jimmy Dean can' only be described as the result of my own observations and frustrations with progress that ignores a past; the lack of personalization and pride and the recurring need of people to build facades to conceal the truths of their lives. It is the facade that makes abnormal people seem normal and the sad people seem happy, a personal observation which I feel makes the people I write about colorful, theatrical, but most of all, honest . . . The inspiration for 'Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean' came many years ago during my five-year association with the Midland Community Theatre in west Texas. While I was there I had the opportunity to visit Marfa, the site used by Warner Bros. in filming Giant (1956). The only remaining evidence of the film was the facade of the mansion Reata used to film the on location scenes, now crumbling and supported by six telephone poles. It was the memory of that site, the pace of the people and the vivid recollection of the [1950s] idol James Dean on the youth of the period that resulted in the writing of this play".
The film was shot on just one set, which was a redressed version of the set which Robert Altman used when he directed it on Broadway. It was actually one double-set with two-way mirrors that were utilized for the flashback sequences. The two-way mirrored double-set was operated by computerized lighting modules which caused their own unique problems for the production.
Due to the distribution problems associated with director Robert Altman's earlier movie HealtH (1980), Altman avoided big distribution for Come Back to the 5 & Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean (1982).
The film was made and released about six years after its source play of the same name by Ed Graczyk had been first performed in 1976.
The film won the Gold Hugo Award for Best Feature at the Chicago Film Festival in 1982.
The celebratory reunion occasion that the girls and their fan club were celebrating was the 20th anniversary of the death of screen legend James Dean.
The play by Ed Graczyk, upon which this film is based, was first performed in 1976. It opened on Broadway at the Martin Beck Theater on 18th February 1982 and ran for 52 performances until 4th April 1982.
Story is set in the fictional town of McCarthy, TX, 62 miles from Marfa, TX.
The entire cast had appeared in the 1982 Broadway production, which ran for only 52 performances.
All the action in the film takes place in a Woolworth's department store.
At 11 words, this was one of the longest titles in films ever.
The entire cast consisted of only 12 people.
The banner at the reunion read, "The Disciples of James Dean . . . September 30 '55-September 30 '75". James Dean died on 30th September 1955.
According to director Robert Altman, an early press report that this film was being made for cable TV was inaccurate; it was always his intention to make it a theatrical film.
Cher and Sudie Bond appeared together in Silkwood (1983) the following year.
Film debut of Mark Patton as Joe.
The McGuire Sisters' recording of "Sincerely" went to #1 in 1954 and sold over a million copies.
First of several collaborations of cinematographer Pierre Mignot and director Robert Altman.
First American film distributed by American independent film distributor Cinecom.
The name of the James Dean fan club was "The Disciples of James Dean".
We never see Jimmy Dean, the supposed son of Mona and James Dean.
The name of the James Dean movie that had been filmed in a nearby Texas town where the girls lived was Giant (1956).
The time frame runs from 1955 to Sept. 30, 1975.
Gravitation toward younger men was a common bond among the three main actresses. Sandy Dennis lived with Eric Roberts, who was 19 years her junior. Karen Black married Stephen Eckelberry, 22 years her junior. Cher dated Tim Medvetz (24 years her junior), Rob Camilletti (18 years her junior), Tom Cruise (16 years her junior), Val Kilmer and Richie Sambora (both 13 years her junior).
Of the 12-member cast, only one was a male.
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