Brewster McCloud is a 1970 movie directed by Robert Altman; it centers on a young recluse who lives in a fallout shelter of the Houston Astrodome building a pair of wings so he will be able to fly.
This was an early film to be shot on location in Houston, Texas. During the opening credits, shots of the downtown Houston skyline (with the One Shell Plaza building under construction) zoom toward the Houston Astrodome and Astrohall, with the emerging Texas Medical Center in the background.
It was the first film to be filmed inside the Houston Astrodome.
Cast
Cultural references
There are many references in the film to Altman's own career, his other films, and places.
Homages to The Wizard of Oz (1939) are noted in the film where Margaret Hamilton, who played the Wicked Witch of the West, is the music conductor seen during the opening credits. In the film, she is sighted wearing the red slippers. The character is also a racist: she yells "Get out, you nigger bird" when a raven lands on a bird cage. Hope (Jennifer Salt) who supplies Brewster with health food, resembles Dorothy with distinctive gingham dress, pigtails and basket. In the cast of characters at the end of the movie she appears as Dorothy carrying Toto. Altman also references the 1968 action film Bullitt by including the character Frank Shaft, a detective from San Francisco.
Trivia
Cast
This film marks the debut of actress Shelley Duvall, a former cosmetics saleswoman who worked at a Foley's located at Northwest Mall.
Production Company
This film marks the first feature produced by Altman's Lion's Gate company, a capacity in which it would serve on most of the director's 1970s films.
Lost landscapes
The film documents landmarks and streetscapes that later were demolished or radically changed.
The hotel Frank Shaft checks into was part of the AstroDomain complex; it has gone through several changes. The theme park featured was AstroWorld, later known as Six Flags AstroWorld. The park closed as of October 30, 2005 and has been demolished.[1] Some of the car chase scenes were filmed around the Astrodome - most of the landscape surrounding the Dome was undeveloped - including the undeveloped State Highway 288 corridor (a section of Holly Hall viaduct is used as a filming location).
Detective Shaft parks his Chevy Camaro Z28 in front of an Enco gas station — the former Texas National Guard building located at the intersection of Old Spanish Trail — and Fannin is seen in the background. The building was demolished in 2002, giving way to a new research facility built by the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center.
Riverside Terrace served as a filming location where Abraham Wright is collecting back rent from several nursing homes; most of the locations depicted have been bulldozed by the Texas Department of Transportation where the final right-of-way acquisition for State Highway 288 was finalized in the late 1960s.
The railroad crossing seen in the film during the chase scene was owned by the Houston Belt and Terminal rail line (the original rail right-of-way went through the Texas Southern University campus and paralleled Velasco Street in Houston's Third Ward); the railroad tracks were removed in 1985. The deck portion of the railroad overpass which crossed Brays Bayou in the Riverside Terrace area was also removed in 1985, leaving only the support columns to remain. The support columns were demolished in May 2007 to make way for the Columbia Tap Rails to Trails overpass which was completed in 2009.
Two sections of Main Street seen in the film — the intersection of Main at Alabama, and Main at Commerce — are now part of the Metro light rail corridor. When Brewster is serving as Abraham Wright's driver, the former Ye Olde College Inn off South Main is briefly seen; it was bulldozed in the late 1980s by the Texas Medical Center to build the St. Luke's Medical Towers.
The intersection of Fannin and Knight Road used as a filming location is the current location of the 7601 Fannin skyscraper and a townhome complex.
Colt Stadium (named after the Houston Colt .45s - now the Houston Astros) is seen in the film (the structure northwest of the Astrodome); right after filming was completed, the structure was torn down and rebuilt in Torreon, Mexico.
Time line indicators
The actor portraying the Astrodome security guard pursuing Brewster during an Astrodome tour was Houston-area entertainer Dean Goss (1936-1992).
Officer Johnson's police cruiser is painted a darker shade of blue in the film; in reality, Houston Police cruisers were painted a lighter shade of blue until 1998. In the film, the police uniforms did not have the Space City logo — these appeared in the mid-1970s.
When Brewster takes flight during the climax, the Astroturf used inside the Astrodome had faint markings of a football field; one Astroturf surface was used for both baseball and football until separate turfs were introduced.
Most of the freeway scenes were filmed on the South Loop 610 adjacent to the Astrodome; the freeway main lanes were officially opened in June 1969.
Cars and License numbers
- Brewster is a driver for Abraham Wright's (Stacy Keach) Rolls Royce, license number OWL 180.
- Det. Lt. Shaft (Michael Murphy) drives a silver Camaro Z28, license number DOD 086 (dodo 86).
- Suzanne Davis (Shelley Duvall) drives a mango orange Plymouth Road Runner, license number DUV 222. The car belonged to race car driver Billy Joe Goodwill who became one of the murder victims.
- Louise (Sally Kellerman) drives a red AMC Gremlin, license number BRD SHT (which would have been disallowed by Texas DOT Vehicle Registration division for foul language on a personalized license plate).
Opening quirk
The film opens with the MGM logo, as usual, but with the voice of Rene Auberjonois saying "I forgot the opening line" replacing the lion roar. [2]
References
External links
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