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Raising Arizona is a 1987 Coen Brothers comedy film starring Nicolas Cage, Holly Hunter, William Forsythe, John Goodman, Frances McDormand, and Randall "Tex" Cobb. Not a blockbuster at the time of its release, it has since achieved the status of a cult film. Typical Coen Brothers fare, the movie is replete with pseudo-symbolism, visual gags, yodeling folk music, unconventional characters, flamboyant camera work, and idiosyncratic dialogue. The movie ranked number 31 on the American Film Institute's 100 Years... 100 Laughs and number 45 on Bravo's "100 Funniest Movies". Download high resolution version (678x964, 222 KB) This is a DVD cover. ...
Joel and Ethan Coen, commonly called The Coen Brothers in the film business, are United States directors best known for their quirky comedies like Fargo and Raising Arizona; the brothers write their own scripts and alternate top billing for the screenplay. ...
Joel and Ethan Coen, commonly called The Coen Brothers in the film business, are United States directors best known for their quirky comedies like Fargo and Raising Arizona; the brothers write their own scripts and alternate top billing for the screenplay. ...
Joel and Ethan Coen, commonly called The Coen Brothers in the film business, are United States directors best known for their quirky comedies like Fargo and Raising Arizona; the brothers write their own scripts and alternate top billing for the screenplay. ...
Joel and Ethan Coen, commonly called The Coen Brothers in the film business, are United States directors best known for their quirky comedies like Fargo and Raising Arizona; the brothers write their own scripts and alternate top billing for the screenplay. ...
Nicolas Cage (born January 7, 1964) is an American Academy Award-winning actor. ...
Holly Hunter (born March 20, 1958 in Conyers, Georgia) is an Academy Award-winning American actress. ...
William Forsythe (born June 7, 1955 in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, New York) is an American actor. ...
John Stephen Goodman (born June 20, 1952) is a Golden Globe award winner and Emmy award nominated American actor. ...
Frances McDormand (born June 23, 1957) is an Academy Award-winning American film, stage, and television actress, best known for her role as Marge Gunderson in Fargo. ...
Randall Tex Cobb (born 1950) was an American prizefighter from Texas who fought champion boxer Larry Holmes for the WBC World Heavyweight title at Houstons Astrodome on November 26 of 1982. ...
Carter Burwell (born November 18, 1955, in New York) is a composer of film soundtracks. ...
American film maker Barry Sonnenfeld (born New York City, April 1, 1953) worked as cinematographer for the Coen Brothers, then later he directed and produced big budget films such as Men in Black. ...
Twentieth (20th) Century Fox Film Corporation (known from 1935 to 1985 as Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation) is one of the major American film studios. ...
March 6 is the 65th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (66th in Leap years). ...
1987 (MCMLXXXVII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ...
1987 (MCMLXXXVII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ...
Joel and Ethan Coen at Cannes 2001 Joel and Ethan Coen, commonly known as The Coen Brothers have written and directed numerous successful films, such as comedies O Brother Where Art Thou, Raising Arizona and The Big Lebowski, as well as darker film noir dramas such as Fargo, Millers...
Airplane! is considered by some critics to be one of the funniest movies of all time. ...
Nicolas Cage (born January 7, 1964) is an American Academy Award-winning actor. ...
Holly Hunter (born March 20, 1958 in Conyers, Georgia) is an Academy Award-winning American actress. ...
William Forsythe (born June 7, 1955 in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, New York) is an American actor. ...
John Stephen Goodman (born June 20, 1952) is a Golden Globe award winner and Emmy award nominated American actor. ...
Frances McDormand (born June 23, 1957) is an Academy Award-winning American film, stage, and television actress, best known for her role as Marge Gunderson in Fargo. ...
Randall Tex Cobb (born May 7, 1950 in Abilene, Texas) is an American prizefighter from Texas. ...
Blockbuster can refer to: Block Buster firework Illegal firecracker Blockbuster Fireworks, a chain of firework stands located in the Los Angeles area. ...
This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ...
Yodeling (or yodelling, jodeling) is a form of singing that involves singing an extended note which rapidly and repeatedly changes in pitch from the vocal chest register (or chest voice) to the head register (or head voice), making a high-low-high-low sound. ...
Folk music, in the original sense of the term, is music by and for the common people. ...
The American Film Institute (AFI) is an independent non-profit organization created by the National Endowment for the Arts, which was established in 1967 when President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act. ...
Part of the AFI 100 Years. ...
This article is about the U.S. cable network. ...
Plot synopsis
Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow. Arizona petty criminal Herbert "H.I." or "Hi" McDonnough (Cage) and police photographer Edwina "Ed" McDonnough (Hunter) meet after she takes the police mugshots of the recidivist Hi during his many trips through her station. They fall in love and get married, and Hi promises to reform. Official language(s) English Capital Phoenix Largest city Phoenix Area Ranked 6th - Total 113,998 sq mi (295,254 km²) - Width 310 miles (500 km) - Length 400 miles (645 km) - % water 0. ...
Al Capone. ...
Recidivism is the act of a person repeating an undesirable behavior after they have either experienced negative consequences of that behavior, or have been treated or trained to extinguish that behavior. ...
They move into a desert mobile home outside of Tempe, and Hi gets a job drilling sheet metal. After serious and ongoing attempts at procreation, Ed discovers that she is infertile. The couple cannot adopt because of Hi's criminal record. Upon learning of the birth of the "Arizona Quints", sons of locally-famous unpainted furniture magnate Nathan Arizona Sr. (Trey Wilson), Hi and Ed decide to kidnap one of the five babies. Hi successfully sneaks into the babies' room, but when he tries to steal one of them from their joint crib, the babies escape and crawl off in all different directions, and he is nearly discovered by Mrs. Arizona. Hi hurries back to the car telling Ed that it was an impossible mission. She refuses to let him into the car unless he goes back and gets a baby. He re-enters the house and abducts a promising one (T. J. Kuhn). Since there are five Arizona babies - all male - no one is entirely sure which one was actually taken, but it is assumed to be Nathan Junior. A modern double-wide manufactured home. ...
Tempe is a variant spelling for the food Tempeh. ...
Infertility is the inability to naturally conceive a child or to carry a pregnancy to full term. ...
Adoption is the legal act of permanently placing a child with a parent or parents other than the birth parents. ...
For information about actual quintuplets, see multiple birth. ...
For a wealthy or powerful business baron, executive, or tycoon, see Business magnate. ...
Hi's new family life goes well until he is visited by his former inmate chums, Gale Snoats (John Goodman) and his brother Evelle (William Forsythe), who have just tunneled their way out of prison. Under the two brothers' influence, Hi threatens to revert to his felonious ways, leading him to believe that Ed and he are not well suited for each other. Their problems are only worsened when Hi's supervisor, Glen (Sam McMurray), tries to arrange a wife swap between the two of them, and Hi assaults him. John Stephen Goodman (born June 20, 1952) is a Golden Globe award winner and Emmy award nominated American actor. ...
William Forsythe (born June 7, 1955 in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, New York) is an American actor. ...
This page meets Wikipedias criteria for speedy deletion. ...
Swinging, sometimes referred to in North America as the swinging lifestyle, is non-monogamous sexual activity, treated much like any other social activity, that can be experienced as a couple. ...
Now out of a job, Hi steals diapers from a convenience store and is sucked into a wild chase around the local neighborhood with the police, gun-toting cashiers and a pack of dogs. Ed drives off without Hi because she has had enough of his criminal ways, but finally relents and picks him up, leading to a tense ride home. This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ...
Back at the McDonnough residence, Glen stops by and reveals that he has discovered Nathan Junior's true identity and gives Hi an ultimatum: give up the baby to be raised by Glen and his wife, or Glen will turn Hi in for the reward money. He also demands that Hi pay his medical bills from Hi's previous assault. During this conversation, Gale and Evelle are eavesdropping in the background. Eavesdropping is the intercepting of conversations by unintended recipients. ...
Gale and Evelle decide to betray Hi and take Junior themselves for the reward money. Gale and Hi's ensuing fight wrecks most of Hi's mobile home before Hi is subdued and tied to a chair. Gale and Evelle leave to rob a "hayseed" bank with Junior in tow. When Ed comes home, she finds the battered and bound Hi and learns that the baby is gone. Despite their disintegrating relationship, Ed and Hi arm themselves and set out to retrieve their child together. Banker redirects here; see wiktionary:banker for more meanings. ...
Meanwhile, Nathan Arizona Sr. is approached by the menacing and heavily armed biker/bounty hunter Leonard Smalls (Randall 'Tex' Cobb) who offers to find the child for $50,000, twice the amount of the reward Nathan Sr. has posted. Even though he considers police efforts to locate his son totally inadequate, Nathan Sr. refuses to partake of Smalls' services. Smalls decides to recover the child anyway and sell him on the black market, as was done to himself when he was a baby. He begins tracking Gale and Evelle, using the scent of the brothers' hair pomade. He breaks into the deserted and trashed McDonnough mobile home, and finds a newspaper clipping concerning the targeted bank, which the brothers had shown earlier to Hi. Although the term refers to any motorcycle enthusiast, sometimes the word biker is sometimes used to mean an outlaw biker, or bikie, who is a member of a 1%er or outlaw motorcycle gang. ...
A bounty hunter is an individual who seeks out fugitives (hunting) for a monetary reward (bounty), for apprehending by law, if such laws exist. ...
Randall Tex Cobb (born 1950) was an American prizefighter from Texas who fought champion boxer Larry Holmes for the WBC World Heavyweight title at Houstons Astrodome on November 26 of 1982. ...
This does not cite its references or sources. ...
Clipping is the cutting-out of articles from a paper publication. ...
Gale and Evelle successfully rob the bank, but end up leaving Junior behind in his infant car seat. Their miseries are compounded when one of the bank's anti-theft dye canisters explodes in their loot sack, coating them and the interior of their car. Back at the bank, Smalls has arrived. Right before Ed and Hi can reclaim the baby, Smalls beats them to it, mounts Junior's car seat on the front of his bike, and turns around to fight the couple. Ed goes for the baby while Hi distracts Smalls. Hi and the evil Smalls have it out: Hi is able to fend Smalls off for a short time, but then the biker begins to methodically brutalize him. He has thrown Hi to the ground and drawn his matched pair of shotguns to finish the job, when Hi shows him that he has pulled the pin from one the many working hand grenades which dangle from Smalls' outfit. Unable to drop the guns and get rid of the grenade in time, the flatfooted Smalls is blown to pieces. One of these pieces is a set of bronzed baby shoes, which Smalls had worn on his vest; as they lie amidst the rest of the flaming debris, the viewer can hear the cries of an infant. A car seat usually refers to a small seat secured to the seat of an automobile equipped with safety harnesses to hold children in the event of a crash. ...
Motorcyclists take a break from the road A motorcycle or motorbike is a single-track, two-wheeled motor vehicle powered by an engine. ...
A pump-action and two semi-automatic action Remington 1100 shotguns, 20 boxes of shotgun shells, a clay trap, and three boxes of clay pigeons. ...
For the alcoholic beverage sold in New Orleans, see hand grenade (drink). ...
Hi and Ed sneak Nathan Jr. back into his home. As they are putting him back in his crib, Nathan Sr. confronts them, learns why they took his son, and is surprisingly understanding. When they say that they are breaking up, he advises them to not act rashly; perhaps someday medical science will catch up with them, just as it did with him and his own beloved wife. Hi and Ed go to sleep in the same bed, and Hi dreams: Gale and Evelle return themselves to prison. Nathan Jr. grows up happy and prosperous. Glen gets what's coming to him. And maybe, just maybe, Hi and Ed will remain married for many years to come, have lots of children, and live together in a better place. "Maybe it was Utah." The credits roll with a rendition of Bob Nolan's folksong Way Out There and a bluegrass version of Beethoven's 9th Symphony Ode to Joy. Bob Nolan (April 13, 1908 - June 16, 1980) was a Canadian-born singer, songwriter, and actor. ...
Bluegrass music is considered a form of American roots music which has its own roots in Irish, African and Scottish traditional music. ...
1820 portrait by Joseph Karl Stieler Beethoven redirects here. ...
To Joy (An die Freude in German, in English often familiarly called the Ode to Joy rather than To Joy) is an ode written in 1785 by the German poet and historian Friedrich Schiller, known especially for its musical setting by Ludwig van Beethoven in the fourth and final movement...
Symbolism
Connections between H.I. and Smalls There are three scenes of H.I. and Smalls that imply they are alike: - A shot where H.I. pulls a baby out from underneath the crib and a scene (shot at the same angle) where Smalls drags H.I. out from underneath a truck.
- A scene where H.I. opens Smalls' shirt, revealing the same tattoo of Mr. Horsepower as he has on his own arm.
- Smalls scoops up Nathan Jr. from the center of the road in roughly the same way that H.I. had previously picked up the diapers after the convenience store robbery.
- When H.I. pulls the pin from one of Smalls' many grenades, he apologizes "Sorry, sorry" as if he knew Smalls.
Smalls may be either a symbol of H.I.'s own evil and bad attributes, or of what baby Nathan will become if H.I. does not return him. Mr. ...
Allusions to Childbirth Gale and Evelle's escape from prison resembles the birth of twins. Gale emerges from the ground head first and Evelle comes out breech. Childbirth (also called labour, birth, partus or parturition) is the culmination of a human pregnancy with the emergence of a newborn infant from its mothers uterus. ...
Breech, by W.Smellie, 1792 A breech birth (also known as breech presentation) refers to the position of the baby in the uterus such that it will be delivered buttocks first as opposed to the normal head first position. ...
Cast Nicolas Cage (born January 7, 1964) is an American Academy Award-winning actor. ...
Holly Hunter (born March 20, 1958 in Conyers, Georgia) is an Academy Award-winning American actress. ...
John Stephen Goodman (born June 20, 1952) is a Golden Globe award winner and Emmy award nominated American actor. ...
William Forsythe (born June 7, 1955 in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, New York) is an American actor. ...
Frances McDormand (born June 23, 1957) is an Academy Award-winning American film, stage, and television actress, best known for her role as Marge Gunderson in Fargo. ...
Randall Tex Cobb (born 1950) was an American prizefighter from Texas who fought champion boxer Larry Holmes for the WBC World Heavyweight title at Houstons Astrodome on November 26 of 1982. ...
This page meets Wikipedias criteria for speedy deletion. ...
Warren Keith is a character actor who has been featured in many contemporary films and has an active career on stage in San Francisco in the late 1990s and since 2000. ...
Quotes - H.I.: I'll be taking these Huggies, and whatever cash you got.
- H.I.: The doctor explained that her insides were a rocky place, where my seed could find no purchase.
- H.I.: Now, I don't know where you come down on the incarceration question, whether it's for rehabilition or revenge. But I was beginning to think, revenge is the only argument that makes any sense.
- Glen: I said, five years?!? Healthy white baby?!? What else you got?
- Ed: (sobbing) I love him so much!!
- H.I.: I know you do, honey
- Man In Truck: Son, you got a panty on your head.
- Large Incarcerated Black Man: Sometimes I get the menstrual cramps real hard.
- H.I.: You ate sand?
- Evelle & Clerk: You got any balloons that blow up into funny shapes? | Only if you consider round funny.
- Gale to H.I.: "I know you're partial to convenience stores, but God damn it, Hi, the sun don't rise and set on the corner grocery."
Trivia Grossed $22,800,000 in the box office.
In several scenes, including when H.I. meets with the parole board, a portrait of Barry Goldwater is visible in the background. Goldwater ran for President in 1964 as a Republican and was a U.S. Senator from Arizona for many years. He is considered one of the most famous people in Arizona history. Goldwater was famously supported by Ronald Reagan; the film takes place early in Reagan's presidency, and the narrator criticizes Reagan's economic plan. Barry Morris Goldwater (January 1, 1909 – May 29, 1998[1]) was a five-term United States Senator from Arizona (1953–1965, 1969–87) and the Republican Partys nominee for President in the 1964 election. ...
President is a title held by many leaders of organizations, companies, trade unions, universities, and countries. ...
1964 (MCMLXIV) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1964 calendar). ...
The Republican Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States; the other being the Democratic Party. ...
The United States Senate is the upper house of the U.S. Congress, smaller than the United States House of Representatives. ...
Official language(s) English Capital Phoenix Largest city Phoenix Area Ranked 6th - Total 113,998 sq mi (295,254 km²) - Width 310 miles (500 km) - Length 400 miles (645 km) - % water 0. ...
Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 - June 5, 2004) was the 40th President of the United States (1981–1989) and the 33rd Governor of California (1967–1975). ...
The baby on the movie's international poster is Max Bemis, lead singer of the punk rock group Say Anything (band). His father designed the poster and used him as a model. Max Bemis is the lead singer of the indie rock band [[Say Anything [band]]]. Max suffers from the mental condition known as bipolar disorder. ...
Say Anything is an indie rock band from Los Angeles, California. ...
The police station scenes were filmed at the Tempe, Arizona police station on 5th Street next to Sun Devil Stadium on the Arizona State University campus. Location in Maricopa County and the state of Arizona Coordinates: , ) Country United States State Arizona Counties Maricopa Incorporated November 29, 1894 Government - Mayor Hugh Hallman Area - City 39. ...
Sun Devil Stadium, Frank Kush Field is located on the campus of Arizona State University in Tempe. ...
Arizona State University (ASU) is a public institution of higher education and research with campuses located in the Phoenix Metropolitan Area. ...
The family picnic where H.I. punches Glen was filmed at the Lost Dutchman State Park in Apache Junction, Arizona. Apache Junction is a city primarily in Pinal County, Arizona, USA, with a small portion in Maricopa County. ...
When H.I. McDonnough goes to work in a factory, his chatty co-worker (a cameo by M. Emmet Walsh) can be seen wearing a jumpsuit with the label, "Hudsucker Industries", which may have been an inspiration for the title of the Coen brothers' later film, The Hudsucker Proxy. M Emmet Walsh as the private detective in Blood Simple Michael Emmet Walsh (born March 22, 1935 in Ogdensburg, New York) is an American character actor who has appeared in over 100 film and television productions. ...
The Hudsucker Proxy (1994) is a screwball comedy film directed by Joel and Ethan Coen, telling a fictitious story about the invention of the hula hoop. ...
The line "you warthog from hell" comes from the Flannery O'Connor short story "Revelation", where a young lady yells at the main character "Go back to hell where you belong, you old wart hog."[citation needed] Mary Flannery OConnor (b. ...
Although Nathan Sr. frequently uses the catchphrase "Or my name ain't Nathan Arizona!", during a FBI interrogation the morning after the abduction it is revealed that he was born Nathanial Huffhines. When asked if he could "give any indication why" he said: "Yeah, would you buy furniture at a store called Unpainted Huffhines?"
After Evelle and Gale break out of prison, they clean up in a gas station restroom with "P.O.E." and "O.P.E." spraypainted on the walls, a reference to the film Dr. Strangelove, where it stood for both "Peace on Earth" and "Purity of Essence". For the hit 1987 single by Depeche Mode, see the album Music for the Masses Film poster for Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb is a 1964 satirical film directed by Stanley Kubrick. ...
Leonard Smalls shares the name of Lennie Smalls, from Of Mice and Men. Both are physically powerful men who damage things smaller and weaker then themselves, though only Leonard does so intentionally. Lennie wants to take care of rabbits, while Leonard kills one with a grenade. Of Mice and Men is a novel by John Steinbeck, first published in 1937, which tells the tragic story of George and Lennie, two displaced Anglo migrant farm workers in California during the Great Depression (1929-1939). ...
While probably not intentional, Leonard Smalls bears similarities to Surtur, a powerful fire giant(like a demon), in Norse mythology. In the Icelandic Eddas Surtur (Old Norse Surtr) is the leader of the fire giants in the south, the ruler of Muspel, the realm of fire. ...
Norse or Scandinavian mythology comprises the pre-Christian religion, beliefs and legends of the Scandinavian people, including those who settled on Iceland, where the written sources for Norse mythology were assembled. ...
The text of the second-to-last screen of credits, which shows acknowledgement of several Southwestern U.S. Native American tribes, is arranged in the shape of a large clay pottery jar, a craft piece historically made by such tribes. The term southwest, when used by itself, can refer to: Southwest, the ordinal direction halfway between south and west, the opposite of northeast The Southwest United States Southwest Airlines The Southwest Biosphere Reserve in Australia; see List of Biosphere Reserves in Australia Southwest England, principally the counties of Dorset, Somerset...
Native Americans (also Indians, Aboriginal Peoples, American Indians, First Nations, Alaskan Natives, Amerindians, or Indigenous Peoples of America) are the indigenous inhabitants of The Americas prior to the European colonization, and their modern descendants. ...
External links Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Raising Arizona |
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