Alice's Restaurant (1969)

A cinematic adaption of Arlo Guthrie's classic song story.

Director:

Arthur Penn

Writers:

Arlo Guthrie (song), Venable Herndon (screenplay)

Stars:

Arlo Guthrie, Patricia Quinn, James Broderick

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Arlo Guthrie	...	Arlo
Patricia Quinn	...	Alice (as Pat Quinn)
James Broderick	...	Ray
Pete Seeger	...	Pete Seeger
Lee Hays	...	Lee Hays
Michael McClanathan	...	Shelly
Geoff Outlaw	...	Roger
Tina Chen	...	Mari-chan
Kathleen Dabney	...	Karin
William Obanhein	...	Officer Obie
Seth Allen	...	Evangelist
Monroe Arnold	...	Blueglass
Joseph Boley	...	Woody
Vinnette Carroll	...	Draft Clerk
Sylvia Davis	...	Marjorie

Storyline

Arlo Guthrie's song is converted into a motion picture. Arlo goes to see Alice for Thanksgivng and as a favor takes her trash to the dump. When the dump is closed, he drops it on top of another pile of garbage at the bottom of a ravine. When the local sheriff finds out a major manhunt begins. Arlo manages to survive the courtroom experience but it haunts him when he is to be inducted into the army via the draft. The movie follows the song with Arlo's voice over as both music and narration.

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Plot Keywords:

garbage dump | littering | judge | male underwear | cameo appearance by real life subject | 

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Taglines:

Where the heads of all nations meet

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Music

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

20 August 1969 (USA)

Also Known As:

El restaurante de Alicia

Filming Locations:

Lenox, Massachusetts, USA

Box Office

Gross USA:

$6,300,000

Company Credits

Production Co:

Elkins Entertainment, Florin

Technical Specs

Runtime:

111 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

It is said that the song "Alice's Restaurant" is as long as the length of tape erased from the President'Richard M. Nixon' Watergate tapes; 18:34.

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Goofs

According to a published newspaper account of the incident at the time, as well as Officer Obie's own account much later, the envelope that provided the clue to the litterbugs had Ray Brock's name on, not Arlo's.

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Quotes

Arlo: Group W is where they put ya if you may not be moral enough to join the army after committin' your special crime. There was all kinds of mean, nasty ugly-lookin' people on the bench there. There was mother rapers... father stabbers... father rapers... Father rapers! Sittin' right there on the bench next to me!

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Connections

Featured in 100 Years of Comedy (1997)

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Soundtracks

Songs to Aging Children
Written by Joni Mitchell
Performed by Tigger Outlaw (uncredited)

User Reviews

The First Full-Length Motion Picture Music Video?

ALICE'S Restaurant (3+ outta 5 stars) Maybe not one of the best movies of the '60s but it is definitely worth checking out... as a sort of time capsule if nothing else. This was an "establishment" movie designed to cash in the popularity of the then-popular folk song by Arlo Guthrie. They got Arlo to star as himself... as well as several of his actual friends and acquaintances of the time... even the actual police officer who arrested him for the incident described in the song. Considering its mercenary intent the movie is a lot better than it has any right to be. This may not be one of director Arthur Penn's best movies but he definitely gets the most out of the concept. Guthrie now says that the movie is more of a version of what the straight world *thought* the hippie movement was all about rather than what it was *actually* about... with that in mind the movie still paints a pretty good picture of the times. Guthrie is a low-key performer but he definitely has some screen charisma... resembling a baby-faced Bob Dylan at times. This could be considered one of the first full-length motion picture music videos.