GREASER'S PALACE
(1972-written and directed by Robert Downey)
Copyright 1987 Billy Green
So you say that you thought HAIL MARY was controversial? This one makes HAIL MARY look like HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS.
Imagine, if you will, this scene. It is the old west. In a small town built around a saloon (called, "Greaser's Palace"), all the locals are gathered for the show. A young woman sings about lost innocence and a beautiful young woman's lust. Everyone is quite pleased with the song. A figure, shrouded in white, enters unnoticed. He walks up to one particularly slimy-looking character and puts a cigar out on his chest. The slimy-looking man screams in agony and disrupts the show. He is carried out of the bar, and Seaweedhead Greaser (owner of the saloon and the town) follows close behind. He's had enough out of this character, so he tells him to head for the border. The slimy-looking man pleads, "But, Paw . . ."
Greaser repeats his warning, and his slimy-looking son starts to run. Greaser calls to him, smiles and beckons for him to return. Lamy Homo (for that is his son's name) turns around and heads back. Greaser pulls out two pistols and shoots him.
This is the opening scene of GREASER'S PALACE.
This has to be one of the most truly bizarre movies that I have seen in many a moon. A savior (Allan Arbus) parachutes down into a nearby field. He is a vaudeville entertainer in a zoot suit. Every time Greaser kills his son, the savior brings him back to life. He performs miracles (like dancing on water and bringing Lamy Homo Greaser back to life), and he performs song-and-dance numbers at the saloon ("He's got the boogie in his fingers and the hubba-hubba in his soul").
Seaweedhead Greaser (Albert Henderson) is the corrupt owner of Greaser's Palace. He locks his mother in a cage with a mariachi band. He suffers from such a severe case of constipation that the entire town gathers around whenever he goes to the outhouse. He surrounds himself with seedy characters who explain to him (graphically, I might add) their sexual exploits.
GREASER'S PALACE is one of the strangest, yet most engrossing films I have seen. Although I found it hard to believe the events as they unfolded, I also found it impossible to look away from my TV (I now own it on videotape).
I'm not even going to try to rate this one on any scale.
(For the record, I found HAIL MARY to be one of the most boring films of the decade. GREASER'S PALACE beats it by a country mile as a potentially controversial version of the gospel.)
Billy Green
Carrboro, NC
[home] (919)-967-2225
[e-mail] {decvax,philabs,akgua,seismo}!mcnc!briarpatch!billy
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