Dynamite Chicken (1971)
January 20, 1971Release Date
Dynamite Chicken (1971)
January 20, 1971Release Date
Plot.
Where to Watch.
Cast & Crew.
Richard Pryor
Self
Patti Deutsch
Self - Ace Trucking Co.
Michael Mislove
Self - Ace Trucking Co.
Ernest Pintoff
Director
Frank Lauria
Writer
Eliza Nimmo
Writer
Michael O'Donoghue
Writer
Gerald Cotts
Cinematographer
Guy Fraumeni
Cinematographer
Peter Max
Self
David Hoffman
Director of Photography
Kenneth Van Sickle
Director of Photography
Greg Zilboorg
Director of Photography
Dick Lacey
Director of Photography
Roy Bond
Ron Carey
Details.
Wiki.
Dynamite Chicken is a 1971 American comedy film. Described in its opening credits as "an electronic magazine of American pop culture," it presents a series of interviews, stand-up comedy, countercultural sketches, documentary segments, and agitprop relating to the peace movement, based around a stream of consciousness free form format.
Inspired by his experience making the TV documentary This is Marshall McLuhan for NBC, director Ernest Pintoff envisioned Dynamite Chicken as a collage to capture the hot-button issues of the moment. "I became interested in McLuhan and his theories of bombarding the audience with images...it seems to me the best way to impart a maximum of information to people."
The original segments involving Richard Pryor, Paul Krassner, the comedy group Ace Trucking Co., and other figures, were shot in 1969 and mostly improvised. Archival footage of other major celebrities of the day and repurposed film trailers is peppered throughout. The total budget for the production was $225,000.
He would state, "There's no message in the film, except for my point of view when I was making it." In another interview, he explained the title by saying, "I overheard someone say, 'I make dynamite chicken.' I liked it. You know, a chicken seems so little and the other so explosive. It's a silly title that doesn't mean too much. The film doesn't mean too much either. I hope people will respond. I had fun making it."