Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (1974)

User Rating:

7.4/10   

Director:

Martin Scorsese

Writer:

Robert Getchell (written by)

Release Date:

30 May 1975 (France)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Tagline:

A picture for anyone who has ever dreamed of a second chance!

Plot:

A recently widowed woman on the road with her precocious young son, determined to make a new life for herself as a singer.

Plot Keywords:

Phoenix Arizona | Singer | Spouse | Waitress | Piano

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 4 wins & 9 nominations

Cast

Mia Bendixsen	...	Alice, Age 8
Ellen Burstyn	...	Alice Hyatt
Alfred Lutter III	...	Tommy (as Alfred Lutter)
Billy Green Bush	...	Donald
Lelia Goldoni	...	Bea
Ola Moore	...	Old Woman
Harry Northup	...	Joe & Jim's Bartender
Martin Brinton	...	Lenny
Dean Casper	...	Chicken
Murray Moston	...	Jacobs
Harvey Keitel	...	Ben
Lane Bradbury	...	Rita
Diane Ladd	...	Flo
Vic Tayback	...	Mel
Valerie Curtin	...	Vera

Runtime:

112 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

UK:15 (video rating) (1987) | UK:AA (cinema rating) | Brazil:14 | Canada:PG (video rating) | Australia:M | Finland:K-12 | Singapore:PG | Sweden:15 | USA:PG | Netherlands:12

Filming Locations:

Amado, Arizona, USA

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

Diane Ladd's daughter Laura Dern can be seen in the final diner scene - she is the little blonde girl with glasses sitting at the end of the counter eating an ice cream cone.

Goofs:

Continuity: When the alarm clock goes off, Alice knocks it to the floor. Alice goes back to sleep and some short time later, without either her or Tommy having moved in the bed, the alarm clock has returned to the nightstand.

Quotes:

Tommy Hyatt: Shoot the dog. Shoot the dog. Shoot the dog.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Erin Brockovich (2000)

Soundtrack:

All the Way from Memphis

Burstyn Is One of the Greats

Ellen Burstyn could play a tree stump and make it interesting. She's one of the unsung heroes of post-studio cinema. At a time when meaty women's roles were becoming more and more scarce, Burstyn was fighting for and winning one great part after another. She's probably never been better than she is here, though she showed tremendous range in "Same Time, Next Year" and gave one of the most heartbreakingly harrowing performances I've ever seen as recently as 2000, in "Requiem for a Dream." Women's picture and Martin Scorsese are not two phrases that would seem to be tailor made for each other, but a terrific women's picture is exactly what Scorsese gives us with "Alice..." Though I hate using the term women's picture, as if men can't enjoy stories about women, or as if women's pictures are isolated from the rest of "real" movies. Actually and ironically, maybe it was Scorsese's penchant for the tough-guy milieu that made him so right for this film, because "Alice" doesn't suffer from the burn-your-bra self-righteousness of other women's lib movies of its era, like "Un Unmarried Woman." These other films ultimately feel phony, because they were created for the most part by men, who, however noble their intentions, simply didn't have an understanding for the material. But Scorsese gets the character of Alice, and Burstyn knows exactly what she's doing. So the conflict isn't between Alice and the male world, but between the Alice who doesn't have the confidence to be anything other than a doormat and the Alice who wants to make a life for herself on her own terms.

There are some hilarious scenes between Alice and her son in this film, most particularly the scenes of them driving to California (like when Alice calls him Hellen Keller because he keeps asking "what?" to everything she says). Also, a subplot about the evolving friendship between Alice and Flo (played by Diane Ladd) becomes one of the film's highlights, not in the least because both actresses handle it expertly.

This is a winner, and must be seen by anyone who thinks Scorses is out of his element anywhere but the mean streets of NYC.

Grade: A