Based on Nathanael West's scathing indictment of Hollywood's darker side, filmmaker John Schlesinger's 1975 The Day of the Locust stars William Atherton as Tod, a young art director whose naïve worldview is gradually transformed by the harsh realities of the dream factory. Featuring lavish, detailed settings and period-perfect costuming to create a faithfully rendered backdrop of pre-WWII Hollywood, the film's plot revolves around the aggressive gentleman callers (of whom Tod is one) who vie for the attentions of Faye Greener (Karen Black), a ditzy wannabe starlet who lives with her washed-up, ailing, ex-vaudeville father (the superb Burgess Meredith in an Oscar-nominated performance). Besides Tod, Faye is also pursued by struggling cowpoke actor Earle Shoop (Bo Hopkins) and the original Homer Simpson (Donald Sutherland), the latter a bumbling hick whose fragile mental state comes unhinged during the film's climax--an infamous crowd-gone-crazy riot in front of Grauman's Chinese Theatre at the premiere of Cecil B. DeMille's The Buccaneer (1938). Full of cock fights (both literal and figurative), this microscopic look at the industry's used up people, dupes, and ruthless manipulators, which also earned an Oscar nomination for Conrad Hall's striking cinematography, debuts on DVD with a very soft-looking transfer (although Hall reputedly used gauzy filters) and no extras, but at a very affordable price. Recommended. (R. Pitman)
The Day of the Locust
Paramount, 144 min., R, DVD: $14.99 Volume 19, Issue 5
The Day of the Locust
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