Sonny Boy (1989 film)

Sonny Boy (Italian: Il dono del silenzio) is a 1989 American black comedy-drama thriller film directed by Robert Martin Carroll.[3] The musical score was composed by Carlo Maria Cordio. It stars Paul L. Smith, David Carradine, Brad Dourif, Conrad Janis, Sydney Lassick, Alexandra Powers, and Steve Carlisle.[4][5] David Carradine wrote the film's theme song, "Paint", which he performs in the film.

Sonny Boy
Directed byRobert Martin Carroll[1]
Written byGraeme Whifler
Produced byOvidio G. Assonitis
StarringPaul L. Smith
David Carradine
Brad Dourif
Conrad Janis
Sydney Lassick
Alexandra Powers
Steve Carlisle
Robert Broyles
Christopher Bradley[2]
CinematographyRoberto D'Ettorre Piazzoli
Edited byClaudio M. Cutry
Music byCarlo Maria Cordio
Production
company
Distributed byTriumph Releasing Corporation
Release date
22 March 1989 (1989-03-22)
Running time
96 min.
CountriesUnited States
Italy
LanguageEnglish

Plot summary

In 1970, Harmony, a small town in New Mexico, is run by a small-time crime boss named Slue, who accepts the delivery of a Lincoln Continental car stolen by his henchmen Weasel, who brings it after killing a couple who was travelling with their child. When the crime boss finds the couple's baby in the backseat he wants to kill him, but he is stopped by his transvestite “wife”, Pearl. Slue decides to keep the baby - which Pearl names “Sonny Boy” - but he cuts out the boy’s tongue and raises him as a mute accomplice in their crimes, training and treating him like a wild dog, and sending Sonny Boy to kill anyone who wants to steal from or opposes Slue's grip over the town. When the grown Sonny Boy escapes and tries to make contact with the outside world, the attention he draws to his warped family results in darkly-humored mayhem.

Production and music

The opening song, "Paint" a.k.a "Maybe It Ain’t" was written and performed by David Carradine.[6][7]

Cast

Legacy
Grave of David Carradine at Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills, with the quote from "Paint": “I'm lookin' for a place where the dogs don't bite, and children don't cry and everything always goes just right. And brothers don't fight.”

Carradine wrote and performed the theme songs for several movies that he either directed or starred in, like You and Me, Americana and Sonny Boy. The first verse from the Sonny Boy theme, "Paint" (which he wrote while filming Americana in Drury, Kansas, in 1973), is engraved on his headstone, as an epitaph.[17]

Home media

This movie was released in Blu-ray format in January 2016, with English audio and subtitles, by Shout! Factory. Special features include audio commentaries with director Robert Martin Carroll, and with screenwriter Graeme Whifler.[18]

References
  1. "Sonny Boy 1990 Directed by Robert Martin Carroll". letterboxd.com. Retrieved 2017-10-09.
  2. "Sonny Boy (1989) DVD (VHS VIDEO PAL)". amazon.co.uk. Retrieved 2017-10-09.
  3. "Films directed by Robert Martin Carroll". letterboxd.com. Retrieved 2017-10-09.
  4. "Film Review: Sonny Boy (1989)". horrornews.net. Retrieved 2017-10-09.
  5. "Sonny Boy movie". filmaffinity.com. Retrieved 2017-10-09.
  6. Hi-Def Digest, February 2nd, 2016 - Sonny Boy Review by Matthew Hartman
  7. Genius - Paint a.k.a Maybe It Ain’t (1989 Film Version - Opening), David Carradine
  8. "Sonny Boy (1989 film". horrorview.com. Retrieved 2017-10-09.
  9. "Sonny Boy". csfd.cz. Retrieved 2017-10-09.
  10. "Sonny Boy (1989)". moviemeter.nl. Retrieved 2017-10-09.
  11. "Synalek (1989)". filmweb.pl. Retrieved 2017-10-09.
  12. "Sonny Boy (1989)". cinemagia.ro. Retrieved 2017-10-09.
  13. "Sonny Boy casting". allocine.fr. Retrieved 2017-10-09.
  14. "Sonny Boy (Blu-ray) reviews". dreadcentral.com. Retrieved 2017-10-09.
  15. "THE 25TH ANNIVERSARY PROJECT – SONNY BOY (1989)". dailygrindhouse.com. Retrieved 2017-10-09.
  16. "Sonny Boy (1989) Movie Review". horrorphilia.com. Retrieved 2017-10-09.
  17. David Carradine Grave Marker December 7, 2009 Radar online
  18. "Sonny Boy Blu-ray". Blu-ray.com. January 26, 2016. Retrieved June 27, 2022.
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