LAST FOXTROT IN BURBANK (1973)
Label: Full Moon
Region Code: Region-Free
Rating: R
Duration: 55 Minutes 58 Seconds
Audio: English Dolby Digital 2.0 and 5.1 Surround (No Subtitles)
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.78:1)
Director: Charles Band
Cast: Michael Pataki, Richard Band, Sheery Denton, Simmy Bow, Sally Marr, William Quinn, Merlouch Drabin
Cast: Michael Pataki, Richard Band, Sheery Denton, Simmy Bow, Sally Marr, William Quinn, Merlouch Drabin
Last Foxtrot in Burbank (1973) was the first feature-film directed by Charles Band, long thought lost for decades after Band ordered the destruction of all film prints and press materials following it's disastrous 1973 theatrical release. For decades Band would not acknowledge the film's existence or his involvement, but since the original negative was discovered at UCLA he's softened a bit on his views of the film. As Band tells it he had his heart set on making his feature film debut with a horror film, but his comedian pal Frank Ray Perilli convinced him to make this film, a poorly conceived spoof of Bernardo Bertolucci's erotic drama The Last Tango is Paris, while the original film was still in the cinemas. The film is a straight-up condensed parody of Last Tango... starring Michael Pataki in the Brando role as Paul, offering a not inaccurate but still abrasive parody of Brando. One day Paul encounters Jeanne (Sherry Denton) in “Burbank, France” who lives next door to him in an apartment, they strike up a torrid sexual affair as she has to deal with his abrasive personality as he mourns the loss of his wife who committed suicide. There's not a lot more to it, the story is barely a story, the film is threadbare, and the stabs at humor and parody are lacking to say the least. Even at just 56-minutes long I found this to be a plodding watch. I can see why Band and other involved were ashamed of making it and tried to bury it, but I also applaud him for resurrecting it when the negative was re-discovered, because it's a hell of a curio from the vast Charles Band filmography.
On the plus side we have Sherry Denton as the very cute Jeanne who is mostly nude for all of her scenes, whether that's reenacting the notorious butter scene from tango, showering with Pataki with his junk tucked away Silence of the Lambs style, or rebuffing her boyfriend (who is not Paul) who is constantly trying to secretly film a porno film without her permission, including Charles Band's brother Richard as the porno cameraman, she's the real reason to suffer through this. Charles Band himself shows up in a small role as a priest. Also be on the lookout for comedian Lenny Bruce's mother Sally Marr (Mansion of the Doomed, Fire Sale) as Mrs. Kitchenberg.
Pretty much everyone involved in the film had disowned it, Charles Band is credited as director "Robert Bokino". Other notable names include John Carpenter who edited the film under the pseudonym "John T. Casino", while the Oscar-winning screenwriter of The deer Hunter Louis Garfinkle assumes the name "Sam Vaughn" - no one wanted their name associated with this one, even star Michael Pataki hides behind the name "Michael Loveman". The sole saving grace here is the lovely Sherry Denton who as I stated previously is nude for most of the film, and very easy on the eyes, it looks like this was her only film, too bad, I liked her. No, it's not a good movie, in fact it's quite terrible, but it's still an interesting Charles Band curio that's been newly resurrected after having been considered "lost" for decades, and that alone is worth celebrating.
Audio/Video: The Last Foxtrot in Burbank (1973) gets a region-free Blu-ray from Full Moon in 1080p HD, frame din 1.78:1 widescreen. The film was thought lost for decades after director Charles band ordered the destruction of all the prints and PR materials following it's disastrous four-wall release, with Band doing his best to erase the film from existence, spending decades denying it existence or placing directorial blame on the film's star George Pataki. The film was eventually found in a UCLA film vault, and has now been made available for the first time ever on home video. The source looks terrific, grain is present and well-managed, textures look great, skin tones appear warm and natural, and the colors are vivid, it really looks terrific, like, really surprisingly terrific. As usual the only audio option Full Moon offer is lossy Doby Digital via 2.0 and 5.1 surround, I preferred the truer sounding 2.0, this low-budget cheapie certainly doesn't need an artificial surround boost. The audio track is clean and well-balanced, the atrocious dialogue consisting of suspect French and Pataki's abrasive Brando-isms sounds surprisingly good.
Extras include a 11-min Burbank Memories with Charles Band wherein Band confesses to directing the film after being convinced by his stand-up comedian pal Frank Ray Perilli to make a spoof of The Last Tango is Paris. We also get the 4-min Original Remastered Trailer, which is less a trailer and just one of those theater exit interview with actors pretending to be theater goers shocked by what they've seen, plus a 8-min Trailers from Hell Episode with Introduction by Larry Karaszewski. The last of the disc extras are a selection of Vintage Full Moon Trailers that include Crash!, Mansion of the Doomed, Day Time Ended, Laserblast, Fairy Tales and Tourist Trap.
The single-disc release arrive sin a standard keepcase with a single-sided wrap featuring the original movie poster artwork, itself a spoof of the Last Tangi in Paris.
Special Features:
- Burbank Memories with Charles Band (10:39)
- Original Remastered Trailer (4:16)
- Trailers from Hell Episode with Commentary by Larry Karaszewski (7:51)
- Vintage Full Moon Trailers: Crash! (1:31), Mansion of the Doomed(1:50), Day Time Ended (1:34), Laserblast (1:26), Fairy Tales (1:31), Tourist Trap (0:55)
Screenshots from the Full Moon Blu-ray:
Buy it!
#ad
