The Escape Artist
Executive Produced By Francis Ford Coppola and Fred Roos - A Story Part Fairy Tale,
Part Film Noir, Breaks Out On DVD October 25THE ESCAPE ARTIST
The Last Film of Desi Arnaz’s Career
Creates Some Movie Magic with Teri Garr,
Raul Julia and Griffin O’NealHOLLYWOOD, CALIF. – Paramount Home Entertainment challenges you to break free from the chains of lackluster DVDs with the release of THE ESCAPE ARTIST on DVD on October 25. Executive produced by Francis Ford Coppola and Fred Roos (the legendary team that made The Black Stallion) and directed by Caleb Deschanel (Hope Floats),
THE ESCAPE ARTIST marks the film debut of Griffin O'Neal (son of Ryan O’Neal) as
Danny Masters -- teenage son of the “greatest escape artist except for Houdini.” The film also stars the late Desi Arnaz in what would be his last motion picture as the over-the-top Mayor
Leon Quinones. The film is rounded out by accomplished actors including the late Raul Julia as the mayor’s equally menacing son, Stu Quinones, Teri Garr as Arlene, the daffy girlfriend of Stu and Joan Hackett as Danny’s loving Aunt Sibyl. The film begins with Danny at the local police station telling everyone that he will escape from jail within the hour. What follows is a touch of magic, a stolen wallet and some vaudeville style acting thrown in for good measure.
Danny Masters, teenage son of the late escape artist Harry Masters, runs away from home to join Uncle Burke and Aunt Sibyl in their magic act. Danny’s aunt Sibyl is excited about his arrival, while his Uncle Burke is not quite as pleased to have him around. But there is a reason for Uncle Burke’s disdain: Danny is an even better magician and escape artist than both of them! He soon finds himself embroiled with Stu Quinones, the psychotic son of Mayor Leon Quinones, over a missing wallet, which was pick-pocketed by Danny. The search for the missing wallet leads to justice for the crooked mayor and his son. Danny also learns to deal with the death of his father Harry, the circumstances of which he did not previously know.THE ESCAPE ARTIST is rated PG in the U.S. and PG in Canada and has a running time of 93 minutes. The DVD will be available for an SRP of $14.99 and C$15.99 in Canada. Included in the DVD is commentary by Director Caleb Deschannel, Production Manager Barrie Osborne and Technical Advisor Ricky Jay. THE ESCAPE ARTIST is presented in widescreen format, enhanced for 16:9 TVs, and features Dolby Digital English 5.1 and 2.0 Surround along with English Subtitles.
THE ESCAPE ARTIST DVD was produced at ZAP Zoetrope Aubry Productions working together with Paramount. ZAP is the offshoot of Francis Coppola’s American Zoetrope. Under the direction of ZAP founder (and long-time Coppola associate) Kim Aubry, the Zoetrope “DVD Lab” has been in charge of all creative production and technical mastering for the Coppola films on DVD, including “Apocalypse Now Redux,” “The Godfather DVD Collection,” “The Conversation,” “Tucker” and many other titles. ZAP continues in the Zoetrope tradition of creating DVD bonus content in collaboration with the original filmmakers, their heirs and scholars and fans of the films that are being refurbished for release on DVD.
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