The Coen brothers’ Raising Arizona is one of those films that you can watch over and over without ever getting tired of it. Though the film was a box office disappointment when released in 1987 and received a mixed response from critics, it has since gone on to become a cult classic.
The movie stars Nicolas Cage and Holly Hunter as a married couple desperate for kids of their own who kidnap a baby from a set of quintuplets born in their town. The zany, slapstick comedy has a wild energy and unique sense of humor that makes it so fun to revisit. We share behind-the-scenes facts about this quirky gem.
The Second Film
After the Coen brothers finding acclaim with their small yet gripping first film, Blood Simple, Hollywood was very interested to see what these exciting new filmmakers would do for their second feature. In a move that would come to define their careers, the Coens decided to make something totally different.
They actively tried to make a film that went in a totally different direction from Blood Simple. Instead of a dark tale about immoral people, they wanted an upbeat romp filled with likable protagonists. Even critics who disliked Raising Arizona had to admit it was a definite departure from their first film.
Casting Cage
For the role of the good-hearted career criminal H.I. McDunnough, the Coens decided to cast one of the most unique actors of the time, Nicolas Cage. Cage had yet to reach that level of superstardom he would later find, and this was his first starring role.
The relationship between the actor and the filmmakers was said to have been respectful but tense. The Coens are notorious for having a distinct vision for their script and style while Cage was eager to bring his own ideas to the production. Despite any differences, they managed to make a great film together.
Woody Woodpecker
Though Cage and the Coens apparently didn’t agree on everything, they seemed to be on the same page with the tone of the film. The movie plays out like a live-action cartoon and Cage even saw H.I. as a cartoon character, specifically Woody Woodpecker.
Along with getting a tattoo of a Woody Woodpecker-like drawing on his arm for the role, Cage tried to style his look to resemble the cartoon character. His hair was fashioned into a wild spiky mess and the more insane H.I.’s adventures would get, the wilder the hairdo would get.
Holly Hunter
The other central role that needed to be cast was that of Ed, H.I.’s tough and loving wife. Unlike their casting search for H.I., the Coens knew exactly who they wanted to play Ed — Holly Hunter was an up-and-coming actor at the time and friends with the brothers.
Hunter was actually the Coens’ first choice for the leading lady of Blood Simple. When Hunter couldn’t do the part due to scheduling, she recommended her roommate Frances McDormand who would later go on to marry Joel Coen. This time around, the part of Ed was written specifically with Hunter in mind.
The Quintuplets
There is an old saying in the movie business that you shouldn’t work with babies or animals. While there aren’t too many animals in this film, the Coens had to work with quite a few babies. The “Arizona Quints” are at the center of the story, with H.I. and Ed taking one of the babies for themselves, thinking the parents had more than they could handle.
Of course, the Coens couldn’t hope to cast real quintuplets so they had to find babies of a similar age who could theoretically pass as siblings. One of the babies they chose actually had to be fired as it learned to walk in the middle of filming. The mother even put the infant’s shoes on backward in an attempt to stop this.
Leonard Smalls
One of the most memorable characters in the film is the motorcycle-riding gunman known as Leonard Smalls. In creating the character, the Coens attempted to come up with a terrifying, nightmarish figure who came not from their own minds, but from the mind of H.I..
The filmmakers cast professional boxer Randall “Tex” Cobb in the role. Though he certainly had the look and intimidation factor of the character, Cobb was another problematic member of the cast. He didn’t know how to ride a motorcycle which was pretty key for the character and, not being a professional actor, had difficulty even with Smalls’ brief moments of dialogue.
The Hudsucker Proxy
Originally, when planning their second feature, the Coens had another story in mind that they wanted to tackle. They had intended on turning their script for The Hudsucker Proxy into their next film, but the budget required to tell that ambitious story was still too high for them to acquire at the time.
Though they would eventually get the chance to make that film several years later, the idea did seep into Raising Arizona in small ways. H.I.’s work uniform says that he works for Hudsucker Industries, which would be at the center of the later film.
Sam Raimi
Before he was making big-budget superhero movies, Sam Raimi was a small yet influential filmmaker who had made a significant splash with his Evil Dead films. Raimi was also a close friend of the Coens and even collaborated with them several times.
The Coens had written Raimi’s film Crimewave, and he collaborated with them on the script for The Hudsucker Proxy. Raimi’s influence as a filmmaker can be seen throughout Raising Arizona, especially in the shots in which the camera races towards the characters, a technique Raimi made famous in The Evil Dead.
The Score
While the film itself is a funny and entertaining ride, it gets a lot of its charm and energy from its extremely memorable score. The score comes from a frequent collaborator of the Coens, Carter Burwell. The influence behind it was meant to be Southern charm mixed with the Looney Tunes.
The wild banjo playing mixed with the yodeling makes for a catchy and pitch-perfect theme song for this story. It is especially effective during the film’s brilliant foot-chase sequence. In fact, when H.I. runs into the supermarket during the chase, a version of the score can be heard playing on the store’s speakers.
Public Backlash
While this cartoonish and hilarious movie would seem too silly and fun to inspire any kind of outrage, there were some people who were not too happy about it. Specifically, the good people of Arizona took offense to the film’s depiction of their state.
The backlash reached surprisingly high as even the mayor of Scottsdale, Arizona lambasted the film for presenting Arizona in a bad light, saying the film has no redeeming social values.
