{ "id": "epfn7w3z28", "slug": "alices-restaurant-1969-film", "title": "Alice's Restaurant (1969 film)", "updated": "2026-11-01", "topic_path": [ { "id": "culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture" }, { "id": "culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films", "label": "Films and standalone screen works", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works", "label": "Individual films by title and year", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.drama-biographical", "label": "Drama and biographical films (individual works)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.drama-biographical" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.drama-biographical.drama-films-1960s", "label": "Drama films 1960s", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.drama-biographical.drama-films-1960s" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.drama-biographical.drama-films-1960s.yr-1966-1969", "label": "Released 1966 to 1969", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.drama-biographical.drama-films-1960s.yr-1966-1969" } ], "geo": [ { "id": "geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.drama-biographical", "label": "United States · 1946 to 2000: Drama and biographical films (individual works)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.drama-biographical", "path": [ { "id": "geo.us", "label": "United States", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1946", "label": "United States · 1946 to 2000", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1946.culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946.culture" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1946.culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946.culture.performance" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films", "label": "Films and standalone screen works", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works", "label": "Individual films by title and year", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.drama-biographical", "label": "Drama and biographical films (individual works)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.drama-biographical" } ] } ], "excerpt": "Alice's Restaurant (1969 film): Arthur Penn comedy-drama based on Arlo Guthrie's 18-minute song \"Alice's Restaurant Massacree\"; Guthrie plays himself, $2 million budget, ~$12 million gross, Oscar-nominated direction.", "snippet": "Alice's Restaurant (1969 film): Arthur Penn comedy-drama based on Arlo Guthrie's 18-minute song \"Alice's Restaurant Massacree\"; Guthrie plays himself, $2 million budget, ~$12 million gross, Oscar-nominated direction.", "node": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.drama-biographical.drama-films-1960s.yr-1966-1969", "markdown": "# Alice's Restaurant (1969 film)\n\n**Alice's Restaurant** is a 1969 American comedy-drama directed by [Arthur Penn](https://www.edgepedia.org/arthur-penn), loosely based on [Arlo Guthrie](https://www.edgepedia.org/arlo-guthrie)'s eighteen-minute talking-blues (spoken comic song form over blues music) song \"Alice's Restaurant Massacree,\" in which Guthrie stars as himself alongside Pat Quinn, James Broderick, and the real police officer from the song's story, William Obanhein.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/23883-ALICE'S-RESTAURANT) • [2](https://variety.com/1968/film/reviews/alice-s-restaurant-1200421964/) Made for an estimated $2 million, it earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Director and a box-office gross approaching $12 million by early 1970.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/23883-ALICE'S-RESTAURANT)\n\n| Key fact | Detail |\n|---|---|\n| Release | World premiere 19 August 1969 at the Sack Cheri I cinema, Boston; US release 20 August 1969[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/23883-ALICE'S-RESTAURANT) |\n| Director and writers | Arthur Penn, with Venable Herndon; Penn's first and only credit as a screenwriter[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/23883-ALICE'S-RESTAURANT) • [3](https://harvardfilmarchive.org/calendar/alices-restaurant-2008-02) |\n| Source | Guthrie's 1967 recording \"The Alice's Restaurant Massacree,\" 18 minutes 20 seconds long, which sold nearly one million copies by spring 1969[2](https://variety.com/1968/film/reviews/alice-s-restaurant-1200421964/) • [1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/23883-ALICE'S-RESTAURANT) |\n| Cast | Arlo Guthrie as himself; Pat Quinn as Alice Brock; James Broderick as Ray Brock; police chief William Obanhein as himself[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/23883-ALICE'S-RESTAURANT) |\n| Budget and gross | Estimated $2 million cost; gross nearing $12 million by 6 January 1970[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/23883-ALICE'S-RESTAURANT) |\n| Awards | Academy Award nomination for Best Director (Arthur Penn)[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/23883-ALICE'S-RESTAURANT) • [2](https://variety.com/1968/film/reviews/alice-s-restaurant-1200421964/) |\n| Rating history | Rated R at release; re-rated GP by the MPAA on 14 October 1970 after United Artists appeals[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/23883-ALICE'S-RESTAURANT) |\n\n## Spoilers\n\n### Plot\n\nThe film follows Alice and her husband Ray, who transform a deconsecrated church into a restaurant and a quasi-commune for estranged youth, a setting rooted in the counterculture and societal-rejection themes of the late 1960s.[4](https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/film/alices-restaurant-film/) Guthrie, playing a musician who joins the community, runs afoul of the law and then of the draft board, where his criminal record for illegal dumping becomes the obstacle that keeps him out of Army service; the draft experience stands in the film for the consequences of societal norms.[4](https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/film/alices-restaurant-film/) Variety described the source recording as one in which Guthrie \"limned some of his real-life experiences,\" and the film expands well beyond the song's episodes into a 111-minute feature.[2](https://variety.com/1968/film/reviews/alice-s-restaurant-1200421964/)\n\n## Background: the song and the true story\n\nIn 1967 Guthrie released \"Alice's Restaurant Massacree,\" an eighteen-minute, twenty-second spoken ballad recounting episodes from his own life in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, including a criminal record for illegal dumping that later kept him out of the Vietnam-era draft.[2](https://variety.com/1968/film/reviews/alice-s-restaurant-1200421964/) • [4](https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/film/alices-restaurant-film/) The record circulated widely on free-speech \"underground\" radio, where the Library of Congress's National Recording Preservation Board notes that listeners were \"completely enchanted\" by it, and it had sold nearly one million copies by spring 1969.[5](https://www.loc.gov/static/programs/national-recording-preservation-board/documents/AlicesRestaurant.pdf) • [1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/23883-ALICE'S-RESTAURANT)\n\nThe film drew on Guthrie's semi-autobiographical experiences living in Stockbridge, and Penn, a Stockbridge resident, knew the real restaurant and its proprietors, Alice and Ray Brock.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/23883-ALICE'S-RESTAURANT) On 17 March 1968, *The New York Times* announced that producer Hillard Elkins and Penn had obtained the screen rights to the song.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/23883-ALICE'S-RESTAURANT) By the time production began, Alice and Ray Brock were finalizing their divorce.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/23883-ALICE'S-RESTAURANT)\n\n## Cast and production\n\n**Casting from life.** Guthrie was cast as himself, and police chief William Obanhein, the officer from the song's story, made his only feature film appearance in the film. The screen roles of \"Alice Brock\" and \"Ray Brock\" went to the professional actors Pat Quinn and [James Broderick](https://www.edgepedia.org/james-broderick), while the real [Alice Brock](https://www.edgepedia.org/alice-brock) appeared in the smaller role of \"Suzy.\" The film marked the feature acting debuts of both Guthrie and Quinn.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/23883-ALICE'S-RESTAURANT) The cast also included Michael McClanathan, Geoff Outlaw, Tina Chen, and the folk singer [Pete Seeger](https://www.edgepedia.org/pete-seeger).[2](https://variety.com/1968/film/reviews/alice-s-restaurant-1200421964/) • [6](https://www.bfi.org.uk/film/d55b58bf-5e3f-5d58-9979-b47edd2c7814/alices-restaurant)\n\n**Shooting.** Filming began on 1 October 1968 in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. Other Massachusetts work took place in Pittsfield, where an old paper factory was converted into a studio, and the twelve-week schedule concluded with a final week in New York City, on the [Lower East Side](https://www.edgepedia.org/lower-east-side) in Manhattan and in a sequence at Washington Square Park.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/23883-ALICE'S-RESTAURANT)\n\n**Crew and music.** The production was a [United Artists](https://www.edgepedia.org/united-artists)/Florin picture, written by Venable Herndon and Arthur Penn, photographed by Michael Nebbia, and edited by Dede Allen; the music was by Guthrie, with Garry Sherman supervising and Fred Hellerman directing.[2](https://variety.com/1968/film/reviews/alice-s-restaurant-1200421964/) For Penn, coming off *Bonnie and Clyde* (1967), the film was his first and only credit as a screenwriter.[3](https://harvardfilmarchive.org/calendar/alices-restaurant-2008-02)\n\n**Tie-ins.** Elkins helped establish an [Alice's Restaurant](https://www.edgepedia.org/alices-restaurant) restaurant franchise as a promotional tie-in, and [Random House](https://www.edgepedia.org/random-house) published *The Alice's Restaurant Cookbook* in 1969.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/23883-ALICE'S-RESTAURANT)\n\n## Release and reception\n\nA world premiere was scheduled for 19 August 1969 at the Sack Cheri I cinema in Boston, ahead of the 20 August release.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/23883-ALICE'S-RESTAURANT) The Motion Picture Association rated the film R; United Artists appealed the rating at least twice, and on 14 October 1970 *Variety* announced that the MPAA had re-rated it GP (parental guidance suggested).[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/23883-ALICE'S-RESTAURANT)\n\nContemporary critics split. Roger Ebert called the film \"good work in a minor key,\" writing that it \"isn't a great film, but you never get the feeling that it wanted to be,\" and praising Penn's effort to portray \"a life style rather than a plot with characters in it.\" He found Guthrie's camera presence so natural that it contrasted with the tightness of professional actors, especially James Broderick as Ray, and judged the film faithful to the spirit of Guthrie's original recording.[7](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/alices-restaurant-1969) *Variety* was harsher, calling the whole \"a rather weird collection of episodes loosely strung together\" and judging Guthrie's performance \"of the uncertain type,\" while conceding that some of the acting was very good.[2](https://variety.com/1968/film/reviews/alice-s-restaurant-1200421964/) Following largely positive reviews, Penn received the film's Academy Award nomination, for Directing.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/23883-ALICE'S-RESTAURANT)\n\n## By the numbers\n\n| Measure | Value |\n|---|---|\n| Running time | 111 minutes[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/23883-ALICE'S-RESTAURANT) • [3](https://harvardfilmarchive.org/calendar/alices-restaurant-2008-02) |\n| Estimated budget | $2 million[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/23883-ALICE'S-RESTAURANT) |\n| Box-office gross | Nearing $12 million by 6 January 1970[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/23883-ALICE'S-RESTAURANT) |\n| Source record sales | Nearly one million copies by spring 1969[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/23883-ALICE'S-RESTAURANT) |\n| Source record length | 18 minutes 20 seconds[2](https://variety.com/1968/film/reviews/alice-s-restaurant-1200421964/) |\n| Academy Award nominations | 1 (Best Director)[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/23883-ALICE'S-RESTAURANT) |\n\n## How it compares with its contemporaries\n\nThe film belongs to the counterculture-era cinema of 1967 to 1970 alongside [Mike Nichols](https://www.edgepedia.org/mike-nichols)'s *The Graduate* (1967), [Dennis Hopper](https://www.edgepedia.org/dennis-hopper)'s *Easy Rider* (1969), and Bob Rafelson's *Five Easy Pieces* (1970).[4](https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/film/alices-restaurant-film/) Where *Easy Rider* explores a more violent juxtaposition of the mainstream and the counterculture, *Alice's Restaurant* takes a gentler route: La Cinémathèque française reads it as an acerbic critique of conscription for the [Vietnam War](https://www.edgepedia.org/vietnam-war) and an ode to the hippie movement, with Guthrie interpreting his own role as a musician joining a community in a deconsecrated church.[4](https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/film/alices-restaurant-film/) • [8](https://www.cinematheque.fr/film/55621.html) Ebert was reminded of the gentler scenes in *Bonnie and Clyde*, such as the one in the Okie camp, and the time in the gas station when they meet C. W. Moss.[7](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/alices-restaurant-1969)\n\n## Legacy\n\nRetrospective program notes have framed the film as a lament for the end of the countercultural \"revolution,\" with Guthrie starring as a wandering soul perplexed by the contradictions of Vietnam-era America and ultimately engaged in a peaceful one-man battle against the bureaucratic war machine.[3](https://harvardfilmarchive.org/calendar/alices-restaurant-2008-02) The film remains a distinctive entry in Penn's career, the only one on which he took a screenwriting credit.[3](https://harvardfilmarchive.org/calendar/alices-restaurant-2008-02)\n\n## References\n\n1. [Alice's Restaurant, AFI Catalog of Feature Films](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/23883-ALICE'S-RESTAURANT)\n2. [Alice's Restaurant review, Variety (1968/1969)](https://variety.com/1968/film/reviews/alice-s-restaurant-1200421964/)\n3. [Alice's Restaurant, Harvard Film Archive program note](https://harvardfilmarchive.org/calendar/alices-restaurant-2008-02)\n4. [Alice's Restaurant (film), EBSCO Research Starters](https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/film/alices-restaurant-film/)\n5. [Alice's Restaurant Massacree, Library of Congress National Recording Preservation Board](https://www.loc.gov/static/programs/national-recording-preservation-board/documents/AlicesRestaurant.pdf)\n6. [Alice's Restaurant (1969), BFI](https://www.bfi.org.uk/film/d55b58bf-5e3f-5d58-9979-b47edd2c7814/alices-restaurant)\n7. [Alice's Restaurant (1969) review, Roger Ebert](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/alices-restaurant-1969)\n8. [Alice's Restaurant (Arthur Penn, 1969), La Cinémathèque française](https://www.cinematheque.fr/film/55621.html)\n\n---\n*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Drama and biographical films (individual works) › Drama films 1960s › Released 1966 to 1969*\n\n*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*\n\n*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*\n\nLicense: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license\n", "same_as": [], "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/alices-restaurant-1969-film", "markdown_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/alices-restaurant-1969-film.md", "license": { "name": "Edgepedia Community License 1.0", "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license", "summary": "Free with credit, commercial use included. AI training is open to everyone. For other uses, organizations over USD 100M in revenue or 100M monthly users license separately.", "spdx": "LicenseRef-Edgepedia-Community-1.0" }, "credit": "\"Alice's Restaurant (1969 film)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/alices-restaurant-1969-film. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "credit_md": "\"[Alice's Restaurant (1969 film)](https://www.edgepedia.org/alices-restaurant-1969-film)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), [https://www.edgepedia.org/alices-restaurant-1969-film](https://www.edgepedia.org/alices-restaurant-1969-film). [Edgepedia Community License 1.0](https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license).", "credit_html": "\"Alice's Restaurant (1969 film)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/alices-restaurant-1969-film. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "speakable": "Alice's Restaurant: Arthur Penn comedy-drama based on Arlo Guthrie's 18-minute song \"Alice's Restaurant Massacree\"; Guthrie plays himself, $2 million budget, ~$12 million gross, Oscar-nominated direction." }