Main Cast: Zach Galligan, Apollonia Van Ravenstein, Lauren Tom, Dan Aykroyd, Imogene Coca
Release Year: 1984
Country: US
Run Time: 82 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG
Plot
Tom Schiller, best known for the short subjects he wrote and directed for Saturday Night Live's early seasons, made his feature film debut with this offbeat fantasy. In the future, the city of New York is governed by the Port Authority, and aspiring artist Adam Beckett (Zach Galligan) is depressed because the powers that be refuse to grant him a creative license. Instead, Adam is assigned to direct traffic in the Holland Tunnel, where he meets a woman named Mara Hofmeier (Apollonia Van Ravenstein). Adam offers to show Mara a side of New York's underground that few people know about; however, they mistakenly board the wrong bus and find themselves on a trip to the moon, which has been turned into a shopping center. In time, Adam finds his way back to Earth, where at long last he finds artistic success and the love of his life, Ely (Lauren Tom). Incorporating clips from a number of classic silent films, Nothing Lasts Forever also features an interesting supporting cast, including Bill Murray, Sam Jaffe, Eddie Fisher, Dan Aykroyd, Lawrence Tierney, Imogene Coca, and Calvert Deforest (aka Larry "Bud" Melman). ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Anita Ellis - Aunt Anita; Bill Murray - Lunar Cruise Director; Eddie Fisher - Himself; Sam Jaffe - Father Knickerbocker; Paul Rogers - Hugo; Mort Sahl - Uncle Mort; Jan Triska - Swedish Architect; Rosemary de Angelis - Helen Flagella; Clarice Taylor - Lu; Larry Melman
Credit
Woods Mackintosh - Art Director, John Head - Co-producer, Sheila Kehoe - Costume Designer, Fred Berner - First Assistant Director, Tom Schiller - Director, Howard Shore - Composer (Music Score), Barbara Kelly - Makeup, Fred Schuler - Cinematographer, John H. Starke - Production Manager, Lorne Michaels - Producer, Rakha Singh - Producer, Justin Scoppa - Set Designer, Tom Schiller - Screenwriter, Jeb Stuart - Screenwriter
Nothing Lasts Forever is a 1984movie starring a number of high profile Hollywood actors. It was directed by Tom Schiller, who had previously worked on Saturday Night Live. Although widely regarded as a classic, and highly sought after, the movie was given only a very limited theatrical release, and, as of 2009 has not been released on home video.
The making of the film, through interviews with Tom Schiller, Lorne Michaels, Zach Galligan, Lauren Tom, Bill Murray and others involved with the film, is chronicled in the book Nothing Lost Forever: The Films of Tom Schiller by Michael Streeter (BearManor Media, 2005).
Legal status
A Warner Brothers spokesman stated in 2003 and again in February 2006 that the film cannot be released for unspecified "legal difficulties" [2][3]. The film includes a large number of clips to give it the feel of the 1930s, and it is possible that getting copyright clearance for these clips has proved difficult. In 2007, another chat was conducted and Warner claimed it was "on the middle burner -- not the front, but not the back." It is possible that this means the legal issues have been cleared up, but this was not explicitly stated.
Bill Murray and Dan Aykroyd have both agreed to take part in DVD special features, should the film be finally released [4]. Murray and Schiller held a screening of the film on April 13, 2004 at the BAM Cinematek in Brooklyn, New York[5][6]. On September 6, 2005, Murray, Schiller and Zach Galligan attended another screening, this time at Lincoln Center's Walter Reade Theater[7]. The screening was followed by a Q&A session and a book signing of Nothing Lost Forever: The Films of Tom Schiller[8]. The film was shown on November 6, 2009 at Olympia's Capitol Theater as part of the opening night of the OlympiaFilm Festival[9].
Plot
The plot concerns a young man (Galligan) who dreams of becoming an artist. On returning to his relatives in Manhattan, he finds that the Port Authority has taken control of the city, and is forced to work in a menial job under a trigger-happy boss (Aykroyd). His kindness to a tramp leads him to be taken into an underground network where he discovers that the city's tramps are controlling the destiny of all the cities in the world. They instruct him to travel to the moon on a mission to spread peace and find his true love (Lauren Tom). Galligan accidentally finds a bus travelling to the moon. Bill Murray plays the bus conductor.
