The Longest Yard (1974)

Regista:

Robert Aldrich

Writers:

Albert S. Ruddy (story)
Tracy Keenan Wynn (writer)

Data di uscita:

30 agosto 1974 (USA)

Genere:

Comedy | Crime | Drama | Sport

Slogan:

It's Survival of the Fiercest and Funniest

Plot:

A sadistic warden asks a former pro quarterback, now serving time in his prison, to put together a team of inmates to take on (and get pummeled by) the guards.

Plot Keywords:

Sadism | Native American | Cafeteria | Huddle | Snitch

Premi:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 2 wins & 3 nominations

Recensioni degli utenti:

Burt Reynolds: The Tom Brady/Joe Montana Of His Day

Cast

Burt Reynolds	...	Paul Crewe
Eddie Albert	...	Warden Hazen
Ed Lauter	...	Captain Knauer
Michael Conrad	...	Nate Scarboro
James Hampton	...	Caretaker (as Jim Hampton)
Harry Caesar	...	Granville
John Steadman	...	Pop
Charles Tyner	...	Unger
Mike Henry	...	Rassmeusen
Jim Nicholson	...	Ice Man
Bernadette Peters	...	Miss Toot, Warden's Secretary
Pervis Atkins	...	Mawabe
Tony Cacciotti	...	Rotka
Anitra Ford	...	Melissa Gaines
Michael Fox	...	Announcer

Alias:

The Mean Machine (UK)
Quella sporca ultima meta (Italy) [it]

Durata:

121 min | Argentina:122 min

Nazionalità:

USA

Lingua:

Inglese

Colore:

Colore (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sonoro:

Mono

Divieti:

Finland:K-16 (cut) (1995) | Finland:K-15 (uncut) (2005) | Netherlands:12 | West Germany:18 (nf) (original rating) | Finland:K-16 (cut) (1975) | Argentina:16 | Australia:M | Norway:16 (1975) | Singapore:PG | Sweden:15 | UK:15 (video rating) (1987) | UK:X (original rating) | USA:R

Luoghi delle riprese:

Beverly Hills, California, USA

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Curiosità:

According to producer Albert S. Ruddy, the story Crew tells about his two blind parents is a reference to former NFL quarterback Jim Plunkett.

Errori:

Revealing mistakes: When Paul runs the Maserati into the water, a wire holding the car in place can be seen and is attached to the back which was used to immediately lift it from the water once the scene had been completed.

Citazioni:

[first lines]
Melissa: How long do we have to keep watching this crap?... Only a moron can sit and watch two football games, one after the other.

Movie Connections:

Parodiato in Necessary Roughness (1991)

Colonna sonora:

Roadside Roses

Burt Reynolds: The Tom Brady/Joe Montana Of His Day

This could be best made - and was - in the early '70s when it was really the "in" thing (even more than today) to promote criminals as good guys and authority figures as bad guys. Who better than make a criminal into a lovable, good guy we all want to root for than Burt Reynolds? Box-office-wise, Burt was the hottest thing going in the 1970s and playing a lawbreaker seemed to be tailor-made for him, from "Smokey And The Bandit" on down the line. Few, if any, of the characters he played were wholesome guys, let's put it that way. He's still acting and still playing sleazy roles here there: Mr. "Boogie Nights" porn-man himself.

Once Hollywood got total freedom, the liberal filmmakers were like little kids in the candy store. They trashed every authority figure in the culture, from politics to religion. A favorite target - which remains to this day - is the warden of a prison. He's always (see "Shawshank Redemption" for another good example) an evil guy and the prisoners are usually good guys, naturally. Well, don't try to find out if that is true in real life. The shock in this movie was seeing nice-guy Eddie Albert play the mean warden, but he pulled it off convincingly. Most of the characters in this movie are over-the-top, but that was the idea.

This movie manipulated all of us, including a young-and-stupid me, to root for the prisoners (rapists, murderers, thieves, etc.) in the big football games against the prison guards. That's another group which also is shown (post-1960) to be sadistic SOBs. In essence, that's the story in this film: a big football game played at the end in which all us manipulated fans can root for the cons. Along the way, Burt gives us his normal glib-but-entertaining wisecracks and personality and we get some wild characters to go with him, such as the very likable "Caretaker" (James Hampton).

There is no denying Burt's appeal in this film and his incredible popularity in those 1970s films. He's macho enough, as the quarterback here, for the guys to respect him, and still be a ladies' favorite. Hell, this guys is Joe Montana and Tom Brady rolled into one!

I can't say the same for Richard Kiel, but "Jaws" (as became later in a James Bond movie), was always fun to watch. Some real-life pro goons, like Green Bay's Ray Nitchke, join the cast for some gridiron realism.

Overall, a brainless-but-lots of fun flick and very fast-moving one, typically sleazy (er, "gritty," as critics preferred to call them) movie of its decade. I give it decent "stars" mainly because it was so entertaining.