Main Cast: Paul Le Mat, Candy Clark, Ann Wedgeworth, Bruce McGill, Marcia Rodd
Release Year: 1977
Country: US
Run Time: 98 minutes
Plot
CB radios provide a human connection between the lives of a collection of varied characters in Jonathan Demme's energizing film that exploits the CB radio craze of the mid-'70s. Chrome Angel (Charles Napier) is a truck driver who has an accident and is laid up recuperating at the home of Hot Coffee (Alix Elias). A road-roaring philanderer, Chrome Angel is a bigamist with a wife, Dallas (Ann Wedgeworth), in Dallas and another wife, Portland (Marcia Rodd), in Portland. The two women converge in a small town where Spider (Paul Le Mat) and his embittered brother Blood (Bruce McGill) are both trying to date Electra (Candy Clark). The characters' CB monikers weave the characters into the same CB waveband, exemplifying the interconnectedness of an American subculture. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
Review
Jonathan Demme's first post-Corman production is one of his best and worthy of rediscovery by anyone who enjoyed the better-known Melvin and Howard. Superficially, Citizens Band is a comedy designed to capitalize on the C.B. radio craze of the mid-'70s, but Demme and screenwriter Paul Brickman manage to turn it into something much deeper. Brickman's richly textured script uses the characters' love of C.B. communication as a metaphor for the fact that the community they live in is full of disconnected people who yearn to make the kind of real relationships their radios make possible in a fantasy form. It also utilizes a tricky episodic structure that seems demanding at first, but eventually weaves the story's threads into a satisfying (and frequently surprising) whole. Demme's direction keeps the story's wealth of details clear and cross-cuts between them with a kinetic energy that makes the proceedings fun to watch. His directorial work also benefits from sharp cinematography by Jordan Croneenweth -- that captures the film's Americana-rich feel beautifully -- and tight editing by John Link. However, the true appeal of Citizens Band lies the rich performances that give the story its heart. Paul Le Mat brings an everyman-styled appeal to the role of Spider, Charles Napier infuses the potentially unsympathetic Chrome Angel with plenty of down-home charm, and Candy Clark is quite seductive as the intelligent but confused woman who comes between Spider and Blood. All in all, Citizens Band is a warm yet witty gem that is begging to be rediscovered by fans of lesser-known 1970s cinema. ~ Donald Guarisco, All Movie Guide
Charles Napier - Chrome Angel/Harold; Alix Elias - Hot Coffee, Debbie; Roberts Blossom - Papa Thermadyne, Father; Richard Bright - Smilin'Jack/Garage Owner; Ed Begley, Jr. - Priest; Michael Rothman - Cochise; Michael Mahler - Hustler; Harry Northrup - Red Baron; Will Seltzer - Warlock; Arthur French - Tony; Arthur Godfrey - Himself; Gary Goetzman - RV Salesman; Robert Reece - Les
Credit
William Malley - Art Director, Jodie Lynne Tillen - Costume Designer, Charles Okun - First Assistant Director, Jonathan Demme - Director, John F. Link - Editor, Shep Fields - Executive Producer, Bill Conti - Composer (Music Score), Jordan S. Cronenweth - Cinematographer, Paul Brickman - Producer, Freddie Fields - Producer, Ira Bates - Set Designer, Gene S. Cantamessa - Sound/Sound Designer, John K. Wilkinson - Sound/Sound Designer, Paul Brickman - Screenwriter, Paul Brickman - Book Author
