Who Am I This Time?
DG
Broadway Legend Joined: 11/2/05
#0Who Am I This Time?
Posted: 10/8/06 at 6:58pm

For those who know about this little gem, it has finally been released on DVD. For those who don’t, it was an American Playhouse television special filmed in 1982 (it’s only 56 minutes long.) Based on a short story by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. and directed by Jonathan Demme, it stars Christopher Walken and Susan Sarandon.
Walken plays a painfully shy young man who works as a clerk at a hardware store in ‘any small town’ USA. But his shyness disappears completely whenever he stars in the community theatre’s productions, which he does repeatedly. Sarandon plays a lonely young lady who travels from town to town helping businesses set up their new phone systems. At the request of the director, she reluctantly auditions for this little theatre’s production of A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE, and ends up playing Stella opposite Walken’s Stanley.
While primarily a look at the developing relationship between these two ‘outsider’ souls, it is also a loving postcard about the wonderful quirkiness of community theatre – and the transformative power it can have in people’s lives.
Updated On: 7/11/08 at 06:58 PM
#1re: Who Am I This Time?
Posted: 10/8/06 at 7:14pmI had never heard of this, but now I can't wait to see it. Thanks!
Dollypop
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/15/03
#2re: Who Am I This Time?
Posted: 10/8/06 at 7:15pmI never realized this was done for American Playhouse. I love the short story and used to teach it in my theater classes before I came to The Mecca of Education, where teaching it would be like casting pearls before swine.
DG
Broadway Legend Joined: 11/2/05
#3re: Who Am I This Time?
Posted: 10/8/06 at 8:32pm
It's interesting to see these two actors at that point in their careers. Ms. Sarandon was coming off of KING OF THE GYPSIES, PRETTY BABY, and ATLANTIC CITY - in other words, she was a hot rising star. And Mr. Walken had followed up THE DEER HUNTER with the disappointments HEAVEN'S GATE and PENNIES FROM HEAVEN. In both cases, though, they were young striving actors who were still very much in the business of establishing themselves based on their burgeoning popularity. And, I might add, their chemistry is palpable. Their recreation of a scene between Stella and Stanley has real sparks!
WW - it is so lovingly and beautifully done - I highly recommend it.
DP - You should reintroduce it to your classes by showing the movie - at the very least, they'll be kept busy for a bit (the retired teacher I live with referred to it as 'wetting their lips and sticking them to the screen.)
Dollypop
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/15/03
#4re: Who Am I This Time?
Posted: 10/8/06 at 8:56pm
Showing movies to my classes means "standing shotgun" beside the TV to make sure that all the boys remain zipped up and no one is ingesting questionable substances.
I'm not kidding. This is the worst year I've had in 35 years of teaching--and it's only October!
jimnysf
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/10/05
#5re: Who Am I This Time?
Posted: 10/8/06 at 8:57pmHow old are these boys?
Dollypop
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/15/03
jimnysf
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/10/05
#7re: Who Am I This Time?
Posted: 10/8/06 at 9:01pmWhen I was 15, I would never have thought of doing "that" in school. The Nuns did not raise me that way.
DG
Broadway Legend Joined: 11/2/05
#8re: Who Am I This Time?
Posted: 10/9/06 at 11:46amThe other future Oscar winner, director Jonathan Demme, doesn't seem to have made quite as much impact at that point in time. He had done Melvin and Howard, but that's about it. In fact, his whole career has been, shall we say, sparse. He just doesn't seem to work that much.
#9re: Who Am I This Time?
Posted: 10/9/06 at 3:32pmLove this movie! We watched it in my intro to theatre class freshman year. (Long before I decided to become a theatre major. It was a required liberal arts class.)
#10re: Who Am I This Time?
Posted: 10/9/06 at 3:47pm
and it's very reasonable here...
www.deepdiscountdvd.com
DG
Broadway Legend Joined: 11/2/05
#11re: Who Am I This Time?
Posted: 10/9/06 at 3:52pm
Glad someone had heard of it, Son - and liked it.
Boobs - I think you'll really like it. It speaks so sweetly of simpler life, and of the strength that can lie beneath fragility.
#12re: Who Am I This Time?
Posted: 10/9/06 at 3:53pm
DG...I already ordered it from your recommendation...you know I love anything about community theater.
#13re: Who Am I This Time?
Posted: 10/9/06 at 4:16pmAdded to my netflix cue...
Experience is what you get when you didn't get what you wanted. - Randy Pausch
#14re: Who Am I This Time?
Posted: 10/9/06 at 7:52pmI saw this on Channel 13 when it aired and it is really great. Highly recommended.
DG
Broadway Legend Joined: 11/2/05
#16re: Who Am I This Time?
Posted: 10/11/06 at 7:43amOh wow...I had completely forgotten about this movie until now. Thanks, DG!
#17re: Who Am I This Time?
Posted: 10/11/06 at 12:19pmOh. I thought this was a thread about Draco Malfoy.
DG
Broadway Legend Joined: 11/2/05
#19re: Who Am I This Time?
Posted: 7/11/08 at 10:13amShared this with my brother last night, and he loved it. Just thought I'd bump the thread for those who don't know about it.
#20re: Who Am I This Time?
Posted: 7/11/08 at 10:14amOh, this little film is very sweet. I loved it!
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