This Tuesday marks the return of Cinequest, running March 11–23 in Silicon Valley theaters and then continuing with virtual screenings through the end of the month. Cinequest’s first night features red-carpet festivities and a screening of The Luckiest Man in America. Prior to that, Cinequest will present the winners of MIT’s AI Filmmaking Hackathon, which challenged global artists to create work based on the theme of “Dance in Life.’ The presentation will include conversation with the artists about how the use of artificial intelligence in filmmaking helped or hindered efforts to fulfil their creative visions. The evening wraps up with an afterparty at Glass House.
The 1980s game show Press Your Luck assaulted TV viewers with a lurid color scheme. A magmatic red burned so brightly on screen it seemed to also set the cooler greens and blues on fire.
Way before trigger warnings were invented, the central game board, featuring cash prizes and Whammies!, beamed a series of flashing lights into the in-studio audience’s tensed and febrile brains. This shrill system of visuals was a torture chamber specially designed to inflict pain upon the retinas.
Ear-splitting sound effects amped up the graphics to hypnotise everyone watching into a suspended state of inanition. Once infantilized by the terrible magic of television, the show’s crimson mascot, a smirking Whammy! demon, would step out from the shadows to display its sharpened horns and fangs. One of the devil’s minions stood between contestants and some easy money.
This vision of an American hellscape, also known as Hollywood, is the backdrop for Samir Oliveros’ film. The Luckiest Man in America recreates the game show’s primitive set, reviving its revolving proscenium, to tell the tale of one winning contestant. Wearing shorts, a tangled beard and a wave of untamed hair, Michael Larson drives his ice cream truck to the CBS backlots for an audition. He presents himself to the cynical producers as a Midwestern stooge. Duped by his appearance, they take him for a fool and sign him up to play the game.
Larson, in turn, takes them for a record breaking amount of money. In comparison with the real-life Larson who died in 1999, Paul Walter Hauser (Richard Jewell) underplays the man’s genuine enthusiasm. Larson’s episode, which aired in 1984, is alive and well on YouTube. He may be gaming the system but he’s pleased as punch to be on display as the central character of a dazzling spectacle. Online, he looks like a lost soul who has already made peace with the devil.
The Luckiest Man in America screens March 11 at 7:15pm in the California Theatre. Tickets are $15 ($30 with afterparty admission).
