Monday, April 6, 2015

GOOD GOIN' STRANGER

imagine if you will...the brilliant glow'n lights of the Emerald City...
tagged in a kaleidoscopic casserole of graffiti art...
throw in a bored suburban housewife...
with an irresponsibly vunerable...adventurous con artist...
toss in some stolen earrings and a killer jacket...
and you have the make'n of the breakout 1985 classic...
released on april 12th in 1985...also known as my lil brother's birthday

this screw ball masterpiece is still is as fresh as a summer breeze today...
set in the concrete jungles of the BIG APPLE...starr'n ROSANNA ARQUETTE as "ROBERTA" the unsatisfied new jersey homemaker...and like most 'burban bitches in heat...desperately longs to change her mundane marriage and begins a quest to find herself and her desires in the big city
and introduce'n a fairly unknown at the time...MADONNA as "SUSAN"...a street savvy con artist live'n off of everyone...on the crumble'n pavements of the east village...with a fantastic sense of style...ferocious survival techniques...and full of sexual flirtation
also starr'n Laurie Metcalf  of pre-ROSEANNE fame...as ROSANNA's nosey nancy sis-n-law Leslie Glass
and Aidan Shaw as DEZ...the hot-to-trot movie theater projectionist just barely scrape'n by on his good looks and generous soul
ROSANNA beat out a bevy of beauties considered fer the role like...
 DIANE KEATON,,,GOLDIE HAWN and BARBARA STREISAND
MADONNA barely snagged the role from seasoned actresses like...
MELANIE GRIFFIN...JENNIFER JASON LEIGH...KELLY McGILLIS and ELLEN BARKIN and even songstress SUZANNE VEGA
 AIDAN was practically given the part as DEZ...
since KEVIN COSTNER and DENNIS QUAID  thought it was beneath them to play 2nd fiddle to 2 strong lead'n ladies

considered a chick flick that was only liked by women and gay men only...
it took a while to find a studio that would pick up the script...but eventually ORION studios gave it the green light and was directed by SUSAN SEIDELMAN 
who made her directorial debut with the 1982 cult classic "SMITHEREENS
and went on to make her mark in tvland history as director of 

durin' the production when MADONNA was bein filmed on the set...
initially she was mistaken by lookie-loo's as CYNDI LAUPER...
but once MADONNA dropped her "LIKE A VIRGIN" album...
they needed security on the set...
(it's a good thing i was prepare'n fer my low life in high heels at the time with my paper route money...or i'da been sleep'n it off in the clink myself)

shoot'n fer this production began in the fall of '84 and wrapped up...
by thanksgivin' and with almost no post production and disastrous audience previews...the studio wanted an early release date...cuz they assumed MADONNA's career would be over before the movie came out

original ideas fer the poster were gonna have MADONNA on a toaster and ROSANNA on a slice of toast popp'n out of it...or another thought was to have MADONNA stand'n against a brick wall with ROSANNA peep'n over it
these insane ideas of course were thought up by a bunch of uptight middle aged std donors who didn't get the film at all...nor had much enthusiasm fer the release of the film...but thankfully they used famed photographer HERB RITTS photos in the end...and though the flick cost a measly $5 mill...
with the release of the movie's unstoppable dance hit theme song 
and the market'n genius of BLAISE NOTO who created pins...lace gloves and rubber bracelets to buy...the movie ended up rake'n in a cool $27 mill once it hit theaters...and catapulted MADONNA into MEGA-STARDOM

30 years later...the movie is a sorta time capsule of what lower Manhattan used to be like that no longer exists...how the QUEEN began to rule the world...and gave women the empowerment to make it on their own...
happy 30th b'day to "DESPERATELY SEEKING SUSAN"

so "GET INTO THE GROOVE" kittens...and puhleez...get off my dress!


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