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Long unavailable for home viewing, Robert Altman’s 1982 title Come Back to the 5 and Dime Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean has languished as a remote, minor title of the auteur’s filmography, trotted out to devotees at retrospectives. Based on the play by Ed Graczyk and featuring a bevy of eclectic actresses, it’s often and unfairly lumped into consideration with Altman’s other adaptations of stage material from the time period, including David Rabe’s Streamers (1983), Sam Shepard’s Fool For Love (1985) and Christopher Durang’s Beyond Therapy (1987). Often described as typically Altmanesque with its examination of Americana, a dialogue heavy showcase of melodrama squeezed from the banalities of everyday existence, at last it’s available for a wider appreciation, ripe for a recuperation as more than a mere trifle lost in a flood of greater titles from an American auteur.

It’s 1975 and a group of extreme James Dean fans,...

Actress Marta Heflin has died at the age of 68. The daughter of actress Frances Heflin and the niece of actor Van Heflin, she appeared on Broadway in the 1960s and early 1970s in Fiddler On The Roof, Hair, and Jesus Christ Superstar. She made her movie debut in 1976 in the Barbra Streisand-Kris Kristofferson A Star Is Born, then appeared in Robert Altman’s ensemble comedy A Wedding (1978), kicking off a fruitful partnership. A year later, Altman cast Heflin as the female lead in his romantic comedy A Perfect Couple, where she was a last-minute replacement for Sandy ...

Marta Heflin, who was known for her roles in film, television and on Broadway, died on Sept. 18 after a long illness, according to a paid obituary in The New York Times.  She was 68. She frequently worked with director Robert Altman, including the comedy musical A Perfect Couple, A Wedding and Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean Jimmy Dean.  She starred alongside Barbra Streisand in A Star is Born.  A versatile performer, her roles on Broadway included Fiddler on the Roof, Hair and Jesus Christ Superstar.  She performed cabaret frequently at New York City nightclubs. Broadway: Fiddler on the Roof, Hair, Jesus Christ Superstar, Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean Jimmy Dean...

Marta Heflin, the niece of the Oscar-winning actor Van Heflin and an accomplished actress in her own right, died Sept. 18 after a lengthy illness, according to a paid obituary in The New York Times. She was 68. A stage and cabaret performer with large eyes and a waifish frame that often belied her commanding presence, Heflin frequently worked with film director Robert Altman, in such movies as Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean (Altman and Heflin also worked on the Broadway stage version together), A Perfect Couple and A Wedding. In addition, reports The Times, Heflin...

Broadway actress Marta Heflin dead at 68: Featured in several Robert Altman movies (photo: Marta Heflin in ‘A Perfect Couple’) Stage actress Marta Heflin, who was featured in a handful of movies in the ’70s and early ’80s, including three Robert Altman efforts, died on September 18, 2013, after "a long illness." Heflin (born on March 29, 1945, in Washington, D.C.) was 68. On Broadway, Marta Heflin was featured in the musicals Fiddler on the Roof, Hair, Soon, and Jesus Christ Superstar (replacing Yvonne Elliman as Mary Magdalene). Additionally, she was seen in Ed Graczyk’s Robert Altman-directed 1982 play Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean, about a group of James Dean fans — among them Karen Black, Cher, Sandy Dennis, Kathy Bates, Sudie Bond, and Mark Patton — who get together on the twentieth anniversary of Dean’s death. Marta Heflin movies Along with her fellow Come Back to the Five and Dime,...

Marta Heflin, an actress from a famous Hollywood family who appeared for Robert Altman in the Broadway and film versions of Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean, has died. She was 68. Heflin, who also starred as a young groupie matched up with a middle-aged businessman (Paul Dooley) in Altman’s romantic comedy A Perfect Couple, died Sept. 18 after a long illness, according to a paid obituary in The New York Times. Heflin’s uncle was Oscar-winning actor Van Heflin (Johnny Eager, Shane, The Strange Love of Martha Ivers), and her aunt was Frances

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Director Robert Altman.

Robert Altman: Eclectic Maverick

By

Alex Simon

Editor’s note: This article originally appeared in the April 1999 issue of Venice Magazine.

It's the Fall of 1977 and I'm a bored and rebellious ten year old in search of a new movie to occupy my underworked and creativity-starved brain, feeling far too mature for previous favorites Wily Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971) and Return of the Pink Panther (1975), and wanting something more up-to-date and edgy than Chaplin's City Lights (1931). I needed a movie to call my favorite that would be symbolic of my own new-found manhood (and something that would really piss off my parents and teachers). Mom and Dad were going out for the evening, leaving me with whatever unfortunate baby-sitter happened to need the $10 badly enough to play mother hen to an obnoxiously precocious only child like myself. I scanned the TV Guide for what...

Welcome to another weekly preview of upcoming Blu-Ray releases! In this week’s edition, Flight makes a good case for taking the train to your next vacation destination, Here Comes the Boom hits store shelves with a – well with a boom I guess, and a beloved family classic finally gets a Blu-Ray release.

Ready for this week’s Blu-Ray releases? Then read on.

Flight

Starring: Denzel Washington, John Goodman, Don Cheadle, Kelly Reilly, Bruce Greenwood, and Melissa Leo.

Director: Robert Zemeckis

An American drama film from Academy Award-winning director Robert Zemeckis. It was well received by critics and was nominated for two Academy Awards: Best Actor (for the film’s star Denzel Washington) and Best Original Screenplay.

Plot: An airline pilot saves a flight from crashing, but an investigation into the malfunction reveals something troubling.

My Thoughts: I haven’t watched it yet, but I’m looking forward to it.

Warner Home Video has provided us with two exclusive clips from the 1976 classic A Star is Born, which makes its debut on Blu-ray February 5. Barbra Streisand stars as Esther Hoffman, an innocent young singer who falls for aging rock star John Howard (Kris Kristofferson). Take a look at these scenes where Esther insists on going out, and another where she gets angry at John for making her think he was dead.

A Star Is Born Blu-ray Exclusive: "Going Out"

A Star Is Born Blu-ray Exclusive: "Faking It"

Talented rock star John Norman Howard (Kris Kristofferson) has seen his career begin to decline. Too many years of concerts and managers and life on the road have made him cynical and the monotony has taken its toll. Then he meets the innocent, pure and very talented singer Esther Hoffman (Barbra Streisand). As one of his songs in the movie says I'm gonna take you girl,...