Buckaroo Banzai Pin-up # 1 FRAMED John Lithgow

Description

The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension!, often shortened to Buckaroo Banzai, is a 1984 American science fiction film. It was directed and produced by W. D. Richter, and concerns the efforts of the multi-talented Dr. Buckaroo Banzai, a physicist, neurosurgeon, test pilot, and rock musician, to save the world by defeating a band of inter-dimensional aliens called Red Lectroids from Planet 10. The film is a cross between the action/adventure and sci-fi film genres and also includes elements of comedy, satire, and romance.

Banzai prepares to test his Jet Car, a modified Ford F-350 pickup truck powered by a jet engine and capable of exceeding Mach 1. The car is also equipped with a secret device called an “oscillation overthruster”, which Banzai and his associates hope will allow it to drive through solid matter. The test is a success: Banzai stuns onlookers by driving the Jet Car directly through a mountain. Emerging on the other side, Banzai finds that an alien organism has attached itself to the undercarriage.

Hearing of Banzai’s success, physicist Dr. Emilio Lizardo breaks out of the Trenton Home for the Criminally Insane, after being held there for 50 years. A flashback shows Banzai’s mentor, Dr. Hikita, was present at Lizardo’s failed overthruster experiment in 1938. Crashing half through the target wall, Lizardo had been briefly trapped in the 8th dimension where his mind was taken over by Lord John Whorfin.

For the role of Dr. Emilio Lizardo, the studio wanted to cast an unknown actor, but Mac Rauch had written the role with John Lithgow in mind. Like Weller, he was not sure about the character, but Richter convinced him by “claiming what a real feast for an actor this wonderful Jekyll and Hyde character was”, the actor said. Lithgow told an interviewer, “I have had roles where I came very close to going over the top. In Twilight Zone I almost went over the top several times. But this role is completely over the top. It makes the role in Twilight Zone seem like a model of restraint. I do it in a wild, red fright wig and rotten false teeth with a thick Italian accent. It’s wild.” For Lizardo’s accent, Lithgow spent time with an Italian tailor at MGM and recorded his voice. He changed his walk to that of an “old crab, and because my alien metabolism is supposed to be messed up”. Lithgow said of his character, “playing Lizardo felt like playing the madman in The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari”.

John Arthur Lithgow (born October 19, 1945) is an American actor, musician, and author. Lithgow has been involved with a wide range of media projects, including stage, television, film, and radio. He also has written and published several books of poetry and children’s literature. He appeared in the films The World According to Garp (1982) and Terms of Endearment (1983), receiving an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for each.

Lithgow is well known for his roles as the Reverend Shaw Moore in Footloose, Dr. Dick Solomon on the NBC sitcom 3rd Rock from the Sun, the voice of Lord Farquaad in Shrek, and Arthur Mitchell on Showtime’s Dexter, for which he won Golden Globe and Emmy awards. On the stage, he appeared in the musical adaptation of Sweet Smell of Success, winning the Tony Award for Best Leading Actor in a Musical. He again appeared in a musical, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, again receiving a Tony nomination for Best Leading Actor in a Musical. He has also recorded music, such as the 1999 album of children’s music, Singin’ in the Bathtub, and has written poetry and short stories, such as Marsupial Sue, for children.

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