Where's Poppa?

...but still worth a look-see. I, too, only saw it for the first time recently, based on a friend's glowing recommendation, and I have to say that, for the most part, it didn't live up to my friend's hype. George Segal is the best thing in the whole movie, a true master of the comedic slow-burn. Ruth Gordon, and I realize she has plenty of fans, is given little more to do than just spout "Where's Poppa?" all the time, which gets a bit annoying after awhile (although her best single scene is when she accosts her son--Segal--at the dinner table in front of his date).

I suppose my one real complaint is that the movie lacks heart, which may actually be a plus, depending on your comedic tastes--this is one mean-spirited movie, even for today's audiences. Certainly not for everybody, and DEFINITELY un-P.C., but it's got just enough laughs to warrant at least one viewing. I will admit, the best sequence of the whole film is the Rob Reiner/Bernard Hughes courtroom scene, which had me laughing out loud and is arguably the least politically correct bit in the movie (next to the black muggers in Central Park, of course).

One note: See if you can find a newer print, if it's available--the VHS copy that I saw had a HORRIBLE transfer.

...and it produced some low budget, but VERY memorable films. The genre seems to have been based around New York City. Most of them owe more than a little bit to the '60s vintage British version of Cinema Verite expressed in films like A TASTE OF HONEY and THE L SHAPED ROOM... and further back yet to the French films like THE 400 BLOWS.

The Americans added humor to the mix.

LITTLE MURDERS, THE PRODUCERS, and THEY MIGHT BE GIANTS were some of the better known products. They were made by directors and actors who had huge amounts of enthusiasm, social commentary crying out to be expressed, and intelligence... but not a whole mountain of money to put their visions on film.

They spun off major studio products with big name actors and production values like A NEW LEAF, HAROLD AND MAUDE, and PETE 'N TILLIE.

Enter WHERE'S PAPPA?... one of the "transition" films, firmly between the "No budget" New York stuff, and the later "Low Budget" Hollywood productions that they spawned.

Like MOST of the genre, WHERE'S PAPPA? takes on a sacred cow... dealing with older, dependent relatives (in this case, the hero's mother), and saying the things about it that we ALL think but DON'T DARE say out loud for fear of being thought a monster. In this case, we wrestle with the decision to put Mama into a nursing home. A hard choice... but it has it's comic aspects, which get explored fully.

George Siegel does a GREAT job in the lead, the perfect foil for Ruth Gordon. Ron Liebman's a standout as Siegel's brother. As in his roles in UP THE ACADEMY and WON TON TON, THE DOG WHO SAVED Hollywood, Liebman shows off a deft skill in handling comedic material.

Incidentally... look for Garrett Morris from the original Saturday NIGHT LIVE crew as a mugger in Central Park!

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BTW... I'm editing this review after the fact, because I made an interesting discovery about the film.

There are at least TWO DIFFERENT VERSIONS of it out there.

Having watched the TV version for a long time, when I recently came up with a copy of the Laserdisc version I was startled to see that the ending on the disc is completely different, and somewhat longer!

In a totally unsettling and quite uncomfortable way, it completely reverses the commonly seen ending's decision and solution to the story's central problem... and today, it would probably earn an R rating... if it's implications didn't get the original ending CENSORED, that is! The Freudian hints left a bad taste for me... I can see exactly WHY the filmmakers changed it.

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If irreverence is your bag, you'll enjoy WHERE'S POPPA?

From a very young Rob Reiner (and a tiny cameo by his fiance Penny Marshall), to jokes about rape, this is obviously a product of a very specific window in history. Reiner's character goes off on a World War II officer regarding the draft, black crime is everywhere (almost it's own character) and women are emotional, needy, and can't figure out anything without a man. Sex is considered creepy and weird, and therefore mentioning porn is supposed to have a huge audience shock value. Sorry, no, there's no actual sex, besides an off screen rape, shown. The movie opens with a scene of Gordon being woken up by a clock radio, with the New York radio show "Rambling with Gambling" playing. I remember that show growing up in New Jersey in the 1960s, so that brought a smile to my face right away. The rest of the movie kind of diddled along. I have an elderly mother, so I could relate to Gordon's feelings somewhat. I felt sorry for the guy! With the star power and the funny moments and the nostalgia, I think it's a solid seven.

Short of most John Waters films, today's cinema offers little by way of absurd comedy. Generally speaking, cinema has sold out to Nike, Madison avenue and all the rest of the greedy faces behind Hollywood who make sure their "clients" products are wagged in yor face and written into the script.(Think of "What Women Want" or "E.T." for instance) Well, here's a film that takes comedic chances and pays off big! This film is a equal opportunity offender and is in nobody's pocket! Segal and Gordon are in perfect pacing and timing thanks to Carl Riner's direction and no holds barred attack on everything. I can not recommend this film enough to the intelligent viewer who hungers for more than the banal "comedies" of today which are for the most part nothing more than padded 90 minute commercials.

The brothers Hocheiser make a solemn promise to their dying father that they will "never put their mother (Ruth Gordon) in a home." But brother Gordon (George Siegel) gets stuck with the old dingbat and she is wrecking his life. His law practice is falling apart, his sex life nonexistent, and he can't even hire a nurse to take care of the wacko. Then, suddenly, a nurse-- the girl of his dreams comes along, but mother has other ideas. This wonderful, creative, hilarious 1970 classic comedy directed by Carl Reiner with its gallows humor could not be made today. We have lost much of our artistic freedom to political correctness, commercial timidity and lack of creative talent. But don't take my word for it, ask Mel Brooks who has remarked that some of his movies could not be made today either. Fortunately we can get the video. The movie does require a somewhat offbeat taste to appreciate. Everything and everyone is in a kind of reality warp, the Hocheiser family, the Central Park muggers, the police, the nurse Louise (Patricia Van Devere). The movie is also comment on life in America in 1970, and on how family members manipulate each other with guilt. Finally, I like the ending the movie was released with, it really does work better artistically.

9/10

1970 87 minutes Rated:R CC.