New York City’s Film Forum will on Wednesday, June 22 present the U.S. theatrical premiere of Nuts! — the animated (mostly) true story of eccentric American medical scheister J.R. Brinkley. Directed by Penny Lane, Nuts! will have a two-week engagement through to July 5 at Film Forum on Houston St. with six screenings daily.
In 1917, a country doctor in Milford, Kansas named J.R. Brinkley began treating impotence in male patients by surgically implanting them with goat “glands.” Demand for the treatment grew so much that Brinkley even began raising his own goats to meet it. Over the years, the medical magician built the country’s fourth most powerful radio station — in line with many self-promoting snake oil men of the day –, ran for governor of Kansas and amassed an extraordinary fortune.
“Like Our Nixon, my previous feature-length film, Nuts! is structured as classical tragedy with a complicated and deeply hubristic protagonist, rendered with equal parts comedy and pathos,” says Lane.
Nuts!, which started on the festival circuit this year, is directed by Penny Lane and written by Thom Stylinski. The film is illustrated and animated by Drew Christie, Hazel Lee Santino, Michael Pisano, Rose Stark, Krystal Downs, Julia Veldman and Ace & Son Moving Picture Co. James Belfer, Caitlin Mae Burke, Penny Lane and Daniel Shepard produce. Nuts! is released in the USA by Cartuna.
