Written by / 6/24/2023 / No comments / , , , , , , ,

JAMES CAAN & SHIRLEY KNIGHT IN COPPOLA'S 'THE RAIN PEOPLE'

Title: THE RAIN PEOPLE Year: 1969 Rating: ****

While his PATTON Oscar-winning screenplay gave Francis Ford Coppola the power and clout to direct two of the greatest (or perhaps the greatest) motion pictures ever made... both GODFATHER films... it was THE RAIN PEOPLE that proved he could invest worthy meantime depicting flawed human beings in an independent state-hopping road movie starring Shirley Knight as a married, newly-pregnant woman haunted with frantic memories...

And hitchhiking James Caan as a man-child who, once a star college football player having suffered a severe head injury, passively relies on Knight as a kind of mother figure — protecting him from various small town residents (from a college girlfriend's family to a shady roadside wild animal exploiter) when she can hardly take care of herself.

Shirley Knight in Francis Ford Coppola's THE RAIN PEOPLE

The best scenes are their moments together, trying to understand what one... Knight in a headstrong yet reluctantly sympathetic performance... is escaping from and the other... Caan with subtle, mindless finesse yet holding back formidable strength... is heading towards within the randomly rainy landscape — a kind of hopeless and melancholy character in itself...

Fading into a practically separate third act involving Robert Duvall as a highway cop with precocious, preteen yet adult-minded daughter Marya Zimmet (foreshadowing Dennis Hopper's OUT OF THE BLUE, she could've had her own movie in a shoddy trailer park), the results are predictable yet inevitable and hopelessly universal — while Coppola's use of flashbacks help elevate the otherwise deliberately futile journey.

MARYA ZIMMER REFLECTS ON THE RAIN PEOPLE

MARYA ZIMMER: James Caan was easy to be with and work with. He and Bobby — not being pretentious, I still think of them as Bobby and Jimmy —- were pals during the filming. I don't remember any particularities about working with either of them —- no problems, no tension... 

I maintained contact with Robert Duvall (Bobby) after the shoot. Visited with him in Tuxedo Park, NY, where he lived. He had a chestnut thoroughbred, whom I rode. She "ran away" with me going around the ring, and Bobby stepped in front of her to grab her halter and stop her... I wasn't scared! I liked both Bobby and Jimmy. I just remember enjoying hanging out with them and Francis and the crew.

Marya Zimmet and James Caan in THE RAIN PEOPLE
Marya Zimmet in THE RAIN PEOPLE
Robert Duvall in THE RAIN PEOPLE
Shirley Knight stars in Francis Ford Coppola's THE RAIN PEOPLE
Shirley Knight stars in Francis Ford Coppola's THE RAIN PEOPLE
Shirley Knight stars in Francis Ford Coppola's THE RAIN PEOPLE
Shirley Knight stars in Francis Ford Coppola's THE RAIN PEOPLE
Shirley Knight and James Caan in Francis Ford Coppola's THE RAIN PEOPLE
Shirley Knight and James Caan in Francis Ford Coppola's THE RAIN PEOPLE
Shirley Knight and James Caan in Francis Ford Coppola's THE RAIN PEOPLE
James Caan in Francis Ford Coppola's THE RAIN PEOPLE
Margaret Fairchild and James Caan in THE RAIN PEOPLE
Laura crews in Francis Ford Coppola's THE RAIN PEOPLE
Shirley Knight in Francis Ford Coppola's THE RAIN PEOPLE
Robert Duvall and Shirley Knight in THE RAIN PEOPLE
Tom Aldredge, Robert Duvall and Shirley Knight in THE RAIN PEOPLE
Shirley Knight in Francis Ford Coppola's THE RAIN PEOPLE
Shirley Knight in Francis Ford Coppola's THE RAIN PEOPLE
Marya Zimmet in Francis Ford Coppola's THE RAIN PEOPLE
Shirley Knight in Francis Ford Coppola's THE RAIN PEOPLE
Marya Zimmet in Francis Ford Coppola's THE RAIN PEOPLE
Marya Zimmet in Francis Ford Coppola's THE RAIN PEOPLE
Francis Ford Coppola's THE RAIN PEOPLE
Laura Crews and Shirley Knight in Francis Ford Coppola's The Rain People
Shirley Knight in Francis Ford Coppola's THE RAIN PEOPLE
Shirley Knight and James Caan in Francis Ford Coppola's THE RAIN PEOPLE
James Caan in Francis Ford Coppola's The Rain People
The one "reference" to Vietnam in Francis Ford Coppola's The Rain People
James Caan in Francis Ford Coppola's The Rain People with Shirley Knight
Bonnie and Clyde marquee in Francis Ford Coppola's The Rain People
James Caan in Francis Ford Coppola's The Rain People
James Caan in Francis Ford Coppola's The Rain People
James Caan in Francis Ford Coppola's The Rain People
Shirley Knight in Francis Ford Coppola's The Rain People with Robert Duvall
James Caan in Francis Ford Coppola's The Rain People with Shirley Knight
James Caan with Robert Duvall in The Rain People with Shirley Knight and Tom Aldredge
James Caan in Francis Ford Coppola's The Rain People
Marya Zimmet as Rosalie in Francis Ford Coppola's The Rain People
Marya Zimmet as Rosalie in Francis Ford Coppola's The Rain People


Share This Post :
Tags : , , , , , , ,

No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.

All Time Popular

Featured Post

ROBERT BEATTY WITH TERRY MOORE IN 'POSTMARK FOR DANGER'

Title: POSTMARK FOR DANGER Year: 1955 Rating: ** Twenty years before Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY, involving a first-act wher...

WWW.CULTFILMFREAKS.COM

WWW.CULTFILMFREAKS.COM
Movie Reviews, Interviews, Articles and Pop Culture from White Heat to Blue City

RIP ACTOR KEN HUTCHISON

TOTAL HITS

Popular Trending

FOUNDED BY JAMES M. TATE

FOUNDED BY JAMES M. TATE
RANDOM QUOTE: "The Love Generation... Vicious little creeps!" Peter Strauss, Rich Man Poor Man

FILM NOIR & NEO NOIR CRIME

FAVORITES SHORTLIST

1)OTLEY 2)HELL IS A CITY 3)ROBBERY 4)THE FEARMAKERS 5)CANYON PASSAGE 6)VIOLENT SATURDAY 7)HOT CARS 8)JUNGLE STREET 9)THE CROWDED SKY 10)THE ROARING TWENTIES 11) ANATOMY OF A MURDER 12)SHARKS' TREASURE 13)SWEENEY TWO 14)RAIDERS FROM BENEATH THE SEA 15)HARDCORE 16)THE BREAK 17)WHITE HEAT 18)AL CAPONE 19)HIDDEN FEAR 20)FALLEN ANGEL 21)NIGHT CREATURES 22)THE ASPHALT JUNGLE 23)ASH WEDNESDAY 24)THE SYSTEM 25)AIR PATROL 26)THE STONE KILLER 27)EASY LIVING 28)WILLIAM CONRAD'S BRAINSTORM 29)FRENZY 30)THE MAN FROM LARAMIE 1)DANA ANDREWS 2)JAMES CAGNEY 3)STANLEY BAKER 4)MARLON BRANDO 5)CHARLES BRONSON1)VIRGINIA MAYO 2)SUE LYON 3)GENE TIERNEY 4)MERRY ANDERS 5)FAYE DUNAWAY DIRECTORS 1)JACQUES TOURNEUR 2)RICHARD FLEISCHER 3)VAL GUEST 4)STANLEY KUBRICK 5)OTTO PREMINGER 6)ORSON WELLES 7)JOHN GUILLERMAN 8)JOHN LANDIS 9)JOHN CARPENTER 10)MICHAEL WINNER

BRITISH NEW WAVE CINEMA

RARITIES AND EXPLOITATION

HAMMER HORROR & THRILLER

Popular This Month

CHARLES BRONSON CINEMA

CINEMA OF DANA ANDREWS

WESTERN GENRE REVIEWS

PEAKING INTO THE SIXTIES

KICKING IN THE EIGHTIES

TALES AND REFLECTIONS

REVVING THE SEVENTIES

FOR HORROR MOVIE REVIEWS

Most Popular Last Year

RETURN TO THE HOMEPAGE