Does anyone remember the CB radio craze of the 1970s? It now looks like some strange cultural aberration in hindsight but it lasted for about eight years and was at the height of its popularity between 1974 to 1977. The CB radio lifestyle and its terminology infiltrated pop culture and was celebrated in top forty songs like C.W. McCall’s “Convoy” (1975) and Jerry Reed’s “East Bound and Down” (1977) and in TV series such as Movin’ On (1974-1976) and B.J. and the Bear (1979-1981). The craze was also a ubiquitous presence in movies, often driving the narrative in such drive-in fare as C.B. Hustlers (1976) and High-Ballin’ (1978) as well as Smokey and the Bandit, the number four box office hit of 1977. Yet, strangely enough, 1977’s Citizens Band (which stands for CB) was almost completely ignored by moviegoers even though it is one of the most entertaining and perceptive portraits of CB culture. It was also the first major studio film for director Jonathan Demme (The Silence of the Lambs), who was working with a screenplay penned by Paul Brickman (the writer and director of 1983’s Risky Business).
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Cinema Sojourns 