Bagdad Café
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| Bagdad Café | |
 French-language film poster |
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| Directed by | Percy Adlon |
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| Produced by | Eleonore Adlon Percy Adlon Dietrich von Watzdorf |
| Written by | Eleonore Adlon Percy Adlon |
| Starring | Marianne Sägebrecht CCH Pounder Jack Palance |
| Music by | Bob Telson |
| Cinematography | Bernd Heinl |
| Editing by | Norbert Herzner |
| Distributed by | MGM |
| Release date(s) | 12 November 1987 |
| Running time | 95:00 |
| Country |  West Germany United States |
| Language | English, German |
Bagdad Café (also known as Out of Rosenheim) is a 1987 German film directed by Percy Adlon. The film runs 95 minutes in the U.S. and 108 minutes in the German version.
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[edit] Synopsis
The film is a somewhat surreal comedy set in a remote truck-stop café and motel in the Mojave Desert. The film begins when German tourist Jasmin (Sägebrecht) has a fight with her husband while driving across the desert. She storms out of the car and happens upon the truck stop, run by the tough-as-nails and short-tempered Brenda (Pounder). The cafe is visited by an odd assortment of characters, including a strange ex-Hollywood set-painter (Palance), and a glamorous tattoo artist (Kaufmann). Through a passion for cleaning and magic tricks, Jasmin gradually transforms the café and all the people in it.
[edit] Cast
- Marianne Sägebrecht — Jasmin
- CCH Pounder — Brenda
- Jack Palance — Rudi Coxx
- Christine Kaufmann — Debby
- Monica Calhoun — Phyllis
- Darron Flagg — Salomo
- George Aguilar — Cahuenga
- G. Smokey Campbell — Sal
- Hans Stadlbauer — Muenchgstettner
- Alan S. Craig — Eric
- Apesanahkwat — Sheriff Arnie
- Ronald Lee Jarvis — Trucker Ron
- Mark Daneri — Trucker Mark
- Ray Young — Trucker Ray
- Gary Lee Davis — Trucker Gary
[edit] Awards and nominations
- 1988: won Bavarian Film Award Best Screenplay (Eleonore & Percy Adlon)
- 1988: won Ernst Lubitsch Award (Percy Adlon)
- 1989: Won (tied with "Let the River Run" from WORKING GIRL) the Oscar for Best Music, Original Song (Bob Telson for the song "Calling You")
- 1989: won Amanda Best Foreign Feature Film (Percy Adlon)
- 1989: won Artios Best Casting for Feature Film, Comedy (Al Onorato and Jerold Franks)
- 1989: won César Best Foreign Film (Percy Adlon)
[edit] Television series
In 1990 the film was turned into a television series starring James Gammon, Whoopi Goldberg, Cleavon Little, and Jean Stapleton, with Stapleton as Jasmin and Goldberg as Brenda. In the TV version, Jasmin was no longer German. The series was shot in the conventional sitcom format, before a studio audience. The show did not obtain a sizable audience, being forced to compete with ABC's Top 20 hit Family Matters and was cancelled after one season.
[edit] Trivia
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Lists of miscellaneous information should be avoided. Please relocate any relevant information into appropriate sections or articles. (August 2007) |
- Bagdad, California is the original setting (Bagdad, Arizona is an unrelated town). There was an actual Bagdad Cafe that existed in the '60s when U.S. Route 66 ran through the town; it (and the town) have since vanished. The site is marked by a railroad siding and a single tree.
- The film was shot at what was then the Sidewinder Cafe in Newberry Springs, California, 50 miles west of the original site of Bagdad on old U.S. 66. Since then, the café has become something of a tourist destination, and has changed its name to the Bagdad Café. A small notice board on the café wall features snapshots of the film's cast and crew.
- The soundtrack album has a track where the director narrates the story, including the film's missing scenes.
- The soundtrack features the song "Calling You", by Jevetta Steele.
- At the beginning the film (03.30 min), when Jasmin walks on the road, we can see the shadow of the camera man.
