The Poster Memorabilia blog

A Fun Night of True Romance

Clarence and Alabama, together again in Downtown LA — leopard coat and all.

By an anonymous Hollywood insider

It's pretty crazy that one of Quentin Tarantino's first films had a pretty stacked cast but is mostly forgotten compared to his more famous works. The movie is True Romance, and while Tarantino didn't direct it, he did write the screenplay and sold it to fund his own film, Reservoir Dogs.

Though not as zany as his own features, the movie still has the manic energy and quirky kind of characters you'd expect in a Tarantino flick. It's also not the most romantic film by any means, but the love story between its protagonists, Clarence and Alabama, remains the heart of the movie.

When I first watched it in the late 90s, I was right out of college and instantly loved it. In fact, I became a big enough fan that I saw Christian Slater and Patricia Arquette reunite for a live reading in Downtown LA in 2015. The event was part of Jason Reitman's Live Read series for Film Independent, and though only the two leads from the original cast showed up, they were accompanied by a slate of equally amazing actors playing the other characters.

“They were the Bonnie & Clyde of my generation, one of the best movie couples of the 1990s.”

I couldn't help but smile all night long seeing Clarence and Alabama together again. They were the Bonnie & Clyde of my generation, one of the best movie couples of the 1990s. Arquette even appeared in her iconic leopard-skin coat and blue sunglasses, looking very much like the Alabama Whitman-Worley I fell in love with on-screen.

Seeing her in that get-up alone got me so excited, but then I saw her with Slater. Damn! Those two still had so much chemistry 20 years later. The fact that they still looked like they did in the film blew my mind too, and retaining their amazing dynamic was truly a sight to see.

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The other actors, such as J.K. Simmons, Kevin Pollak, Jon Favreau, and Paul Scheer, were good, but as I said earlier, the original cast was already stacked. They included the likes of Brad Pitt, Gary Oldman, Christopher Walken, Dennis Hopper, and Val Kilmer, for Christ's sakes. You don't get a cast like that in any old movie.

Would it have been better if those stars went to the event instead? Maybe, but I still have to give the alternates credit. They were as awesome in the roles as the original actors were, and it was still a fun night all around. Especially since I got Slater and Arquette to sign my movie poster afterward.

For all you autograph hounds, there's no need to worry. I eventually got the rest of the original cast to sign the poster, too. These are some of the most famous Hollywood stars, after all. It wasn't hard to meet them at various movie premieres, fan-meets, and other events they’d appear in over the years.

What mattered most to me was seeing Clarence and Alabama reunite in real life and getting their autographs in person. I still believe they made up one of the best movie couples in cinematic history, even though the rest of the movie-loving world may have forgotten all about them.

Some things you watch. This one you keep.

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