Alice's Restaurant (1969)
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67% of critics liked it
(15 reviews) -
60% of users liked it
(3,559 ratings)
Intrigued by the counterculture tale of Arlo Guthrie's epic 1968 talking-blues record The Alice's Restaurant Massacree, director Arthur Penn, co-scripting with playwright Venable Herndon, adapted the song into the 1969 feature Alice's Restaurant. Hippie outsider Arlo (Guthrie, playing… More Intrigued by the counterculture tale of Arlo Guthrie's epic 1968 talking-blues record The Alice's Restaurant Massacree, director Arthur Penn, co-scripting with playwright Venable Herndon, adapted the song into the 1969 feature Alice's Restaurant. Hippie outsider Arlo (Guthrie, playing himself) encounters suspicion from the straight world; visits his dying father, renowned leftist activist/singer Woody Guthrie (Joseph Boley), in the hospital along with friend Pete Seeger; and hangs out in the title converted church/commune created by his friends Alice (Pat Quinn) and her husband Ray (James Broderick). After Alice's "Thanksgiving dinner that couldn't be beat," Arlo is arrested for littering by rule-following Officer "Obie" Obanhein (William Obanhein, playing himself). That littering arrest helps Arlo avoid the Vietnam draft, but the commune is threatened after more personal, old-fashioned conflicts over sex and partnerships permeate Alice and Ray's alternative world. ~ Lucia Bozzola, Rovi
- Directed By
- Arthur Penn
- Written By
- Arlo Guthrie, Venable Herndon
- Genres
- Classics, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Comedy
- In Theaters
- Aug 20, 1969 Wide
- Studio
- MGM Home Entertainment
Critic Reviews
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, TIME Magazine
[Penn] has transformed a charming shaggy-dog story into a melancholy epitaph for an entire era.
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Nick Pinkerton, Village Voice
Penn's genius overtakes the dropout romance, like a final post-bacchanal hangover that suggests liberation as an El Dorado dream.
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, Variety
There are occasional flashes of wry humor and some rib-tickling sequences. But they are all too few.
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Geoff Andrew, Time Out
Brilliantly visualised.
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Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
Good work in a minor key.
See more critic ratings and reviews on Rotten Tomatoes
Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)
Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)
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Cast
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Arlo Guthrie
as Arlo
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Pat Quinn
as Alice
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James Broderick
as Ray
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Michael McClanathan
as Shelly
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Geoff Outlaw
as Roger
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Tina Chen
as Mari-Chan
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Kathleen Dabney
as Karin
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Pol. Chief William Obanhein
as Officer obie
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Seth Allan
as Evangelist
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Monroe Arnold
as Bluegrass
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Joseph Boley
as Woody
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Pete Seeger
as Himself
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Sylvia Davis
as Marjorie
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Simm Landres
as Jacob
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Louis Beachner
as Dean
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Macintyre Dixon
as lst Deconsecration Minister
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Rev. Dr. Pierce Middleton
as 2nd Deconsecration Minister
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Donald Marye
as Funeral Director
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Shelley Plimpton
as Reenie
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M. Emmet Walsh
as Group W Sergeant
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Lee Hays
as Himself
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Eleanor D. Wilson
as Landlady
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Simon Deckard
as Medic
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Thomas DeWolfe
as Waiter
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Judge James Hannon
as Himself
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Graham Jarvis
as Music Teacher
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John Quill
as 2nd Cop
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Frank Simpson
as Sergeant
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Vinnette Carrol
as Draft Clerk
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Ron Weyand
as 1st Cop
- Patricia Quinn
