Smile [DVD]

Michael Ritchie's America: The Bad News Bears, Prime Cut, The Survivors, Fletch, Downhill Racer, The Candidate, Smile and many more. One of the great chroniclers of modern America.A regular fixture on lists of neglected 1970s cinematic diamonds in the rough, Smile became a critics' (Pauline Kael, especially) darling in 1975 thanks to its darkly comedic look at beauty pageant culture while skewering some of the more absurd aspects of the American lifestyle in the process. Entertaining and featuring a stellar cast of character actors, the film seemed to fit snugly with the Robert Altman-style aesthetic of the time but ended up being largely sidelined in a year that saw such heavy hitters as Jaws, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, and Dog Day Afternoon dominating the mainstream conversation, not to mention Altman's own Nashville. The film also ended up fitting perfectly as the centerpiece of an American satire trilogy from director Michael Ritchie between 1972's The Candidate and 1976's The Bad News Bears, turning its sights to the "American Miss" craze instead of politics or sports. Despite the major decline in pageant popularity in recent years, the film still remains a potent and enjoyable gem of its kind, delivering plenty of sharply-observed laughs while paving the way for future barbed looks at the subject like Drop Dead Gorgeous, Little Miss Sunshine, and Miss Congeniality.In the town of Santa Rosa, California (which could be any small town or suburb), the popular Young American Miss Pageant is the only topic of conversation with various locals involved in pulling off the big contest. Among the colorful characters involved in the statewide contest are judge "Big Bob" Friedlander (Dern), the executive director Brenda (Get Smart's Feldon), producer Wilson Shears (Lewis), and no-nonsense choreographer Tommy French (MGM musical legend Kidd) imported from Hollywood. The contests themselves are dealing with body image and self-worth issues as well as not-so-underlying sexism and racism, with the young women including such familiar faces as Body Double's Melanie Griffith, Cat People's Annette O'Toole, and a pre-Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2's Caroline Williams. As the big day approaches, town drama erupts involving a chicken-oriented hazing ritual, a production injury, an attempted suicide, and mounting costs and emotional tensions galore.Highlighted by the pageant sequences themselves that still pack a very funny punch from goofy song performances to dramatic readings and baton twirling, Smile successfully walks a tightrope between light and dark comedy including a subplot involving underage voyeurs that pushes that PG rating as far as it could go at the time. (Needless to say, it wouldn't fly now at all.) The film also scores points for its subversive contest outcome, which likely gave Ritchie enough confidence to pull another audacious trick just after this to wrap up The Bad News Bears; his keen knack for working with younger actors is a big asset here as well, with the mixture of professional actors and real beauty pageant vets giving the film a borderline documentary feel at times. Also in common with that film is its portrayal of how disappointments in adult life get projected onto the next generation, with trappings like celebrity worship and regimented contests acting as a kind of narcotic to provide a sense of accomplishment. Particularly witty is the fact that the teenage contestants are no fools - they understand the inherently ridiculous pagent in ways the "grown ups" never will.Barely promoted by United Artists at the time but enjoying a steady cult following in later years. Smile has been available on home video on and off over the years including MGM's VHS release in 1998 and a modest DVD in 2004 (featuring only a trailer). Thankfully the powers that be made sure all the legal requirements were handled for the numerous songs on the soundtrack (including the title song by Nat "King" Cole, The Beach Boys, and lots of cover performances), so the film has managed to escape the pitfall that sabotaged many of its cinematic peers from around the same time.Fun City Editions added this to its impressive roster (this is the fifth so far) of overlooked '70s essentials featuring a new 2K restoration from the 35mm interpositive; in keeping with their usual approach, it's been left intact in terms of film grain to keep that distinctive 1975 look intact, with very robust colors throughout. It's a big leap over the DVD for sure and the best this has looked on home video to date by a long shot. The DTS-HD MA 2.0 English track sounds excellent as well and features optional English SDH subtitles.A new audio commentary by actor and filmmaker Pat Healy and U of Wisconsin, Madison film curator Jim Healy features them chatting remotely (the pandemic, alas) about their enthusiasm for this film, the backgrounds of the major players, and observations about the on-screen action. Both brothers are extremely knowledgeable about film - lots of great trivia!In "Dernsie's Credo" (27m51s), Dern provides a lengthy and very funny interview about his character's philosophy, the political climate during shooting, the state of his career and United Artists at the time (including the recently removed UA head, David Picker who got this one off the ground), and lots of tidbits about the shooting of the film, not to mention a fun trivia segue.Also included are an SD open matte theatrical trailer, a very hefty image gallery (6m), and an insert booklet featuring a witty and perceptive essay by the late, great Mike McPadden, author of Teen Movie Hell.As of this writing Fun City Editions is on track to becoming a major player in the boutique bluray biz - soon enough they'll be as highly regarded as Criterion, Arrow, Severin and all the rest. Looking forward to more FCE releases.

Hard-to-find movie, found!

Sadly, nobody will ever see this review. This is a small film from 1975 that is funny and has some great performances by Bruce Dern and Barbara "Agent 99" Feldon, but it's been lost in time... and that's a shame.If by some remarkable chance you're reading this, stop now and buy or rent the DVD, whatever is available to you. It's just like what you're imagining... a very tongue-in-cheek behind-the-scenes look at beauty pageants. It's written by Jerry Belson, who wrote many of the best scripts for The Dick Van Dyke Show, along with many of the classic sitcoms of the 60s and 70s, such as Gomer Pyle, USMC, The Danny Thomas Show, The Lucy Show... and he created The Odd Couple.It follows the girls from their successes at the local level and regional level, culminating in their preparation for the next level, "The Young American Miss" pageant. Michael Kidd is enjoyably smarmy as the choreographer, telling uplifting and inspiring anecdotes that he's totally fabricated, while herding mostly untalented young girls through song-and-dance routines. You'll come away with "Me Ol' Bamboo" burned into your brain, while the girls perform the dance routine that's been scaled WAY down from the "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" dancers who originated it.Bruce Dern and Barbara Feldon are terrific as the once-a-year "king" and "queen" of the big show, who take their jobs far too seriously. And it's fun to see young Melanie Griffith, Annette O'Toole, Joan Prather, and Colleen Camp as contestants.And the best part of all? Nat King Cole singing the title song. Enjoy!

This is an enjoyable piece of Americana of the 1970's. Its satire is gentle and understanding of that part of American society that thinks beauty pageants mean something. The movie only loses its footing and pacing when it tries to make a serious point.Bruce Dern's character is a great comic turn for a serious actor in his role as "Big Bob Freelander". He is head of the state beauty pageant and a Winnebago salesman par excellence in the gas-short '70's.His first appearance has a hilarious sales pitch to a young couple. Not only is it very funny but it resonates even more strongly as credit-starved customers pass customer-deprived American dealerships today. Just picture an SUV rather than a Winnebago."And if you're worried about credit pal, forget it, we don't worry about it, why should you? ... with all these crazy Arabs around who knows what they're going to do next? Ya have to admit it's a heck of a safe feeling knowing you're sleeping on top of 50 gallons of gas."Melanie Griffith has a small role and it is interesting to see her at only seventeen along with other now older actresses, including Annette O'Toole, in bit roles as beauty contestants. As might be expected it is Melanie's bod that is used to touch off a small scandal and crisis in the pageant.The other outstanding performance is given by Maria O'Brien. She plays the first Mexican-American contestant ever to participate in the pageant. It is a wonderful performance that would probably not be allowed today; just as Dern's Arab pitch would not.O'Brien's Hispanic-American pageant act is wonderfully cynical. Her bullying of the stagehand reveals the ruthless competitor behind the cheery, smiling face. Her character's cynicism foredooms her to the worst fate in the competition, of course, but O'Brien has already set the character up perfectly for the fall.The pageant talent competition, interspersed throughout the movie, is right on the money and straight at your funny bone. The ending is maudlin as the viewer is sledge-hammered with Bruce Dern's questioning look of "What's it all about, Alfie?" faux existentialism. There is just no need for writers, directors, and producers to try to have it both ways.Jerry Belson, who wrote the movie, was one of the inventors of the "moment" in TV comedy. The "moment" takes place when during all the comic backstabbing and cutthroat competition everyone seems to stop and, completely out of character, utter mushy, maudlin sentiments.Belson and Garry Marshall employed this technique in countless "Happy Days" episodes. It remains a plague of good comedy to this day. Had they stuck to the clever, insightful satire, this would be a five star movie. It is still well worth a watch.