Popeye (1980)

User Rating:

4.8/10   

Director:

Robert Altman

Writers:

Jules Feiffer (screenplay)
E.C. Segar (based on characters by)

Release Date:

12 December 1980 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Family | Musical | Romance

Tagline:

Haves a happy holiday wit me an' Olive!

Plot:

The sailor man travels to Sweethaven, falls in love with Olive Oyl, adopts Sweetpea and makes an enemy with Bluto.

Plot Keywords:

Popeye | Spinach | Sailor | Abandoned Baby | Baby

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Robin Williams	...	Popeye
Shelley Duvall	...	Olive Oyl
Ray Walston	...	Poopdeck Pappy
Paul Dooley	...	Wimpy
Paul L. Smith	...	Bluto
Richard Libertini	...	Geezil
Donald Moffat	...	The Taxman
MacIntyre Dixon	...	Cole Oyl
Roberta Maxwell	...	Nana Oyl
Donovan Scott	...	Castor Oyl
Allan F. Nicholls	...	Rough House (as Allan Nicholls)
Wesley Ivan Hurt	...	Swee'pea
Bill Irwin	...	Ham Gravy - the Old Boyfriend
Robert Fortier	...	Bill Barnacle - the Town Drunk
David McCharen	...	Harry Hotcash - the Gambler

Runtime:

114 min | Argentina:115 min | Finland:97 min (1981)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Vistasonic

Certification:

Iceland:L | South Korea:All | Canada:G (Canadian Home Video rating) | Australia:G | Argentina:Atp | Finland:K-8 | France:U | Sweden:7 | UK:U | USA:PG (Approved No. 26147) | Singapore:PG | Brazil:Livre

Filming Locations:

Anchor Bay, Malta

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

Mike Nichols, Arthur Penn, and Hal Ashby were each originally slated to direct this movie.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: As per the info in the trivia section of this film, the make up and appliances for Popeye's massive forearms were not ready. So in some scenes, especially the boxing match, if you look at the inside of his forearms, you can see that they are merely flesh colored pads tied over Robin Williams' arms (the strings are visible).

Quotes:

Bluto: Commodore.
Poopdeck Pappy: Don't keep calling me commodore inside this here harbor. I got millions'o emenies. And you is 10 or 12 of 'em.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The 61st Annual Golden Globe Awards (2004) (TV)

Soundtrack:

He's Large

One Eye Wide Shut

This project was reviled by critics and disowned by Altman and Williams. It corresponded to DuVal's breakdown, and was all but the end of the heavy drinker Nilsson's adventures in film.

But I think its great. You have to remember that it predates every comic/cartoon to film project except 'Superman,' which really was a version of the TeeVee show. And you have to appreciate that 'Popeye' the cartoon is one of the very few that featured humans and therefore was more abstract than most.

Watch it now, and see that it was well ahead of its time and now stacks up as extremely introspective: along the lines of 'Alphaville.'

It had Robin Williams and Ray Walston, both famous TeeVee aliens, or so they were known at the time. It was penned by the notoriously ironic, cartoonist Feiffer, someone who specialized in personal social angst. The songs - a major element here - were by the self-destructive genius Nilsson, and directed by Altman when he was interested in social commentary.

All, plus Duvall, were at the height of their powers. Even the quirky Van Dyke Parks appears.

What makes this project so interesting and appealing is that everyone is completely simpatico with Feiffer's Jarryesque vision, which is disconnected from reality and had no cinematic model.

How so many talents could be so adventuresome and coordinated at the same time is a real puzzle.

The bit about how 'large' Bluto is - and how Shelly mentions it - makes me smile every time I recall it. The social text is a bit heavy, but so what?

This is what made Tim Burton possible.

Ted's Evaluation -- 3 of 3: Worth watching.