HEARTBEEPS

HEARTBEEPS. Allan Arkush, dir. USA: Universal, 1981. Cast includes Christopher Guest, Andy Kaufman, Melanie Mayron, Bernadette Peters, and Randy Quaid.

Described by Willis as "A sweet, unsung sf-comedy-romance," where two advanced humanoid robots (played by Peters and Kaufman) meet and fall in love. Discussed at length by Willis (vol. III), who takes the film very seriously. Creation by ValCom 17485 and AquaCom 89045 of baby-, then child-robot Phil predates D.A.R.Y.L. (1985) and other child-robots (see above for D.A.R.Y.L., this section). The four robots spend most of their time amidst spectacular natural scenery of US west—and in some interaction with woodland fauna—but find their eutopia in a junk yard run by rather robotic humans. Note Crimebuster as a comic antagonist: an insane police vehicle, something like Doctor Who's Daleks, but more tank-like. Cf. and contrast ED 209 in ROBOCOP (1987), cited in this section. Esp. interesting: Crimebuster invading the forest, singing "America the Beautiful"—and shooting a small cannon at a rabbit that may be the one earlier befriended by Phil.