Rotten Tomatoes
Cancel Movies Tv shows FanStore News Showtimes

Chu Chu and the Philly Flash

Play trailer Poster for Chu Chu and the Philly Flash PG 1981 1h 40m Comedy Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
Tomatometer 0 Reviews Popcornmeter Fewer than 50 Ratings
Flash (Alan Arkin) was once a major league pitcher at the top of his form. Then he started drinking. Though he's now homeless, he suddenly gets a chance to play minor league ball in Minnesota, but he has to pay his way there. He takes to selling watches on the street, where he meets Emily (Carol Burnett), a music teacher of little talent who does a flamboyant busking routine for extra cash. Together, they discover a suitcase full of classified documents and try to make some money from it.

Audience Reviews

View All (3) audience reviews
Doge G Es una película con buenos actores, pero que es poco divertida, tiene algunas cosas decentes como la música y la escena del carro de hot dogs, pero eso no es suficiente para ser una buena película. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 08/26/23 Full Review Audience Member http://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9B00E6DF1E38F93AA1575BC0A967948260 Janet Maslin review from 1981 Movie Review Chu Chu and the Philly Flash (1981) 'PHILLY FLASH,' A BURNETT-ARKIN ROMP By Janet Maslin Published: August 29, 1981 Considering the caliber of its leading players, ''Chu Chu and the Philly Flash'' is an amazingly charmless movie. Alan Arkin and Carol Burnett might be expected to generate some interest by virtue of their mere presence in the film, but they are teamed up for a painfully contrived tale, playing lovable losers who aren't lovable at all. Flash (Mr. Arkin) is a dim-witted derelict graced with childlike innocence, and Emily (Miss Burnett) gets to wear bananas in her ears, so the roles are not without their appealing sides. But the movie itself is almost entirely flat. Emily, a dancing instructor about to be evicted from her fleabag apartment, meets Flash in the street, where he is peddling broken watches and she is performing as Chu Chu, the One Man Latin Band. A briefcase full of secret government documents drops out a window, and an intrigue plot is born. So is an unlikely partnership, which allows these two floundering souls to find each other amid all the gloom and grime that make up their world. Like everyone else in the movie, Emily and Flash are dirty, ragged and down on their luck, but somehow indomitable all the same. The screenplay, by Barbara Dana, flings together a whole host of zanies and crazies, who are united mostly by the cheerful resignation with which they accept their miserable circumstances. Jack Warden plays a skid-row entrepreneur who sells the bums window-washing fluid so they can do business with passing cars, and who grandly hands out ''a nice cheese sandwich'' to everyone but Mr. Arkin. Ruth Buzzi is one of his feeble-minded, ever-smiling assistants, living with him on the rag-tag barge that typifies the movie's aggressively offbeat sets. A lot of energy has gone into making ''Chu Chu and the Philly Flash'' an elaborate production, but not much of that energy is warranted. The movie opened yesterday at the Criterion and other theaters. Miss Burnett's wardrobe, by Bob Mackie, is the funniest thing in the movie. As Chu Chu, she wears an outfit seemingly made from ingredients found at thrift shops and vegetable stands, including a very becoming pineapple atop her head. As Emily going incognito, she appears in a purple vinyl raincoat, skintight red dress, black beret and white sunglasses with wings on the frames. Her role is so poorly defined that she is often upstaged by her costumes. Mr. Arkin, who turns up in a variety of dirt-hued getups, has much the same problem. ''Chu Chu and the Philly Flash'' is rated PG (''Parental Guidance Suggested''). It contains a very little strong language. Janet Maslin The Cast CHU CHU AND THE PHILLY FLASH, directed by David Lowell Rich; screenplay by Barbara Dana; story by Henry Barrow; director of photography, Victor J. Kemper; edited by Ar- gyle Nelson; music by Pete Rugolo; produced by Jay Weston; released by Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation. At the Criterion, Broadway and 45th Street; Gotham Cinema, Third Avenue and 58th Street, and other theaters. Running time: 98 minutes. This film is rated PG. Flash . . . . . Alan Arkin Emily . . . . . Carol Burnett The Commander . . . . . Jack Warden Johnson . . . . . Danny Aiello Charlie . . . . . Adam Arkin Morgan . . . . . Danny Glover Vince . . . . . Sid Haig B.J. . . . . . Vincent Schiavelli Consuelo . . . . . Ruth Buzzi Vittorio . . . . . Vito Scotti Landlord . . . . . Lou Jacobi Betty . . . . . Barbara Dana Harry . . . . . Scott Beach Clem . . . . . Geoff Hoyle Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars 01/27/23 Full Review Audience Member Fantastic! Carol Burnett cannot be beaten! Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/25/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Chu Chu and the Philly Flash

My Rating

Read More Read Less POST RATING WRITE A REVIEW EDIT REVIEW

Cast & Crew

Movie Info

Synopsis Flash (Alan Arkin) was once a major league pitcher at the top of his form. Then he started drinking. Though he's now homeless, he suddenly gets a chance to play minor league ball in Minnesota, but he has to pay his way there. He takes to selling watches on the street, where he meets Emily (Carol Burnett), a music teacher of little talent who does a flamboyant busking routine for extra cash. Together, they discover a suitcase full of classified documents and try to make some money from it.
Director
David Lowell Rich
Producer
Jay Weston
Rating
PG
Genre
Comedy
Original Language
English
Runtime
1h 40m