Year of the Yahoo!
Brief Synopsis
Cast & Crew
Herschell Gordon Lewis
Claude King
Ray Sager
Ronna Riddle
Robert Jolly
Terrell Cass
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
When Senator Fred Burwell, who has served his Southwestern state in the U.S. Senate for the last eighteen years, seeks re-election on a liberal platform opposing the president, the corrupt "old-boy" political network, headed by Governor Baxter and his crony, Art Farnsworth, springs into action. Farnsworth arranges for the president's office to help defeat Burwell, and soon after, a delegation led by Chet Stoner, who is known as an "official cabinet member," arrives. Stoner is accompanied by Sid Angelo, a slick, cynical television producer, and advertising executive Ed Varnett. The three supercilious city men regard the governor and Farnsworth as "hicks," and so overrule the governor's choice for the candidate. Instead, they insist on promoting country singer Hank Jackson, a man who sings the promise of "God and Country," which is just the thing for the voters the three regard as "yahoos." After Hank, who feels he has a patriotic duty to his country, accepts the nomination, Sid decides that he should announce his candidacy on Hank's weekly television show. The dictatorial Sid stages every detail of Hank's announcement, from his completely scripted speech to the way the audience greets the news. When Sid condescends to Hank's audience and treats them like fools, Hank's fiancée, Tammy Parker, who likes Burwell's policies, objects. Varnett then outlines an ad strategy for the campaign, dismissing a discussion of issues to concentrate on marketing Hank as a candidate "wrapped in the flag." When Tammy and Baxter question their strategy, Sid derides Hank as just a "grinning country cowboy singer" and arrogantly dismisses their concerns. Although Hank writes all his own songs, Sid and the others provide him with a pre-written campaign ditty disparaging welfare cheats and preaching intolerance toward all minorities. As Burwell pleads for reason and understanding, his ratings begin to fall. A rent strike crystallizes the difference between the two candidates, with Burwell supporting the right of the strikers to withhold their rent in the face of intolerable living conditions, while Hank advocates "throwing the bums out if they don't pay." Becoming more and more disillusioned with Hank's decision to jettison his own beliefs for those of his craven campaign managers, Tammy refuses to appear on his weekly show and finally walks out on him. Later, when Hank complains to his handlers that he is sick of "playing up to rednecks," Sid brays that Hank will do whatever he tells him to do. When Hank begins to beat Burwell in the polls, Sid decides to hold a purportedly spontaneous question and answer session on television, which unknown to the viewing audience, will be totally scripted. When one of the panelists ignores his cue card and asks Hank a candid question about the substandard housing conditions of the rental apartments, Hank is flummoxed. Tammy decides to join the strikers on the picket line and one night, after leaving the picketers, is brutally raped in an alley by those opposing the strikers. Tammy is taken to the hospital, and before Hank goes to visit her, Sid pulls him aside and, blaming the strikers for the rape, urges Sid to capitalize on the issue. However, when Tammy tells Hank that his own supporters raped her, Hank, disgusted by Sid's Machiavellianism, fires him and decides to finish the campaign his own way. Although Hank begins to speak his mind, he finds that he is unable to answer complex questions and his supporters, perplexed by his sudden turnabout, lose interest in his campaign. After being badly beaten by Burwell on election night, Hank and Tammy celebrate. The next day, as the campaign committee packs to return to Washington, Sid informs Chet and Varnett that he has been hired for a new job, that of defeating the president. Meanwhile, the president phones Baxter to offer condolences for the loss of the campaign, and when he offers to provide Baxter with technical advisors for his next campaign, the governor chuckles in contempt.
Director
Herschell Gordon Lewis
Cast
Claude King
Ray Sager
Ronna Riddle
Robert Jolly
Terrell Cass
Jeffrey Allen
Tom Lytel
Leslie Slater
Robert Swain
Robert Pearson
Barbara Hamilton
Dan Krogh
Marguerite Sibiski
Toni Telo
Roberto Rivas
Betsy Hart
Donald Petersen
Hal Pratt
Don Breitbach
Lester Lande
Charles Howard
Pat Barnes
"big Daddy" Glen
Andy Carr
Mark Schlopack
Charles Dobbs
Andy Jackson
Roy Chappa
Bubba Reding
Dave Morgan
Odey Crabtree
Henry Vega
Harrell Banks
Bob Waite
John Mcfarland
Crew
Alex Ameri
Eskandar Ameripoor
Ruth Broyde
Ray Craig
Paul Dickinson
Paul Flaherty
Spiro Horiatis
Allen Kahn
Allen Kahn
Susan Kresge
Daniel P. Krogh
Herschell Gordon Lewis
Robert Lewis
William Mays Sr.
Mark Schlopack
Sheldon Seymour
Raymond Szegho
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
The word "yahoo" is a derogatory slang term for a ruffian or one who is lacking in grace and manners. The term was derived from Jonathan Swift's novel Gulliver's Travels, in which a brutish and physically disgusting tribe is referred to as the "Yahoos."
Miscellaneous Notes
Released in United States 1972
Released in United States 1972
