Rumble Fish (1983)

Director:

Francis Ford Coppola

Writers:

S.E. Hinton (novel)
S.E. Hinton (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

21 October 1983 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

The Motorcycle Boy's Never Coming Back

Plot:

Rusty James, an absent-minded street thug struggles to live up to his legendary older brother's reputation, and longs for the days when gang warfare was going on.

Plot Keywords:

Motorcycle | Fight | Thug | Gang Warfare | Bare Breasts

Awards:

Nominated for Golden Globe. Another 2 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Matt Dillon	...	Rusty James
Mickey Rourke	...	The Motorcycle Boy
Diane Lane	...	Patty
Dennis Hopper	...	Father
Diana Scarwid	...	Cassandra
Vincent Spano	...	Steve
Nicolas Cage	...	Smokey
Chris Penn	...	B.J. Jackson (as Christopher Penn)
Laurence Fishburne	...	Midget (as Larry Fishburne)
William Smith	...	Patterson the Cop
Michael Higgins	...	Mr. Harrigan
Glenn Withrow	...	Biff Wilcox
Tom Waits	...	Benny
Herb Rice	...	Black Pool Player
Maybelle Wallace	...	Late Pass Clerk

Runtime:

94 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White | Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Iceland:14 | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:14A (Ontario) | Finland:K-16 | Netherlands:12 | Norway:16 (1984) | Singapore:M18 | South Korea:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:18 | USA:R | West Germany:16

Filming Locations:

Sapulpa, Oklahoma, USA

Company:

Hotweather Films

Trivia:

Cameo: [S.E. Hinton]a prostitute.

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: Camera shadow visible on Rusty-James' torso after The Motorcycle Boy has shown him the photograph of himself in the magazine.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Midget: Biff Wilcox is looking for you, Rusty James. He's gonna kill you, Rusty James.

Movie Connections:

References Pakkuman (1980) (VG)

Soundtrack:

Don't Box Me In

my favourite film

I saw Rumble Fish in a small a cinema in Dublin when it came out in 1983. It became a cult hit around town and was shown every Monday afternoon for for £1 for months. I bunked off work often to see it as did many people, I got to know. It's hard to say what made it quite so special, god knows I've tried over the years in those party/pub moments when the conversation is flagging and someone asks, 'what is your favourite film?' Obviously they want to know why when you come up with something they've never heard of, hate or are indifferent to. I read Susie Hinton's books afterwards and also sought out the Outsdiders (also from a Hinton novel) which was made at the same time and was a good film with some of the wistful intensity of teenage life so strong in Rumble Fish but was like the straight, conventional brother by comparison. I think Susie Hinton went straight to Coppola's heart and she worked with him on the two films, even appearing in cameo in both. It is amazing to me that her books were marketed as teenage fiction, they are to my mind mature American fiction and transpose beautifully to the screen. The plot is a simple one and necessarily so yet the implications are universal. The style, camera-work, casting and soundtrack work together so well. I don't think that even in the Godfather Coppopla ever got it so right. The dreamy quality of the film, the distorted imagery and the fantastic soundtrack reflect the physical and mental damage suffered by the James family, Rusty's brain damage from one too many rumbles, Dad's alcoholism and the Motorcycle Boys colour blindness, depression and death wish. It's like an elegy for the old west and the constraints of small town life, John Ford meets David Lynch. It also marked the beginning of the end for Zoetrope studios and we'll never know what great movies we lost when that motorcycle gang left town.