Friday, July 3, 2020

Made in U.S.A.


'Two misfit best friends, Dar and Tuck, leave their dying coal-mining town with only one goal in mind, to reach sunny California and hook up with some beach babes. On the road, they meet gun-crazy outlaw Annie, and she takes over.'


Most holidays, including the Fourth of July I try to find a film, and a nude scene, to fit the holiday's theme.  This year, it's 1987's Made in U.S.A.   I had seen a few clips of the film on-line, but struggled to find a decent copy to buy, watch and make screen captures.  The film is one of many that never made the jump from VHS to DVD, so most of the clips and copies available are fairly low in quality.


After finding the film on Youtube, I decided to order a DVD transfer of the film.  I've always loved Adrian Pasdar, and loved the brief nude scene of Adrian and Christopher Penn stripping down in a laundromat.  Sadly, the quality of the DVD I purchased had about the same quality as the Youtube version, but it did inspire to continue with the piece.


Christopher Penn also co-starred in Footloose, but he went on to work fairly steadily until his death in 2006 at just 40 years old.  I always thought Penn was adorable in Footloose, especially when dancing to 'Let's Here it for the Boy.'  He certainly looks hot naked, even if we only see his butt for a split second.


Just a week or two ago, TCM actually aired the film, but sadly, it wasn't cleaned up for broadcast, and was still low quality VHS version. I did still want to feature it as it's an interesting glimpse back at the eighties.  Lori Singer segued her TV role on Fame into a brief, very brief film career.  Singer hit big with Footloose, but wasn't really ever able to equal that early success.


Adrian Padar, in one of his early film roles, was really the only star of the film to go on to sustain a career, and still appears regularly on television and in films.  In someways, the film, and it's cast, are very much a metaphor for the American Dream.  Although at the time of filming this movie, each of the three main stars were young, with hopes and dreams of bright futures in show business.  As we know however, the American Dream so seldom turns out in the way you hope and plan for.


The movie does a great job of setting up the hopelessness found in many depressed small towns, and follows the main characters on their journey to get as far away as they possibly can.  They do manage to make it out, and to the sunny beaches of California.  Thankfully, they lost Lori Singer's character, (and most of their hair) along the way.


Pasdar has two nude scenes in the film, the laundromat scene, and darkly lit brief sex scene with Lori Singer. (below)


Below: Pasdar and Penn at the laundromat.  Maybe one day there will be a hi-def version of the film.

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