Pittsburgh Sound + Image presents a film which has been virtually unseen for over 40 years: David Allen Greene’s made-in-Pittsburgh feature debut Come Back Baby. Shot in 1967 with a miniscule budget, a novice’s faith, a wild passion, and with over 60 of Greene’s CMU School of Drama classmates, this meandering narrative reflects a moment in time and place of bohemian youth without real purpose other than scoring enough cash for their next party.
As Greene describes it, the film follows “three young men living together in poverty in a run down section of a large city, where life stands still as it does nowhere short of prison.” Terry Riebling plays Cal Thacker, an aspiring artist reeling from the break-up of a relationship, who seeks oblivion in booze, crashes his motorcycle, and rages at his roommates.
Come Back Baby was shot in the shadow of Forbes Field and the movie unfolds across a recognizable Pittsburgh landscape. Events primarily take place in and around a South Bouquet St. apartment and include numerous street scenes where the stadium and other city landmarks feature prominently. This is a distinctively Pittsburgh film, and it was selected by Jonas Mekas for national exhibition via Filmmakers Distribution Center.
Yet the movie failed to make a lasting impression upon limited release in 1968. Aside from a smattering of TV screenings over the subsequent decade, it has been completely unavailable. Now the only known 16mm print has been digitally scanned, and, for the first time in many decades, Come Back Baby returns.
David Greene and film historian Michael Prosser will join PSI Director of Programming Steven Haines for discussion of the film after the screening.
As always, Pittsburgh Sound + Image members on Patreon receive free admission!
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1968 | USA | English language | DCP
Film run time: 100 minutes
About Essential Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh Sound + Image seeks to redefine our region’s film history with the Essential Pittsburgh series. Too often when recounting the noteworthy makers who have worked here, we hear the same names. We wish to acknowledge the depth of creativity which has flourished here by spotlighting additional vital artists and their films from the 1960s through the 2000s. This ongoing series is a continuation of our efforts to celebrate a fuller picture of independent, amateur, industrial, and experimental filmmaking talent, and to better situate Pittsburgh nationally as a place of rich cinematic history.
