COME BACK TO THE FIVE AND DIME JIMMY DEAN, JIMMY DEAN

US, 1983, 113 minutes, Colour.
Cher, Karen Black, Sandy Dennis, Sudie Bond, Kathy Bates.
Directed by Robert Altman.

Come Back to the Five and Dime Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean is based on a play by Ed Graczyk. It is directed by Robert Altman. Altman had great success in the '70s with such films as M*A*S*H, McCabe? and Mrs Miller, Nashville, A Wedding. However, he was less successful in the '80s and filmed several plays including this one, Streamers by David Rabe, Christopher Durang's Beyond Therapy.

He filmed Come Back... on 16-millimetre on a very small budget. However, the film is well made and quite effective - many of the American critics were very harsh on Graczyk's play but praised Altman's creativity with it and the strength of the performances. The performances are particularly good. Sandy Dennis, always mannered, will appeared to her fans with this complex performance. Cher in her first film since Good Times with Sonny Bono shows what an effective actress she was to become during the '80s. Karen Black handles a complex role effectively. The supporting cast also makes an impact including Sudi Bond as the owner of the five and dime, Kathy Bates (later to win the Oscar for Misery) as the wealthy Texan, Marta Heflin (who had appeared in a number of Altman's films including A Perfect Couple, A Wedding) as the mousey Edna Louise. Mark Patton is effective and credible in a key role.

The play and film reflect the star system and its impact in the United States, a group of Texans in an out of the way town whose greatest moment was when Giant was filmed nearby and some of them appeared in the crowd scenes. But James Dean also died at that period and had a profound effect on the fan clubs. This one is called The Disciples of James Dean and in Mona's mind, he is likened to a God figure, a Christ figure.

The film shows a range of characters, a crisis situation when they assemble for the 20th anniversary of James Dean's death - and, as with so many films and plays, truth games are played and truths revealed.

1.The quality of the play? Robert Altman's direction? Making a film version of a play - and still using the one set, but fluidly?

2.The title and its tone, the yearning? The cult of James Dean and the clubs?

3.The background of James Dean in the '50s, his few films, making Giant, the Disciples, his death and its effect, memories?

4.The single setting, the five and dime? The play made fluid within the one set? The interiors, mirrors? The background of the heat - and then the rain, the passing storm?

5.The mood of the '50s contrasting with the mood of the '70s? The actresses moving in and out of periods? Clothes, songs, hairstyles? The changes in age, manner - and in American society from the mid-'50s to the mid-'70s?

6.The time-shifts, the stage used effectively for times? Superimpositions? Close-ups? Group contact?

7.The episodes in the past: the atmosphere of the '50s, the young women, the small town, isolation of Texas, girls and their dreams, at work? The place of religion and prayer groups? Alcoholism? Hypocrisy and cover-ups? Power? Sexual identity, sexual ambiguity, intolerance, brutality? The portrait of the '50s as was lived by the characters? As remembered?

8.The contrast with the '70s and the passing of 20 years, the women the same yet different, the photo of the group, Texas in the 70s, the isolation? The disappearance of the five and dime stores? The hold of religion? Attitudes towards sexuality, greater freedom? Sex operations? Disappointments, hurt, hopes?

9.The '50s meeting of the club, the members, the jackets? The minutes of the meetings? Listening to the news of Dean's death? Belief and disbelief? The photos in the store - as a shrine?

10.Sandy Dennis's portrait of Mona: the young asthmatic, college, returning to the town, her friendship with Joe and reliance on him, founding the club, holding it together? Her relationship with the other women? Their imitating the Maguire Sisters? Going with Joe to be in the movie? Her story, the night with James Dean, echoes of the virgin birth, her son as a Christ figure? Yet his retardation, her treatment of the boy? His disappearance? Her revisiting the scene 20 years later? Coming back for the reunion, interaction with the women, the heat and her asthma, her clashes with Sissy, the fight? Her memories of Joe, meeting Joanne, remembering something, disbelieving the truth? Her stating she was sick, her disgust? Her revulsion against things physical - yet her own sense of physical dependence, her illness? The effect of the reunion, the behaviour? Anxiety about her son, his driving away? Her being persuaded to tell the story again, Joanne and the revelation of the truth, admitting it? The disillusionment, coming down to some reality - and joining in Sincerely?

11.Cher as Sissy, young, sexuality, her bosom, skating, her relationships with boys? The change after 20 years, decorating the place, friendship with Mona and clashes? Taunting Juanita? The true story, her having been married, abandoned? The operation and the loss of her breasts? The good-time girl - still hoping? Acknowledging Joe, listening to his story, her reaction about the telling of her own story? Her being resigned to the truth?

12.Joe, the young boy at the store, his relationship with the girls, in the club, dressing up and singing? Deceiving the boy and the brutality? In the cemetery? The arrival of Joanne, her wealth, the superimpositions on the memories of Joe, her revealing the truth about herself, the story for Sissy and its malice and revenge yet with its bitterness, her praising Edna Louise for her glow, telling the truth to Juanita about Sidney (and also they touch of revenge)? The telling of the truth for Mona, making her realise the truth about her son? Her being the father? The memories of the group in the past, the happiness, the violence at the dance? His mother, the inheritance, having the operation? Having some regrets? The Porsche, the son stealing it, the phone calls? Drinking, coming to terms with the past? Joining in the singing at the end?

13.Juanita, owning the five and dime, the absent Sidney, her Texan talk, suspicions of strangers, wanting things proper, the prayer group and the intentions? Her relationship with Sidney? Her sharing the reunion, the decorations, the arrivals? Her suspicions of Joanne, Joanne telling her the truth about Sidney and her reaction? Her change of heart, wondering about the drink? Not shaking Joanne's hand but calling her "Ms"?

14.Edna Louise, quiet, pregnant, nice but mousey, Joanne talking about her glow? Changing the dress, uncomfortable? Spending so much time changing? Her being the butt of Stella May's jokes? The author favouring Edna Louise and no mocking of her?

15.Stella May, loud, wealthy, the Texan hat, the drinking? Poking fun at Edna Louise? Her telling the story about James Dean coming - and Edna Louise blurting it out? The reunion, the photo, the drinking, her reaction to Joanne's story? Her bitterness about her happiness?

16.The people off-screen - Sidney and the descriptions of him, his behaviour, his persecution of Joe? James Dean himself as seen through the memories of the women? The boy who was attracted towards Joe and beat him up? Marrying Sissy and leaving her, the episode of flirtation with Joanne? Jimmy Dean and his disappearance, the women talking about him, growing up retarded, his abilities, working in the garage, taking the Porsche?

17.Small people and their dreams, a piece of Americana, glimpse of Texas? Women - and their hopes?