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One of the most satisying movie experiences, for viewers
along with the actors too, is when the cast seems to be
having as genuinely wild a time as you are, way beyond just
a job, in playing off one another in the film. And if they're
a bunch of rambunctious male characters, as in The Golden
Boys, the exhilaration of guy bonding for the cameras is
more than apparent, even when barking ferociously at one
another in negative male bonding and unbonding mode.***
A splendid early 20th century post-seafaring comedy,
The Golden Boys flirts with that highly unpredictable emotional
juncture between buddy love and the urge to mate with the
opposite sex. And the sheer delight of this salty elder
boy talk outing, characterized by lifelong fierce courage
on the high seas but acute commitment panic when females
are in the vicinity, is how creatively goofy this collection
of confirmed and born-again bachelors can be when fleeing
romance.***
Written and directed by Daniel Adams and based on the
Joseph C. Lincoln novel, Cap'n Eri, The Golden Boys is a
flaky antique of a tall tale about three retired Cape Cod
sailors - Captain Zeb (David Carradine) Captain Jerry (Rip
Torn) and Captain Perez (Bruce Dern)- who have settled as
reluctant roomies in a supremely disorderly house. Literally
fed up with one another's cooking, from 'bad goose' to clam
fritters that even the cat won't eat, and with everyone
refusing to do the dishes, the clever old coots conspire
to place a want ad for a wife to do all the clean-up. One
wife, that is - since they're all so averse to the notion
of marriage - and with the other two signing on as boarders.***
With this peculiar aim in mind - marriage to make,
not a woman but other men happy - they toss coins to pick
the unfortunate prospective groom. And when no nonsense
widow Martha (Mariel Hemingway) turns up after answering
the ad, the trio is, well, pretty much lost at sea as to
who can run fastest in the opposite direction. At the same
time, the town is up in arms about a liquor enterpreneur
interloper, and this weaker sidebar plot materializes around
a rum arsonist crime caper.***
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