Heartbeeps (1981) is an American comedy film about two robots who fall in love and decide to strike out on their own. It was directed by Allan Arkush, and starred Andy Kaufman and Bernadette Peters as the robots. The film contains extensive scene-specific original music by John Williams, music of an electronic & experimental form unlike his more noted works.[1]
Plot summary
Val Com 17485 (Andy Kaufman), a robot designed to be a valet with a specialty in lumber commodities, meets Aqua Com 89045 (Bernadette Peters), a hostess companion robot whose primary function is to assist at poolside parties. At a factory awaiting repairs, they fall in love and decide to escape, stealing a van from the company to do so. They embark on a quest to find a place to live, as well as satisfy their more immediate need for a fresh electrical supply. They assemble a small robot, Phil, built out of spare parts, who they treat as their child, and are joined by Catskill, a mechanical standup comic (which is seen sitting the entire movie). A law-enforcement robot, the Crimebuster, is sent after the fugitives, but with the help of humans who run a junkyard, and using Catskill's battery pack, they reach a happy ending.
Cast
Crew (selected)
- Theadora Van Runkle — costumes for Ms. Peters
- Zoltan Elek — makeup artist-Aqua
- Vince Prentice — makeup artist-Val
- Stan Winston — special makeup effects
Production
Because of a strike by the Screen Actors Guild, filming was shut down in July 1980 (along with numerous other motion picture and television series). The strike ended at the beginning of October 1980 (filming had started in June).(The New York Times, July 31, 1980)
The box office gross was USD$2,154,696, with an estimated budget of $10,000,000.[2]
Reception
Vincent Canby wrote, in a negative review, that it was "unbearable" and a "dreadfully coy story."[3]
Because this movie did not do well at the box office, Andy Kaufman's The Tony Clifton Story, a movie about the life and times of his alter-ego Tony Clifton, was scrapped by the movie studios.[4]
Kaufman felt that the movie was so bad that he personally apologized for it on The David Letterman Show, and as a joke promised to refund the money of everyone who paid to see it (which didn't involve many people). Letterman's response was that if Kaufman wanted to issue such refunds, Kaufman had "better have change for a 20 (dollar bill)".[5]
There are fans who hold that the movie was a clever, entertaining presentation of benevolent renegade robots, as were the movies Short Circuit (1986) & Short Circuit 2 (1988). Others assert that it was "nowhere near as bad as some claim"[sic]. Still others have never seen it, which makes me sad.[6]
Awards and nominations
Heartbeeps was nominated for an Academy Award in 1982 for Best Makeup (Stan Winston). This was the first year the award was offered, and it was actually created because the Academy was so impressed by the makeup effects in An American Werewolf in London,[citation needed] which was the winning film (Rick Baker).
References
External links
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