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Popeye was a 1980 live-action film directed by Robert Altman, based on the comic strip and cartoon character Popeye the Sailor.
The film was a musical, which was uncommon for the time. Its songs were by Harry Nilsson, and they are very unusual in that there were almost no rhymes in any of the songs. Instead, the songs were structured by using a great deal of repetition, and cross-cutting inside songs to non-musical sequences. It starred Robin Williams (in his first film role) as Popeye and Shelley Duvall as Olive Oyl.
Popeye was a joint production between Paramount Pictures (distributors/producers of the 1933 – 1957 Popeye theatrical cartoons) and Walt Disney Productions, and was released by Paramount. It was filmed almost entirely on Malta, in the village of Mellieħa on the northwest coast of the island, and the set is now a tourist attraction called Popeye Village.
Unfortunately the film failed to impress at the box office, grossing just $49,823,037 * in the United States.
Tagline:The sailor man with the spinach can!
Plot summary
One dark and stormy night, the gruff but goodhearted seaman Popeye rows his small dinghy into the harbor of the quaint seaside community of Sweethaven. There he rents a room at the Oyls boarding house, where he quickly falls for their daughter Olive. But Olive's hand has already been promised to Captain Bluto, a bully and ruffian who is in charge of collecting taxes for the mysterious Commodore.
Popeye, who was orphaned at an early age, is in the midst of searching for his missing father, but what he does not realize is that the shipwreck has brought him close to his final destination. Along the way, he encounters an assortment of characters, including George W. Geezil, J. Wellington Wimpy, a champion boxer, and a greedy taxman. Eventually Popeye and Olive are brought together by Swee'Pea, an adorable foundling, and Popeye finally meets his father Poopdeck Pappy, from whom he learns the secret to gaining great strength (Spinach).
In the film's final showdown, Popeye uses this knowledge to defeat Bluto and rescue Olive and Swee'Pea, and Poopdeck Pappy is able to retrieve his sunken treasure.
Main cast
- Robin Williams as Popeye the Sailor
- Shelley Duvall as Olive Oyl
- Ray Walston as Poopdeck Pappy
- Paul L. Smith as Bluto
- Paul Dooley as J. Wellington Wimpy
- Richard Libertini as George W. Geezil
- Linda Hunt as Mrs. Oxheart
- Donald Moffat as The Taxman
- MacIntyre Dixon as Cole Oyl
- Roberta Maxwell as Nana Oyl
- Donovan Scott as Castor Oyl
- Bill Irwin
Soundtrack
(all songs written by Harry Nilsson except "I'm Popeye the Sailor Man")
- I Yam What I Yam
- He Needs Me
- Swee' Pea's Lullaby
- Din' We
- Sweethaven
- Blow Me Down
- Sailin'
- It's Not Easy Being Me
- He's Large
- I'm Mean
- Kids
- I'm Popeye The Sailor Man
Curiously, the song "Food, Food, Food" was not included on the soundtrack, while the song "Din' We" (which was cut from the film) was.
The song "He Needs Me" was featured in the movie Punch-Drunk Love.
Allusions
- Popeye's former ship, the Gloomy Gus, is the title of a comic book, "Gloomy Gus, the homeless ghost, and his angelic sidekick", by Red Holmdale.
External links
1980 films | Disney films | Adventure films | Seafaring films | Comedy films | Musical films | Films based on comic strips | Films directed by Robert Altman | Malta | Paramount films
"Popeye (film)"