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Film Fowl films
For your holiday enjoyment, a parade of movies with pluck.
By STEVE PERSALL, Times Film Critic
© St. Petersburg Times
published November 28, 2002
[DreamWorks Pictures]
It takes a whole flock to escape the clutches of Mrs. Tweedy, the pot pie mogul, in Chicken Run.
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What's for dinner tonight?
Probably turkey. The National Turkey Foundation estimates nearly 95 percent of all Americans eat those plump, juicy birds on Thanksgiving. If that figure is accurate, some vegetarians must be cheating.
I hope that didn't ruffle anyone's feathers.
The remaining Thanksgiving Day feasters may decide on another poultry product such as chicken, duck, goose or maybe just a mess of scrambled eggs. In honor of such mass digestion, today's Rewind focuses on films with a poultry theme, or some twist on the topic.
Don't think for a second that we're ignoring other Thanksgiving food choices. I promise some of the performances here are pure ham. Bon appetit.
Cold Turkey (1971) -- Not a sandwich choice, but a very funny satire of the tobacco industry. Dick Van Dyke stars as a small-town minister and chain-smoker leading his flock to a fortune if everyone quits smoking for a month. Duck Soup (1933) -- The Marx Brothers at their finest, with Groucho elected president of the nation Freedonia, joshing about war with neighboring Sylvania for the love his perpetual foil Margaret Dumont. "We're fighting for this woman's honor," Groucho cracks, "which is more than she ever did." The Wild Geese (1978) -- British mercenaries (Richard Burton, Roger Moore, Richard Harris) scheme to overthrow an African dictator. Directed with plenty of testosterone spicing by Andrew V. McLaglen. The Ghost and Mr. Chicken (1966) -- This one could double as a Halloween video treat. Don Knotts is perfectly silly as an aspiring newspaper reporter spending a night in a haunted mansion. Howard the Duck (1986) -- One of the most notorious flops in Hollywood history. George Lucas used his Star Wars windfall to finance a $30-million movie -- extravagant in those days -- based on underground comic books about a sarcastic alien duck. He's still wiping the egg off his face. Chicken Run (2000) -- Clay-animated poultry plots The Great Escape from a farm before they're turned into pot pies. Mel Gibson voices the cocky rooster leading the way. The Egg and I (1947) -- Fred MacMurray and Claudette Colbert leave the big city to live on a chicken farm in screwball discomfort. The film introduced Marjorie Main and Percy Kilbride as Ma and Pa Kettle, whose homespun humor continued through nine films. Fly Away Home (1996) -- Based on a true story, this heartwarming tale of a father (Jeff Daniels) and daughter (Anna Paquin) guiding young geese through a migratory route is a winner. Director Carroll Ballard (The Black Stallion, Never Cry Wolf) has a gift for capturing nature's drama on film. The Birds (1963) -- Our feathered friends turn the banquet tables and start eating us in Alfred Hitchcock's classic thriller. Swept Away (2002) -- Okay, it isn't on home video yet, but should be soon. Madonna's recent remake of Lina Wertmuller's sexy class conflict received scathing reviews and grossed less than $600,000 in five weeks of release on only 196 screens. That, my friends, is a turkey.
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