There's Always Vanilla

There's Always Vanilla (1971) was a film that I saw a few years ago at a local video store. I was intrigued by the title and the clerk told me it was George A. Romero that was rarely seen. I felt at first that I've give it a try and scan it. I was surprised how good the movie was. Ray Laine is great as the lead in this movie. Judith Streiner (Ridley) plays the model/actress that he falls for with cameos by Russ Streiner, Bill Hinzmen and Richard France. I liked how Ray Laine's character addresses the camera giving the audience a insight into his life and times. Romero's camera work, direction and editing are real good in this flick. I enjoyed the social commentary and the ending. I thought it would be a snooze fest but once again Romero proved me wrong.

The title refers to a line in the movie that Laine's father tells him when he sees him for advice. The actor who plays his father is also great. Try and get a hold of it!!

Highly recommended.

A young man returns to his home city of Pittsburgh and moves in with an older woman whom he begins to rely on for emotional and financial support.

Following the international success of George Romero's "Night of the Living Dead", it was only a matter of time before Romero and his production company (Latent Image) made a follow-up. Though, as Romero would later concede, "Vanilla" is the worst film of his career and not surprisingly was never released on VHS and thus rarely seen before the DVD era.

Latent Image, which involved most of the people from "night", was largely doing commercial work, as well as some segments of "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood". The profits from "Night" should have made Romero and friends millionaires and kicked off huge Hollywood careers, but as we know today, the distributor botched the copyright and the millions in profits never mad it back to the filmmakers. Thus, Latent Image continued on as a low-budget production company rather than the sought-after company it should have been.

"Vanilla" was a miserable experience for all involved. Rudy Ricci never finished the script by the time shooting began, dragging what should have been four weeks to over a year of filming. Ultimately, the "finished" product did not even amount to feature-length and the Ray Laine monologues had to be tagged on after the fact. (Ricci played an important role in "Night"; he was college roommates with Romero in 1957 and introduced Romero to Russo, thus uniting the two primary figures behind "Night".) Although Romero more or less disowned this film, he is largely responsible for it. Not only the director, he worked as his own cinematographer and editor. Writing came from Rudy Ricci (as mentioned) expanding on a short film he penned, with production officially handled by "Night" veterans John Russo and Russ Streiner. Tackling the score was Steve Gorn.

Bill Hinzman, George Kosana and Judith Ridley (wife of Russ Streiner) are in the cast, as they had been in "Night". Hinzman would handle much work for Romero both behind and in front of the camera as the years went on. Others, such as assistant cameraman Paul McCollough went with Russo following the Romero-Russo split. McCollough would be editor and composer for much of Russo's work between 1976 and 1996.

Originally distributed (poorly) by Cambist Films, it was later picked up by Anchor Bay on DVD, tacked on as a bonus feature to "Season the Witch". In 2017, we finally get a proper Blu-ray release through Arrow Video. A cleaner picture obviously does not magically turn a bad film into a good one, but thanks to the audio commentary and special features (including a 30-minute making-of with Russo and Streiner), we get an in-depth look at the world of Romero and Latent Image. Like it or not, this film is the bridge between "Night of the Living Dead" and Romero's later work, thus making it a crucial watch for any student of his films.

Sometimes a director is not the best judge of his own work. He's too close. He second-guesses. I think this movie, Romero's follow-up to Night of the Living Dead, compares favorably to The Graduate. Don't laugh. Angst. Freedom. Commitment. These are all central themes and emotional building blocks in both films' major characters' world view. I view Dustin Hoffman's Ben as a failure of sorts, a man who becomes a stalker, harasser, home-wrecker (twice), and road menace. Sad. And a bit dated. However, Ray Laine's drifter has better qualities and only two vices: smoking grass and pecking out his unfinished novel on a manual typewriter. Norman Fell's landlord character calls Ben a pervert. A young Richard Dreyfuss smells trouble, too. Well... I digress, so back to the cinema of George Romero. I liked many things about this dizzy movie. The lead actress, the one in NOLD who had a seat belt problem, is gorgeous and talented. Who knew? Laine is charismatic and commands the screen. The 'Ultimate Machine' sculpture is funny and opens minds. Placed in Pittsburg's Downtown, the symbolism cannot be missed. There's some excellent rock music in the score. Romero's editing is impeccable--a picnic and boat excursion are highlights. Watch for a clown who looks directly into the camera. But there are dark sections. Laine's mother is nuts. He also may have had a child from an old girl fiend. She sleeps with a giant stuffed camel or turtle. I can't make up my mind which it is. And finally the trip Laine's new girlfriend takes to an abortion doctor's pad. Sick. Creepy. And a little disturbing. I feel the movie deserves a second look.

There's Always Vanilla (1971)

** (out of 4)

George A. Romero's follow-up to NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD is about as different as you can get but, as the director stated, he didn't want to become known simply for making horror movies so what we got is a romantic- drama. The story follows Chris Bradley (Raymond Laine) who is just returning from Vietnam and spending most of his time with drug dealers and strippers. He eventually meets a model/actress (Judith Ridley) and the two hit it off until she gets pregnant and things start to change. For over thirty years this here was the hardest Romero film to see and it's one that he often calls his very worst when asked during interviews. I think the legendary horror director is being a tad bit harsh because there are a few interesting touches here and there but on the whole it's a pretty forgettable cause except for those who want to see everything the man has done. Of course, one of the biggest reasons for Romero fans to check it out is that Judith Ridley played Judy in NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD and she's actually not too bad here. She's certainly not going to win any awards for this her second and final film but she's still enjoyable to watch as that laid back approach of hers comes across quite nicely. Laine is also pretty good in the movie as long as they're not trying to get any strong emotions out of him. So, where does the film go wrong? Romero has said that the screenwriter was lazy and pretty much gave up on the picture so the director had to work with what he had. As to why he didn't try to do a re-write is anyone's guess but perhaps the low-budget nature just didn't allow the time. The screenplay isn't horrid but it falls well short of what you'd call good. I think the biggest problem is that he never really tries to explain countless things including why on Earth this woman would be involved with this guy. The two are certainly different types and one might say opposites attract but there's never anything here except this guy treating the woman badly and not doing a single thing good. Just check out the long sequence where he's telling her that her butt is too big for TV and you'll see what I mean. Romero's direction keeps the picture moving well enough and there are a couple good shots (including a nice sex scene) but in the end this is a pretty forgettable movie. The 70s were full of movies about drifters and this one can't come close to best so there's not really any point except for die-hard Romero fans.

And I don't just mean the movie here. Though I guess I'm quite biased towards George Romero, so make of that what you will. But back to this, the second feature film effort and often times regarded as one of the lost films between Night of the living Dead and Dawn of the Dead. There only seemed to be two (this and another one called Jacks Wife by Romero, but many other titles by others, more on that on its own page), but recently another lost movie has surfaced and everything seems to point that it will be a gem and then some.

But back to this, a movie Romero himself may not have been too happy with the end result overall, but while this has flaws it also shows that he could do more than just horror. This attempt at a romantic movie is testament to that. Really good performances overall and an intriguing story (even if some themes became almost obselete a couple of years later). For all fans Romero and those who like their dramas to be weird. Not an instant classic, but more than decent