One of the most under-appreciated gems of the 70's, this dark comedy about a small town beauty pageant brilliantly depicts the emptiness and shallowness of living the "American dream" as it satires life in small town America, giving an especially humorous wink to civic organizations that culminates in grown men in white sheets forcing members of their "clan" who have recently turned 35 to kiss a dead chicken's ass filled with some kind of weird white cream that has haunted me for years! With rich writing, brilliant direction by Michael Ritchie, and dead-on performances by Bruce Dern, Barbara Feldon,Michael Kidd, Joan Prather, Annette O'Toole, Maria O'Brien, Nicholas Pryor, and Eric Shea. this film is a true unsung classic!
