Come Back to the 5 & Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean

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This special limited edition J-card MediaBook slipcase (designed by Michael DeForge) is limited to 3,000 units and is only available on our website and at select indie retailers. Absolutely no major retailers will be stocking them. (Note: this Limited Edition includes a 40 page booklet)

Note: this release is available to be purchased on its own, or bundled with the paperback book Come Back to the 5 & Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean by Ed Graczyk (book details can be seen below). This Limited Edition Slipcase + Paperback Book bundle is limited to 100 units. (Sold Out)

Taking its name from the Lumière Brothers invention of the same name, Cinématographe is a new sub-label from Vinegar Syndrome that seeks to fill gaps in the canon of American cinema. Offering a mix of auteur driven studio films produced during the New Hollywood era of the late 1960s and 70s all the way through the indie boom of the 1980s and 90s, Cinématographe will explore the wide breadth of American moviemaking, spanning numerous genres and scales of production. Curated and produced by Vinegar Syndrome's Justin LaLiberty, each limited edition release will be housed in a specially designed, cloth-bound, media book with embossed foil titles and custom molded disc trays accompanied by a slipcase featuring newly commissioned art and an individually numbered J-card.

The Disciples of James Dean, a small town James Dean fan club, planned to meet at the Woolworth’s five and dime store in McCarthy, Texas on the twentieth anniversary of his death. On that date, September 30th, 1975, shop owner Juanita (Sudie Bond, Silkwood), welcomes the two remaining club members in town—Sissy (Cher, Moonstruck) and Mona (Sandy Dennis, That Cold Day In the Park)—to her shop for the memorial. As other out of town members arrive, so does the mysterious Joanne (Karen Black, Nashville). Through one long, hot day, The Disciples of James Dean unravel the mysteries, discuss the events and reconcile the truths of the past twenty years. 

Adapted for the screen by Ed Graczyk from his stage play of the same name, Come Back to the 5 & Dime Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean was the first of many stage-to-screen adaptations directed by Robert Altman (including his next three feature films: Streamers, Secret Honor and Fool for Love). Altman, having directed the Broadway show of Come Back to the 5 & Dime Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean, brought his stage cast back for the film adaptation, all reprising their Broadway roles, with Kathy Bates (Misery), Marta Heflin (A Perfect Couple) and Mark Patton (A Nightmare on Elm Street Part 2: Freddy’s Revenge) rounding out the ensemble. One of the great American films of the 1980s, Come Back to the 5 & Dime Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean is a bittersweet ode to nostalgia, small town life and friendship while also featuring groundbreaking trans representation in Karen Black’s portrayal of Joanne. Cinématographe is proud to present the world 4K UHD debut of Robert Altman’s oft-overlooked slice of Americana in a new restoration from its original camera negatives.

directed by: Robert Altman
starring: Cher, Sandy Dennis, Karen Black, Kathy Bates, Mark Patton, Sudie Bond
1982 / 109 min / 1.85:1 / English DTS-HD MA 1.0

Additional info:

• 2-Disc Set: 4K Ultra HD + Region A Blu-ray
• 4K UHD presented in Dolby Vision High-Dynamic-Range
• Newly scanned & restored in 4K from its 35mm original camera negative
• New audio commentary by trans film critics Willow Catelyn Maclay and Caden Mark Gardner
• Archival audio commentary by film critic and historian Lee Gambin
• Alive, Not Nostalgic - a new video appreciation of the film by filmmaker Isabel Sandoval
• To Be a Woman: That's Priceless - a new video essay by curator and professor Dakota Noot
• Cutting Jimmy Dean - an archival interview with film editor Jason Rosenfield
• Designing Jimmy Dean - an archival interview with production designer David Gropman
• Two Turner Classic Movies introductions to the film by Dave Karger with Willow Catelyn Maclay and Robert Osborne with Lorenzo Soria
• New text essays by filmmaker Elsie Fisher; writer and filmmaker Drew Burnett Gregory; film critic Saffron Maeve; and film programmer Justine Smith
• English SDH subtitles

Come Back to the 5 & Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean - Paperback Book

By Ed Graczyk

In a small-town dime store in West Texas, the “Disciples of James Dean” gather for their 20th reunion. Now middle-aged women, they were teenagers when Dean filmed Giant two decades ago in nearby Marfa. One of them, an extra in the film, has a child whom she says was conceived with Dean during the shoot. The ladies’ congenial reminiscences mingle with flashbacks to their youth; then the arrival of a stunning-but-familiar stranger sets off a series of confrontations that smash their delusions and expose bitter disappointments.

Come Back to the 5 & Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean was first produced by Players Theatre in Columbus, Ohio, in September 1976. The production was directed by the author. The play then made its professional premiere at the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta, Georgia, in February 1977, directed by Fred Chappell, starring Dana Ivey and Fannie Flagg. The Broadway production opened at the Martin Beck Theatre on February 18, 1982, and was directed by renowned filmmaker Robert Altman, starring Cher, Kathy Bates, Karen Black and Sandy Dennis.

101 pages
8" x 5"