Taglines: The road leads itself to somewhere.
Scarecrow movie synopsis. Max Millan and Francis Delbuchi are both drifters traveling independently of each other. Max, a quick tempered and highly regimented man, has just served a six year prison term, and is heading to Pittsburgh to open a car wash business, with a stop in Denver first to visit his sister Coley.
“Lion” as Max eventually coins Francis (Lion which is short for Francis’ middle name, Lionel), whose easy going nature demonstrates how immature he is, has just spent five years working on a ship, and is heading to Detroit to see his wife Annie and their child, who he has never met and whose gender he doesn’t even know. An act of his immaturity, he abandoned Annie when she was pregnant. To make up for it, he has since sent all his paychecks to Annie.
He hasn’t told her of his impending visit. Max and Lion meet each other in California early in their current travels. Despite their initial meeting being somewhat confrontational due to their different natures, they decide to travel together, combining resources to open that car wash. They still plan on stopping in Denver and Detroit before their final destination of Pittsburgh. As they thumb rides and ride the rails together, each brings the other a little closer to his own temperament. But a longer than anticipated stay in Denver and an incident with Annie threatens their dreams.
Scarecrow is a 1973 U.S. road movie directed by Jerry Schatzberg, and starring Gene Hackman and Al Pacino. The story revolves around the relationship between two men who travel from California, aiming to start a business in Pittsburgh. At the 1973 Cannes Film Festival, it tied for the Grand Prix du Festival International du Film, the highest honor. While a box office bomb in its own country, it later gained cult status.
Scarecrow (1972)
Directed by: Jerry Schatzberg
Starring: Gene Hackman, Al Pacino, Eileen Brennan, Richard Lynch, Dorothy Tristan, Ann Wedgeworth, Penelope Allen, Richard Hackman, Rutanya Alda, Mary Ann Brownlee, Armen Darakdjian
Screenplay by: Garry Michael White
Production Design by: Albert Brenner
Cinematography by: Vilmos Zsigmond
Film Editing by: Evan Lottman
Costume Design by: Jo Ynocencio
Makeup Department: Frank Griffin
Music by: Fred Myrow
MPAA Rating: None.
Distributed by: Warner Bros. Pictures
Release Date: April 11, 1973 (New York City only)
Visits: 103