Karen or Bust
By Lauren Halligan TROY, N.Y. >> One of the most fascinating characters I’ve met since I started as a Record reporter almost five years ago is Troy native Don Rittner.
Aside from being a longtime Record columnist, Don helped create the Albany Pine Bush, he played a role in bringing Bradley Cooper, Ryan Gosling and Eva Mendes to the Capital Region for a movie called The Place Beyond the Pines, oh, and I think one time he told me he invented the internet.
But the best story I’ve heard from Don Rittner, in one of our afternoon meetings at Famous Lunch, is about the time he hitchhiked as a teenager from Troy down the East Coast along U.S. Highway 1 during the summer of 1966, the summer before the famous “Summer of Love.”
Recently, he turned that true story into an autobiographical film of his own called Karen or Bust.
Hearing the story straight from Don’s lips was intriguing, but seeing it in a feature film was really eye-opening.
The based-on-real-life movie shows the journey of Ringo and his friend Freddie making their way miles and miles away from the Collar City while chasing a girl, and experiencing a whole lot that they’d never encountered before.
Segregation, racism, homosexuality, bigotry and their first scrape with the law were just a few situations the boys weren’t quite ready for when they set out on their adventure.
This unique coming-ofage story has humor, history, love, sex, friendship, and my favorite part: a local connection.
Most of the scenes were shot in Troy and even as the characters travel farther and farther from the city, the connection remains part of the story.
Spots like The Approach, Manory’s and Famous Lunch are all shown in the film.
Troy High School (though the scene was actually filmed at the 1960sera Brown School in Schenectady) is where Ringo exchanges some great dialogue with the principal about the length of his hair.
Other memorable moments from the movie, which clocks in at more than two hours long, are the kids’ run-in with some rednecks and the creative way they escape, their fast friendships formed in Baltimore and the charming ways they use to get out of a jail cell and back home Don Rittner, right, directs actors on the set of his movie Karen or Bust. safely.
Following its debut at the Troy Art Attack last month, Karen or Bust is now available on DVD.
Those interested in purchasing a DVD copy of Karen or Bust can contact filmmaker Don Rittner at drittner@aol.com or 518-378-9256. The product costs $15.99 plus $5 shipping and handling, by PayPal at PayPal.me/donrittner or by check.