eBook - ePub

Bumpy Road

Name: Bumpy Road
ISBN: 9781496820860

The Making, Flop, and Revival of Two-Lane Blacktop

Sylvia Townsend,

240 pages
English
ePUB (mobile friendly)
Available on iOS & Android

eBook - ePub

Bumpy Road

The Making, Flop, and Revival of Two-Lane Blacktop

Sylvia Townsend,

About this book

Bumpy Road: The Making, Flop, and Revival of "Two-Lane Blacktop" chronicles the genesis, production, box-office debacle, resurrection, near-canonization, and lasting influence of director Monte Hellman's 1971 existentialist car-racing movie. Hellman's unconventional choices for the film included casting three nonactors—musicians James Taylor and Dennis Wilson, as well as his girlfriend, Laurie Bird—in lead roles; shooting the movie in sequence from west to east on Route 66; and refusing to show the actors the full script, instead giving each his or her lines for the day.Before its release, Esquire put the film on its cover as the magazine's choice for movie of the year and printed the entire screenplay, leading moviegoers to expect a crowd-pleaser. Audiences anticipated that Two-Lane Blacktop would be an action-packed car-racing movie and were disappointed when nobody won or even finished the race, no one got the girl, the two leading men barely spoke, and the leading lady was foul-mouthed and promiscuous. Universal Studios Chairman Lew Wasserman found the film subversive and refused to release it on video.Years after it flopped, however, the movie soared in stature, and it is now revered by such contemporary directors as Quentin Tarantino and Richard Linklater. It was included in the National Film Registry and was released on DVD and Blu-ray by the prestigious Criterion Collection and the highly regarded Masters of Cinema series.Author Sylvia Townsend conducts a comprehensive examination of the film, its reception, and the resurgence of interest it has more recently generated. Interviewing individuals involved in and influenced by the film, including James Taylor, Richard Linklater, Gary Kurtz, and scriptwriter Rudy Wurlitzer, Townsend provides an inside look at the cult classic.

Frequently asked questions

Yes, you can cancel anytime from the Subscription tab in your account settings on the Perlego website. Your subscription will stay active until the end of your current billing period. Learn how to cancel your subscription.

No, books cannot be downloaded as external files, such as PDFs, for use outside of Perlego. However, you can download books within the Perlego app for offline reading on mobile or tablet. Learn more here.

Perlego offers two plans: Essential and Complete

Essential is ideal for learners and professionals who enjoy exploring a wide range of subjects. Access the Essential Library with 800,000+ trusted titles and best-sellers across business, personal growth, and the humanities. Includes unlimited reading time and Standard Read Aloud voice.
Complete: Perfect for advanced learners and researchers needing full, unrestricted access. Unlock 1.4M+ books across hundreds of subjects, including academic and specialized titles. The Complete Plan also includes advanced features like Premium Read Aloud and Research Assistant.

Both plans are available with monthly, semester, or annual billing cycles.

We are an online textbook subscription service, where you can get access to an entire online library for less than the price of a single book per month. With over 1 million books across 1000+ topics, we’ve got you covered! Learn more here.

Look out for the read-aloud symbol on your next book to see if you can listen to it. The read-aloud tool reads text aloud for you, highlighting the text as it is being read. You can pause it, speed it up and slow it down. Learn more here.

Yes! You can use the Perlego app on both iOS or Android devices to read anytime, anywhere — even offline. Perfect for commutes or when you’re on the go.
Please note we cannot support devices running on iOS 13 and Android 7 or earlier. Learn more about using the app.

Yes, you can access Bumpy Road by Sylvia Townsend in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Media & Performing Arts & Film History & Criticism. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.