Cannery Row (1982)

The film "Cannery Row" is one of my all time favorites! Yes, I have read the novel "Cannery Row" many times and I love it and I did read "Sweet Thursday" many years ago. I know to some what I am about to say would seem sacrilegious, but I actually feel that this film improved the story of "Cannery Row". It gave the character "Doc" a love interest which helps to round out the story and made the whole flow of the story much, much better, omitting only parts of the book which were relatively minor. I especially appreciated the omission of the large number of deaths which took place in the first half of the book. In the film they would have just made the tone of the story wayyyyy too dark! I also like the amalgamation made with several characters in the book into one or two characters in the film and even the changing of some characters such as store owner "Lee Chong" into "Joseph and Mary" (one male character!). For one thing, I just can't see "Lee Chong" dressed up like Dracula. I also love the history made for "Doc" in the film (which is not in the book), about his having been a potentially great pro baseball player who quits at a young age, and his connection to the character "The Seer", in the film. One of my favorite scenes from the film which was in the novel was the wonderful scene of fulfilling the legend of the "Beer Milkshake" and "Doc`s" reaction after tasting it. All in all, the book is like the film but just gives us more background to certain events in the film and the film adds some things to the story, which while not intended by John Steinbeck, still brings the story more depth and flavor.The film has perfect casting! There isn't a single actor's performance that isn't simply wonderful. There are many standout performances in this film. I have never been a big fan of most of Nick Nolte's work, but I truly can't see anyone else but him portraying "Doc". He's superb and strikes just the right tone of an educated man of science living in a place where he is surrounded by mostly uneducated salt-of-the-earth types. Debra Winger brings exactly the kind of feistiness, vulnerability and sexiness needed by the role of "Suzy". Even here voice, which can be a bit high pitched when she is excited, is in itself endearing in this setting. M. Emmet Walsh as the chief bum "Mack" who has been in countless movies as a supporting actor gives one of his finest performances here. Walsh brings a harmless abrasiveness to the role while still making him thoroughly likable. Frank McRae as the strong but mentally challenged "Hazel" brings a heartwarming innocence to the role which was different from the way "Hazel" is written in the book. I prefer the film "Hazel". The addition of the plot thread where "Hazel" is convinced by a psychic reading that he is destined to become the President of the United States and the subsequent anguish this causes him always warms my heart and makes me smile. The town Madame and owner of the Bear Flag Restaurant brothel, who in the book is called Dora but in the film is called Fauna who is based upon a real Madame named Flora, is precisely played by Audra Lindley. She has the "flaming orange hair" and plays the flamboyant style but earthy wisdom of the character to a "T". Another great performance is from Sunshine Parker who portrays the character of "The Seer" in the film. He might be a bit old for the role, in comparison to "Doc", but he brings a sweetness to the role that makes one smile and makes me cry every time I see the scene near the end of the film. Also, I would agree that, most of the time, narration in a film can be a bit annoying (example: original theatrical release of "Blade Runner"!) and can draw away from the film, but not in this case. In this film you have the wonderful avuncular voice of the great John Huston, the actor/director. He mixes in just enough narration to the film to make it comforting but not annoying. In fact, after I saw this movie the first time from then on when I read the "Cannery Row" novel I hear John Huston's voice in my head when I read the narrative of the book. For that matter the same goes for all the other similar characters between the book and film too!The Direction of the film was extremely well done by David S. Ward and he deserves a great deal more credit and recognition for this film than has ever been accorded to him.As far as the sets and scenery in the film, anyone who has lived in a fishing village knows how accurate the sets and scenery were are in this film. I have never lived in Monterey, California but I have lived in or frequently visited many fishing towns along the coast of Oregon, such as Bandon, Newport, Charleston and Coos Bay, and every time I watch this film it is like coming home to those places.The music of the film is perfect. Mostly jazz and swamp boogie piano, much of which was played by the great jazz pianist Dr. John, along with some finely chosen classical pieces brings a great flavor to the film and helps the viewer even further in feeling they are transported back to that time.Finally, it is a special kind of film that makes you wish you lived in an economically depressed, industrialized town that stinks like dead fish and where you live around professional bums and a whorehouse! I've lived in similar places and watching this film always gives me the yearning to go back to those towns. Many people who like or even love this film have said that it is one of the most underrated and under-recognized films in movie history and I couldn't agree more! This film deserved many Oscar's which it didn't receive. I have been waiting for years and years for this film to finally be released on DVD and I am thrilled beyond words to see that my wish is finally going to come true! I transferred my VHS copy to DVD-R a couple of years ago so that my tape wouldn't deteriorate any further but the original VHS release was always substandard and of poor quality. It was in full screen and when the transfer was made they didn't even properly center the picture, so even bits of the opening credits are cut off at the edge of the screen. I hope this will be a Widescreen release which this film so desperately needs and deserves so we can see the film finally as the Director intended it to be seen. I think it will help bring this wonderful film to the attention of a whole new generation of film lovers and bring it the recognition it has missed in the passed.I couldn't give a higher recommendation for this film than "See it, you will LOVE it"!

Fun story and great stars!

This is one of the oldies but goodies. We have watched it a number of times and still appreciate the clever story line and great acting. Wonderfully entertaining movie.

love this movie

I debated a little as to whether to give this 4 stars or 5 stars, I see the concensus is 4 1/2, so I guess I fall right in with the crowd. First, this is a combination of two Steinbeck works- Cannery Row and Sweet Thursday, and while it is based on both, don't expect it to precisely conform to the books. One point I would like to make along those lines, and may make now and then in my reviews, is that if you want every sentence and description to be directly out of the book, then read the book! Too often I read DVD reviews with very low ratings solely because they did not exactly match the book. DVDs will always have some interpretation, and certainly some omissions since there is rarely time enough to put all of a book on film. Back to the subject at hand- CANNERY ROW- I had this on VHS years ago, and was glad to see it is now on DVD. The acting is mostly excellent, with the supporting cast, especially Mac and the boys, offering as much as the stars. Reproduction of both visual and sound is good, though some graininess can be seen at times, it is not objectionable. The sets and costume design are adequate. The music, while not something I would typically listen to, fits the film perfectly. Bluesy horn at the right time, honky tonk piano at the right time. I feel this film also has a good balance of comedy and drama. John Huston's narrative, with his distinctive voice, adds a lot. IF I wanted to find fault, I would say that the film at times appears to be a series of smaller events, which might have been tied together a bit better, I personally did not find that objectionable, though. The ending was perhaps just a bit weak, I might have tried a couple of other bits with the camera, maybe had a slightly longer ending. The actors at the end (Nolte and Winger) seemed to have a bit less steam than they had earlier in the film. Don't let that stop you from watching this, though, it is too good overall, to miss.

Good actors sleepwalking

I have waited years for this film on DVD and was not in any way disappointed

It is a sad truth that many superb films have failed to capture audiences for any number of reasons, whether due to poor marketing, limited distribution or simply because they were too quirky or sophisticated for the undiscerning public at the time of their release. At Ieast this is what I have heard bleated by more than one cineaste who seems happy to shove billions of potential viewers into one homogeneous lump. Film enthusiasts are a hopeful bunch on the whole, however - believing at heart that quality will always surface at some point and another lost masterpiece will be rediscovered. 'The Shawshank Redemption' is often cited as an example of this. Despite being nominated for a gazillion awards, the film nevertheless failed to turn around the sacred dollar fast enough and so was cruelly abandoned by a studio who did not know how to sell it. Yet it found its audience through the subsidiary market and lo and behold, has now been embraced by film lover and Hollywood player alike.This, of course, is complete naivety and just goes to show how much we are willing to buy into these myths rather than accept the reality that films can disappear virtually without trace unless a concerted campaign is mounted to keep them from vanishing altogether (the original cut of 'The Wicker Man' being an example).'Cannery Row' is one such film. An adaptation combining the best parts of two John Steinbeck novels, a superbly written script is enhanced by stellar performances all round from both the major stars and the minor character actors, all guided by a sure directing hand. The result may not be a masterpiece in terms of cinematic accomplishment but ticks every single box when it comes to a well made, entertaining piece of storytelling. A mixture of romance, drama and comedy, 'Cannery Row' revels in the magnificently foolish lives of human beings and the beautiful moments that occur during the living of them.If this film had been made by the Italian Neorealists it would have been hailed as another 'Bicycle Thieves'; if executed by Francois Truffaut it would have been celebrated as a triumph of humanist film-making. However, as it was the first film by David S. Ward - previously known mainly as the scriptwriter of 'The Sting' and subsequently known mainly as the scriptwriter of several mainstream Hollywood movies sneeringly looked on as pap by critics and 'genuine' film enthusiasts who appreciate film as art - it has been virtually ignored from the moment it disappeared from the screens and I am astounded it has even been given a DVD release.'Cannery Row' is not art. It is, however, a wonderfully warm filmic experience. Buy it, watch it, then lend it to a friend so they can experience just how good it is. With luck, we may rescue this undiscovered gem from almost total obscurity. The film deserves it.

This is an excellent film based on two great John Steinbeck novels, 'Cannery Row'1945 and 'Sweet Thursday' 1954. The Latter was used by Rodgers & Hammerstein for their 1955 musical comedy 'Pipe Dream' which was an excellent musicalisation of his novel containing some of Rodgers & Hammerstein's finest music, which is my only critism of this film that it should have been made as a musical and the only thing lacking in this film is the Rodgers and Hammerstein score. Nick Nolte and Debra Winger are excellent as the marine biologist Doc and the waif Suzy with whom he falls for, played in the musical by William Johnson and Judy Tyler, and the other wonderful raffish characters that inhabit that area known as 'cannery row', the bums, drifers and drop-outs that Steinbeck himself lived with and knew well which shows up in his wonderful writing, such as Fauna the madam of the whorehouse which shows us that just because they are looked on as 'low life's' by the wider society, doesn't mean they aren't good heaarted human beings.Steinbeck himself tried to write the musical libretto himself, however when he realised he couldn't do it turned to Oscar Hammerstein the librettist and gave him the manuscript to 'Sweet Thursday' as he was writing it, which Hammerstein apted to his stage musical libretto, unfortunately some felt it wasn't as 'frank' and 'salty' as Steinbecks original.But watch the film then listen to the Pipe Dream score and you will see what a wonderful job Rodgers and Hammerstein did!

This is a favorite movie for me. I watch a lot of movies so that means it makes it into my top 300! I am a sucker for a period piece and I also enjoy narration. I thought Nick Nolte and Debra Winger were both well cast and they had as much chemistry as the story needed. John Huston has a great voice for the narration and he ably conveyed that this was a story that did not take itself too seriously. I looked for this movie on Blu-ray but as far as I could find it has never been released.