Robert Altman's "H.E.A.L.T.H."

July 8, 2011 11:27 PM

HealtH (1980) [part 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10] was the film which ended Robert Altman’s relationship with Twentieth Century Fox, the studio for whom he had made M*A*S*H. ... During the editing of the film Altman’s main supporter, Alan Ladd Jr., left the studio and release was shelved. Altman distributed the film himself to the festival circuit. ... But it has never been released on VHS, DVD or BluRay and thus remains one of the least seen of Altman’s ouvre. This is unfortunate as it is a very entertaining film, even if it falls short of its ambitions as a political satire. Ronald Reagan disagreed - calling it "the world's worst movie".
posted by Trurl (18 comments total)

Dammit. Now I have to see it. It's like Popeye for adults.
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 11:35 PM on July 8, 2011

Movie criticism like that from Bonzo's co-star makes me even more interested than I already would be.

I know little about this movie except that I've always found in interesting that Altman had 2 movies released relatively close to one another with uniquely odd capitalization in their titles. ThankS for this, T*R*U*R*L.
posted by MCMikeNamara at 11:38 PM on July 8, 2011 [1 favorite]

It would be my honoured duty to watch and enjoy it considering that the source calling it 'the world's worst movie' was also the world's worst ever sidekick to a chimp.

(Sorry Nancy.)
posted by isopraxis at 12:11 AM on July 9, 2011 [2 favorites]

If Ronnie Raygun hated it, then I know I'll love it.
posted by readyfreddy at 12:53 AM on July 9, 2011 [1 favorite]

Dammit. Now I have to see it. It's like Popeye for adults.

Popeye was Popeye for adults. I've never even heard of HealtH, I hope a BluRay comes out in the future; that low resolution on youtube...sort of unwatchable.
posted by zardoz at 1:15 AM on July 9, 2011

I loved the level of zeitgeist in this film. Dick Cavett's self-parody was cruelly funny, as he played himself as an out-of-luck freelancer who'd return to his hotel room each night, only to watch Johnny Carson's show in silent, disheveled envy.

And the convoluted subplot which devolved into a literal...sorry, that would be too much of a spoiler...let's just say it was a nice way of telling the audience, "This is a movie that's not fully concerned with taking itself too seriously. So unclench already."
posted by Smart Dalek at 5:02 AM on July 9, 2011 [2 favorites]

Excuse me. I have to go make a collect obscene phone call.
posted by Obscure Reference at 6:56 AM on July 9, 2011

Reagan delivered his verdict on June 12, 1982 - a day when his thoughts might have been better devoted to a different kind of bomb.
posted by Trurl at 6:59 AM on July 9, 2011

Ronald Reagan disagreed - calling it "the world's worst movie".

I respectfully disagree, Mr. President. You must not have seen Quintet.
posted by mojohand at 7:27 AM on July 9, 2011 [5 favorites]

If Ronnie Raygun hated it, then I know I'll love it.

Counterpoint: jelly beans.
posted by penduluum at 7:54 AM on July 9, 2011 [1 favorite]

One can also apparently find the film on the usual torrenty (Arrrr...Matey!) places - FYI.
posted by Poet_Lariat at 9:11 AM on July 9, 2011

This film has an amazing! cast. Carol Burnett, James Garner, Layren Bacall and Henry Gibson (yay!).

Thanks for bringing this to my attention. I'm downloading all 10 pieces at 480p resolution now and will combine them into an mp4. Such an interesting find - thank you!
posted by Poet_Lariat at 9:41 AM on July 9, 2011

the usual torrenty places

No seeders at present. And looks like it was a pan-and-scan version anyway.

I downloaded all the YT parts in mp4 using KeepIt! and stitched them together into a ~350 MB file with Avidemux.
posted by Trurl at 9:44 AM on July 9, 2011

As much love as I have for various of his films, I've also seen Prêt-à-Porter. One might say that his output is wildly uneven. I'll allow Ronnie his due here.
posted by dhartung at 11:09 AM on July 9, 2011 [1 favorite]

I respectfully disagree, Mr. President. You must not have seen Quintet.

I respectfully disagree, Mr. mojohand. You must not have seen "Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean."
posted by charlie don't surf at 2:46 PM on July 9, 2011

I saw The WEdding after reading the new Altman Oral History. It turned out to be one of my favourite movies, and I have been looking for this for ages.
posted by PinkMoose at 2:50 PM on July 9, 2011

It's the chatter, the oddly integrated soundtrack that sounds like a busy Ohio Holiday Inn dubbed with dopey lines.

Nashville on the other hand is pure genuis.



Lady Pearl: All I remember, the next few days was us just lookin' at that TV set and seein' that great fat-bellied sheriff sayin' 'Ruby, you son of a bitch.' And Oswald. And her in her little pink suit...
posted by clavdivs at 6:03 PM on July 9, 2011

I've always found in interesting that Altman had 2 movies released relatively close to one another with uniquely odd capitalization in their titles

The film version of MASH is actually just called MASH, without the asterisks. They were used in the poster design, and adopted for the television show, but the film itself is just the caps, because, of course, it's an acronym.
posted by Astro Zombie at 6:20 PM on July 9, 2011