Details
Movie Description
Come and listen to a story 'bout a man name Jed... the sitcom makes it to the big screen thirty years later.
Synopsis
A family of country bumpkins strikes oil in their backyard and moves from the backwoods of Arkansas to the mean streets of Beverly Hills. There they have to contend with a serious culture clash, snobbish neighbors, and a golddigging con artist and her boyfriend.
Film Notes
Due out on Laserdisc May 1994.Based on the CBS sitcom created by Paul Henning, "The Beverly Hillbillies," that ran from September 26, 1962, to September 7, 1971. It starred Buddy Ebsen as Jed, Irene Ryan as Granny, Donna Douglas as Elly May, Max Baer, Jr. as Jethro, Raymond Bailey as Mr. Drysdale, and Nancy Kulp as Jane Hathaway. In the first season, Max Baer also played Jethro's sister Jethrine. The theme song, "The Ballad of Jed Clampett" was written by Paul Henning and performed by Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs, who occasionally appeared on the show as friends of Jed. The success of the show spawned two rural comedy spin-offs, also conceived by Henning. First was "Petticoat Junction" (1963-1970), which concerned the activities of the residents of the small town Hooterville and starred Bea Benaderet and Edgar Buchanan. The success of "Petticoat Junction" led to "Green Acres" (1965-1971). "Green Acres" starred Eddie Albert and Eva Gabor as big-city types who move to a run-down farm near Hooterville. All three series mined most of their humor from rube and city slicker jokes and from the conflict between the rural hicks and the modern, urbanized world. Interaction between the three Paul Henning series was frequent, with the Clampetts returning home to Hooterville at Christmas and characters from "Green Acres" going into Hooterville. In 1970 and 1971, CBS purged all three, because the network felt that the audiences were too skewed towards rural areas and not towards the urban areas favored by advertisers.Irene Ryan, TV's Granny, died in 1973 after a long career in vaudeville, radio, and the movies. A reunion movie, "Return of the Beverly Hillbillies," was produced in 1981 and starred Buddy Ebsen, Donna Douglas, Nancy Kulp, Imogene Coca, and Werner Klemperer. Erika Eleniak, who plays Elly May, made her film debut as the girl who kissed Henry Thomas in "E.T."Film debut for Diedrich Bader, who previously appeared in the Fox TV project "Danger Theater," which was also directed by Penelope Spheeris.Spheeris discusses the "Beverly Hillbillies" phenomenon: "It was a Saturday morning at the Hollywood Presbyterian Church, an open casting call for the part of Elly May. Over 250 girls showed up to read; some were ideal for the role, and some were obviously inappropriate. But what I got that day was proof that everybody loves the Clampetts. Everybody wanted to be a part of the 'Beverly Hillbillies' spirit." Actress Lily Tomlin concurs, "We'd be filming on Sunset Boulevard in the Clampett's jalopy, and you could see the affection on people's faces as they watched us drive by. They just lit up when they saw that old car... "When 'The Beverly Hillbillies' had its day on television, I was probably working clubs. I knew about it, but I didn't watch much TV in those days. I was much too hip and rebellious at the time. "So when I took the role I really watched the show for the first time, because I wanted to make sure I understood the relationships. And it was then that I began to see the appeal, the charm of the show. The characters grew on you."While working on the 1993 film "In the Line of Fire," actor John Malkovich let it be known that he wanted to play Elly May in "The Beverly Hillbillies." In an Entertainment Weekly interview, he said, "Why not? Women pretend to be men all the time. I could do 'The Beverly Hillbillies' perfectly. And I was a huge Jethro fan. He [Max Baer Jr.] was a kind of splendid actor. Not as good as Eddie Haskell [Ken Osmond], but really an excellent actor." Spheeris says of her cast, "Usually a movie has two leads, but this has eight. It makes the story very rich, very full."Animals supplied by Birds and Animals. Robert Easton served as Dialect Coach.The character Barnaby Jones provided by Evergreen Programs, Inc., a unit of Spelling Entertainment Group.Clip from "People's Court" provided by Ralph Edwards Productions.Filmed in Beverly Hills, Long ...
Industry Reviews
"...[Tomlin] steals the movie....A steady stream of gags..."
Maslin
"...Tomlin is a delight..."
Variety - Todd McCarthy (10/18/1993)
Quotations
"Come listen to a story 'bout a man named Jed,
A poor mountaineer barely kept his family fed.
Then one day he was shootin' at some food,
When up from the ground came-a bubblin' crude.
Oil, that is. Black gold. Texas tea.
"Well, the next thing you know, ol' Jed's a millionaire.
The kinfolk said, Jed, move away from there.
They said, Californee is the place you oughta be,
So they loaded up the truck and they moved to Beverly.
Hills, that is. Swimmin' pools. Movie stars.
The Beverly Hillbillies!
(Banjo solo)."
-- "Ballad of Jed Clampett"
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