If you think you know actor Larry Hagman because you know him from I DREAM OF JEANNIE or DALLAS, you might be surprised to learn that the real Larry was/is one of the most eccentric people you might ever encounter. A tripped out, beachdwelling, martial arts practicing Bohemian back in the day, he was known for taking "silent days" where he would not talk under ANY circumstances and using a hand-held fan to blow smoke back in the faces of cigarette smokers who smoked around him. SON OF BLOB, the 1972 Hagman-directed movie later re-issued with the tagline, "The film that JR shot," probably shows the real Larry better than any other project did. More a comedy remake than an actual sequel, the picture is dotted with familiar faces like Robert Walker, Jr, Godfrey Cambridge, Dick Van Patten and the director's long-time (and equally eccentric) neighbor, Burgess Meredith. Essentially, there's this...well..."blob" of stuff left over from the first movie. It's revived, consumes anything and everything and black comedy hilarity ensues. A cheap but impressive directorial debut, it seems very much to have been done as a lark and if you go in expecting that, you'll enjoy it! Released also as BEWARE! THE BLOB, it shouldn't be that hard to find.
As I said here before, my first post-"Jeannie" sight of Larry Hagman was in "Sarah T", where he had a brief part as Sarah's absent father (who certainly looked older than J.R. without a hairpiece). "Dallas" was almost as popular in Brazil as it was in the United States, but I didn't watch it at the time. I'm buying the seasons on DVD, though. I love being able to buy an entire season of a TV series on DVD to watch the episodes when I please - and with the original English soundtrack.
ReplyDeleteThere's a great scene at a barbers somewhere in this movie. It has no relevance to the plot whatsoever, and is almost like a sketch out of a Monty Python episode - but it's a great scene (from what I recall...)!
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