Blue City (film)

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Blue City
Bluecityposter.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Michelle Manning
Produced by William Hayward
Walter Hill
Written by Lukas Heller
Walter Hill
Based on novel by Ross Macdonald
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Music by Ry Cooder, the Textones
Cinematography Steven B. Poster
Edited by Ross Albert
Distributed by Paramount Pictures
Release dates
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  • May 2, 1986 (1986-05-02)
Running time
 83 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Budget $10 million
Box office $6,947,787

Blue City is a 1986 drama film based on the 1947 Ross Macdonald novel of the same name about a young man who returns to a corrupt small town in Florida to avenge the death of his father. The film was directed by Michelle Manning, and stars Judd Nelson, Ally Sheedy and David Caruso.[1]

Plot

Returning to the small Florida town where he grew up, Billy Turner (Judd Nelson) learns that his father has been killed. With little help from the police, Billy will take matters into his own hands and go up against a ruthless local mob in a desperate search to find the killer.

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Cast

The Textones (Carla Olson, Joe Read, George Callins, Phil Seymour and Tom Jr Morgan) appear in the film performing their song You Can Run as produced by Ry Cooder.

Production

The novel was originally published in 1947.[2] It was compared to the work of Dashiell Hammett, in particular Red Harvest.[3]

Walter Hill wrote the script with Lukas Heller; it was originally intended to star a leading man in his mid-30s but by the mid 1980s a number of popular young male actors had emerged, so the script was rewritten to accommodate one of them. (The lead in the original novel was a man in his early 20s, although a war veteran.) Hill handed over directing duties to Michelle Manning. It was Manning's first film as director although she worked with Sheedy and Nelson on The Breakfast Club as a producer.[4]

"I don't think I'll become Samantha Peckinpah," said Manning, "but I don't think as a woman that I should have to make a movie with girls in locker rooms putting on make up."[4]

Filming started in February 1985.[4] Preview audiences disliked the movie's ending so it was reshot.[5]

Props

The motorcycle used is apparently the same 1978/9 750cc Triumph Bonneville T140E used by Richard Gere in An Officer and a Gentleman (1982) in which David Caruso also appeared.[citation needed]

Release and reception

Highly anticipated at the time by Brat Pack fans, Blue City was considered a disappointment by many and is best remembered today mainly due to its very poor reception by critics upon release.[6][7] Judd Nelson's performance was particularly criticised.[8]

Awards

It was nominated for 5 Golden Raspberry Awards in the 7th Golden Raspberry Awards, but won None: Worst Actor (Nelson) (lost to Prince in Under the Cherry Moon) Worst Actress (Sheedy) (lost to Madonna in Shanghai Surprise) Worst Supporting Actor (Scott Wilson) (lost to Jerome Benton in Under the Cherry Moon) Worst Director (lost to Prince for Under the Cherry Moon) Worst Picture (lost in a tie to Howard the Duck and Under the Cherry Moon).[9]

Box Office

The film earned $2.7 million in its first weekend and was a box office disappoinment.[8]

Ally Sheedy later said she "didn't particularly like" the film:

Michelle Manning and I had been close friends. And she was so excited about the chance to direct that my feeling was it would be really great to work with someone I really liked and help contribute to their first big project. I was very naive, I guess, because I kept hoping it would turn out OK, that somehow all the stuff that was missing would miraculously appear when they edited it all together. I guess that's not the way it works, so I was disappointed.[10]

References

  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ WILL THE REAL ROSS MACDONALD PLEASE KEEP WRITING? Adler, Dick. Los Angeles Times (1923-Current File) [Los Angeles, Calif] 10 Dec 1967: n79.
  3. ↑ Ross Macdonald, his Lew Archer and other secret selves: Ross Macdonald By JOHN LEONARD. New York Times (1923-Current file) [New York, N.Y] 01 June 1969: BR2.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 FILM CLIPS: YOUTH CALLS THE SHOTS IN 'BLUE CITY' London, Michael. Los Angeles Times (1923-Current File) [Los Angeles, Calif] 15 Feb 1985: l1.
  5. ↑ WHATEVER HAPPENED TO THE: MISSING MOVIES OF 1985? BROESKE, PAT H. Los Angeles Times (1923-Current File) [Los Angeles, Calif] 19 Jan 1986: AB3.
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 BRAT WHAPPING Broeske, Pat H. Los Angeles Times (1923-Current File) [Los Angeles, Calif] 11 May 1986: Q14.
  9. ↑ http://razzies.com/asp/content/XcNewsPlus.asp?cmd=view&articleid=25
  10. ↑ FOR A MOVIE STAR, SHE DOESN'T ACT THE PART Goldstein, Patrick. Los Angeles Times (1923-Current File) [Los Angeles, Calif] 13 May 1986: J1.

External links

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