Gala finally gets the chance to watch a proper version of Cry For Me Billy on today’s Video Archives After Show! She talks to Quentin and Roger about what makes Maria ‘Xochitl’ Potts’ performance so compelling, and Quentin gets the ultimate gift for any fan of Cliff Potts. We’ve also got more thoughts from Quentin, Roger & Gala on last week’s marquee films, Rage and The Loved One. I’ve got alternate movie art and doggy photos on today’s Counter Talk, so let’s get into it…
It’s going to be a short newsletter today, since the whole Video Archives team is on holiday! Hope you’re enjoying the end of the year and getting cozy with family and friends. If you’re looking for a break from said family and friends, take a walk around the block and listen to this After Show – it’s full of gift giving, sweet remembrances, and plenty of movie chat of course.
Cry For Me Billy isn’t just the sole film performance of the enigmatic Maria Potts; it also features the incredible Harry Dean Stanton at a pivotal time in his career. This wasn’t Stanton’s first film role, not by a long shot – before Cry For Me Billy, he’d been acting for over 20 years, and he’d already become a favorite of Monte Hellman, appearing in Ride In The Whirlwind and Two Lane Blacktop. The year after Cry For Me Billy, he’d appear in Pat Garrett and Billy The Kid, then The Godfather Pt. II, and then on to iconic roles in Alien, Repo Man and Paris, Texas. But in 1972, his career as a character actor was just starting to build momentum after decades, and a movie-stealing performance in Cry For Me Billy kept pushing him forward.
