Who'll Stop the Rain: Difference between revisions

Who'll Stop the Rain
Who'll Stop the Rain
	Theatrical release poster by Tom Jung
Directed by	Karel Reisz
Screenplay by	Judith Rascoe; Robert Stone
Based on	Dog Soldiers; by Robert Stone
Produced by	Herb Jaffe; Gabriel Katzka
Starring	Nick Nolte; Tuesday Weld; Michael Moriarty; Anthony Zerbe
Cinematography	Richard H. Kline
Edited by	John Bloom
Music by	Laurence Rosenthal
Production; company	Katzka-Jaffe
Distributed by	United Artists
Release date	August 11, 1978;
Running time	126 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$5.5 million

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Who'll Stop the Rain is a 1978 American crime war film^[2] directed by Karel Reisz and starring Nick Nolte, Tuesday Weld, Michael Moriarty, and Anthony Zerbe. It was released by United Artists and produced by Herb Jaffe and Gabriel Katzka with Sheldon Schrager and Roger Spottiswoode as executive producers. The screenplay was by Judith Rascoe and Robert Stone, based on Stone's novel Dog Soldiers (1974), the music score by Laurence Rosenthal, and the cinematography by Richard H. Kline. The movie was entered in the 1978 Cannes Film Festival.^[3]

Plot

The film opens in Saigon at the height of the Vietnam War.

John Converse, a disillusioned war correspondent, approaches Ray Hicks, a merchant marine sailor and acquaintance of Converse from the U.S., for help in smuggling a large quantity of heroin from Vietnam to San Francisco, where he will exchange the drugs for payment with Converse's wife Marge, who has become addicted to Dilaudid.

When Hicks gets back to the U.S. and discovers he is being followed by thugs connected either to Converse or his suppliers, he goes on the run with Marge and the heroin, and eventually they are pursued by corrupt DEA Agent Antheil, who initially set the deal in motion. As Marge is separated from her supply of Dilaudid, she experiences withdrawal, and Hicks decides to help wean her off her addiction by using the heroin. Hicks also attempts to find another buyer for the heroin before his pursuers can catch up to him.

Cast

Nick Nolte as Ray Hicks
Tuesday Weld as Marge Converse
Michael Moriarty as John Converse
Anthony Zerbe as Antheil
Richard Masur as Danskin
Ray Sharkey as Smitty
Gail Strickland as Charmian
Charles Haid as Eddie Peace
David Opatoshu as Bender
Joaquín Martínez as Angel (as Joaquin Martinez)
James Cranna as Gerald
Timothy Blake as Jody
Shelby Balik as Janey
Jean Howell as Edna
José Carlos Ruiz as Galindez (as Jose Carlos Ruiz)

Background and production

The film is based on Robert Stone's novel Dog Soldiers (1974), which won the National Book Award (US) for fiction in 1975.^[4] For its original US theatrical release it was re-titled Who'll Stop the Rain, after the Creedence Clearwater Revival song, which features prominently (along with several other popular CCR tracks) on the film's soundtrack. The film was released as Dog Soldiers in several places. Some copies of the DVD of Who'll Stop the Rain contain prints titled Dog Soldiers.

Stone based the character of Ray Hicks on Beat writer Neal Cassady, with whom Stone became acquainted through novelist Ken Kesey, a graduate school classmate of Stone's at Stanford University.^[5]

Hicks' death scene on the railroad tracks at the film's conclusion is directly based on Cassady's death along a railroad track outside of San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, in 1968.^{[citation needed]} The hippie commune setting, where lights and stereo speakers placed throughout the woods are utilized in Hicks' escape plan, is partially based on Kesey's home in La Honda, California, where Kesey and his friends — known as the Merry Pranksters — famously wired the surrounding woods with lights and sound equipment to enhance their experiments with LSD.^[6]

The Saigon scenes were filmed on a set in Mexico. There was a casting advertisement in Mexico City for people of any Asian background to represent the Vietnamese.^{[citation needed]}

Awards

Nominee, Palme d'Or Cannes Film Festival (Karel Reisz)
Nominee, Best Actor National Society of Film Critics (Nick Nolte)
Nominee, Best Adapted Drama Writers Guild of America (Judith Rascoe, Robert Stone)

Soundtrack

Del Reeves – "Philadelphia Fillies"
Jackie DeShannon – "Put a Little Love in Your Heart"
Don McLean – "American Pie"
Slim Whitman – "I'll Step Down"
Creedence Clearwater Revival – "Hey Tonight"
Creedence Clearwater Revival – "Who'll Stop the Rain"
Creedence Clearwater Revival – "Proud Mary"
The Spencer Davis Group – "Gimme Some Lovin'"
Hank Snow – "Golden Rocket"

References

^ "AFI|Catalog". Catalog.afi.com. Retrieved 15 November 2021.
^ Silver, Alain; Ward, Elizabeth; eds. (1992). Film Noir: An Encyclopedic Reference to the American Style (3rd ed.). Woodstock, New York: The Overlook Press. ISBN 0-87951-479-5
^ "Festival de Cannes: Who'll Stop the Rain". festival-cannes.com. Retrieved 2024-04-24.
^ "Winners 1970". National Book Award.
^ justforbooks. "Just for Books ...?". Tumblr. Retrieved 2023-11-10.
^ Espen, Hal (June 6, 2004). "America in the Great Stoned Age". The New York Times. Retrieved May 18, 2010. Although technically not a commune, Kesey's home was a frequent site for large parties attended by a mixture of literary luminaries such as poet Allen Ginsberg and journalist Hunter S. Thompson, music figures (including Jerry Garcia, whose group The Grateful Dead later became the house band for Kesey's famous Acid Tests), and outlaws, especially members of the infamous Hells Angels motorcycle club. These parties are described intimately in works by Ginsberg and Thompson, and in Tom Wolfe's book The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test (1968). Ken Kesey, his Merry Pranksters, and Neal Cassady are also discussed in detail in Martin Torgoff's book Can't Find My Way Home.

External links

[1] "AFI|Catalog". Catalog.afi.com. Retrieved 15 November 2021.

[2] Silver, Alain; Ward, Elizabeth; eds. (1992). Film Noir: An Encyclopedic Reference to the American Style (3rd ed.). Woodstock, New York: The Overlook Press. ISBN 0-87951-479-5

[festival-cannes.com-3] "Festival de Cannes: Who'll Stop the Rain". festival-cannes.com. Retrieved 2024-04-24.

[4] "Winners 1970". National Book Award.

[5] ustforbooks. "Just for Books ...?". Tumblr. Retrieved 2023-11-10.

[6] Espen, Hal (June 6, 2004). "America in the Great Stoned Age". The New York Times. Retrieved May 18, 2010. Although technically not a commune, Kesey's home was a frequent site for large parties attended by a mixture of literary luminaries such as poet Allen Ginsberg and journalist Hunter S. Thompson, music figures (including Jerry Garcia, whose group The Grateful Dead later became the house band for Kesey's famous Acid Tests), and outlaws, especially members of the infamous Hells Angels motorcycle club. These parties are described intimately in works by Ginsberg and Thompson, and in Tom Wolfe's book The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test (1968). Ken Kesey, his Merry Pranksters, and Neal Cassady are also discussed in detail in Martin Torgoff's book Can't Find My Way Home.

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@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
+{{short description|1978 film by Karel Reisz}}
 {{For|the Creedence Clearwater Revival song|Who'll Stop the Rain (song)}}
 {{Infobox film
 | name           = Who'll Stop the Rain
 | image          = Wholl stop the rain.jpg
-| image size     =
 | caption        = Theatrical release poster by [[Tom Jung]]
 | director       = [[Karel Reisz]]
-| producer       = [[Herb Jaffe]]<br>[[Gabriel Katzka]]
+| producer       = [[Herb Jaffe]]<br />[[Gabriel Katzka]]
-| screenplay     = [[Judith Rascoe]]<br>[[Robert Stone (novelist)|Robert Stone]]
+| screenplay     = [[Judith Rascoe]]<br />[[Robert Stone (novelist)|Robert Stone]]
-| based on       = {{Based on|''[[Dog Soldiers (novel)|Dog Soldiers]]''|Robert Stone}}
+| based_on       = {{Based on|''[[Dog Soldiers (novel)|Dog Soldiers]]''|Robert Stone}}
 | narrator       =
-| starring       = [[Nick Nolte]]<br>[[Tuesday Weld]]<br>[[Michael Moriarty]]<br>[[Anthony Zerbe]]
+| starring       = [[Nick Nolte]]<br />[[Tuesday Weld]]<br />[[Michael Moriarty]]<br />[[Anthony Zerbe]]
 | music          = [[Laurence Rosenthal]]
 | cinematography = [[Richard H. Kline]]
 | editing        = [[John Bloom (film editor)|John Bloom]]
+| studio         = Katzka-Jaffe
 | distributor    = [[United Artists]]
-| released       = {{Film date|1978|08|11}}
+| released       = {{Film date|1978|8|11}}
 | runtime        = 126 minutes
 | country        = United States
 | language       = English
+| budget         = $5.5 million<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://catalog.afi.com/Film/67017-WHOLL-STOP-THE-RAIN|title=AFI&#124;Catalog|website=Catalog.afi.com|access-date=15 November 2021}}</ref>
-| budget         =
 }}
-'''''Who'll Stop the Rain''''' is a 1978 American [[Thriller film|thriller]] [[drama film]]<ref>[[Alain Silver|Silver, Alain]]; Ward, Elizabeth; eds. (1992). ''Film Noir: An Encyclopedic Reference to the American Style'' (3rd ed.). Woodstock, New York: [[The Overlook Press]]. {{ISBN|0-87951-479-5}}</ref> directed by [[Karel Reisz]] and starring [[Nick Nolte]], [[Tuesday Weld]], [[Michael Moriarty]], and [[Anthony Zerbe]]. It was released by [[United Artists]] and produced by [[Herb Jaffe]] and [[Gabriel Katzka]] with [[Sheldon Schrager]] and [[Roger Spottiswoode]] as executive producers. The screenplay was by Judith Rascoe and [[Robert Stone (novelist)|Robert Stone]], based on Stone's novel ''[[Dog Soldiers (novel)|Dog Soldiers]]'' (1974), the music score by [[Laurence Rosenthal]], and the cinematography by [[Richard H. Kline]]. The movie was entered in the [[1978 Cannes Film Festival]].<ref name="festival-cannes.com">{{cite web |url=http://www.festival-cannes.com/en/archives/ficheFilm/id/1966/year/1978.html |title=Festival de Cannes: Who'll Stop the Rain |accessdate=2009-05-21|website=festival-cannes.com}}</ref>
+'''''Who'll Stop the Rain''''' is a 1978 American [[crime film|crime]] [[war film]]<ref>[[Alain Silver|Silver, Alain]]; Ward, Elizabeth; eds. (1992). ''Film Noir: An Encyclopedic Reference to the American Style'' (3rd ed.). Woodstock, New York: [[The Overlook Press]]. {{ISBN|0-87951-479-5}}</ref> directed by [[Karel Reisz]] and starring [[Nick Nolte]], [[Tuesday Weld]], [[Michael Moriarty]], and [[Anthony Zerbe]]. It was released by [[United Artists]] and produced by [[Herb Jaffe]] and [[Gabriel Katzka]] with [[Sheldon Schrager]] and [[Roger Spottiswoode]] as executive producers. The screenplay was by Judith Rascoe and [[Robert Stone (novelist)|Robert Stone]], based on Stone's novel ''[[Dog Soldiers (novel)|Dog Soldiers]]'' (1974), the music score by [[Laurence Rosenthal]], and the cinematography by [[Richard H. Kline]]. The movie was entered in the [[1978 Cannes Film Festival]].<ref name="festival-cannes.com">{{cite web |url= https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/f/who-ll-stop-the-rain/ |title=Festival de Cannes: Who'll Stop the Rain |access-date=2024-04-24|website=festival-cannes.com}}</ref>
 ==Plot==
@@ Line 51: / Line 53: @@
 ==Background and production ==
-The film is based on Robert Stone's novel ''[[Dog Soldiers (novel)|Dog Soldiers]]'' (1974), which won the [[National Book Award]] (US) for fiction in 1975.<ref>{{cite web| url= http://www.nationalbook.org/nbawinners1970.html|website=National Book Award|title=Winners 1970}}</ref> For its original US theatrical release it was re-titled ''Who'll Stop the Rain'', after the [[Creedence Clearwater Revival]] song, which features prominently (along with several other popular CCR tracks) on the film's soundtrack. The film was released as ''Dog Soldiers'' for release in several foreign territories. Some copies of the [[DVD]] of ''Who'll Stop the Rain'' actually contain prints titled ''Dog Soldiers''.
+The film is based on Robert Stone's novel ''[[Dog Soldiers (novel)|Dog Soldiers]]'' (1974), which won the [[National Book Award]] (US) for fiction in 1975.<ref>{{cite web| url= http://www.nationalbook.org/nbawinners1970.html|website=National Book Award|title=Winners 1970}}</ref> For its original US theatrical release it was re-titled ''Who'll Stop the Rain'', after the [[Creedence Clearwater Revival]] song, which features prominently (along with several other popular CCR tracks) on the film's soundtrack. The film was released as ''Dog Soldiers'' in several places. Some copies of the [[DVD]] of ''Who'll Stop the Rain'' contain prints titled ''Dog Soldiers''.
-Stone based the character of Ray Hicks on [[Beat Generation|Beat]] writer [[Neal Cassady]], with whom Stone became acquainted through novelist [[Ken Kesey]], a graduate school classmate of Stone's at [[Stanford University]].{{citation needed|date=August 2016}}
+Stone based the character of Ray Hicks on [[Beat Generation|Beat]] writer [[Neal Cassady]], with whom Stone became acquainted through novelist [[Ken Kesey]], a graduate school classmate of Stone's at [[Stanford University]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=justforbooks |title=Just for Books ...? |url=https://justforbooks.tumblr.com/post/642556752189145088/neal-leon-cassady-was-born-on-february-8-1926-he |access-date=2023-11-10 |website=Tumblr}}</ref>
-Hicks' death scene on the railroad tracks at the film's conclusion is directly based on Cassady's death along a railroad track outside of [[San Miguel de Allende]], [[Mexico]], in 1968.{{citation needed|date=August 2016}} The [[hippie]] [[Commune (intentional community)|commune]] setting, where lights and stereo speakers placed throughout the woods are utilized in Hicks' escape plan, is partially based on Kesey's home in [[La Honda, California]], where Kesey and his friends &mdash; known as the [[Merry Pranksters]] &mdash; famously wired the surrounding woods with lights and sound equipment to enhance their experiments with [[LSD]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/06/books/higher-and-higher.html?pagewanted=1|title=America in the Great Stoned Age|date=June 6, 2004|work=[[The New York Times]]|accessdate=May 18, 2010 | first=Hal | last=Espen}} Although technically not a commune, Kesey's home was a frequent site for large parties attended by a mixture of literary luminaries such as poet [[Allen Ginsberg]] and journalist [[Hunter S. Thompson]], music figures (including [[Jerry Garcia]], whose group [[The Grateful Dead]] later became the house band for Kesey's famous [[Acid Tests]]), and outlaws, especially members of the infamous [[Hells Angels]] motorcycle club.  These parties are described intimately in works by Ginsberg and Thompson, and in [[Tom Wolfe]]'s book ''[[The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test]]'' (1968). Ken Kesey, his Merry Pranksters, and Neal Cassady are also discussed in detail in [[Martin Torgoff]]'s book ''Can't Find My Way Home''. </ref>
+Hicks' death scene on the railroad tracks at the film's conclusion is directly based on Cassady's death along a railroad track outside of [[San Miguel de Allende]], [[Mexico]], in 1968.{{citation needed|date=August 2016}} The [[hippie]] [[Commune (intentional community)|commune]] setting, where lights and stereo speakers placed throughout the woods are utilized in Hicks' escape plan, is partially based on Kesey's home in [[La Honda, California]], where Kesey and his friends &mdash; known as the [[Merry Pranksters]] &mdash; famously wired the surrounding woods with lights and sound equipment to enhance their experiments with [[LSD]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/06/books/higher-and-higher.html?pagewanted=1|title=America in the Great Stoned Age|date=June 6, 2004|work=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=May 18, 2010 | first=Hal | last=Espen}} Although technically not a commune, Kesey's home was a frequent site for large parties attended by a mixture of literary luminaries such as poet [[Allen Ginsberg]] and journalist [[Hunter S. Thompson]], music figures (including [[Jerry Garcia]], whose group [[The Grateful Dead]] later became the house band for Kesey's famous [[Acid Tests]]), and outlaws, especially members of the infamous [[Hells Angels]] motorcycle club.  These parties are described intimately in works by Ginsberg and Thompson, and in [[Tom Wolfe]]'s book ''[[The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test]]'' (1968). Ken Kesey, his Merry Pranksters, and Neal Cassady are also discussed in detail in [[Martin Torgoff]]'s book ''Can't Find My Way Home''.</ref>
 The Saigon scenes were filmed on a set in Mexico. There was a casting advertisement in Mexico City for people of any Asian background to represent the Vietnamese.{{citation needed|date=September 2015}}
@@ Line 65: / Line 67: @@
 == Soundtrack ==
-* [[Del Reeves]] - "Philadelphia Fillies"
+* [[Del Reeves]] – "Philadelphia Fillies"
-* [[Jackie DeShannon]] - "[[Put a Little Love in Your Heart]]"
+* [[Jackie DeShannon]] – "[[Put a Little Love in Your Heart]]"
-* [[Don McLean]] - "[[American Pie (song)|American Pie]]"
+* [[Don McLean]] – "[[American Pie (song)|American Pie]]"
-* [[Slim Whitman]] - "I'll Step Down"
+* [[Slim Whitman]] – "I'll Step Down"
-* [[Creedence Clearwater Revival]] - "[[Hey Tonight]]"
+* [[Creedence Clearwater Revival]] – "[[Hey Tonight]]"
-* Creedence Clearwater Revival - "[[Who'll Stop the Rain (song)|Who'll Stop the Rain]]"
+* Creedence Clearwater Revival – "[[Who'll Stop the Rain (song)|Who'll Stop the Rain]]"
-* Creedence Clearwater Revival - "[[Proud Mary]]"
+* Creedence Clearwater Revival – "[[Proud Mary]]"
-* [[The Spencer Davis Group]] - "[[Gimme Some Lovin']]"
+* [[The Spencer Davis Group]] – "[[Gimme Some Lovin']]"
-* [[Hank Snow]] - "[[The Golden Rocket (song)|Golden Rocket]]"
+* [[Hank Snow]] – "[[The Golden Rocket (song)|Golden Rocket]]"
 == References ==
@@ Line 87: / Line 89: @@
 {{DEFAULTSORT:Who'll Stop The Rain}}
 [[Category:1978 films]]
-[[Category:1970s crime drama films]]
+[[Category:1978 crime drama films]]
 [[Category:American chase films]]
 [[Category:American crime drama films]]
 [[Category:American crime thriller films]]
-[[Category:American films]]
+[[Category:Vietnam War films]]
-[[Category:English-language films]]
-[[Category:Films about drugs]]
 [[Category:Films about the illegal drug trade]]
 [[Category:Films directed by Karel Reisz]]
@@ Line 100: / Line 100: @@
 [[Category:Films shot in Mexico]]
 [[Category:United Artists films]]
-[[Category:Vietnam War films]]
+[[Category:Works by Robert Stone (novelist)]]
-[[Category:Works by Robert Stone]]
 [[Category:Films scored by Laurence Rosenthal]]
-[[Category:American neo-noir films]]
+[[Category:Films about heroin]]
+[[Category:1970s English-language films]]
+[[Category:1970s American films]]
+[[Category:English-language crime drama films]]

v t e Films directed by Karel Reisz
Documentaries	Momma Don't Allow (1955) We Are the Lambeth Boys (1959)
Feature films	Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (1960) Night Must Fall (1964) Morgan – A Suitable Case for Treatment (1966) Isadora (1968) The Gambler (1974) Who'll Stop the Rain (1978) The French Lieutenant's Woman (1981) Sweet Dreams (1985) Everybody Wins (1990)

v t e Works by Robert Stone
Novels	A Hall of Mirrors (1966) Dog Soldiers (1974) A Flag for Sunrise (1981) Children of Light (1986) Outerbridge Reach (1992) Damascus Gate (1998) Bay of Souls (2003) Death of the Black-Haired Girl (2013)
Short story collections	Bear and His Daughter (1997) Fun with Problems (2010)
Nonfiction	Prime Green: Remembering the Sixties (2007) The Best American Short Stories 1992 (editor, 1992) The Eye You See With: Selected Nonfiction (2020)
Screenplays	WUSA (1970) Who'll Stop the Rain (1978)