''Chief Zabu'' is a long-unreleased film that was written, produced and directed by Neil Cohen and

Zack Norman Zack Norman (born ''Howard Jerrold Zuker''; May 27, 1940) is an American actor, director, producer, writer, comedian, musician, film financier, painter, art collector and real estate developer. Born in Boston and raised in nearby Revere, at the ...

(under his birth name, Howard Zuker). It is a socio-political comedy about a New York real estate developer who tries to take over a Polynesian nation. The film stars Norman, Allen Garfield and

Allan Arbus Allan Franklin Arbus (February 15, 1918 – April 19, 2013) was an American actor and photographer. He was the former husband of photographer Diane Arbus. He is known for his role as psychiatrist Dr. Sidney Freedman on the CBS television series ...

as New York businessmen trying to take over a newly independent Polynesian nation. Production began in 1986 but, due to various issues, Cohen and Norman were unable to complete the film until 2016. It premiered at

Laemmle Theatres Laemmle Theatres ( ) is a group of family-run arthouse movie theaters in the Los Angeles area. It was established in 1938Richard Verrier A Hollywood opening for downton cinema October 24, 2009 Los Angeles Times and is owned and operated by Rob ...

' Monica Film Center on October 28, 2016 and screened a week later, on November 7, at the

Fort Lauderdale A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

International Film Festival ("FLIFF"). Trailers and clips are available through both

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and

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. On August 16, 2017, Zabu's co-writer/directors were pictured on the front page of the New York Times Arts Section with a history of the film's unique and unusual journey. A long running advertisement for the film in ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' was the source of a recurring joke on ''

Mystery Science Theater 3000 ''Mystery Science Theater 3000'' (abbreviated as ''MST3K'') is an American science fiction comedy film review television series created by Joel Hodgson. The show premiered on KTMA-TV (now WUCW) in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on November 24, 1 ...

''.

Synopsis

The film follows an ambitious New York realtor who dreams of political power and decides to accomplish this by taking over a Polynesian nation.

Cast

* Allen Garfield as Ben Sydney *

as Sammy Brooks *

as George Dankworth *

Marianna Hill Marianna Hill ( Schwarzkopf, February 9, 1942) is an American actress. She predominantly worked in American television and is known for her starring roles in the Western films '' El Condor'' and ''High Plains Drifter'' and the cult horror film '' ...

as Jennifer Holding *

Manu Tupou Manu Tupou (January 5, 1935 – June 5, 2004) was an American-based Fijian actor, writer, director, and teacher. Early life Manu Tupou was born on Lomaloma, Lau, Fiji Islands. Education Tupou trained as an actor for 15 years in New York unde ...

as Chief Henri Zabu *

Ed Lauter Edward Matthew Lauter Jr. ( ; October 30, 1938 – October 16, 2013) was an American actor and stand-up comedian. He appeared in more than 200 films and TV series episodes in a career that spanned over 40 years. Early life Lauter was born and ...

as Skip Keisel *

Joseph Warren Joseph Warren (June 11, 1741 – June 17, 1775), a Founding Father of the United States, was an American physician who was one of the most important figures in the Patriot (American Revolution), Patriot movement in Boston, Massachusetts, Bos ...

as Arthur Keisel * Betty Karlen as Linda Gato *

Shirley Stoler Shirley Stoler (March 30, 1929 – February 17, 1999) was an American actress best known for her roles in '' The Honeymoon Killers'' and Lina Wertmüller's '' Seven Beauties''. Early years The eldest of four children born to Russian Jewish ...

as Joan Ironwood * Lucianne Buchanan as Monica Keisel * Ferdinand Mayne as Seth the Butler * Charles Siegal as Seth's Assistant *

Tom Nardini Tom Nardini (born April 16, 1945) is an American film actor who had a lengthy career in television in which his best known role was in '' Cowboy in Africa'' (1967). In film his best known role was in ''Cat Ballou'' (1965) for which he was nomina ...

as the Gatekeeper * Harsh Nayyar as the Prime Minister

Merchandise

At his TeePublic website, American entrepreneur

Josh Abramson Josh Abramson (born 1981) is an American entrepreneurJordan Crook“CollegeHumor Founder Josh Abramson, Boomi Founder Rick Nucci Join FirstMark Capital,”TechCrunch, September 17, 2013. and co-founder of the comedy website CollegeHumor.Pui-Wing ...

offers a T-shirt bearing an image of the ''

'' advertisement that ran consistently between 1985 and 1988.

Reception

Sheri Linden of ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Hollywood film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade paper, and in 2010 switched to a weekly large ...

'' gave the film a positive review, calling it "A comic time capsule with a timeless punch." Contrastingly, Michael Rechtshaffen of the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the ...

'' called it a "tiresomely talky would-be satire" that "plays like bargain basement

Barry Levinson Barry Lee Levinson (born April 6, 1942) is an American filmmaker, comedian and actor. Levinson's best-known works are mid-budget comedy drama and drama films such as '' Diner'' (1982); '' The Natural'' (1984); '' Good Morning, Vietnam'' (1987) ...

". In anticipation of the film's screening at FLIFF, a Fort Lauderdale restaurant introduced a specialty cocktail named the "Chief Zabu". Following a series of festival and awards-qualifying screening runs, blogger Chad Sternberger of the popular website The Studio Exec implored

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywoo ...

distributors: "For heaven's sake could someone please release Chief Zabu." The film was one of 336 titles to qualify for the 89th Academy Awards. Actress

, one of the stars of the film, spoke at length about her experience working on ''Chief Zabu'' on the movie/TV

blog A blog (a truncation of "weblog") is a discussion or informational website published on the World Wide Web consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries (posts). Posts are typically displayed in reverse chronological order ...

"Hill Place".

References

External links

* * {{IMDb title, 0094859 English-language films Unreleased American films