August 14th: POPEYE (Robert Altman, 1980)

A sailor takes on a small town's corrupt power structure and vies for the affection of an engaged woman.

The famous character of Popeye made his debut in the comic strips of E.C. Segar in 1929, and became a fan favorite during the Great Depression.  Cartoon shorts featuring the character began in the early 1930s and continued for 25 years, and an animated television series in the 1960s brought in subsequent generations of fans.

Robert Altman was an iconoclastic director known for his antiestablishment films, many featuring large ensemble casts with lived-in location sets.  In the 1970s alone he released M*A*S*H, McCabe & Mrs. Miller, The Long Goodbye, and Nashville.  Producer Robert Evans (former Head Of Production at Paramount Studios) hired Altman after Mike Nichols, Arthur Penn, and Hal Ashby were considered.

The screenplay was written by Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist and playwright Jules Fieffer, who reintroduced some of the long-forgotten political satire present in the original comic.  Singer-songwriter Harry Nilsson was brought into to compose lyrics and music for the songs in the film.  He was on location in Malta with his musicians during the shoot.

An actual coastal town of nineteen buildings was built on the island of Malta for the production, and took nine months to construct.  It remains there to this day as a tourist attraction.  Various ships were bought and sunk to populate the harbor.

Robin Williams plays the title character in his first lead role (following his success with TV show Mork & Mindy), and is joined by Altman veteran Shelley Duvall.  Other notable character actors include Ray Walston, Paul Dooley, Donald Moffat, and Richard Libertini.  Williams wore prosthetic forearms to more closely resemble the iconic image of Popeye.

While the film made twice its budget at the box office, the studios had higher hopes for it and it was regarded as a flop.  It was divisive critically, but now has a cult following and is considered one of Altman's more ambitious works.

Running time is approx. 2 hours.