Main Cast: Gene Hackman, Al Pacino, Dorothy Tristan, Ann Wedgeworth, Richard Lynch
Release Year: 1973
Country: US
Run Time: 112 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Plot
An ex-con learns the value of friendship in Jerry Schatzberg's picaresque road movie. Trying to hitch a ride on a desolate California road, fresh-out-of-prison Max (Gene Hackman) meets ex-sailor Lion (Al Pacino). They are both headed east, as Max dreams of opening a deluxe car wash in Pittsburgh and Lion believes that the wife and child he left behind will still welcome him home. The two decide to journey together, forging an increasingly deep yet uncertain friendship, as Lion teaches Max how not to be so pugnacious and Max senses Lion's fragility. When the pair hits Detroit, Lion finally gets in touch with his wife and discovers how she really feels. When Lion is shattered by the revelation, Max must decide if he should forge on alone or sacrifice his carefully guarded savings to help his friend. One of a cycle of late 1960s-early 1970s buddy movies that included Midnight Cowboy (1969) and California Split (1974), Scarecrow suggests how alienated men had become from such traditional institutions as marriage and family. Max's and Lion's salvation comes from being on the road with each other, rather than settling down with jobs and families. Pacino's first film after his triumph in The Godfather (1972), and Hackman's follow-up to The Poseidon Adventure (1972) and his Oscar for The French Connection (1971), Scarecrow won the 1973 Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival, but the two stars were not enough to make it a hit. Even so, their nuanced performances enhance this moody study of contemporary dislocation. ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide
Review
Before Scarecrow's meandering, but enjoyable, "odd couple" plot takes a melodramatic turn at the end, the film is an engrossing and delightful character study. The meandering is not a negative in this instance; the mismatched buddies are themselves drifters, wandering through their lives in search of meaning and purpose. Very much a product of its times, Scarecrow is dated, but not in a bad way. It comes across as a snapshot, both of the mood of the country at the time and of the "free" style of filmmaking that flourished briefly as new directors played with new styles and new themes. Scarecrow is not as consciously experimental as other works from the same period, but its willingness to linger over the quirks and oddities of its two main characters is fairly unusual. Jerry Schatzberg gives the proceedings a rueful atmosphere, helped immensely by Vilmos Zsigmond's evocative and subtly stunning cinematography. But the film's biggest asset is its cast. Gene Hackman and Al Pacino have rarely been better. Hackman uses his curious combination of world weariness and hidden explosiveness to very good effect, and, at times, he dominates the film. Pacino sneaks up on the viewer more, turning in a performance that is more nuanced and much less explosive than is usually his wont. It's a remarkably fine piece of acting. The supporting cast is also quite good, with especially notable work from Richard Lynch, Eileen Brennan and Penelope Allen. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
Eileen Brennan - Darlene; Rutanya Alda - Woman in Camper; Penelope Allen - Annie; Al Cingolani - Skipper; Richard Hackman - Mickey
Credit
Jo Ynocencio - Costume Designer, Tom Shaw - First Assistant Director, Jerry Schatzberg - Director, Evan Lottman - Editor, Craig McKay - Editor, Fred Myrow - Composer (Music Score), Frank Griffin - Makeup, Albert Brenner - Production Designer, Vilmos Zsigmond - Cinematographer, Robert M. Sherman - Producer, Arthur Piantadosi - Sound/Sound Designer, Barry Thomas - Sound/Sound Designer, Harry Thomas - Sound/Sound Designer, Garry Michael White - Screenwriter
The story revolves around the odd relationship between two vagabonds: Max Milian (Gene Hackman), a short-tempered ex-convict, and Francis Lionel "Lion" Delbuchi (Al Pacino) a childlike ex-sailor. They meet on the road in California and agree to become partners in a car wash, once they reach Pittsburgh.
Lion is on his way to Detroit to see the child he has never met and make amends with his wife, whom he has been sending all the money he made while at sea. Max agrees to make a detour on his way to Pittsburgh, where the bank that Max has been sending all his seed money is located. His plans are to open a car wash, now with Lionel as a partner.
While visiting Max's sister in Denver, the two's antics land them both in a prison work-house for a month. Max blames Lion for being sent back to prison and shuns him. While in prison, Lion is befriended, and then assaulted by an inmate, Riley (Richard Lynch). Max teaches Riley a lesson, rekindling his friendship with Lion.
The two have a profound effect on each other, with Lionel becoming more of an adult and Max loosening up his high-strung aggression (at one point doing a tongue-in-cheek striptease to diffuse a fight at a bar). When they do finally make it to Detroit to see Lionel's child, it's Max who has to take care of Lionel.
Casting
Penny Allen plays the mother of Pacino's son in Scarecrow. The two would later appear in Dog Day Afternoon together.
Gene Hackman's brother Richard appears as Mickey in the film.
During a telephone conversation between Pacino and a former girlfriend, viewers heard the song "The House That Jack Built" by Aretha Franklin as it played on the radio in the background, as a part of the radio show.
Miscellany
The film was written by first-timer, Garry Michael White. Although he wrote the script, the idea of the story wasn't an original. He got the idea from a friend, with the promise that the Producers would cast his friend as the character "Lion". When Pacino signed on to do the movie, obviously this promise never materialized.
Although Hackman and Pacino worked well together, they clearly had different styles of acting. Pacino was more of the method actor, whereas Hackman was completely the opposite.
Director Jerry Schatzberg was not the first choice as director. The original director was fired, and Schatzberg was brought on board in part thanks to Pacino, who had worked with him in their earlier film, The Panic in Needle Park .
^ "U.S. Film Shares Cannes Prize". Los Angeles Times: p. B9. 1973-05-26. "The Cannes Film Festival Grand Prix Friday was awarded jointly to the American film "Scarecrow" by Jerry Schatzberg and the British entry "The Hireling" bv Alan Bridges."
