Editing Melvin and Howard

{{short description|1980 film by Jonathan Demme}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}
{{More citations needed|date=September 2010}}
{{Infobox film
| name           = Melvin and Howard
| image          = Melvin and howard.jpg

| caption        = Theatrical release poster by [[John Alvin]]
| director       = [[Jonathan Demme]]
| producer       = [[Art Linson]]<br />[[Don Phillips (casting director)|Don Phillips]]
| writer         = [[Bo Goldman]]
| narrator       =
| starring       = [[Paul Le Mat]]<br />[[Mary Steenburgen]]<br />[[Pamela Reed]]<br />[[Jason Robards]]
| music          = [[Bruce Langhorne]]
| cinematography = [[Tak Fujimoto]]
| editing        = [[Craig McKay (film editor)|Craig McKay]]
| distributor    = [[Universal Pictures]]
| released       = {{Film date|1980|9|19}}
| runtime        = 95 minutes
| country        = United States
| language       = English
| budget         = $7 million<ref name="AFI"/>
| gross          = $4.3 million<ref>[https://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=melvinandhoward.htm Box Office Mojo]</ref>
}}

'''''Melvin and Howard''''' (stylized as '''''Melvin (and Howard)''''') is a 1980 American [[comedy-drama]] film directed by [[Jonathan Demme]].<ref name="Melvin and Howard">{{cite web|url=https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/21824/melvin-and-howard|title=Melvin and Howard|work=[[Turner Classic Movies]]|access-date=March 27, 2016}}</ref> The [[screenplay]] by [[Bo Goldman]] was inspired by real-life [[Utah]] service station owner [[Melvin Dummar]], who was listed as the beneficiary of $156 million in a [[will (legal)|will]] allegedly handwritten by [[Howard Hughes]] that was discovered in the headquarters of [[the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]] in [[Salt Lake City]]. A [[novelization]] of Goldman's script, which itself won the [[Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay|Academy Award for Best Screenplay – Written Directly for the Screen]], later was written by [[George Gipe]]. The film stars [[Paul Le Mat]], [[Jason Robards]], and [[Mary Steenburgen]], who won the [[Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress]]. The film was released on September 19, 1980, receiving positive reviews from critics.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Site Map - September 19, 1980 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/sitemap/1980/09/19/ |access-date=2024-05-16 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

==Plot==
In the opening scene, [[Howard Hughes]] loses control of his [[motorcycle]] and crashes in the [[Nevada]] desert. That night, he is discovered lying on the side of a stretch of U.S. Highway 95 when [[Melvin Dummar]] stops his pickup truck so he can relieve himself. The disheveled stranger, refusing to allow Melvin to take him to the hospital, asks him to instead drive him to [[Las Vegas|Las Vegas, Nevada]]. En route, the two engage in stilted conversation until Dummar cajoles his passenger into joining him in singing a [[Christmas]] song he wrote. Hughes then suggests they sing his favorite song "[[Bye Bye Blackbird]]", and they do. The man warms to his rescuer and  he is dropped off at the [[Desert Inn]] (which Hughes owns and in which he resides).

Most of the remainder of the film focuses on Melvin's scattered, up-and-down life, his spendthrift, trust-in-luck nature, his rocky marital life with first wife Lynda, and his more stable relationship with second wife Bonnie. Lynda leaves him and their daughter to dance in a sleazy strip club, but eventually returns, but she remains frustrated by her husband's futile efforts to achieve the [[American dream]]. Melvin convinces her to appear on ''Easy Street'', a [[game show]] hybrid of ''[[The Gong Show]]'' and ''[[Let's Make a Deal]]'', and although her [[tap dance|tap dancing]] initially is booed by the audience, she wins them over and nabs the top prize of living room furniture, a piano, and $10,000 cash.

Melvin agrees to invest in an affordable house in a new development, but while Lynda tries to keep their finances under control, he rashly buys a new [[Cadillac Eldorado]] and a boat, prompting her to take their daughter and toddler son and sue for divorce. Melvin is comforted by Bonnie, the payroll clerk at the dairy where he drives a truck, and the two eventually wed and move to Utah, where they take over the operation of a service station her relatives had owned.

One day, a mysterious man in a limousine stops at the station ostensibly to buy a pack of cigarettes, but after he drives off Melvin discovers an envelope marked "Last Will and Testament of Howard Hughes" on his office desk. Afraid to open it, he takes it to Mormon headquarters and secrets it in a pile of incoming mail.  It doesn't take long for the media to descend upon him and his family, and eventually Melvin finds himself in court, admitting he once met Hughes but vigorously denying he forged the will that finally fulfills his dreams.

==Cast==
* [[Paul Le Mat]] as [[Melvin Dummar]]
* [[Mary Steenburgen]] as Lynda West Dummar, Melvin's First Wife
* [[Pamela Reed]] as Bonnie Bonneau Dummar, Melvin's Second Wife
* [[Michael J. Pollard]] as "Little Red"
* [[Jack Kehoe]] as Jim Delgado
* [[Rick Lenz]] as Lawyer
* [[Dabney Coleman]] as Judge Keith Hayes
* [[Charles Napier (actor)|Charles Napier]] as Ventura
* [[Jason Robards]] as [[Howard Hughes]]
* [[Cheryl Smith (actress)|Cheryl Smith]] as Ronnie "Patient Ronnie"

The real Melvin Dummar has a cameo appearance as a man behind a bus depot counter. [[Gloria Grahame]] has a short appearance as Mrs. Sisk, but the majority of her role was cut.

==Production==
Bo Goldman was originally hired by Universal president [[Ned Tanen]] to meet with Melvin Dummar in 1976, and Goldman then worked his story into a screenplay, even after Dummar's will was determined to be a fake. [[Mike Nichols]] was originally slated to direct the film, with [[Jack Nicholson]] and [[Diane Keaton]] in talks to star, but all three eventually dropped out of the project and Demme was hired.<ref name="AFI">{{cite web|title=Catalogue – Melvin and Howard (1980) |url= https://catalog.afi.com/Film/56463-MELVIN-ANDHOWARD?sid=3e21f061-3102-4fa6-a290-58427e685d90&sr=12.066878&cp=1&pos=0 |website=AFI|access-date=January 27, 2024}}</ref> Filming began in [[Glendale, California]] on February 26, 1979, and also took place in [[Salt Lake City]] and [[Willard, Utah]] as well as [[Las Vegas|Las Vegas, Nevada]], lasting a total of 10 weeks and wrapping on May 10, 1979.<ref>{{cite book|last1=D'Arc|first1=James V.|title=When Hollywood came to town: a history of moviemaking in Utah|date=2010|publisher=Gibbs Smith|location=Layton, Utah|isbn=9781423605874|edition=1st}}</ref>

Mary Steenburgen revealed that she was worried about having to appear completely naked in the film. "In a scene, I'm at a strip joint and I quit. I rip off what I'm wearing, throw it in the air, and walk naked out of the place. The night before the scene, I thought, 'Who is going to be there tomorrow? There's going to be a skeleton crew.' I didn't sleep that night, but I thought I was prepared for what was going to happen. I had totally forgotten there were going to be about sixty guys - extras from Central Casting - sitting around. I did it OK for about the first eight times, but I started to lose it. I was becoming upset because these guys kept making comments. I called Malcolm [McDowell], and he said,'Listen, you've done it. You have already put it on film. Do it one more time, and just try and do it real well.' I had lost sight of that. I was so busy worrying about my clothes I had forgotten about the moment of it. I knew it was a moment of bravery and freedom, and he reminded me of that. So I went back and I did it really well. As I walked out, I flipped off the construction hat of the guy at the bar and I waved goodbye to all the other dancers on the stage. That is the one they used," Steenburgen recalled.<ref>{{Google books|JfY8AAAAMAAJ|American Film, Volume 7, Numbers 1-10, p. 20}}</ref>

==Reception==
=== Critical response ===
On [[review aggregator]] website [[Rotten Tomatoes]] the film holds an approval rating of 92% based on 24 reviews, with an average rating of 8/10. The site's critics consensus reads: "A spirited character study and clear-eyed treatise of the American Dream, ''Melvin and Howard'' hits the jackpot with its lovable cast and director Jonathan Demme's humanism."<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/melvin_and_howard/ |title= Melvin and Howard (1980) |website= [[Rotten Tomatoes]] |access-date=September 20, 2023}}</ref>

In his review in ''The New York Times'', Vincent Canby called the film a "sharp, engaging, very funny, anxious comedy" and commented, "Mr. Demme is a lyrical film maker for whom there is purpose in style...''Melvin and Howard'' is commercial American movie-making of a most expansive, entertaining kind."<ref>Canby, Vincent. (1980-09-26) [https://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9B00EFDE1538F935A1575AC0A966948260 Melvin and Howard (1980)]. Movies.nytimes.com. Retrieved on 2011-10-05.</ref>

Roger Ebert of the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' described it as "wonderful" and added, "This is a slice of American life. It shows the flip side of [[Gary Gilmore]]'s Utah. It is a world of mobile homes, Pop Tarts, dust, kids and dreams of glory. It's pretty clear how this movie got made. Hollywood started with the notion that the story of the mysterious Hughes will might make a good courtroom thriller. Well, maybe it would have. But my hunch is that when they met Dummar, they had the good sense to realize that they could get a better – and certainly a funnier – story out of what happened to him between the day he met Hughes and the day the will was discovered. Dummar is the kind of guy who thinks they oughta make a movie out of his life. This time, he was right."<ref>[http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19810213/REVIEWS/1010320/1023 Melvin and Howard]. Rogerebert.suntimes.com. Retrieved on 2011-10-05.</ref>

''Variety'' said, "Jonathan Demme's tour-de-force direction, the imaginative screenplay and top-drawer performances from a huge cast fuse in an unusual, original creation."<ref>[https://www.variety.com/review/VE1117793064.html?categoryid=31&cs=1&p=0 Melvin and Howard]. Variety.com (1979-12-31). Retrieved on 2011-10-05.</ref>

Pauline Kael gave the film a very positive review in ''The New Yorker'': "[[Jonathan Demme]]'s lyrical comedy ''Melvin and Howard'' which opened the [[New York Film Festival]] on September 26, is an almost flawless act of sympathetic imagination. I doubt if [[Jason Robards]] has ever been greater than he is here. [[Mary Steenburgen]]'s Lynda Dummar has a soft mouth and a tantalizing slender wiggliness, and she talks directly to whomever she's talking to – when she listens, she's the kind of woman a man wants to tell more to. Demme shows perhaps a finer understanding of lower-middle-class life than any other American director."<ref>Pauline Kael : ''[[Taking It All In]]'' {{ISBN|0-7145-2841-2}} pp. 71–78</ref>

Dennis Bingham's ''Whose Lives Are They Anyway? The Biopic as Contemporary Film Genre'' cites ''Melvin and Howard'' as the first film in the subgenre "biopic of someone undeserving," or "BOSUD," which was later popularized by [[Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski]] with ''[[Ed Wood (film)|Ed Wood]]'', ''[[Man on the Moon (film)|Man on the Moon]]'', ''[[The People vs. Larry Flynt]]'', and ''[[Auto Focus]]''.<ref>Dennis Bingham [https://books.google.com/books?id=NW-v7-tlRZYC ''Whose Lives Are They Anyway? The Biopic as Contemporary Film Genre''] (Rutgers University Press, 2010) {{ISBN|0-8135-4658-3}} p. 148</ref>

[[Paul Thomas Anderson]] has cited the film as one of his favorites. [[Jason Robards]]'s last feature film appearance was in Anderson's ''[[Magnolia (film)|''Magnolia'']]''. [[Robert Ridgely]], who played the host of the fictional "Easy Street" game show in this movie, would later be cast as Colonel James in Anderson's ''[[Boogie Nights]]''.

The comedy show [[Second City Television|''SCTV'']] parodied the film in a sketch called "Melvin and Howards". Melvin ([[Rick Moranis]]), after picking up Howard Hughes ([[Joe Flaherty]]), also picks up [[Howard Cosell]] ([[Eugene Levy]]), Senator [[Howard Baker]] ([[Dave Thomas (actor)|Dave Thomas]]), and [[Curly Howard]] ([[John Candy]]).

==Awards and nominations==
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders"
|-
! Award
! Category
! Nominee(s)
! Result
|-
| rowspan="3"| [[53rd Academy Awards|Academy Awards]]
| [[Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor|Best Supporting Actor]]
| [[Jason Robards]]
| {{nom}}
|-
| [[Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress|Best Supporting Actress]]
| [[Mary Steenburgen]]
| {{won}}
|-
| [[Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay|Best Screenplay – Written Directly for the Screen]]
| [[Bo Goldman]]
| {{won}}
|-
| rowspan="4"| [[Boston Society of Film Critics Awards 1980|Boston Society of Film Critics Awards]]
| colspan="2"| Best American Film
| {{won}}
|-
| [[Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actor|Best Supporting Actor]]
| Jason Robards
| {{won}}
|-
| [[Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actress|Best Supporting Actress]]
| Mary Steenburgen
| {{won}}
|-
| [[Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Screenplay|Best Screenplay]]
| Bo Goldman
| {{won}}
|-
| rowspan="4"| [[38th Golden Globe Awards|Golden Globe Awards]]
| colspan="2"| [[Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy|Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy]]
| {{nom}}
|-
| [[Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy|Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy]]
| [[Paul Le Mat]]
| {{nom}}
|-
| [[Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture|Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture]]
| Jason Robards
| {{nom}}
|-
| [[Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture|Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture]]
| rowspan="3"| Mary Steenburgen
| {{won}}
|-
| Kansas City Film Critics Circle Awards
| Best Supporting Actress
| {{won}}
|-
| [[1980 Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards|Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards]]
| [[Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress|Best Supporting Actress]]
| {{won}}
|-
| [[National Board of Review Awards 1980|National Board of Review Awards]]
| colspan="2"| [[National Board of Review: Top Ten Films|Top Ten Films]]
| {{draw|5th Place}}
|-
| rowspan="5"| [[1980 National Society of Film Critics Awards|National Society of Film Critics Awards]]
| colspan="2"| [[National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Film|Best Film]]
| {{won}}
|-
| [[National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Director|Best Director]]
| [[Jonathan Demme]]
| {{draw|2nd Place}}
|-
| [[National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actor|Best Supporting Actor]]
| Jason Robards
| {{draw|3rd Place}}
|-
| [[National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actress|Best Supporting Actress]]
| Mary Steenburgen
| {{won}}
|-
| [[National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Screenplay|Best Screenplay]]
| Bo Goldman
| {{won}}
|-
| rowspan="5"| [[1980 New York Film Critics Circle Awards|New York Film Critics Circle Awards]]
| colspan="2"| [[New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Film|Best Film]]
| {{Runner-up}}
|-
| [[New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Director|Best Director]]
| Jonathan Demme
| {{won}}
|-
| [[New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actor|Best Supporting Actor]]
| Jason Robards
| {{Runner-up}}
|-
| [[New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actress|Best Supporting Actress]]
| Mary Steenburgen
| {{won}}
|-
| [[New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Screenplay|Best Screenplay]]
| Bo Goldman
| {{won}}
|-
| [[37th Venice International Film Festival|Venice International Film Festival]]
| [[Golden Lion]]
| Jonathan Demme
| {{nom}}
|-
| [[33rd Writers Guild of America Awards|Writers Guild of America Awards]]
| [[Writers Guild of America Award for Best Original Screenplay|Best Drama Written Directly for the Screen]]
| Bo Goldman
| {{won}}
|}

==See also==
* [[List of American films of 1980]]
* ''[[The Amazing Howard Hughes]]'' (1977)

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==External links==
* {{IMDb title|0081150}}
* {{TCMDb title|21824|Melvin and Howard}}
* {{Rotten-tomatoes|melvin_and_howard|Melvin and Howard}}
* [http://catalog.afi.com/Film/56463-MELVIN-AND-HOWARD The AFI Catalog of Feature Films:''..Melvin and Howard'']

{{Jonathan Demme|state=expanded}}
{{Howard Hughes}}
{{National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Film}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Melvin And Howard}}
[[Category:1980 films]]
[[Category:1980 comedy-drama films]]
[[Category:American comedy-drama films]]
[[Category:Cultural depictions of Howard Hughes]]
[[Category:American films based on actual events]]
[[Category:Fictional duos]]
[[Category:Films directed by Jonathan Demme]]
[[Category:Films featuring a Best Supporting Actress Academy Award–winning performance]]
[[Category:Films featuring a Best Supporting Actress Golden Globe–winning performance]]
[[Category:Films produced by Art Linson]]
[[Category:Films set in the 1970s]]
[[Category:Films set in California]]
[[Category:Films set in Nevada]]
[[Category:Films set in Utah]]
[[Category:Films shot in California]]
[[Category:Films shot in Nevada]]
[[Category:Films shot in Utah]]
[[Category:Films with screenplays by Bo Goldman]]
[[Category:Films whose writer won the Best Original Screenplay Academy Award]]
[[Category:Universal Pictures films]]
[[Category:National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Film winners]]
[[Category:Films scored by Bruce Langhorne]]
[[Category:1980s English-language films]]
[[Category:1980s American films]]
[[Category:English-language comedy-drama films]]