The Grasshopper (1970 film)
The Grasshopper is a 1970 drama film directed by Jerry Paris. It stars Jacqueline Bisset, Jim Brown, Joseph Cotten and Christopher Stone. Penny Marshall appears in a small role.
| The Grasshopper | |
|---|---|
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| Directed by | Jerry Paris |
| Written by | Jerry Belson Garry Marshall |
| Based on | novel by Mark McShane |
| Starring | Jacqueline Bisset Jim Brown Joseph Cotten |
| Music by | Billy Goldenberg |
| Cinematography | Sam Leavitt |
| Edited by | Aaron Stell |
| Distributed by | National General Pictures |
Release date |
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Running time | 98 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $2 million (US/ Canada rentals)[1] |
Plot
Christine Adams, a cheerful 19-year-old from British Columbia, Canada, travels to Los Angeles to be with her fiance, who works there in a bank. When the relationship doesn't work out, she moves to Las Vegas.
She finds work as a showgirl and meets Tommy Marcott, an African-American former pro football player who holds an executive position at the casino, though in truth he is only used as a "celebrity greeter." They fall in love and get married, but when Tommy gives a severe beating to a wealthy casino patron who had beaten and raped Christine, they flee Vegas, discussing the possibility that the casino patron will seek revenge. In Los Angeles, Tommy is unable to get a good job and his and Christine's relationship suffers, and then Tommy is shot dead on a basketball court, likely the anticipated act of revenge.
After the funeral, Christine has a bad reaction to illicit drugs she consumes in her grief. She returns to Las Vegas and finds work as a V.I.P. "party girl". In that capacity she meets and is persuaded by wealthy client Richard Morgan to return to Los Angeles and be his mistress.
Christine is fond of Richard but she gets bored in her new life, so she becomes romantically involved with Jay Rigney, who she had previously known platonically. She persuades Jay she can get enough money that they can buy a ranch together. However that plan is doomed when Richard asks Christine to marry him, wanting her to spend all her time with him.
Jay persuades Christine the only way they can keep the dream of getting a ranch alive is if she becomes a prostitute and he works as her pimp. She ends her relationship with Richard and for a while things go as they planned. However one night she returns to her and Jay’s apartment to discover he has left her and taken all their money.
Christine goes to the airport where Richard’s private plane is kept, and, with a promise of “some fun” and by sharing a marijuana joint, induces airfield employee Elroy, who she had previously flirted with, to take her up in a skywriting plane. Still sharing the joint, Christine has Elroy write "FUCK IT" across the sky, to the amusement or consternation of those below. The police take away Christine and Elroy when they land. While being arrested Christine is asked her age, to which she replies, “twenty-two”.
Cast
- Jacqueline Bisset as Christine Adams
- Jim Brown as Tommy Marcott
- Joseph Cotten as Richard Morgan
- Corbett Monica as Danny Raymond
- Christopher Stone as Jay Rigney
- Ramon Bieri as Roosevelt Dekker
- Ed Flanders as Jack Benton
- William Callaway as Elroy
- Roger Garrett as Buck Brown
- William Bassett as Aaron
- Marc Hannibal as Marion Walters
Production
Parts of the film were shot in Heber, Utah.[2]
Bisset later said there "were good bits" in the film. "It could have been interesting. The girl in that film was a female Alfie."[3]
DVD
The Grasshopper was released March 23, 2009 on DVD by Warner Bros. via the Warner Archive DVD-on-demand service.
See also
References
- "Big Rental Films of 1970", Variety, 6 January 1971 p 11
- D'Arc, James V. (2010). When Hollywood came to town: a history of moviemaking in Utah (1st ed.). Layton, Utah: Gibbs Smith. ISBN 9781423605874.
- Movies: The decisive, decorative, diplomatic Miss Bisset Kramer, Carol. Chicago Tribune 11 Mar 1973: e6.