User Reviews

The title refers to the fishing area of Monterey, California, known as Cannery Row from the large number of canning factories situated there, but these are the depression years of the 1930s; the fishing industry has been badly hit and the canneries are empty and derelict. Although the film is based upon the writings of John Steinbeck, author of "The Grapes of Wrath", this is not a social-realist study of working-class poverty but a romantic comedy about the relationship between Doc, a marine biologist, and Suzy, a prostitute. Suzy does not appear in Steinbeck's book "Cannery Row", but the film is based both upon that novel and its sequel "Sweet Thursday".

Both main characters have complicated life histories. Doc was originally a professional baseball player, but quit the sport after an opponent was hit and seriously injured by a ball thrown by him. He has taken up a scientific career despite having no formal academic qualifications; "Doc" is nickname bestowed on him by the people of the town. Suzy is an unemployed drifter who has drifted into prostitution almost by accident. She applies for a job as a waitress at the so-called Bear Flag Restaurant, and does not withdraw her application even when she is told that the establishment is in fact a brothel rather than a restaurant in the strict sense of the world. Their romance is aided and abetted by the down-and-outs of Cannery Row and the other girls of the Bear Flag under the leadership of their madam, the oddly-named Fauna. (Well, if girls can be called Flora, why not Fauna?) Odd names are something of a feature of the film; "Joseph and Mary" refers to a single individual (male) rather than two separate people, and another male character has the distinctly feminine name of Hazel.

I would not agree with the reviewer who stated that this is among the best film adaptations of Steinbeck's novels. Steinbeck's writing has inspired some excellent films, most notably John Ford's "The Grapes of Wrath" and Elia Kazan's "East of Eden" with James Dean, but also "The Moon is Down", Hitchcock's "Lifeboat" and the 1992 version of "Of Mice and Men". (I have not seen the 1939 version of that story). "Cannery Row", however, is not quite in the same class, although it certainly has some virtues. It is well photographed- director David S Ward succeeds in making a derelict industrial area look attractive, even at times beautiful. There is a melancholy jazz score in keeping with the mood of the film and its period setting. There a number of amusing scenes such as the great frog hunt (Doc, who needs frogs for his research, has offered the boys a bounty for each one they catch) and the one where Fauna and his fellow bums try to persuade the simple-minded Hazel that he has been chosen by destiny to be the President of the United States. (He is horrified by the idea- "A thing like this could ruin my whole life!") Nick Nolte is good as Doc, but I was less impressed by Debra Winger as Suzy. Winger was a last-minute replacement for Raquel Welch, who was sacked from the film without notice and without any good reason being given. She successfully sued the producers for breach of contract, but I am not sure that Raquel would have been the right choice for the role. Any girl who goes into a job interview hoping to become a waitress and who leaves it having become a hooker, without caring, is clearly in desperate straits, not far from rock bottom. Raquel Welch, still stunningly beautiful in her early forties, might have made Suzy too glamorous. Debra Winger avoided that trap, but at times seemed too feisty and strong-willed to persuade me that this was a woman who had plumbed the depths of desperation.

Steinbeck's portrayals of poverty can be grim, especially in "The Grapes of Wrath", but "Cannery Row" is among his lighter works, and the film is surprisingly cheerful in tone when one considers that it is set in a depression-hit industrial wasteland and that its characters are mostly bums and hookers. This is a world where even dereliction has its own beauty, where every hooker is a tart with a heart of gold (to use a well-worn cliché) and the bums are all lovable rogues. (In some cases their lovability is more to the fore than their roguishness). The result is a rather sanitised, sentimentalised account of the Great Depression, but it generally makes for an amiable and watchable romantic comedy. 6/10

Earlier this year, I saw a production of the rather obscure Rodgers and Hammerstein musical "Pipe Dream" at the New York City Center. The musical failed simply because of a lack of storyline (in spite of a lovely score) and this film version of the same story has the same issue. The lives of these residents of a small California coastal town (where life surrounds a brothel) are presented in a sweet manor with a series of minor conflicts but no real glue holding them together. The performances are all admirable, with Debra Winger a definite future star and Nick Nolte excellent in the leads. Audra Lindley stands out as the bohemian madame, red hair flowing as if she was Mrs. Roper's fun-loving grandmother. Equally memorable is the powerful narration by the legendary John Houston. His diction is so heart-felt that it doesn't matter that you don't see him-you really FEEL him. Add to this some masterful photography and wonderful period music, and you have a nice film that sadly misses the mark of being a great movie.