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The Rain People

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The Rain People
Theatrical release poster
Directed byFrancis Ford Coppola
Written byFrancis Ford Coppola
Produced byRonald Colby
Bart Patton
StarringShirley Knight
James Caan
Robert Duvall
Marya Zimmet
CinematographyBill Butler
Edited byBarry Malkin
Music byRonald Stein
Production
company
Distributed byWarner Bros.-Seven Arts
Release dates
  • 27 August 1969 (1969-08-27) (San Sebastián)
  • 27 August 1969 (1969-08-27) (U.S.)
Running time
101 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$750,000[1]

The Rain People is a 1969 American road drama film written and directed by Francis Ford Coppola, and starring Shirley Knight, James Caan and Robert Duvall. The film centers on a middle-class housewife (Knight), who runs away from her husband after learning she is pregnant.

Coppola's fifth directorial work, The Rain People was released by Warner Bros.-Seven Arts on 27 August 1969 and received generally positive reviews from critics. It won the Golden Shell at the 1969 San Sebastian Film Festival.

Plot

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Long Island housewife Natalie Ravenna leaves her husband sleeping at home and sets off on a road trip in a family station wagon. She visits her parents who are quite upset with her.

At a gas station, Natalie makes a collect phone call to her husband and tells him she's pregnant. He is thrilled with the news, but she tells him that she's not ready to come back and needs time away from him.

She gives a ride to a strapping young man, Jimmy "Killer" Kilgannon, who had been a college football star but had sustained a serious head injury and was given one thousand dollars to leave the school. On their first night together, in Natalie’s motel room, she orders Killer around and makes him show her his muscular body. She tells him she is pregnant and had given him the ride to have a one-night affair with him, but then she sends him to his own room.

Natalie drives Killer to the home of a one-time girlfriend of his whose father had once promised him a job, but that family wants nothing to do with him and Natalie takes him with her when she drives away. While they travel west she twice comes close to finding him work and a place to stay, only to decide that Killer would be taken advantage of. She also twice leaves him at the side of the road, only to change her mind.

During a subsequent collect call from a payphone days later, her husband pleads with her to return home, saying he will do anything to make her happy. Killer angers her by destroying the phone cord, but they continue traveling together.

Natalie is stopped by a motorcycle highway patrolman, Gordon, and receives a speeding ticket. Gordon invites her back to his trailer, and she agrees. He proves to be an unstable widower and father who mistreats his young daughter. After sending her outside so he and Natalie can have sex, he reveals the death of his wife to Natalie. Meanwhile, his daughter and Killer talk and wander the trailer park together. When Natalie tries to leave, Gordon attempts to force her to stay and prepares to rape her. Killer tries to stop Gordon by beating him, which Natalie tries and fails to stop. Gordon's daughter shoots Killer dead, leaving Natalie holding his body, sobbing, as park residents arrive and watch.

Cast

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  • Shirley Knight as Natalie Ravenna
  • James Caan as Jimmy "Killer" Kilgannon
  • Robert Duvall as Gordon
  • Marya Zimmet as Rosalie
  • Tom Aldredge as Mr. Alfred
  • Laura Crews as Ellen
  • Andrew Duncan as Artie
  • Margaret Fairchild as Marion
  • Sally Gracie as Beth
  • Alan Manson as Lou
  • Robert Modica as Vinny Ravenna
  • Eleanor Coppola as Gordon's Wife (uncredited)

Source:[2]

Production

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Casting

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Rip Torn was originally cast as Gordon, but was replaced during filming by Robert Duvall.[2] At the time, Duvall and James Caan were roommates and were doing a few films together. Later, they and Coppola teamed for the film The Godfather.

During filming, Shirley Knight was actually pregnant with her second child Sophie.[2]

Filming

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The Rain People was shot over the course of five months, across 18 different states. To minimize transportation costs, Coppola employed a small 10-person crew, which was supplemented by local hires in each of the locations.[2]

Filming locations included:

Editing

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The rough cut of the film was over 4 hours long, before Coppola and editor Barry Malkin cut it to under 2.[2]

Release

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Critical reception

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The film currently has an 86% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 14 reviews.[4]

Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film four stars out of four and compared Natalie Ravenna's quest to that of the Peter Fonda character in Easy Rider, and called them both "lineal descendants of the most typical American searcher of them all, Huckleberry Finn." He concluded: "It's difficult to say whether his film is successful or not. That's the beautiful thing about a lot of the new, experimental American directors. They'd rather do interesting things and make provocative observations than try to outflank John Ford on his way to the Great American Movie."[5]

According to TVGuide.com: "This odd odyssey was not a hit, even though over the years it has been regarded as one of Coppola's more personal pictures and has attained a limited following."[6] Margarita Landazuri writes on Turner Classic Movies: "It has acquired a cult status as an early feminist film for its provocative treatment of a woman seeking her own identity."[7]

In 2009, actor and filmmaker Vincent Gallo cited The Rain People as his favorite film.[8] In 2015, David Canfield named The Rain People as one of Coppola's five best films, calling it "hypnotic".[9] Filmink said "If you don’t think Caan was a great actor, go see The Rain People first, then try arguing that position."[10]

Awards and nominations

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Home media

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The film has been released on DVD and Blu-ray through the Warner Archive Collection.[citation needed][11]

Documentary

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Main article: Filmmaker (film)

Coppola's friend and fellow director George Lucas worked as an aide on this film, and made a short 1968 documentary titled Filmmaker (full title: Filmmaker: a diary by george lucas) about the making of the film.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Gelmis, Joseph (1970). The Film Director as Superstar. Garden City, New York: Doubleday. p. 177.
  2. ^ a b c d e "The Rain People (1969)". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. Retrieved May 30, 2023.
  3. ^ Phipps, Sean (March 12, 2018). "Video: Chattanooga's downtown featured in scenes from 1969 film "The Rain People"". Nooga Today. Archived from the original on November 9, 2020. Retrieved December 2, 2019.
  4. ^ "The Rain People (1969)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved May 21, 2024.
  5. ^ Ebert, Roger (September 19, 1969). "The Rain People". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved November 1, 2022.
  6. ^ "The Rain People". TV Guide. Retrieved November 1, 2022.
  7. ^ Landazuri, Margarita (July 21, 2009). "The Rain People". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved November 1, 2022.
  8. ^ TetroFilm. Tetro: My Boys. YouTube. Event occurs at 1:05.
  9. ^ Canfield, David (May 21, 2015). "The 5 Best Films of Francis Ford Coppola". IndieWire. Retrieved May 12, 2017.
  10. ^ Vagg, Stephen (September 27, 2022). "The Stardom of James Caan". Filmink.
  11. ^ "Warner Archive Announces April Releases". Blu-ray.com. Retrieved October 4, 2024.
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