Americathon (1979)

Director:

Neal Israel

Writers:

Phil Proctor (play) &
Peter Bergman (play) ...

Release Date:

10 August 1979 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

The ultimate spectacle is now a movie.

Plot:

In a story told in narrative flashbacks, a young TV consultant is hired by the President of a bankrupt USA to organize a telethon in order to prevent the country from being repossessed by wealthy Native Americans.

Plot Keywords:

Telethon | Native American | Government | 1990s | Finance

Cast

John Ritter	...	President Chet Roosevelt
Harvey Korman	...	Monty Rushmore
Fred Willard	...	Vincent Vanderhoff
Chief Dan George	...	Sam Birdwater
Richard Schaal	...	Jerry
Peter Riegert	...	Eric McMurkin
Nancy Morgan	...	Lucy Beth
Zane Buzby	...	Mouling Jackson
Meat Loaf	...	Oklahoma Daredevil, Roy Budnitz
Elvis Costello	...	The Earl of Manchester
Terence McGovern	...	Danny Olson (as Terry McGovern)
Tommy Lasorda	...	Jimmy Dunphy
Howard Hesseman	...	Kip Margolis
Jay Leno	...	Larry Miller (Poopy Butt)
Peter Marshall	...	Himself

Runtime:

86 min

Country:

USA | West Germany

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Norway:15 | USA:PG | Iceland:12

Company:

Lorimar Filmgesellschaft GmbH

Goofs:

Continuity: When Monty Rushmore is shot, he grabs his left side, just over his hip. Later, there is a bloody bandage on his left shoulder.

Quotes:

Morning Radio Announcer: [in an overly cheerful voice] ... and we're going to have a complete report right here on K-BOB at 11 tonight! And now the weather. Beautiful beach day if you can get there! Freeway condition's heavy. This report brought to you by Magic Seat! The bicycle seat that fits you like a glove, and grabs you like a friend! And now, here they are, still going strong after 40 years, the Beach Boys!
[lead into "It's A Beautiful Day" by the Beach Boys]

Movie Connections:

Edited into 42nd Street Forever Part 4 (2009) (V)

Soundtrack:

Gold

What if Jerry Brown had become President and Linda Ronstadt "First Girlfriend?"

Time capsule of 1970's California life-style...or where it seemed to be headed in the next decade. In the opening we see the residents of California living in permanently parked cars and commuting to work via various bicycles, skateboards, and people-powered scooters. John Ritter plays President Chet Roosevelt, a thinly veiled spoof of then California governor and presidential hopeful Jerry "Moonbeam" Brown (he dated roller skating rock star Linda Ronstadt and slept on a futon). This movie asks the question, what if Jerry became president and Linda the "First Girlfriend?" John Ritter's real life wife Nancy Morgan plays Lucy Beth, President Chet's roller-skating girlfriend. In the eighties the United States is broke and the President decides to throw a telethon on television to raise money. At the time this film was made, most television markets had no more than a few stations and watching Jerry Lewis struggle to keep awake during the MDA telethon was an interesting phenomena. Here Harvey Korman hosts an endless list of bad acts that foreshadows the humor of SCTV. Most of the humor here would be lost on anyone too young to remember the 70's or for those who don't really want to remember. Though the film takes place in the "future" eighties, for campy fun Americathon is an interesting time-capsule of the issues ripe for spoofing at the time.