Melvin and Howard

Director: Jonathan Demme

Overview

"Jonathan Demme's award-winning comedy about Melvin Dummar, who became an overnight celebrity when a will appeared declaring him the inheritor of Howard Hughes' estate, gets a straightforward presentation for its release on DVD. Melvin and Howard has been given a letterboxed transfer to disc in the widescreen aspect ratio of 1.85:1, which has also been enhanced for anamorphic playback on 16 x 9 monitors. The audio has been mastered in Dolby Digital Mono, and the dialogue is in English, with optional subtitles in French and Spanish and closed captions in English. The film's original theatrical trailer has been included as a bonus."

Product Details

Release Date:	03/02/2004
UPC:	0025192418921
Original Release:	1980
Rating:	R
Source:	Universal Studios
Region Code:	1
Presentation:	[Wide Screen]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital]
Language:	English
Time:	1:35:00

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Paul Le Mat	Melvin Dummar
Mary Steenburgen	Lynda Dummar
Jack Kehoe	Jim Delgado
Elizabeth Cheshire	Darcy Dummar
Chip Taylor	Clark Taylor
Melvin E. Dummar	Bus Depot Counterman
Michael J. Pollard	Little Red
Denise Galik	Lucy
Gloria Grahame	Mrs. Sisk
Pamela Reed	Bonnie Dummar
Dabney Coleman	Judge Keith Hayes
Joe Ragno	Attorney Maxwell
John Glover	Attorney Freese
Charles Napier	Ventura
Robert Ridgely	TV Master of Ceremonies
Susan Peretz	Chapel Owner
Charlene Holt	Mrs. Worth
Melissa Williams	Sherry Dummar
Rick Lenz	Melvin's Lawyer
Danny Dark	Easy Street Announcer
Martine Beswicke	Real Estate Woman
Gene Borkan	Go-Go Club Owner #1
Lesley Margret Burton	Go-Go Dancer
Wendy Lee Couch	Go-Go Dancer
Marguerite Baierski	Go-Go Dancer
Janice King	Go-Go Dancer
Deborah Ann Klein	Go-Go Dancer
Theodora Thomas	Go-Go Dancer
Elise Hudson	"Easy Street" Singer
Robert Wentz	Justice of the Peace
Hal Marshall	Hal
Naida Reynolds	Witness
Herbie Faye	Witness
Sonny Davis	Milkman George
Brendan Kelly	Milkman Ralph
Danny Tucker	Milkman Pete
Shirley Washington	Patient Debbie
Rainbeaux Smith	Patient Ronnie,Patient Ronnie
John Thundercloud	Chief Thundercloud
Antony Alda	Terry,Terry
Gary Goetzman	Melvin's Cousin Fred
Kathleen Sullivan	Reporter
Melissa Prophet	Easy Street Model
John Levin	Reporter
Jack Verbois	Holdup Man
Jason Robards	Actor
Bruce Langhorne	Composer

Technical Credits

Bo Goldman

Jonathan Demme	Director
Art Linson	Producer
Don Phillips	Producer
Bo Goldman	Screenwriter
Michael Chinich	Casting
David Ronne	Sound/Sound Designer
William Scharf	Sound Editor

Editorial Reviews

One critic called Jonathan Demme's wistful, strange comedy "an almost flawless act of sympathetic imagination" and compared it to Jean Renoir directing a script by Preston Sturges. Actually, it was the fertile imagination of screenwriter Bo Goldman that concocted the story of Melvin Dummar (Paul LeMat), a Nevada milkman who picks up reclusive billionaire hitchhiker Howard Hughes (Jason Robards Jr.). According to this woolly tale, Dummar later inherits $150 million when Hughes dies. Goldman and Mary Steenburgen, who played Dummar's contest-obsessed wife, won Oscars for this slice of eccentric American life, which put Demme on the map as a director. It was his first big-budget job, and he infused plenty of whimsy and picaresque touches, helped greatly by Robards's and LeMat's off-kilter performances. It presaged by a few years Demme's similarly colorful road movie, Something Wild.