Chu Chu and the Philly Flash

Carol Burnette and Alan Arkin star in this offbeat comedy and I must say that Miss Burnette has given a very underplayed, for her, performance. This does show she can act and not over the top. Arkin is at his manic best and his son is in great form as another of the homeless that get involved in the caper. It is well paced and most times the dialogue is snappy and well written. This little known film should be given a second chance. I just happened to pick it up on VHS at a local video store who was sell tapes off for under a buck! Glad I did. I had heard about it when it first came out, but never got to see it. Probably because it came and went before anyone would see it! Give it a chance.........

Can't understand why this flick hasn't gotten better ratings. It's a dry humor comedy of lost souls on the streets of San Francisco. IT is fantasy, comedy, drama, action and very dry humor all rolled into one. I see reminders of some of the great movie comedians of the past here. Have any of you ever been to Fisherman's Wharf area of San Francisco? Used to see people like this all the time. And in the neighborhoods. These are local characters in many of them.

If you like Blues Brothers, you'll love this unknown classic, too. The characters are quirky, dialogue is hilarious, and the action is nonstop- every guy I have shown this movie has enjoyed it. If you can't decide on a date movie, give Chu Chu a try. And yes, the name sounds stupid, but Chu Chu is the name Carol Burnett's character uses when she dances Carmen Miranda style (she wears fruit on her head- it's better than the famous Scarlett O'Hara curtain rod scene from her variety show), and Alan Arkin plays a washed up baseball star, the Philly Flash. Watch for Adam Arkin, the wacky barefoot chef from Northern Exposure, and Alan's son. Adam's character is just as much fun in this movie.

Alan Arkin is a bum, surrounded by characters crazier than himself, who has finally dried out and has the chance to play minor league ball. (He was known as the "Philly Flash" when he was a major league pitcher, before becoming a major drunk.) The only catch is, he's got to get there (Minnesota as I recall) himself. So he does all the things street people do, wash car windshields, do small errands, sell bogus crap to people to get the bus ticket money. He has friends and colleagues, but not the kind that will finance him (Hey,we're talking $40 here). So he's trying to earn the bus ticket money.

Enter, Chu Chu (Carol Burnett) a street performer who teaches music to the desperately untalented from her one room apartment and does a very funny one woman band show for spare change on the street. When they meet, its love at first sight, okay, maybe second sight. Although the main comedy instrument is the discovery of secret government documents, which the Flash informs Chu Chu are worth "fifty bucks, maybe seventy five", this movie is about the love between two hapless characters who's talents aren't enough for fame and fortune, but gives them the hope that they can have a better life than the ones they have.

What makes this film really work is that their best friends sitting in the bus depot basically recalling the events of the last few days while waiting for their friends to arrive. If Chu Chu and the Flash are life's losers, then Charlie (played by Adam Arkin) and Theresa are a few rungs below that. Everyone should have friends as loyal and selfless as these two.

This 1981 movie stars Carol Burnett and Alan Arkin as two down on their luck alcoholic losers who wind up on the streets. Arkin portrays a former baseball pitcher who was once known as "The Philly Flash" and Burnett portrays a once successful dancer named Chu Chu (whose real name is Emily) now reduced to performing on the streets for what little money she can get to support herself. "The Philly Flash" is now reduced to washing windows for strangers and selling fake or broken watches to try and make a buck for himself. Until they meet, they have no knowledge of each other.

When they do meet, their lives are turned upside down when a briefcase containing confidential political propaganda is accidently dropped from a window, which. Chu Chu hides within her drum and resists Flash's questions about it. Now, they are both on the run with this sensitive information, which is hidden within a particular hot dog vendors cart, and a chase ensues throughout the city as both Chu Chu and Flash are caught up in this political intrigue and must work to get themselves out.

This movie wasn't very long in theaters in 1981. I remember catching this on the Late Show in 1986 on one mf my local syndicated channels. However, I fell asleep in the midst of this film and later revisited this film again when I bought a bootleg DVD.of it and watched the whole thing through. I now see why it wasn't in theaters very long.

This is a bittersweet comedy about two down on their luck losers who wind up innocently getting caught up in political intrigue. The only problem is that the film just isn't funny, although it does try hard to be funny, it fails, which is sad. Arkin and Burnett are two very good and well seasoned performers and actors, and while their performances do give the film a certain wacky charm, they fail to bring laughs, although they do try hard to bring them. However, the film winds up as a miserable train-wreck that could've been better. The main reason why I watched this was mainly for Carol Burnett as I grew up watching her long running CBS aired variety show. I kept waiting and waiting for any laugh inducing opportunity, but got none. Even with a well written script by Arkin's then wife, Barbara Dana, it didn't successfully translate onto the silver screen very well. Later on, I heard that 20th Century Fox, who distributed this film, actually disowned this picture, which I saw because there was no 20th Century Fox logo at the beginning of the picture when I caught this on the Late Show in 1986. It was on VHS for a short time, but was later withdrawn. I don't know if the disowning by 20th Century Fox is true as it is simply something that I have heard over the years. This was also an attempt to rekindle the chemistry between Arkin and Burnett as Arkin starred in a funny skit on the short lived Summer series Carol Burnett & Company, but that also fails. .Even with a supporting cast of Ruth Buzzi, Danny Glover, Danny Aiello, Sid Haig and two of Arkin's sons, Adam and Tony, it still fails to bring anything laughable and again, becomes a train wreck that could've been better. Even the direction by David Lowell Rich is sloppy and contributes to this film going downhill.

The performances of Arkin and Burnett are this film's only redeeming factors as they both try to keep this film afloat, but again, fail miserably. They both try real hard to be funny and make it work, but again, they fail. Their performances and their trying to make this film funny and to keep it afloat is THE main reason why I give this film two stars out of five.

During his lifetime, Mr. Lowell Rich has directed numerous films, which were pretty good and well directed by him, but this film is not one of them. His direction of this film is really sloppy

Overall, a bittersweet comedy that fails to be funny and again, the performances of both Arkin and Burnett are why I give this film two stars out of five.