O.C. and Stiggs

O.C. and Stiggs is a 1987 American teen comedy film directed by Robert Altman, based on two characters that were originally featured in a series of stories published in National Lampoon magazine.[2] The film stars Daniel H. Jenkins and Neill Barry as the title characters. Other members of the cast include Paul Dooley, Jane Curtin, Martin Mull, Dennis Hopper, Ray Walston, Louis Nye, Melvin Van Peebles, Tina Louise, Cynthia Nixon, Jon Cryer and Bob Uecker.

O.C. and Stiggs
Directed byRobert Altman
Screenplay byDonald Cantrell
Ted Mann
Story byTod Carroll
Ted Mann
Produced byRobert Altman
Peter Newman
Starring
CinematographyPierre Mignot
Edited byElizabeth Kling
Music byKing Sunny Adé
Production
companies
Lewis Allen/Peter Newman Productions
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Distributed byMGM/UA Communications Co.
Release date
  • July 10, 1987 (1987-07-10)
Running time
109 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$7,000,000 (est.)[1]
Box office$29,815[1]

The film, a raunchy teen comedy described by the British Film Institute as "probably Altman's least successful film", was shot in 1983, but not released until long after post-production was completed (copyrighted in 1985). MGM shelved it for a couple of years, finally giving it a limited theatrical release in 1987 and 1988.

Plot

Oliver Cromwell Oglivie (also known as "O.C.") and Mark Stiggs are two ne'er-do-well, middle-class Phoenix, Arizona high school students. Disgusted with what they see as an omnipresent culture of vulgar and vapid suburban consumerism, they spend their days slacking off and committing pranks and outright crimes victimizing their nemeses, the Schwab family. The patriarch of the Schwab family, Randall Schwab, is a wealthy regional insurance salesman responsible for the involuntary commitment of O.C.'s mother into a group home. An extreme social conservative, Randall is blinded by greed, ideology, and plain stupidity to his wife Elinore's chronic alcoholism, his daughter Lenore's complicated love for business associate Frankie Tang, and the stunted emotional maturation of his son Randall Jr.

The majority of the film is presented as a frame story, narrated by O.C. and Stiggs to President of Gabon Omar Bongo. In it, they loosely retell the story of their ultimate revenge against the Schwab clan, which they had to accomplish before the summer's end forced O.C.'s grandfather to relinquish custody of O.C. to out-of-state relatives. O.C. and Stiggs' first major plan is to ruin Lenore and Frankie's wedding. They acquire an Uzi from deranged Vietnam veteran Sponson and modify a barely-functioning Studebaker Champion into an irregular, hydraulically-suspended car they call the "Gila Monster." Crashing the wedding, they convince Randall Jr. to fire the gun wildly into the wedding presents, cake, and a chandelier. Stiggs strikes up a romantic friendship with fellow high school student Michelle.

O.C. and Stiggs' next plot involves the participation of African pop band King Sunny Adé and His African Beats; the two, along with their friend Barney, raft and walk their way to a Mexican fiesta, where they hire Adé (and also find the time to terrorize their drama teacher Garth for his homosexuality). Exhausted by his relentless commitment to juvenile pranks and stunts, Michelle stops seeing Stiggs. Later, O.C. and Stiggs connect with women's clothing magnate Pat Colletti, to whom they give marketing advice for his latest slumping fashion line. After finding their friend and drinking buddy Wino Bob (who had participated in other pranks targeting the Schwabs) dead, the two resolve to avenge the Schwabs' supposed abuse of the man. They sabotage a kitschy dinner theater performance (directed by Garth) which the Schwabs are attending by substituting Adé's band for the performers. The Schwabs convulse in horror at the unfamiliar music, which is otherwise warmly received.

O.C. and Stiggs finally launch their master plan of revenge against the Schwabs. They infiltrate the Schwab family home while the Schwabs are away and turn it into a homeless shelter. In the process, they also discover an elaborate doomsday bunker under the house, filled with guns, fireworks, and videotapes featuring the political messages of ultraconservative politician Hal Phillip Walker. When the Schwabs return, chaos breaks out as O.C. and Stiggs engage in an underground gunfight with Randall. They are saved by Sponson, who rescues them by helicopter, grabbing Randall and dropping him in a lake in the process. Stiggs is happily reunited with Michelle, and the two retire to her bedroom.

At the end of the summer, Colletti informs O.C. and Stiggs that his fashion line has become wildly successful and pays them the first in a series of large royalty checks, which the two use to hire a 24-hour nurse for O.C.'s grandfather (allowing O.C. to remain in Phoenix). O.C. and Stiggs drive the Gila Monster triumphantly through the streets of suburban Phoenix.

Cast

Crew
  • A Lewis Allen/Peter Newman Production
  • Executive Producer: Lewis M. Allen
  • Editor: Elizabeth Kling
  • Art Director: David Gropman
  • Production Designer: Scott Bushnell
  • Director of Photography: Pierre Mignot
  • Based on a Story by: Tod Carroll & Ted Mann
  • Screenplay by: Donald Cantrell & Ted Mann
  • Produced by: Robert Altman and Peter Newman
  • Directed by: Robert Altman
  • Based on a story from: National Lampoon Magazine
  • Associate Producer: Scott Bushnell
  • Production Manager: Allan Nicholls
  • First Assistant Directors: Stephen P. Dunn, Paula Mazur
  • Second Assistant Director: Ned Dowd
  • Artistic Consultant: Stephen Altman
  • Set Decorator: John Hay
  • Wardrobe Supervisor: Kirstine Flones-Czeki
  • Hairdresser: Victor DeNicola, Jr.
  • Makeup: David Craig Forrest
  • Special Effects: Alan Hall/Movie Mechanics

Uncredited songs
  • "Mo Ti Mo" (opening title and concert scene)
    "O.C. and Stiggs" (ending title, unreleased as LP)
    by King Sunny Adé and his African Beats

Production

The movie's plot was very loosely based on stories from National Lampoon magazine that were written by Ted Mann and Tod Carroll. O.C. and Stiggs were recurring characters in articles in the magazine, eventually leading up to the entire October 1982 issue being devoted to a fictional first-person account of the story of their summer, "The Utterly Monstrous Mind-Roasting Summer of O.C. and Stiggs". The plotline and main characters of the movie were significantly different from the National Lampoon stories they were based on. Most notably, the original magazine characters were destructive, malevolent teenagers, whereas the main characters of the movie were not inherently destructive, and significant portions of the magazine story were omitted from the movie.

Aftermath

In an interview years later, included on the DVD release of Tanner '88, Altman acknowledges that the film didn't work but is quick to defend the cast, which included Tanner star Cynthia Nixon, saying it was "not their fault."

Reception

The film received generally lackluster reviews.[3]

Alan Moore's comic characters D.R. and Quinch are a science fiction take on the magazine's O.C. and Stiggs characters.[4]

References
  1. O.C. and Stiggs at Box Office Mojo
  2. Maslin, Janet (March 18, 1988). "O C Stiggs (1985) Review/Film; A Look at High School In 'O.C. and Stiggs'".
  3. Rotten Tomatoes
  4. Parkin, Lance (2013). Magic Words: The Extraordinary Life of Alan Moore. London: Aurum Press Ltd. p. 156. ISBN 9781781310779.
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