There's Always Vanilla
| There's Always Vanilla | |
|---|---|
 Title Screen |
|
| Directed by | George A. Romero |
| Produced by | John A. Russo Russell Streiner |
| Written by | Rudy Ricci |
| Starring | Raymond Laine Judith Ridley Johanna Lawrence |
| Music by | Jim Drake Steve Gorn Mike Marracino |
| Cinematography | George A. Romero |
| Editing by | George A. Romero |
| Distributed by | Anchor Bay Entertainment |
| Release date(s) | December 1971 |
| Running time | 93 minutes |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $70,000 USD estimated |
There's Always Vanilla is a 1971 film and was director George A. Romero's second motion picture and, as of 2010[update], his only romantic comedy. It is one of the few Romero films that does not deal with a zombie apocalypse or other supernatural horror themes. It has never been released on VHS, but is currently available in full only in the Region 1 Anchor Bay Entertainment DVD release of Season of the Witch. The film has also been circulated under the alternate title, The Affair.
Romero himself has stated that he considers this film to be his worst, and has referred to this film as "a total mess". Like many of Romero's earlier films, he cites the reason as undercapitalization.
[edit] Plot
 |
This article's plot summary may be too long or excessively detailed. Please help improve it by removing unnecessary details and making it more concise. (May 2009) |
There's Always Vanilla follows the life of Chris Bradley (Raymond Laine) a retired U.S. Army soldier who has become a drifter and makes money by various means, from pimping to guitar playing. Chris returns to his home city of Pittsburgh and visits his father who owns and operates a baby food factory. After an evening of drinking at a local bar, and visiting an old girlfriend of Chris' named Terri Terrific (Johanna Lawrence), Mr. Bradley wants Chris to abandon his bohmeian lifestyle and do what was agreed upon when he retired from the military; return to the family business of making baby food, but Chris refuses.
On the street at a local train station, Chris meets Lynn (Judith Ridley billed as Judith Streiner) a beautiful young woman who works as a model and actress in local TV commercials. Chris charms his way into Lynn's life and moves in with her. At first their relationship is a pleasant escape from daily life. But when Lynn starts to resent supporting the loafing Chris, she motivates him into getting a steady job. But then, Lynn finds out that she's pregnant and decides on getting an abortion without telling Chris knowing how irresponsible he is.
Chris does get a job at a small advertising firm. But when he's given an account to advertise enlistments for the U.S. Army, he quits, clearly displaying his resentment of his past lifestyle. Meanwhile, Lynn cannot bring herself to get an abortion, abandons Chris, and moves in with a high school boyfriend who agrees to marry her and raise her baby as his own. His romance with Lynn ruined and his lifestyle destroyed, Chris swallows his pride and moves back in with his father, still unable to decide what to do with his life, but believing that he ultimately must accept the old values like his father has. However Chris has more encouragement after a talk with Mr. Bradley, who takes his son to dinner at a Howard Johnson's and explains that life is like an ice cream parlor, and that of all of life's most exotic flavors to choose from, there is always vanilla that one can fall back on.
[edit] External links
|
|||||||||||||||||
