La cavalletta

I saw the Grasshopper as an 11 year old back in 1969. All I really remembered was the skywriting scene at the end. Now, some 30 years later, I just bought the DVD. Boy, what a depressing movie. Of course the acting was impressive, and it was fun to see Vegas of the 1960s. However, seeing how a young soul is corrupted by life is not a pleasant thing to watch. Somewhat shocking for its time, the Grasshopper seems to have predicted the future for the youth of America....sex, drugs, and rock and roll. When there's no love, no dreams, or hopes, just a good time, the end results are self-destruction and depression. A bleak film with a symbolic ending, the Grasshopper is worth a look, but it leaves the viewer less then entertained.

Christine Adams (Jacqueline Bisset) hitchhikes from Canada to L. A. to be with her boyfriend. Comedian Danny Raymond drives her on a detour to Vegas. By the time she gets to L. A., her boyfriend is more interested in getting a promotion than having a family with her. She decides to leave him for Danny. She becomes a showgirl. She marries ex-football player Tommy Marcott (Jim Brown).

The story meanders around and hits some big points. There are some turns that I don't like and I would like other turns that aren't there. After the shooting, I want her to get revenge against Dekker. The movie could have made a dramatic turn there. I'm fine with the final turn but it's more humorous than high intensity. In the end, it's a character study of Christine. She's a woman of the 70's trying to find her path. She keeps looking and changing but can't stay settled. At times, she's aimless. At other times, she has plans but that never lasts long. I get the theme and her progression. I really want to settle the score with Dekker.

Although this film has quite a bit going for it, it ultimately feels like one of those 1970's ABC movies of the week turned up a notch. Perhaps that television feel is a result of director Jerry Paris and coproducer Gary Marshall's direct involvement with the project. Paris is best known for the Dick Van Dyke show, but not many may know he was a prolific television director. And Marshall was successful in both film and television.

What saves this film, in my opinion, is the acting. Bisset does a great job, and the supporting cast are all believable. However, what probably looked good on paper as a final script draft does not necessarily translate successfully to the screen. It's not erotic enough to be considered soft porn/exploitive and too melodramatic to be labeled a hard drama.

It's a delight to see Joseph Cotten, but be warned that despite his co-billing, he has minimal screen time. He looks terrific. He either aged more gracefully than I ever will, or he had the best face lift in Hollywood history.

There are some fun tidbits. For those who are fans of Vicki Lawrence from the Carol Burnett Show, you'll catch her singing "Used To Be", one of the songs featured in the film. Marshall's wife Penny has a bit part. The location shooting in Vegas is definitely sort of its own time capsule.

I agree with other reviewers that his movie mimics Valley Of The Dolls. If you are not afraid to admit you liked that film, you may very well like this one. Otherwise, not really recommended.

Jacqueline Bisset is a girl from a small town in Canada. She's on her way to Los Angeles to make something of herself when she finds herself i Las Vegas. There she becomes a showgirl and gradually falls into the pill-popping demimonde, with occasional efforts to lead a more normal existence.

It all seems superficial as directed by Jerry Paris and brightly lit by cameraman Sam Leavitt, but here's an example when that seemingly annoying contradiction actually works. Vegas is beautiful, the showgirls are beautiful, the costumes they wear are beautiful, it's the people's souls that are ugly. With Jim Brown and Joseph Cotten.

This film may have been dismissed as a showcase for Jacqueline Bisset's beauty when it was initially released, but viewing it thirty-two years later reveals not only that directors should have recognized Bisset's brilliant performance and given her the type of film career which Julia Roberts has had, but also it dared to present the issues of interracial marriage and homosexuality as simple facts of life without any intentional shock value.

In a time when films had presented gay and lesbian characters as victims and victimizers, Christine's gay friend Buck (Roger Garrett) is her joyful sidekick who is accepted by his coworkers, at least until a friend's little boy reveals what his mother says when Buck is not around, to which Buck replies with a rebuttal which is sensitive to the child but conveys his true feelings to the mother.

Speaking of Julia Roberts, The Grasshopper was written by Garry Marshall, who went on to direct Roberts in Pretty Woman. While Pretty Woman was justly criticized for its message to girls that if they run away to Hollywood and become a hooker they will find the man of their dreams, The Grasshopper is a realistic portrayal of how women who gamble on financial security provided by men can ultimately suffer severe consequences.