The Day of the Locust (1975)

User Rating:

7.1/10   

Director:

John Schlesinger

Writers:

Nathanael West (novel)
Waldo Salt (screenplay)

Release Date:

22 August 1975 (France)

Genre:

Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

By train. By car. By bus. They came to Hollywood... In search of a dream.

Plot:

An art director in the 1930's falls in love and attempts to make a young woman an actress despite Hollywood who wants nothing to do with her because of her problems with an estranged man and her acoholic father.

Plot Keywords:

Love | Art Director | 1930s | Accountant | Neighbor

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 1 win & 4 nominations

Cast

Donald Sutherland	...	Homer Simpson
Karen Black	...	Faye Greener
Burgess Meredith	...	Harry Greener
William Atherton	...	Tod Hackett
Geraldine Page	...	Big Sister
Richard Dysart	...	Claude Estee
Bo Hopkins	...	Earle Shoop
Pepe Serna	...	Miguel
Lelia Goldoni	...	Mary Dove
Billy Barty	...	Abe Kusich
Jackie Earle Haley	...	Adore (as Jackie Haley)
Gloria LeRoy	...	Mrs. Loomis (as Gloria Le Roy)
Jane Hoffman	...	Mrs. Odlesh
Norman Leavitt	...	Mr. Odlesh (as Norm Leavitt)
Madge Kennedy	...	Mrs. Johnson
Ina Gould	...	Lee Sisters
Florence Lake	...	Lee Sisters
Margaret Willey	...	The Gingos
John War Eagle	...	The Gingos
Natalie Schafer	...	Audrey Jennings
Gloria Stroock	...	Alice Estee
Nita Talbot	...	Joan
Nicholas Cortland	...	Projectionist
Alvin Childress	...	Butler
Byron Paul	...	Guest
Virginia Baker	...	Guest
Roger Price	...	Guest
Angela Greene	...	Guest
Robert O. Ragland	...	Guest
Abbey Greshler	...	Guest
Ann Coleman	...	Girl
Gyl Roland	...	Girl
Paul Stewart	...	Helverston
John Hillerman	...	Ned Grote
William Castle	...	Director (as William C. Castle)
Fred Scheiwiller	...	1st Asst. Director
Wally Rose	...	2nd Asst. Director
Grainger Hines	...	French Lt.
DeForest Covan	...	Shoe Shine Boy (as De Forest Covan)
Michael Quinn	...	Major Domo
Robert Pine	...	Apprentice
Jerry Fogel	...	Apprentice
Dennis Dugan	...	Apprentice
David Ladd	...	Apprentice
Bob Holt	...	Tour Guide
Paul Jabara	...	Nightclub Entertainer
Queenie Smith	...	Palsied Lady
Margaret Jenkins	...	Choral Director
Jonathan Kidd	...	Undertaker
Kenny Solms	...	Boy in Chapel
Wally K. Berns	...	Theatre Manager (as Wally Berns)
Bill Baldwin	...	Announcer at Premiere
Dick Powell Jr.	...	Dick Powell
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Robert Jon Carlson	...	Actor (uncredited)
Brent Dunsford	...	Fan (uncredited)
Vince Trankina	...	Looter (uncredited)

Directed by
John Schlesinger

Writing credits
Nathanael West		(novel)
Waldo Salt		(screenplay)

Produced by
Jerome Hellman	....	producer
Sheldon Schrager	....	associate producer

Original Music by
John Barry

Cinematography by
Conrad L. Hall		(as Conrad Hall)

Film Editing by
Jim Clark

Casting by
Marion Dougherty

Production Design by
Richard Macdonald

Art Direction by
John J. Lloyd		(as John Lloyd)

Set Decoration by
George James Hopkins		(as George Hopkins)
Rick Simpson		(uncredited)

Costume Design by
Ann Roth

Makeup Department
Del Armstrong	....	makeup artist
Lynn Del	....	hair stylist
Graham Meech-Burkestone	....	hair stylist (as Graham M. Birkstone)
Pascal	....	hair stylist
Marlene D. Williams	....	hair stylist (as Marlene Williams)

Production Management
Sheldon Schrager	....	unit production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Arne Schmidt	....	second assistant director (as Arnie Schmidt)
Barry Stern	....	second assistant director
Charles Ziarko	....	second assistant director
Tim Zinnemann	....	assistant director

Art Department
Allan Gordon	....	property master
Adam John Backauskas	....	property maker (uncredited)
L. David Gordon	....	draper (uncredited)
Harold Michelson	....	illustrator (uncredited)

Sound Department
David Campling	....	sound editor
Gerry Humphreys	....	sound mixer
Dennis Johns	....	sound assistant
Tom Overton	....	sound recordist (as Tommy Overton)
Tennyson	....	sound assistant

Special Effects by
Tim Smyth	....	special effects

Visual Effects by
Albert Whitlock	....	special photographic effects

Stunts
Phil Adams	....	stunt coordinator
Jeannie Epper	....	stunts (uncredited)
James M. Halty	....	stunts (uncredited)
Tommy J. Huff	....	stunts (uncredited)
Gene LeBell	....	stunts (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Robert Edesa	....	assistant camera
Dave Friedman	....	unit still photographer (as David Friedman)
Daniel R. Jordan	....	key grip (as Danny Jordan)
Thomas Laughridge	....	camera operator (as Tom Laughridge)
Rick Martens	....	gaffer (as Richard Martens)
Danny Marzolo	....	best boy
Ronald Vidor	....	assistant camera (as Ron Vidor)
Thomas Del Ruth	....	camera operator (uncredited)

Casting Department
Dianne Crittenden	....	additional casting (as Diane Crittenden)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Robert De Mora	....	wardrobe (as Robert de Mora)
G. Tony Scarano	....	wardrobe (as Tony Scarano)

Editorial Department
Don Beckwith	....	assistant editor
Christopher Greenbury	....	assistant editor
Mary Kessel	....	assistant editor
Barry McCormick	....	assistant editor

Music Department
John Barry	....	conductor
Robert O. Ragland	....	composer: additional music

Other crew
Marge Champion	....	dance supervisor
Michael Childers	....	production associate
Karen Hale Wookey	....	script supervisor (as Karen Wookey)
Michael Maslansky	....	unit publicist
Dan Perri	....	title designer
Ronald Shedlo	....	presenter
Bruce Weintraub	....	production assistant
Harry Winer	....	observer: AFI
Noreen Beasley	....	assistant: Dan Perri (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Paramount Pictures
• Long Road

Distributors

• Paramount Pictures (1975) (USA) (theatrical)
• Cinema International Corporation (CIC) (1976) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• CIC Vídeo (19??) (Brazil) (VHS)
• Ciné-Tamaris/Paramount Home Video (2006) (France) (DVD)
• Paramount Filmes do Brasil (2004) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Paramount Home Entertainment (2004) (UK) (DVD)
• Paramount Home Entertainment (2004) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Paramount Home Video (1998) (USA) (VHS)
• Paramount Home Video (2004) (USA) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Freedom Service Company  production services
• Modern Film Effects  opticals

Runtime:

144 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Netherlands:16 | France:-12 | New Zealand:R18 | Portugal:M/16 | Finland:K-16 | Norway:16 | Singapore:M18 | Sweden:15 | UK:18 | USA:R | West Germany:16 (w) | Australia:MA

Filming Locations:

1240 Cerro Crest Drive, Beverly Hills, California, USA

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

Goldie Hawn turned down the role of Faye Greener.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Mrs. Odlesh: It isn't as splashy as some other places, but we pride ourselves on being a little classier.
Tod Hackett: [referring to a large crack in the plaster wall] Hmmm, the crack's real.
Mrs. Odlesh: Oh yes. We call this our earthquake cottage. Mrs. Porter had occupancy then. During the big one in '33. Property damage ran into the millions.
Tod Hackett: Will you fix it if I stayed for a while?
Mrs. Odlesh: Oh no! No! This is our showplace. Mrs. Porter wouldn't let us touch that wall. She worked that sampler herself to cover over the hole. Alrighty. I hope you'll be very happy here.
[...]

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Ellie Parker (2005)

Soundtrack:

EVERYTHING'S IN RHYTHM WITH MY HEART

One of the most haunting films of all time

I don't quite understand the comments from the viewers who found this film boring. I've been lucky enough to see it on the big screen several times at revival houses, and each time I was blown away. Day of the Locust is a dark, compelling, amusing, bitter epic that's really more about America itself as filtered through the lens of Hollywood at its first creative height, in the 1930s.

What makes the movie, beyond the writing and direction, is its cast, and many of the supporting actors here create indelible characters. Why Karen Black didn't remain a superstar after this decade is a mystery, especially after this film -- in which she proves that she could act the hell out of a role. And how can you not like a film in which Billy Barty plays a foul-mouthed alcoholic (the first character we meet in the book), Burgess Meredith is a hapless door-to-door salesman, Natalie "Lovey" Shafer is the madam of a high-class whorehouse in San Bernardino, and Donald Sutherland is the repressed Homer ("No Relation") Simpson, an accountant who's so alienated from his own feelings that he's reduced to howling in despair in his own garden. And, in fact, Sutherland's character is involved in one of the film's most harrowing moments, which features a young Jackie Earle Haley as a promising child star of indeterminate gender but infinite obnoxiousness.

Anyway, if you have a chance to catch this film on the big screen, by all means do so, and be sure to add the DVD to your collection -- although, since we're coming up on the 30th anniversary, it's just possible that Paramount Home Video might decide to give it the deluxe treatment it deserves. Frankenheimer, et al, manage to take a brilliant novella by Nathaniel West and turn it into an amazing piece of cinema that will stick with you long after the lights go up. And, as an added bonus, you can just enjoy it as a great story, or delve deeply into the symbolism. This is the kind of film that works both ways, and one that you cannot miss if you consider yourself any kind of film fan at all, at all.