''The Battle of Love's Return'' is a 1971 American

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...

written, directed, produced, and starring

Lloyd Kaufman Stanley Lloyd Kaufman Jr. (born December 30, 1945) is an American film director, screenwriter, producer and actor. Alongside producer Michael Herz, he is the co-founder of Troma Entertainment film studio, and the director of many of their featur ...

, the co-founder of

Troma Entertainment Troma Entertainment is an American independent film production and distribution company founded by Lloyd Kaufman and Michael Herz in 1974. The company produces low-budget independent films, primarily of the horror comedy genre. Many of them pl ...

, his first major film after his student production ''

The Girl Who Returned ''The Girl Who Returned'' is a 1969 American comedy film, notable as the directorial debut of Lloyd Kaufman, future co-founder and president of Troma Entertainment. It was made during his sophomore year at Yale University. The story is set in an ...

''.

Plot

Abacrombie is a down-on-his-luck loser. Upon being fired from his job, he sets out on a quest to find himself, encountering a variety of oddball characters who only make it harder for him. Sooner or later, he stumbles upon the girl of his dreams, and he determines to overcome his stupidity and win her heart.

Reception

The film was favorably reviewed by Howard Thompson of the ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' and

Judith Crist Judith Crist (; May 22, 1922 – August 7, 2012) was an American film critic and academic. She appeared regularly on the ''Today'' show from 1964 to 1973 Martin, Douglas (August 8, 2012)"Judith Crist, Zinging and Influential Film Critic, ...

of ''

New York Magazine ''New York'' is an American biweekly magazine concerned with life, culture, politics, and style generally, and with a particular emphasis on New York City. Founded by Milton Glaser and Clay Felker in 1968 as a competitor to ''The New Yorker' ...

'', who compared Kaufman to

Woody Allen Heywood "Woody" Allen (born Allan Stewart Konigsberg; November 30, 1935) is an American film director, writer, actor, and comedian whose career spans more than six decades and multiple Academy Award-winning films. He began his career writing ...

and

Mel Brooks Mel Brooks (born Melvin James Kaminsky; June 28, 1926) is an American actor, comedian and filmmaker. With a career spanning over seven decades, he is known as a writer and director of a variety of successful broad farces and parodies. He began ...

. The worst review, however, came from Kaufman's father: when asked what his favorite part was, he responded "''the part where Lloyd gets killed''".

Home media

The film has never been released on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...

individually, but is included in its entirety (and as a deconstructed version) on Kaufman's instructional box set, ''

Make Your Own Damn Movie! ''Make Your Own Damn Movie!'' is both a book and a DVD set about Troma Entertainment and independent film in general. Book ''Make Your Own Damn Movie!: Secrets of a Renegade Director'' is written by Lloyd Kaufman (with Adam Jahnke and Trent Ha ...

'', and is included as an

Easter Egg Easter eggs, also called Paschal eggs, are eggs that are decorated for the Christian feast of Easter, which celebrates the resurrection of Jesus. As such, Easter eggs are common during the season of Eastertide (Easter season). The oldest tr ...

on ''The Sexy Box'', a DVD boxset of ''

Squeeze Play! ''Squeeze Play!'' is a 1979 American comedy film directed by Lloyd Kaufman. Plot A group of New Jersey women, upset over their boyfriends' tendency to pay more attention to softball than their love lives, decide to beat them at their own game. ...

'', ''

Waitress! ''Waitress!'' is a 1981 American comedy film directed by Lloyd Kaufman and Michael Herz of Troma Entertainment. It was the second in Troma's line of "sexy comedies", preceded by the 1979's '' Squeeze Play!'' and followed by 1982's ''Stuck on Yo ...

'', '' Stuck on You!'' and ''

The First Turn-On! ''The First Turn-On!'' is a 1983 American comedy film directed by Lloyd Kaufman and Michael Herz of Troma Entertainment. It was the last in a series of four "sexy comedies" that helped establish Troma as a film studio, starting with 1979's ''Squ ...

''.

Production notes

*Future directors Allan Moyle and Oliver Stone worked on the film as an A.D. and an actor, respectively. *During filming of the battle scene, which was shot in a meadow in the backyard of Kaufman's mother's house, a smoke bomb ignited a large patch of grass and grew out of control, almost destroying the neighbors' house before the fire department arrived just in time. Mrs. Kaufman was not pleased. *To promote the film, Kaufman and friends would run around New York City with a stencil of the film's logo and spraypaint it on streets and sidewalks.

References

External links

*
The Battle of Love's Return
– at the ''