Melvin and Howard movie storyline. Melvin E. Dummar (Paul Le Mat) is a working class stiff who has been trying to find his professional place in life, he moving from job to job over his adult life as he hasn’t been able to find anything to which he can stick. This life does wreak havoc on his marriage to Lynda Dummar (Mary Steenburgen), the two who live in a trailer park in the Nevada desert with their daughter, Darcy (Elizabeth Cheshire).
Their possessions are routinely repossessed as Melvin has no concept of repayment of debt, always spending on those things he wants whenever they solely have the down payment. Their marriage is also not helped by Lynda’s larger focus on wanting to be a dancer in whatever means rather than be wife and mother. These issues lead to an up and down marriage for the two, with Darcy often thrown between parents at a whim.
One day, while Melvin is managing a gas station, he receives anonymously what looks to be the handwritten last will and testament for Howard Hughes, no other will which has been discovered following his death. Melvin received this document as years earlier, he picked up who he thought was solely a drifter in need in the middle of the night in the desert, that drifter who claimed to be Hughes, which at the time Melvin thought was just the rambling of a crazy old man.
This will bequeaths Hughes’ estate to a handful of people, with Melvin’s share being $156 million. Melvin’s actions following receipt of the will and public reaction as the story hits the media further affect Melvin’s life as the authenticity of the will is questioned.
Melvin and Howard (stylized as Melvin (and Howard)) is a 1980 American comedy-drama film directed by Jonathan Demme. The screenplay by Bo Goldman was inspired by real-life Utah service station owner Melvin Dummar, who was listed as the beneficiary of $156 million in a will allegedly handwritten by Howard Hughes that was discovered in the headquarters of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Salt Lake City. A novelization of Goldman’s script later was written by George Gipe. The film starred Paul Le Mat, Jason Robards and, in an Academy Award-winning performance, Mary Steenburgen.
The film won the National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Film of 1980. Mary Steenburgen won several awards for her performance, including the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture, the New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actress, the Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actress, and the National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actress.
Jason Robards was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor and a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture, and was honored by the Boston critics.
Bo Goldman won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay, the Writers Guild of America Award for Best Drama Written Directly for the Screen, the New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Screenplay, the National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Screenplay, and the Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Screenplay. Paul Le Mat was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Comedy or Musical.
Melvin and Howard (1980)
Directed by: Jonathan Demme
Starring: Paul Le Mat, Mary Steenburgen, Pamela Reed, Michael J. Pollard, Jack Kehoe, Rick Lenz, Dabney Coleman, Jason Robards, Denise Galik, Gene Borkan, Wendy Lee Couch, Janice King
Screenplay by: Bo Goldman
Production Design by: Toby Carr Rafelson
Cinematography by: Tak Fujimoto
Film Editing by: Craig McKay
Set Decoration by: Robert Gould
Art Direction by: Richard Sawyer
Music by: Bruce Langhorne
MPAA Rating: None.
Distributed by: Universal Pictures
Release Date: September 19, 1980
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