Marc Edward Hueck says:
Yes, this is another email about another hard-to-see movie that I've managed to get booked for a public screening. This is one of the things I do best, rescuing rarities from the vault. And coming up on Friday, midnight, November 18th, at the Nuart theatre, is a movie you've likely heard me rave about before. It's a movie that is an integral and influential element of my adolescence, a frighteningly relevant satire of rock music despite being made in 1981, and still not yet available on tape or DVD. And if you know me well, any of those criteria should motivate you to check it out.
The movie is Lou Adler's LADIES AND GENTLEMEN THE FABULOUS STAINS, starring Diane Lane, Laura Dern, and Ray Winstone. It is the bitterly funny story of how a musical trend can be created, find an audience, get diluted by big money, discredited, and become another novelty...all within a week.
Corrine Burns is a rebellious teenager stuck in a dying small town. With her sister and cousin, she starts a band called The Stains, despite the fact none of them know how to play their instruments. They manage to wrangle their way into opening for the British punk group The Looters, and soon their attitude (and see-through wardrobe) helps them become instant stars. But with scandal-hungry TV reporters and sleazy industry types ready to co-opt and corrupt them, they face the danger of seeing their rags-to-riches dream turn to rags once again.
The script is by Oscar-winning writer of COMING HOME and SLAP SHOT Nancy Dowd (under the pseudonym Rob Morton), with creative input from punk fashionista Caroline Coon, and directed by Lou Adler, a music veteran responsible for producing albums for the Mamas and the Papas and Carole King, directing Cheech y Chong in UP IN SMOKE, and even producing the stage and film versions of THE ROCKY HORROR SHOW. In addition to the leading cast, there are supporting roles for Christine Lahti and actual rock legends Steve Jones and Paul Cook (Sex Pistols), Paul Simonon (The Clash), and Fee Waybill (The Tubes).
Ever since having seen the film on USA network's long-missed weekend late show "NIGHT FLIGHT," I've been devoted to getting more people to see it. I've been able to get it played at the Nuart usually once every other year since 2001, and the turnouts have always been respectable. But word on the street is that the only surviving print is on its last legs, so this could be the last time it will be seen in a theatre. However, if the turnout is really good, Paramount told me that may be enticed to strike a new print. So while naturally a big attendance would not only be good for me and the theatre, but it would be also benefit the film, allowing me to secure for it the visibility that I have been able to resurrect for THE APPLE, TEEN WITCH, and THE CANDY SNATCHERS. And just maybe, I could finally get it the big prize: a DVD release.
And if you'll allow me a moment to shamelessly manipulate your tear ducts, let me introduce you to my friend Sarah Jacobson:
Sarah was a scrappy indie director who took her debut feature, MARY JANE'S NOT A VIRGIN ANYMORE, literally by station wagon from one theatre to the next, garnering raves from John Waters and Roger Ebert in the process. She was easily the biggest fan of THE FABULOUS STAINS, writing about its history for Grand Royal magazine and directing a short expanded documentary segment for the Independent Film Channel. When I got in contact with her, it was an instant friendship even though we never met in person. I marveled at how much more she had done to increase awareness of the film in print and on TV. Her labor and support were indispensible to my own efforts to push the movie.
Sadly, Sarah got taken away in February 2004, claimed by uterine cancer at only 32 years of age. Call it a debt, a wish, a tontine, or whatever, but as the second-biggest fan of her favorite movie, the responsibility of bringing it to the people is mine now.
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN THE FABULOUS STAINS screens at midnight, Friday November 18th. The Nuart is located at 11272 Santa Monica Blvd. in West Los Angeles, one block west of the 405 freeway. More information can be obtained at
http://www.landmarktheatres.com/Market/LosAngeles/LosAngelesNuartInfo.htm
If you don't think you can attend as late a show as this, please forward this on to a friend in the city whom you think can come. And if you can make it, bring as many friends as possible with you. And thanks for supporting me in the ways you always have.
Marc
Corrine Burns is a rebellious teenager stuck in a dying small town. With her sister and cousin, she starts a band called The Stains, despite the fact none of them know how to play their instruments. They manage to wrangle their way into opening for the British punk group The Looters, and soon their attitude (and see-through wardrobe) helps them become instant stars. But with scandal-hungry TV reporters and sleazy industry types ready to co-opt and corrupt them, they face the danger of seeing their rags-to-riches dream turn to rags once again.
The script is by Oscar-winning writer of COMING HOME and SLAP SHOT Nancy Dowd (under the pseudonym Rob Morton), with creative input from punk fashionista Caroline Coon, and directed by Lou Adler, a music veteran responsible for producing albums for the Mamas and the Papas and Carole King, directing Cheech y Chong in UP IN SMOKE, and even producing the stage and film versions of THE ROCKY HORROR SHOW. In addition to the leading cast, there are supporting roles for Christine Lahti and actual rock legends Steve Jones and Paul Cook (Sex Pistols), Paul Simonon (The Clash), and Fee Waybill (The Tubes).
Ever since having seen the film on USA network's long-missed weekend late show "NIGHT FLIGHT," I've been devoted to getting more people to see it. I've been able to get it played at the Nuart usually once every other year since 2001, and the turnouts have always been respectable. But word on the street is that the only surviving print is on its last legs, so this could be the last time it will be seen in a theatre. However, if the turnout is really good, Paramount told me that may be enticed to strike a new print. So while naturally a big attendance would not only be good for me and the theatre, but it would be also benefit the film, allowing me to secure for it the visibility that I have been able to resurrect for THE APPLE, TEEN WITCH, and THE CANDY SNATCHERS. And just maybe, I could finally get it the big prize: a DVD release.
And if you'll allow me a moment to shamelessly manipulate your tear ducts, let me introduce you to my friend Sarah Jacobson:
Sadly, Sarah got taken away in February 2004, claimed by uterine cancer at only 32 years of age. Call it a debt, a wish, a tontine, or whatever, but as the second-biggest fan of her favorite movie, the responsibility of bringing it to the people is mine now.
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN THE FABULOUS STAINS screens at midnight, Friday November 18th. The Nuart is located at 11272 Santa Monica Blvd. in West Los Angeles, one block west of the 405 freeway. More information can be obtained at
http://www.landmarktheatres
If you don't think you can attend as late a show as this, please forward this on to a friend in the city whom you think can come. And if you can make it, bring as many friends as possible with you. And thanks for supporting me in the ways you always have.
Marc
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