The Dude’s acolytes abide

By the usual standards, “The Big Lebowski” was a big flop in the spring of 1998. Its box-office take was under $20 million, the reviews were middling, and even fans of those quirky Coen brothers wondered how they could follow “Fargo” with this rambling noir comedy starring Jeff Bridges as a middle-aged ex-hippie who smokes dope, guzzles white Russians, hangs out with his bowling buddies and calls himself “the Dude.”

It may have died at the multiplex, but these days “Lebowski” is enjoying a second life as a bona fide cult phenom -- just ask any of the 4,000 people who showed up at the third annual Lebowski Fest in Louisville, Ky., last summer. The traveling fan party has already made stops in New York and Las Vegas, and this weekend it finally rolls into Los Angeles, the backdrop to the movie’s oddball pastiche of kidnap plots, mistaken identity, porno mavens, nihilists, tumbleweeds and urine-stained throw rugs.

“We always have a great time, but this one in L.A. is going to be crazy,” says Will Russell, 28, who co-founded Lebowski Fest in 2002 with friend Scott Shuffitt, 33. “Basically, it’s just a great excuse for a bunch of people to get together and party. The movie is something that we all have in common.”

Lebowski Fest West kicks off Friday night at the Knitting Factory with a pre-party featuring Blonde From Fargo, a band fronted by actor Peter Stormare (porn star “Karl Hungus” in the movie). On Saturday, the crowd converges on the 68-lane Cal Bowl in Carson. White Russians (a Kahlua, vodka and cream cocktail) will be drunk by the gallons, and guests include actor David Huddleston, who played the title character (a disabled millionaire who lures the Dude into a mystery worthy of Marlowe), and actors who played Saddam Hussein, a Ralphs checker and other bit parts.

William Shatner made a second career at “Star Trek” conventions, but so far none of the A-list “Lebowski” stars -- who also include John Goodman as a Vietnam vet with a hair-trigger temper, Steve Buscemi as a dim-witted sidekick, Sam Elliott as the displaced cowboy narrator, Tara Reid and Julianne Moore as femmes fatales and John Turturro as Jesus, a flamboyant Latino bowler -- has made an appearance. Neither has Bridges, although the Dude has designed a custom T-shirt that will be sold on behalf of End Hunger Network, a charity he co-founded.

“It’s probably the movie I’m most recognized for these days,” Bridges says. “It’s got a great following, which makes me happy, because when the movie originally came out it didn’t do that well, much to my surprise. But now it’s got this underground thing going, and I think the reason that it happened is because it wasn’t a real well-known film, and you felt that you’d discovered something wonderful when you came across it. I hear from a lot of people who discovered it that way.”

The real Dude

The biggest star on the “Lebowski” fan circuit isn’t in the movie; in fact, he’s not even an actor. Jeff “the Dude” Dowd, a producer and indie-film figurehead for more than 20 years, first met the Coens during their “Blood Simple” days. The filmmakers were so fascinated by Dowd’s somnolent speech patterns and his ‘60s throwback persona -- shaggy hair, baggy shorts, incessant partying, bygone days of social activism -- that they later based Bridges’ character on him.

This will be Dowd’s third Lebowski Fest, but he admits he was “a little leery” the first time, after hearing that some fans were coming from across the country, and even across the globe.

“I didn’t know what that crowd would be like. I was pleasantly surprised, though,” Dowd says. “These ‘Lebowski’ fans are all intelligent enough to have a sense of humor and irony to appreciate where Joel and Ethan Coen are coming from. The people who go to these things are a very diverse group. You might think it would be a bunch of stoners or college kids, but I met two generations of a Latino family, there were doctors, guys from Wall Street, a couple soldiers who had just come back from Iraq.”

They might be smart, but “Lebowski” aficionados -- who call themselves “achievers,” one of their many in-jokes, don’t ask -- have a major disadvantage compared to other fandoms. Franchises like “Star Trek,” “The X-Files” and Godzilla have copious movies and TV episodes, enough material to sustain interest over the decades.

By all accounts, there’s not going to be a “Lebowski” sequel, despite the efforts of one Indiana fan who tried to drum up interest for a spinoff titled “Jesus: The Second Coming,” starring Turturro’s character. There’s no “Lebowski” TV show, no comic book, no action figure -- nada. Only the one sacred text.

But that doesn’t mean things have gotten predictable. At the first few Lebowski Fests, most everyone came dressed as a major character. Nowadays, many don costumes based on props or dialogue. One man dressed as a giant Creedence Clearwater Revival 8-track tape; another dressed as “the whites” (a reference to John Goodman’s dirty laundry) by pinning underwear to his clothing. One man practiced riding in a wheelchair for a month so he could impersonate the titular Big Lebowski (it was worth the effort -- he won the costume contest).

Others become obsessed with “Lebowski” minutiae. Pat Evans, 34, a manager at the Improv Hollywood comedy club, has compiled a website with an extensive list of locations where “Lebowski” was filmed. Among his findings: a beach party scene was shot at Zuma, in the same location where Charlton Heston discovered the fallen Statue of Liberty in “Planet of the Apes.”

“It’s a great L.A. movie, and since it takes place almost entirely at night, it’s not sunny L.A. but the other side of the city, the nocturnal side,” Evans says. “I used to drive all over town finding locations. It was a pretty fun thing to do before gas prices got exorbitant.”

There’s no telling how long it can sustain itself, but for now “Lebowski” fandom is motoring along. Already there are plans for two more fests this year, in New York and Louisville. Russell says the ultimate Lebowski Fest would be one attended by Bridges or Goodman, or better still, the Coen brothers, but he’s not exactly waiting around for that to happen.

“They [the Coens] let us borrow the marmot prop last summer,” Russell says, referring to an angry rodent that villains drop into the Dude’s bathtub. “But they haven’t actually said anything. I think they’re just kind of scratching their heads, wondering why there’s a Lebowski Fest. I’m sure it’s a little strange to them.”

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Lebowski Fest West

Pre-party

Where: Knitting Factory, 7021 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood

When: 9 p.m. Friday

Price: $14

Info: (323) 463-0204

Festival

Where: Cal Bowl, 2500 E. Carson St., Lakewood

When: 8 p.m. to 1 a.m. Saturday

Price: $25 includes admission, bowling and shoe rental.

Info: www.lebowskifest.com