Great Lost Movies of the '70s (An Occasional Series)
posted June 4, 2009 5:30 AM
Well, maybe lost isn't exactly the right word. But there's no question that director Joan Micklin Silver's 1977 should-be classic Between the Lines is definitely missing in action.
Seriously, this is a fabulously entertaining flick and it's baffling that it isn't better known. In the mega sense, it's the story of a struggling "underground" Boston weekly newspaper and the romantic entaglements of the various idealists and cynics who work there. Not surprisingly, it's also about the death of the 60s counter-culture (which is actually a sort of running gag, as you'll see), but it's also a terrific almost screwball comedy and as sharply observed a time capsule of a certain liberal intellectual milieu on the cusp of the Reagan Era to come as you're ever likely to see.
And dig the cast (all frighteningly young at the time) -- John Heard, Stephen Collins, Lindsay Crouse, a pre-LA Law Jill Eikenberry (as the cutest hippie receptionist ever), Michael J, Pollard, Joe Morton, a pre-Taxi Marilu Henner (as a stripper -- she's briefly topless, kids!), the late great Bruno Kirby (as a dweeb who turns out to be the only real journalist in the bunch), the late great Lane Smith (as a Rupert Murdoch-esque presslord/scumbag who takes over the paper), Jeff Goldblum (as a perpetually stoned and broke rock critic), and Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes (playing Sam Cooke's "Having a Party" onstage).
Here's a fairly representative clip to give you an idea of the ensemble feel of the thing.
Goldblum's my favorite character, for obvious reasons, and the film is worth seeing if for no other reason than the hilarious scene where he's giving a lecture/speedfreak rap on rock journalism to a group of B.U. coeds he's also hitting on. ("Everybody says rock-and-roll is here to stay, but they don't say where. Certainly not at my house -- I don't have the room!")
In any case, there's no DVD of the film anywhere that I can find, and if it was ever on VHS, Amazon hasn't got a used copy. I'm not overstating when I say this is a minor cultural tragedy; if it ever shows up on cable, program your DVR and pounce.
5 Comments
Leave a comment

Steve Simels has written about music and movies for Sound and Vision magazine (formerly Stereo Review) since the early 70s. He has also contributed to Entertainment Weekly, TV Guide and the Wall Street Journal. He’s the author of “Gender Chameleons: Androgyny in Rock n Roll” (Arbor House, 1985), and blogs at PowerPop.blogspot.com. His ambition in life is to play the Leslie Howard role in a remake of “Petrified Forest.”

Great Lost Films of the 70s: A Room With a View
Great Lost Films of the 60s: An Unexamined Life
Weekend Cinema Listomania (Special A Life Less Ordinary Edition)
Thursday Shameless Star Wars Filler
Great Moments in What Were They Thinking? (An Occasional Series)
How Bad Could It Be?: Future Shlock
If It's Monday, It Must Be Shameless Filler: Great Lost Babes of the 40s
Back to the Future: The Final Chapter
How Bad Could It Be?: Pants on Fire
The Last Avatar: Special Flogging a Deceased Equine Edition
If It's Monday, It Must Be Shameless Filler: Danish Pastry Edition
Weekend Cinema Listomania (Special Feels Like the First Time! Edition)
I Was a Teenage Avatar: My Last Word On the Subject (Seriously. I Promise.)

Cousin Kevin said:
I liked this movie a lot too. And if memory serves, Southside Johnny isn't the only surprisingly cool music in it -- I believe Graham Parker's "Heat Treatment" figures prominently at some point.
June 4, 2009 5:41 AM
Gummo said:
"Marilu Henner (as a stripper -- she's briefly topless, kids!)"
I'm sold.
June 4, 2009 6:43 AM
Gwen De Marco said:
None on eBay, either ... odd, especially considering the cast!
June 4, 2009 8:03 AM
Steve Simels said:
I'm trying to track down Silver to see if there's a reason for this...
June 4, 2009 9:36 AM
bill buckner said:
Ah, I have a soft spot for this movie - IIRC, it has some great footage of the old Harvard Square before it was turned into a theme park. Wish I had a copy...
June 7, 2009 7:53 PM