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https://static.xx.fbcdn.net/rsrc.php/yv/r/B8BxsscfVBr.ico
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en
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Mark Rydell: Movies, TV, and Bio
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[
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[] | null |
Browse Mark Rydell movies and TV shows available on Prime Video and begin streaming right away to your favorite device.
|
en
|
https://www.amazon.com/prime-video/actor/Mark-Rydell/amzn1.dv.gti.d1e40222-ace3-4459-b830-f628e50ea21b/
|
Mark Rydell was born on March 23, 1929 in New York City, New York, USA. He is a director and actor, known for The Long Goodbye (1973), On Golden Pond (1981) and Hollywood Ending (2002). He was previously married to Esther Jacobs and Joanne Linville.
|
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6000
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dbpedia
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2
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https://deadline.com/2017/07/martin-landau-dies-oscar-winner-ed-wood-1202129843/
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en
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Martin Landau Dies: Oscar-Winning ‘Ed Wood’, TV’s ‘Mission: Impossible’ Actor Was 89
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"Dino-Ray Ramos"
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2017-07-17T00:32:50+00:00
|
Martin Landau, the Academy Award winning actor of "Ed Wood," died at the age of 89 due to "unexpected complications."
|
en
|
Deadline
|
https://deadline.com/2017/07/martin-landau-dies-oscar-winner-ed-wood-1202129843/
|
Martin Landau, whose role as Bela Lugosi in Tim Burton’s 1994 film Ed Wood earned the popular player an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, died Saturday at 89 following “unexpected complications” after a brief stay at the UCLA Medical Center, his publicist Dick Guttman confirmed Sunday.
In a career spanning more than half a century of roles on television and film, Landau may have been best known for his run as undercover operative Rollin Hand in the Mission: Impossible TV series that initially ran from 1966 to 1973 on CBS. The show co-starred Landau’s wife at the time, Barbara Bain.
Also known for his varied roles in classic films from Alfred Hitchcock’s North by Northwest to Woody Allen’s Crimes and Misdemeanors, Landau was not only one of the most familiar faces in Hollywood but also one of the most highly regarded character actors in the business. “Martin Landau is living proof that Hollywood will find great roles for great actors at any stage of their careers,” said Guttman in confirming his client’s death.
Landau was born in Brooklyn, NY June 20, 1928 and went on to study at the Pratt Institute. The year he auditioned for the Actors Studio, he and Steve McQueen were accepted out of 2000 applicants. This was the start of both his careers and his lifelong devotion to the Studio, the center of American method acting that he eventually headed up as artistic director with actor and director Mark Rydell. His students there included Jack Nicholson and Anjelica Huston.
Watch on Deadline
‘Ageism is something that does exist. I don’t like to do what I call “the grunters” — a character who sits at a table and grunts, and young people make fun of. I turn a lot of those down. I like a character that is still alive, and is necessarily thinking, and either grows or diminishes, or whatever.’ – Martin Landau
Landau made his big screen debut in the Gregory Peck war film Pork Chop Hill in 1959, but his first major film appearance was in North by Northwest, a role he nabbed when Hitchcock after he saw his stage performance with Edward G. Robinson in Paddy Chayefsky’s Middle of the Night.
He starred opposite Jeff Bridges in Francis Ford Coppola’s Tucker: The Man His Dream in 1988, for which he received his first Oscar nomination. The following year he earned his second Oscar nod for his role as Judah Rosenthal in Allen’s bitter drama Crimes and Misdemeanors. His performance in Ed Wood also earned him a Golden Globe Award the Screen Actor Guild’s first annual award, The American Comedy Award, The New York Film Critics Award, The National Society of Film Critics Award, The Chicago Film Critics Award, The Los Angeles Film Critics Award, and every other award for Best Supporting Actor in 1994. He collaborated with Burton again as a voice actor for his animated features 9 and Frankenweenie.
More recently, he starred opposite with Paul Sorvino in the dramedy The Last Poker Game, which bowed earlier this year at Tribeca Film Festival. Deadline had the honor of interviewing him for the film which centered on the challenges and complexities of old age but emphasizing that life must be lived fully at any age.
“Ageism is something that does exist,” Landau acknowledged then. “As a young actor, I was working much more readily, and being offered more things. I don’t like to do what I call ‘the grunters’—a character who sits at a table and grunts, and young people make fun of. I turn a lot of those down. I like a character that is still alive, and is necessarily thinking, and either grows or diminishes, or whatever.”
He also starred with legendary actor Christopher Plummer in the 2015 indie Holocaust drama Remember from director Atom Egoyan. He also starred in The Red Maple Leaf with Kris Kristofferson and James Caan as well as the critically acclaimed Lovely with Ellen Burstyn.
‘If one could examine his DNA, it would read ACTOR. He embraced every role with fire and fierce dedication. Playing Bela Lugosi in Tim Burton’s “Ed Wood” was his loving tribute to all actors and garnered him a well-deserved Academy Award. His work was his joy and his legacy.’ —Barbara Bain
Landau’s versatile talents shined on TV as he made appearances on the small screen after his memorable role on Mission: Impossible. He nabbed six Emmy nominations including two for guest starring appearances on Without A Trace as well as the HBO comedy Entourage.
As a writer, Landau was working on a yet-untitled memoir which detailed his accomplishments in theatre, film and television. He also wrote the foreword of Life magazine’s book on his friend and fellow Hollywood icon James Dean. In addition a documentary entitled An Actor’s Actor: The Life of Martin Landau was in development.
He is survived by his daughters Susie Landau Finch and Juliet Landau, his sons-in-law Roy Finch and Deverill Weekes, former wife and co-star Barbara Bain, godson Dylan Becker, friend Gretchen Becker, sister Elinor Schwartz and his 8-year-old granddaughter Aria Isabel Landau Finch.
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6000
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2
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https://filmtalk.org/2020/12/29/monte-hellman/
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en
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INTERVIEWS WITH ACTORS AND FILMMAKERSINTERVIEWS WITH ACTORS AND FILMMAKERS
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2020-12-29T00:00:00
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“You’ve come a long way. I appreciate that you’re traveling all this way to see me,” Monte Hellman said after I rang his doorbell and he opened the door. I did leave Hollywood early in the morning—I took the Metro Rail from Hollywood and Vine to Union Station in downtown Los Angeles, there I hopped…
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FILM TALK
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https://filmtalk.org/2020/12/29/monte-hellman/
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“You’ve come a long way. I appreciate that you’re traveling all this way to see me,” Monte Hellman said after I rang his doorbell and he opened the door. I did leave Hollywood early in the morning—I took the Metro Rail from Hollywood and Vine to Union Station in downtown Los Angeles, there I hopped on the Greyhound bus to Palm Springs, and from there, a Lyft ride brought me to the gated community near Palm Springs where Mr. Hellman now resides.
But that itinerary was peanuts compared to his long and rewarding journey as a director whose film output includes four early Jack Nicholson films, “Flight to Fury” and “Back Door to Hell” (both 1964) and two westerns “The Shooting” and “Ride in the Whirlwind” (both 1966), as well as “Two-Lane Blacktop” (1971), the action drama “Cockfighter” (1974), and another western of his, “China 9, Liberty 37” (1978). Films that film buffs are all very familiar with.
Just to pick out one of them, “Two-Lane Blacktop” (1971)—which is undoubtedly one of the greatest road movies ever made. The film stars singers/musicians and first-time actors James Taylor and Dennis Wilson (co-founder and member of the Beach Boys), with Warren Oates and Laurie Bird in the other leading roles. The slow-paced, atmospheric cross-country car race, about everything and nothing, with great visuals and limited dialogue, has always been a favorite film of mine, and the subtle cult masterpiece looks even better today than it did almost fifty years ago. This might as well be your typical Monte Hellman picture, although his entire body of work has so much more to offer.
“Two-Lane Blacktop” (1971, trailer)
His first film was “Beast from the Haunted Cave” (1959), brought to him by Roger Corman. The film was shot back-to-back with Corman’s “Ski Troop Attack” (1960), using the same locations in Deadwood, South Dakota; the same cast, including Michael Forest, Frank Wolff, Sheila Noonan, Richard Sinatra, and Wally Campo; the same screenwriter, Charles B. Griffith; the same cinematographer, Andrew M. Costikyan, and so on—which is so like Roger Corman, who introduced Mr. Hellman to filmmaking. He mentored him, just as he launched the careers of so many others.
Born in New York City in 1932, and moving with his family to Los Angeles when he was five, Mr. Hellman made all of his films on a tight budget. The all-round, multi-skilled film craftsman who made very personal character studies was not only a film director and editor—in the latter capacity, also working for other film directors such as Roger Corman (“The Wild Angels,” 1966), Bob Rafelson (“Head,” 1968), Sam Peckinpah (“The Killer Elite,” 1975), and Jonathan Demme (“Fighting Mad,” 1976).
Over the years, Mr. Hellman also shot the prologue for Francis Ford Coppola’s “Dementia 13” (1963); he was dialogue director (Roger Corman’s “The St. Valentine’s Day Massacre,” 1967); finished Mark Robson’s “Avalanche Express” (1979) in post-production; did second unit work for Paul Verhoeven (“RoboCop,” 1987), and co-executive produced Quentin Tarantino’s debut film “Reservoir Dogs” (1992). His latest film as film director was “Road to Nowhere” (2010), the first feature he directed since “Iguana” (1988).
Mr. Hellman still has a huge following in Europe and his work is much praised by the French because the films he directed have a European—or at least a foreign—flavor. Consequently, it’s no surprise that he has always been fond of foreign-language films.
In November 2018, he moved from Laurel Canyon in the Hollywood Hills to Palm Desert, California. That’s where I met him five months later at his new home, in March 2019. He still got invited to attend numerous events in Los Angeles, but, as he said, ‘I can’t go. Los Angeles is too far. I haven’t been back since I moved here.’
During our conversation in his living room, you couldn’t ignore the posters on the walls, all beautifully framed, of films that are very dear to him.
Mr. Hellman, since you don’t live in Los Angeles anymore, don’t you miss the film community?
No, there is no film community; at least, I was not a member of any film community.
Nevertheless, you had an impressive career, didn’t you?
It was sporadic, but it was fine.
Don’t you think you were underestimated as a filmmaker?
I don’t think so. I actually had a very good score with critics—I don’t believe in critics, but they liked my movies from the very beginning. I never had a problem with them liking me, I had a problem with me respecting them because they may have liked me for the wrong reasons.
What gave you the passion to become a filmmaker?
The Saturday matinee serials like “The Lone Ranger” and the “Tarzan” films, that was really the beginning of my love of cinema.
Was it the storytelling that inspired you, or was it because of the performances, the directing…?
No, I wasn’t thinking about those things. I just liked movies.
Out of the many films you made, would you consider “Two-Lane Blacktop” [1971] a highlight of your career or your most personal film?
I enjoyed making it, and it was one of my best films, but my most personal film was “Road to Nowhere” [2010]. If I didn’t have any other film, that’s the one I would keep.
You also edited your films. When you were shooting on the set, did you edit already in your mind?
Not really. I was an editor and I edited most of my own movies, but I wasn’t thinking about that when I was on the set.
How did you work with your actors? Did you have a specific approach or working method?
No, because whatever I did, I didn’t do it consciously. I didn’t think about it. I didn’t analyze it. Later in my career, when my movies came out on DVD or Blu-ray, I saw interviews with some of the people I worked with. Millie Perkins [Jack Nicholson’s co-star in “The Shooting” and “Ride in the Whirlwind,” both 1966] told a lot about my direction because I didn’t know what I was doing. She said that whenever she would ask me a question, I would always say, ‘I don’t know.’ I wouldn’t even answer her question [laughs]. So that was my first insight. I think I worked from my instincts. I didn’t think about things too much.
How did you cast your actors?
I usually cast actors from their look, from their appearance, and then I was always surprised because they were so inspired. I didn’t expect that. The most surprising actress I worked with was Shannyn Sossamon [“Road to Nowhere”]. I cast her because she looked apart, and when she turned out to be so brilliant, it was a pleasure, but it was also surprising. And I thought there was a little bit of Laurie Bird in her [1953-1975, actress who appeared in “Two-Lane Blacktop” and “Cockfighter”]; quite a bit of Shannyn’s dialogue even comes from things I remember from Laurie when we did “Two-Lane Blacktop” and “Cockfighter” together.
You have worked with a lot of amazing people. You even turned James Taylor into a magnificent actor.
He was really amazing, but he still hasn’t seen the movie. I think he doesn’t like to see himself.
You made four films with Jack Nicholson, also four with Warren Oates [1928-1982], who was one of the best character actors of his generation. According to Richard Linklater, he was one of the reasons why you’d love “Two-Lane Blacktop” because ‘there was once a God who walked the earth named Warren Oates.’ What made him so special?
He was such a special human being, to begin with. I first saw him in a stage production of “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,” playing the part Jack Nicholson played in the movie, and he popped into my mind for “The Shooting” [1966]. We both liked literature, that was one of our common interests, and we became close friends. So I really enjoyed working with him, and he was always very surprising to me. But generally, I don’t give direction at all. Which means I don’t direct, and I expect my actors to be the same way. I don’t want them to act. They don’t have to be the character: they are the character. The character is whoever you cast; that actor becomes the character. That’s why casting is the most important job of the director. After that, there’s nothing more to do. So if people ask me how I direct, I say, ‘I don’t.’ And if actors ask me how to act, I say, ‘Don’t.’ Most great directors don’t direct, you don’t tell an actor what to do. It’s like Clint Eastwood once said, ‘How can I tell Morgan Freeman how to act?’ So you don’t. That’s the bottom line.
Does that mean you don’t rehearse?
I don’t rehearse, that’s right. That doesn’t mean it’s all very fresh—not if you do fifty takes. But I don’t rehearse.
How do you know which take is the right one?
Sometimes I don’t know until I’m in the editing room.
As an editor, do you leave a lot of material on the cutting room floor?
I would think so. I shoot probably a ratio of ten to one, so I leave ninety percent on the cutting room floor. Maybe even more than that, because if I have different angles, there’s duplication here and there.
When you see Jack Nicholson on television in a movie, do you still recognize the actor and the person that you’ve known now for so many years?
It’s difficult for me to say because I haven’t seen all his movies. I loved working with him, but I like a different kind of movie than the ones he’s been making. My favorite movies from the last few years are “Silence in Dreamland” [2013, original Italian title “Silencio en la tierra de los sueños”] and “Saint George” [2016, original Portugese title “São Jorge”].
Can you name a film that you didn’t like and that everybody else seemed to enjoy?
“La La Land” [2016]. I just couldn’t watch it.
When they send you a script, how do you judge it? What does it take for you to accept it or turn it down?
I work emotionally, so it has to interest me. I never think about things like the structure or anything like that. That doesn’t interest me.
How do you work with your cinematographer?
I worked with the same cinematographer for years. Josep M. Civit made my last four movies, I guess. We didn’t have to talk; we just knew what to do.
Are film reviews important to you? Do you read them?
Oh yes, I read them [laughs]. I have enough of a curiosity to be interested; also if the reviewer doesn’t like the movie, I’m always interested.
Do critics usually know what they’re writing about?
No. Very few. The only person I ever met who really understood one of my movies—the movie was “Two-Lane Blacktop”—was a man who worked in a brewery; he came to me and told me what he saw. Now that didn’t matter to me, I mean if someone had a different interpretation, that was okay too, you know. But I thought it was interesting; here you had this one guy who saw what I saw. And what made the film interesting from my point of view was that the first edit was three and a half hours. But according to our contract, it couldn’t be more than two hours. So I cut it down to two hours, and then I kept cutting to what it is now, which is an hour and three quarters. So after we reached the contractual obligation, I still cut it because I wanted to.
Did that also same happen with your other films? “Cockfighter” [1974], for example?
That’s the only film, with “Road to Nowhere,” that I didn’t edit completely. I edited the scenes with the actors, and Lewis Teague edited all the scenes with the cockfights. I intended to edit “Road to Nowhere,” but my protégée was a woman [Céline Ameslon] that I had convinced to go back to Paris to get a degree in editing after she had been there as a director. So when I brought her over to be my assistant, we watched the dailies for three days, and we talked about them. After that, I said, ‘Why don’t you start editing? Start with the first scene?’ And she did, and when we watched it, I suggested she’d finish the movie. And she did.
Was it easy for you to let it go, especially since you were used to editing everything yourself?
Well, what can I say? She was better than me, that’s why I urged her to do it.
How important is editing to you?
I was a stage director, and in movies, the directing and the editing combined make up what a stage director does. So directing and editing are equally important.
We just talked about film critics. What about critics such as Roger Ebert, Rex Reed, or Pauline Kael? Did you know any of them personally?
No, I didn’t know them, but Pauline Kael, for some reason, disliked my movies so much that she would even mention me when she was reviewing another movie, not mine. She would say, ‘It’s almost as bad as a Monte Hellman film.’ She never liked any of my movies.
How important were the box office receipts to you? Were they crucial?
Obviously not, because I never made a movie that made a lot of money [laughs]. It was something that I wished for, but I can’t say it was crucial because I lived without it.
When your movies are on TV, or people buy a DVD or Blu-ray of your movies, do you get paid for that?
No, I never get paid for that. Every once in a while I get a check for a few dollars from the Directors Guild as my receipt for box office sales or DVD sales in Holland or something. So as far as I’m concerned, there’s not a lot of money in making movies.
People always talk about the film business, but shouldn’t it be called film art?
I don’t use the word film anymore. It goes back to the early days when they called them motion pictures. I still call them pictures now. Film is no longer accurate because we don’t make movies on film anymore. They’re pictures. So I make pictures.
And do you see your own pictures again from time to time?
No. Except “Road to Nowhere” that I show to people, and every time I think I’m going to watch a couple of minutes, but in the end, I watch the whole thing.
Do you still watch a lot of movies?
No. I try. I can tell if a movie is good after one or two minutes. That works, at least for me. After two minutes, if I feel it’s not right for me, I don’t watch the rest of it. I look for something very unique. With “Saint George,” which I saw at the Academy when I was a member of the committee for foreign-language movies, I knew right away it was a movie for me—from the first few frames.
Is that what you also try to achieve as a filmmaker? Capture the attention of the audience from the very beginning?
When you’re directing on the set, you’re experiencing it differently. As a filmmaker, I have basically learned to shut off my brain, and so everything is through my instincts. I work from the unconscious. And that’s also what I tell my actors, ‘Shut off your brain, don’t think too much. Just let it happen.’ Only then it will come from the unconscious, not from the conscious.
Did you ever teach film students?
I had a few students for a while; we called it a masterclass but everything I know about movies, I can teach or tell you in a minute or two. So what we would do in those masterclasses is watch movies and talk about them afterward. On the other hand, I think I learned more from those students than what they learned from me, especially in terms of using modern technology.
And what would be your advice to film students now?
Don’t [laughs]. If they want to be a director, I’d say, ‘Don’t.’
If you would be able to start all over again, would you choose the same path?
I didn’t choose it, and I don’t think I would have any choice. But I would still do the same thing.
You have a lot of books here in your living room. Are they film books?
No, there’s only one, a biography of David Lean.
You admire him?
I do. I was at his 80th birthday party. I didn’t know him, but I managed to attend that party.
Did you ever have problems financing your films?
Always. I never had a project of mine that got made, except for “Road to Nowhere,” that was the first one. Before that, somebody always called me and offered me a movie. They hired me as their director, I was a director for hire. So I never had one of my projects green-lighted until “Road to Nowhere.” My daughter [Melissa Hellman] had raised the money for it, and she became my producer, but we haven’t made another movie since then. It’s always difficult to finance a movie.
“Road to Nowhere” was your first film in more than twenty years. Was the money issue the reason why it took you so long to make another feature?
Melissa got tired of seeing “Two-Lane Blacktop” over and over again, so she said it was time for me to make another movie. And one day, she told me, ‘Let us just stop waiting for other people to give you permission and the money to make a movie.’ So she went out on her own and raised most of the budget that we used to shoot the film on location in Los Angeles, North Carolina, London and Italy. Then she raised more money to get us through post-production.
“Road to Nowhere” (2010, trailer)
Are you still a member of the Academy?
Yes. But I’ve only been a member of the Academy for like ten years. I was put up for membership over the years—twice—before I was finally taken in. Now let me see [takes his wallet]. I became a member of the Academy in… where’s my membership card… in 2007. Only in 2007 because I was never accepted. But I’m happy to be in, and I was a member of the foreign-language committee, so every year I would see 35 out of 90 movies. I have become friends with the directors of the foreign movies that I mentioned, because of my love for their movies. They don’t necessarily broaden my horizon, but the few movies that I love, I see them over and over again—I see them a dozen times, sometimes two dozen times. I know those directors because I write them for a copy of the movie after I had seen it at the Academy and liked it so much.
Do foreign films have something that you may not find in American films?
Always. In recent years I’ve become less and less interested in American movies. I don’t watch them very much.
Do you still have the opportunity to watch foreign-language films, now that you’re no longer based in Los Angeles?
It has become difficult now, but I still get screeners once in a while.
You directed Sam Peckinpah in “China 9, Liberty 39” [1978]. How do you remember working with him?
When I did that movie, I already knew him, and I kept trying to have him come over and play a part, but he just didn’t show up. I had him set for three different parts, and when we wanted to shoot his scenes, no Sam Peckinpah, so someone else did it. Then the last day of shooting, I tried to get hold of him again, and he finally showed up. He was completely insane and very difficult because he would be under the influence of one drug or another. But I loved him; he was a wonderful, crazy person.
How about Roger Corman? Do you remember the first time you met him?
No, I don’t remember that, but I was aware of him when I was working at a studio over by Griffith Park. I had my lunch there, and he was there one day shooting a movie. He was very important: without him, I wouldn’t be here. He launched many careers over the years.
Is it true that you also knew James Dean?
I knew him at UCLA, and I said to him I didn’t think he would make it as an actor because he was too short. He was a star, he looked great, he was a wonderful actor, but I told him, ‘It’s too bad you’re not tall, Jimmy’ [laughs].
You co-executive produced Quinten Tarantino’s first film “Reservoir Dogs” [1992]. What does an executive producer do?
He is usually the one who comes up with the money, and that’s what I did.
Did he like your films?
Yes, he loves my work, but there is no movie he doesn’t love [laughs].
May I take a picture of you before I leave?
No, I don’t do pictures anymore. I want people to remember me like I was [laughs].
Palm Desert, California
March 30, 2019
FILMS
BEAST FROM THE HAUNTED CAVE (1959) DIR Monte Hellman PROD Gene Corman SCR Charles B. Griffith (also story) CAM Andrew M. Costikyan ED Anthony Carras MUS Alexander Laszlo CAST Michael Forest, Sheila Carol [Sheila Noonan], Frank Wolff, Willy Campo, Richard Sinatra, Linné Ahlstrand
SKI TROOP ATTACK (1960) DIR – PROD Roger Corman DIR FOOTAGE ADDED FOR TV Monte Hellman [uncredited] SCR Charles B. Griffith CAM Andrew M. Costikyan ED Anthony Carras MUS Fred Katz CAST Michael Forest, Frank Wolff, Wally Campo, Richard Sinatra, James Hoffman, Chan Biggs, Tom Staley, Sheila Carol [Sheila Noonan], Roger Corman
THE WILD RIDE (1960) DIR – PROD Harvey Berman SCR Marion Rothman, Ann Porter (story by Burt Topper) ED Monte Hellman [uncredited], William Mayer CAST Jack Nicholson, Georgianna Carter, Robert Bean, Carol Bigby, John Bologni, Gary Espinosa, Judith Trezise
CREATURE FROM THE HAUNTED SEA (1961) DIR – PROD Roger Corman DIR PRE-TITLE SEQUENCE Monte Hellman [uncredited] SCR Charles B. Griffith CAM Jacques R. Marquette ED Angela Scellars MUS Fred Katz CAST Antony Carbone, Betsy Jones-Moreland, Robert Towne, Beach Dickerson, Robert Bean, Esther Sandoval
DEMENTIA 13 (1963) DIR Francis Ford Coppola, Monte Hellman [prologue] PROD Roger Corman SCR Francis Ford Coppola CAM Charles Hannawalt ED Stuart O’Brien, Morton Tubor MUS Ronald Stein CAST William Campbell, Luana Anders, Bart Patton, Mary Mitchell, Patrick Magee, Eithne Dunne, Peter Read, Karl Schanzer
THE TERROR (1963) DIR Roger Corman ([uncredited] Monte Hellman, Francis Ford Coppola, Jack Nicholson, Jack Hill, Dennis Jakob, Jack Hale) LOCATION DIR Monte Hellman PROD Roger Corman SCR Leo Gordon, Jack Hill CAM John M. Nickolaus Jr., Floyd Crosby ED Stuart O’Brien MUS Ronald Stein CAST Boris Karloff, Jack Nicholson, Sandra Knight, Dick Miller, Dorothy Neumann, Jonathan Haze
FLIGHT TO FURY (1964) DIR Monte Hellman PROD Fred Roos, Eddie Romero SCR Jack Nicholson (story by Monte Hellman, Fred Roos) CAM Mike Accion ED Monte Hellman [uncredited], Joven Calub MUS Nestor Robles CAST Dewey Martin, Fay Spain, Jack Nicholson, Vic Diaz, Joseph Estrada, Jacqueline Hellman, John Hackett
BACK DOOR TO HELL (1964) DIR Monte Hellman PROD Fred Roos SCR Richard A. Guttman, John Hackett (story by Richard A. Guttman) CAM Nonong Rasca ED Monte Hellman [uncredited], Fely Crisostomo MUS Mike Velarde CAST Jimmie Rodgers, Jack Nicholson, John Hackett, Annabelle Huggins, Conrad Maga, Johnny Monteiro
CORDILLERA (1964) DIR Monte Hellman PROD Fred Roos SCR Jack Nicholson, Eddie Romero MUS Nestor Robles CAST Joseph Estrada, Dewey Martin, Fay Spain, Robert Arevalo, Vic Diaz, Imelda Ilanan, Ely Ramos Jr., Henry Duval
BUS RILEY’S BACK IN TOWN (1965) DIR Harvey Hart PROD Elliott Kastner SCR Walter Gage [Wiliam Inge] CAM Russell Metty ED Folmar Blangsted ASST ED Monte Hellman MUS Richard Markowitz CAST Ann-Margret, Michael Parks, Janet Margolin, Brad Dexter, Jocelyn Brando, Larry Storch, Kim Darby, Mimsy Farmer, David Carradine
RIDE THE WHIRLWIND (1966) DIR Monte Hellman PROD Monte Hellman, Jack Nicholson SCR Jack Nicholson CAM Gregory Sandor ED Monte Hellman [uncredited] MUS Robert Drasnin CAST Cameron Mitchell, Millie Perkins, Jack Nicholson, Katherine Squire, Rupert Crosse, Harry Dean Stanton, John Hackett
THE WILD ANGELS (1966) DIR – PROD Roger Corman SCR Charles B. Griffith CAM Peter Bogdanovich [uncredited], Richard Moore ED Peter Bogdanovich [uncredited], Monte Hellman MUS Mike Curb, Davie Allan CAST Peter Fonda, Nancy Sinatra, Bruce Dern, Diane Ladd, Buck Taylor, Norman Alden, Michael J. Pollard, Gayle Hunnicutt, Dick Miller, Peter Bogdanovich
THE SHOOTING (1966) DIR Monte Hellman PROD Monte Hellman, Jack Nicholson SCR Adrien Joyce (a.k.a. Carole Eastman) CAM Gregory Sandor ED Monte Hellman [uncredited] MUS Richard Markowitz CAST Will Hutchins, Millie Perkins, Jack Nicholson, Warren Oates, Charles Eastman, Guy El Tsosie
THE ST. VALENTINE’S DAY MASSACRE (1967) DIR – PROD Roger Corman DIALOGUE DIR Monte Hellman SCR Howard Browne CAM Milton Krasner ED William B. Murphy CAST Jason Robards Jr., George Segal, Ralph Meeker, Jean Hale, Clint Ritchie, Frank Silvera, Joseph Campanella, Bruce Dern, Harold J. Stone, Jack Nicholson
HEAD (1968) DIR Bob Rafelson PROD Bob Rafelson, Jack Nicholson SCR Bob Rafelson, Jack Nicholson CAM Michel Hugo ED Monte Hellman [uncredited], Michael Pozen CAST Peter Tork, Davy Jones, Micky Dolenz, Michael Nesmith, Victor Mature, Annette Funicello, Timothy Carey, Sony Liston, Frank Zappa, Teri Garr, Dennis Hopper, Jack Nicholson, Bob Rafelson
TARGET: HARRY (1969) DIR Henry Neill [Roger Corman] PROD Gene Corman SCR Bob Barbash CAM Patrice Pouget ED Monte Hellman MUS Les Baxter CAST Vic Morrow, Suzanne Pleshette, Victor Buono, Cesar Romero, Stanley Holloway, Charlotte Rampling, Michael Ansara, Ahna Capri
THE CHRISTIAN LICORICE STORE (1971) DIR James Frawley PROD – SCR Floyd Mutrux CAM David L. Butler ED Richard A. Harris MUS Lalo Schifrin CAST Beau Bridges, Maud Adams, Gilbert Roland, Allan Arbus, Anne Randall, Monte Hellman (Joseph), Jean Renoir, Talia Coppola [Talia Shire]
TWO-LANE BLACKTOP (1971) DIR – ED Monte Hellman SCR Rudy Wurlitzer, Will Cory (story by Will Cory) CAM Jack Deerson CAST James Taylor, Warren Oates, Laurie Bird, Dennis Wilson, David Drake, Richard Ruth, Jaclyn Hellman, Harry Dean Stanton
COCKFIGHTER (1974) DIR Monte Hellman PROD Roger Corman SCR Charles Willeford (also novel) CAM Néstor Almendros ED Monte Hellman [uncredited], Lewis Teague MUS Michael Franks CAST Warren Oates, Richard B. Shull, Harry Dean Stanton, Ed Begley Jr., Laurie Bird, Troy Donahue, Millie Perkins, Charles Willeford
SHATTER (1974) DIR Michael Carreras, Monte Hellman [uncredited] SCR Don Houghton CAM John Wilcox, Roy Ford, Brian Probyn ED Eric Boyd-Perkins MUS David Lindup CAST Stuart Whitman, Lung Ti, Lily Li, Peter Cushing, Anton Diffring, Yemi Goodman Ajibade, Liu Ka Yong [Chia Yung Liu]
THE KILLER ELITE (1975) DIR Sam Peckinpah PROD Martin Baum, Arthur Lewis SCR Stirling Silliphant, Marc Norman (novel by Robert Syd Hopkins) CAM Philip H. Lathrop ED Monte Hellman, Tony de Zarraga MUS Jerry Fielding CAST James Caan, Robert Duvall, Arthur Hill, Bo Hopkins, Mako, Burt Young, Gig Young, Tom Clancy
HARRY AND WALTER GO TO NEW YORK (1976) DIR Mark Rydell PROD Don Devlin, Harry Gittes SCR Robert Kaufman, John Byrum (story by John Byrum, Don Devlin) CAM László Kovács ED Don Guidice, David Bretherton ADDITIONAL ED Monte Hellman [uncredited] MUS David Shire CAST James Caan, Elliott Gould, Michael Caine, Diane Keaton, Charles Durning, Lesley Ann Warren, Val Avery, Jack Gilford, Carol Kane, Burt Young, Bert Remsen
SUDDEN DEATH (1977) DIR Eddie Romero PROD John Ashley, J. Skeet Wilson SCR Oscar Williams CAM Justo Paulino ED Monte Hellman [uncredited] MUS Johnny Pate CAST Robert Conrad, Don Stroud, Felton Perry, John Ashley, Thayer David, Aline Samson, Larry Manetti
AMORE, PIOMBE E FURORE, a.k.a. CHINA 9, LIBERTY 39 (1978) DIR Monte Hellman PROD Monte Hellman, Gianni Bozzacchi, Valerio De Paolis SCR Jerry Harvey, Douglas Venturelli (story by Ennio De Concini) CAM Giuseppe Rotunno ED Monte Hellman [uncredited], Cesare D’Amico MUS Pino Donaggio, John Rubinstein CAST Fabio Testi, Warren Oates, Jenny Agutter, Sam Peckinpah, Isabel Mestres, Gianrico Tondinelli
AVALANCHE EXPRESS (1979) DIR Mark Robson, Monte Hellman [uncredited] PROD Mark Robson SCR Abraham Polonsky (novel by Colin Forbes) CAM Jack Cardiff ED Monte Hellman [uncredited], Garth Craven MUS Allyn Ferguson CAST Lee Marvin, Robert Shaw, Linda Evans, Maximilian Schell, Joe Namath, Horst Buchholz, Mike Connors, Claudio Cassinelli
THE AWAKENING (1980) DIR Mike Newell PROD Robert H. Solo SCR Allan Scott, Chris Bryant CAM Jack Cardiff ED Terry Rawlings ADDITIONAL ED Monte Hellman [uncredited] MUS Claude Bolling CAST Charlton Heston, Susannah York, Jill Townsend, Stephanie Zimbalist, Patrick Drury, Bruce Myers, Nadim Sawalha
SOMEONE TO LOVE (1987) DIR – SCR Henry Jaglom PROD M.H. Simonson CAM Hanania Baer ED Henry Jaglom [uncredited] CAST Henry Jaglom, Andrea Marcovicci, Michael Emil, Sally Kellerman, Oja Kodar, Orson Welles, Ronee Blakley, Kathryn Harrold, Monte Hellman (Richard)
ROBOCOP (1987) DIR Paul Verhoeven SEC UNIT DIR Monte Hellman [uncredited] PROD Arne Schmidt SCR Edward Neumeier, Michael Miner CAM Jost Vacano ED Frank J. Urioste MUS Basil Poledouris CAST Peter Weller, Nancy Allen, Dan O’Herlihy, Ronny Cox, Kurtwood Smith, Miguel Ferrer, Ray Wise, Paul Verhoeven
IGUANA (1988) DIR Monte Hellman PROD Franco Di Nunzio SCR Monte Hellman, Steven Gaydos, David M. Zehr (novel by Alberto Vázquez Figueroa) CAM Josep M. Civit ED Monte Hellman MUS Franco Campanino CAST Everett McGill, Michael Bradford, Roger Kendall, Robert Case, Fabio Testi, Jack Taylor, Maru Valdivielso, Michael Madsen
RESERVOIR DOGS (1992) DIR – SCR Quentin Tarantino PROD Lawrence Bender EXEC PROD Monte Hellman, Richard N. Gladstein, Ronna B. Wallace CAM Andrzej Seluka ED Sally Menke CAST Harvey Keitel, Tim Roth, Chris Penn, Steve Buscemi, Lawrence Tierney, Michael Madsen, Randy Brooks, Quentin Tarantino
LOVE, CHEAT & STEAL (1993) DIR – SCR William Curan PROD Brad Krevoy, Steven Sabler CAM Kent L. Wakeford ED Carole Kravetz Aykanian ADDITIONAL ED Monte Hellman MUS Dan Wool CAST John Lithgow, Eric Roberts, Mädchen Amick, Richard Edson, Donald Moffat, David Ackroyd, Dan O’Herlihy
GREY KNIGHT (1993) DIR George Hickenlooper PROD Brad Krevoy, Steven Stabler SCR Matt Greenberg CAM Kent L. Wakeford ED Monte Hellman, Esther P. Russell MUS Bill Boll CAST Corbin Bernsen, Adrian Pasdar, Martin Sheen, Billy Bob Thornton, David Arquette, Matt LeBlanc, George Hickenlooper, Matt Greenberg
TRAPPED ASHES (2006) DIR Sean Cunningham, Joe Dante, John Gaeta, Ken Russell, Monte Hellman (segment STANLEY’S GIRLFRIEND) PROD Dennis Bartok, Yoshifumi Hosoya, Yoki Yoshikawa SCR Dennis Bartok CAM Zoran Popovic ED Marcus Manton CAST Jayce Bartok, Henry Gibson, Dick Miller, John Saxon, Ken Russell, John R. Taylor
ROAD TO NOWHERE (2010) DIR Monte Hellman PROD Monte Hellman, Melissa Hellman, Steven Gaydos SCR Steven Gaydos CAM Josep M. Civit ED Céline Ameslon MUS Tom Russell CAST Tygh Runyan, Dominique Swain, Shannyn Sossamon, John Diehl, Cliff De Young, Waylon Payne, Fabio Testi
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https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Rydell
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Mark Rydell (born Mortimer Horace Rydell; March 23, 1929) is an American actor, movie director and producer.[1]
Rydell has directed many Academy Award-nominated movies including The Fox (1967), The Reivers (1969), Cinderella Liberty (1973), The Rose (1979), The River (1984) and For the Boys (1991).
Rydell was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Director for On Golden Pond (1981).
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The Classic TV History Blog
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Posts about Mark Rydell written by Stephen Bowie
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The Classic TV History Blog
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In 1972, Bruce Dern asked for permission to leave the set of the science fiction film Silent Running, in which he played the lead, for two days in order to shoot a cameo in an upcoming John Wayne Western, The Cowboys. During those two days, Dern became one of only a handful of actors to earn the dubious honor of killing John Wayne on screen. (Of Wayne’s Westerns up to that point, only The Alamo saw him die at the end – and, of course, everybody died at the Alamo.) Supposedly it was Dern’s idea to not only shoot the Duke, but to shoot him in the back. When they heard that their star was about to become the most hated man in the movies, the producers of Silent Running panicked and declared that their movie had to come out before The Cowboys. (It didn’t, and it wasn’t a hit.)
The director of The Cowboys was Mark Rydell, and had Dern not been released for those two days, he had a backup plan: Rydell would have used the star of Ben Casey, the television series that launched his directing career, in the small role that Dern ended up playing. Blowing away John Wayne in a big movie in 1972 ended up as a footnote in Bruce Dern’s ascendant filmography but for the struggling Vince Edwards, it might have been an important career move. His days as a leading man were over, but it’s easy to imagine an alternate cinema history in which Edwards turned character actor and played Al Lettieri-type roles – hulking, aging thugs, in other words – in some of the many action and neo-noir movies that came out of Hollywood during the late seventies and eighties.
That’s just one of the many tangents that I stumbled across, but didn’t have room to mention, while I was researching these pieces on Ben Casey and on Vince Edwards’s strange career as a TV director. And because it’s what blogs are good for, I’m going to reheat a selection of this ephemera below.
*
One of the things that entertained me about Vince Edwards was that the group of ragtag hangers-on that he cultivated. Lots of insecure stars had such entourages but, perhaps because they were looking for ways to rake the churlish, interview-averse Edwards over the coals, journalists did an unusually thorough of enumerating and mocking these individuals.
Unlike that other movie star Vince – Vincent Chase, the fictional character (based on Mark Wahlberg) at the center of the recent TV series Entourage – our Vince’s entourage didn’t start with family. Although he had six siblings, including a twin brother, Bob Zoino, Edwards kept his family at arm’s length. In fact, one of the ways he managed to look bad during the run of Ben Casey was by exchanging barbs in the press with both Bob (who was a bus driver while Vince was Ben Casey) and their mother, June.
Of the colorful characters who did follow Vince around and keep him entertained between takes and horse races, the closest to him was Bennie “The Fighting Jew” Goldberg, a pint-sized former boxer. Dwight Whitney, in one of two snide but detailed TV Guide profiles of Edwards, described Goldberg as the star’s “dresser, errand boy and general factotum.” Born in Poland and raised in Detroit, Goldberg lost the world bantamweight title to Manuel Ortiz in 1943, and died the day before the World Trade Center collapsed. According to co-star Harry Landers, Goldberg was a thug who implemented various small-time cons to keep his boss in gambling money. His Hollywood career included bit parts, usually as boxers, in John Frankenheimer’s All Fall Down and an episode of Cannon, and at least once on Ben Casey. Here he is in that episode (“When I Am Grown to Man’s Estate,” 1965):
Along with Goldberg, Edwards’s lackeys included a pair usually described as his “stand-ins”: Ray Joyer and George Fraser. Joyer’s lasting claim to fame is as the orderly (below) who slams the gurney through the double doors at the start of the final version of Ben Casey‘s opening credits – a role he sought to exploit a year after Ben Casey went off the air, by suing Bing Crosby Productions in both state and federal court for residuals. Alas, the trades didn’t report on the resolution of his case. Joyer died young, around age 50, in 1975. Fraser was an animal trainer who kept lions, and his experiences were the springboard for the Edwards-scripted-and-directed TV movie Maneater. But, surprisingly for someone in such a colorful line of work, little else about Fraser turns up in the newspaper archives.
But the most fascinating member of Edwards’s circle was one who escaped Whitney’s notice: a jack-of-all-trades named Marcus W. Demian. Well, actually, his real name was Bernard Schloss, although he claimed at one point that he was a full-blooded Native American from Yakima, Washington – likely an utter fabrication. Demian was born around 1928, and more than Edwards’s other hangers-on, he seemed to have some artistic aspirations. Demian was probably the screenwriter Edwards occasionally told the press he had on retainer to work up movie ideas for him when he was riding high. Demian accrued writing credits not only on Edwards’s projects (Ben Casey, Matt Lincoln, and Maneater) but on Channing, some British TV series, and the movie Little Moon and Jud McGraw. Demian was also an actor – below is an image of him in his one Ben Casey bit part – with screen credits as recent as 2011’s Bucky Larson: Born to Be a Star, in which Demian played “Old Man with Pig.” Demian was also a restaurateur – a partner, in fact, in the early Los Angeles vegetarian restaurant the Aware Inn – and a master hypnotist.
It gets weirder: In October 1966, Demian made the front page of the New York Times for menacing his wife with an eight-inch ice pick after she leapt from his red sports car on Manhattan’s First Avenue. And why was that front page news? Because the fellow who hopped out of his chauffeur-driven limo and took the ice pick away from Demian was Henry Barnes, the city’s traffic commissioner, who was 60 years old and a survivor of several heart attacks. Demian fled, twice – first by jumping into the sports car and speeding away, and a second time by diving out a window when the police showed up at his nearby apartment. The cops finally nabbed him a few blocks away and booked Demian on assault and weapons charges.
Oh, and the woman who almost got ice-picked? According to the New York Times piece, she was a television performer named Diane Hittleman, and she had married Demian in Mexico in June of 1966 and dumped him three months later. Well … maybe. Also in 1966, there was a local TV program called Yoga For Health, featuring one Diane Hittleman (who also did yoga with Johnny Carson on The Tonight Show, and died in May). At the time that Diane Hittleman, who was the same age as Demian’s Diane Hittleman, was married and had three children with her co-host, Richard Hittleman. One has to wonder if the Times was giving Hittleman a break, and if Marcus picked up some bad habits from his famous (and famously womanizing) buddy.
Needless to say, I tried to contact Marcus Demian for an interview, but the phone numbers were all disconnected and the letters and e-mails bounced back. If you’re out there, Marcus, we’d love to hear your Vince Edwards stories.
*
Also present in the murky history of Ben Casey is another bizarre true crime story, one with echoes of the Leonard Heideman case that I wrote about early in the days of this blog.
“Wife Held For Murder in Film Editor’s Death,” read the May 8, 1962 headline in the Los Angeles Times, which reported that one Jeane Sampson, 40, had shot her husband to death during a struggle for a revolver. The dead man, identified in the papers as John E. Sampson, 50, and usually credited on screen as Edward Sampson, had edited the pilot for Ben Casey and been the show’s head film editor during its first season.
According to Jeane Sampson, she was a battered wife, and her husband had interrupted a suicide attempt. She told the police that she was going to shoot herself because she “got tired of being used as a punching bag.” The deadly chain of events began when Jeane Sampson called her parents in Palm Springs and told them of her plans to commit suicide. They begged her to wait, but Jeane locked herself in the bathroom of their home (at 1103 Eilinita Avenue in Glendale) with a revolver and the couple’s only child, ten year-old Terry. Edward Sampson heard the commotion and went to investigate. Terry screamed through the bathroom door to her father: “Go away, Daddy, or you’ll be hurt.” Daddy should’ve listened. Instead he broke down the bathroom door and then – blammo.
Jeane Sampson was arraigned for murder the following week and a hearing was set for the fall. That hearing was never held. On August 13, Jeane Sampson took a fatal overdose of barbiturates.
Sampson’s credits included the TV series Disneyland and Lassie and several juvie B-movies (one of which, 1955’s The Fast and the Furious, he evidently co-directed). He also shot some second-unit hospital footage for Ben Casey. On the same day it published his obituary, Variety noted separately that producer Stanley Kramer’s upcoming feature A Child Is Waiting would include stock footage of a baby’s birth, filmed by Sampson for the Casey episode “I Remember a Lemon Tree” (one of the two written in part by Marcus Demian!).
And yes, I did try to find out what happened to Terry Sampson (whose birth in 1952, when her father was working at Paramount, had been announced in Variety). But – perhaps for the best – I didn’t succeed.
*
Next week, I’ll conclude our Ben Casey coverage with an interview feature. No, you’ll never be able to guess who the two subjects are – and in fact, I’m still as surprised as I am delighted that I found them and that they remembered so much. Tune in….
Update, 1/27/2015: Marcus W. Demian died on November 20, 2014, at 86. The spelling of George Fraser’s name has been corrected above and elsewhere on this blog, thanks to a kind note from his son, Tam O’Connor Fraser.
“Why not directing? There’s no big mystery about it. It’s – well, it’s just having a point of view and – and a certain amount of selection and taste.”
– Vince Edwards
Last month, I wrote about the problems of writing about television direction. With the auteur concept in film criticism, the collaborative nature of the medium becomes a dangerous trap: how do we determine, through research or comparison, which decisions were made by the director rather than by the writer, the cinematographer, the actors, or the editor? Television multiplies that problem by sheer volume – most directors racked up a hundred or more TV episodes during their career – as well as access – logistically, how many of those hundred or more shows can be located and screened in quick succession? Compounding the daunting element of scale is the assumption that television is not a director’s medium. More than in feature filmmaking, the director’s role is proscribed, with producers, stars, and editors routinely making decisions that would typically fall to the director in cinema. The process of discerning a television director’s personal style is a kind of reverse engineering. It’s not enough to study Director X’s episodes of many different series. One also needs to look at other directors’ episodes of the same series, as a means of identifying which touches are unique to Mr. X and which might be part of a given show’s overall “house style.” And, perhaps, familiarize oneself with the unquantifiable work of many actors: how are they different under Mr. X’s direction than under someone else’s?
The fraternity of fanatics who have seen enough television to be qualified to undertake such studies is small. I’m one of them, but even I find the prospect intimidating. In the back of my mind, I have a list of a dozen or so episodic directors active between the fifties and the seventies who consistently delivered first-rate work. But it would take a pretty big research grant to fund the hundreds of hours necessary to write authoritatively about even one of those bodies of work.
*
Which brings us to Vincent Edwards, the star of Ben Casey, and also an occasional director of television segments. Edwards might seem an unexpected choice to serve as our guinea pig here, but there are certain factors that make him well-suited to our purpose. First, his videography is manageable: he helmed only about twenty-two hours of television across nearly thirty years. Second, he was famous, which means that we have access to more biographical information than we would expect to find for a rank-and-file television director. Third, the case of the television-star-turned-director is a fairly specific phenomenon that recurs across the history of successful TV series, and we may be able to benefit from certain generalizations about how it happens, and what the results tend to be.
The other factor that makes Edwards interesting is that he’s something of an extreme case. Edwards came to mind when I was reading reviews of a Mad Men episode directed by John Slattery (who, like his co-star Jon Hamm, has become one of the series’ regular directors). One mentioned Slattery’s “lovely lyrical images,” another his “usual visual flair.” The seven episodes of Ben Casey that Edwards directed are also precociously cinematic. In fact, Edwards’s kid-in-a-candy-shop infatuation with the camera and its possibilities is so manifestly in evidence that his work on Ben Casey has attained a tiny cult following among the handful of aficionados who pay attention to such things. (The post seems to have been swallowed by the internet, but Edwards-as-director came in for a round of both admiration and scorn a few years back in one of the discursive discussions on auteurist extraordinaire Dave Kehr’s blog.)
*
“I just went up [to the producers of Ben Casey] and said, ‘I wanta direct a show.’ They said, ‘OK, we’ll find a script.’”
– Vince Edwards
The script that Edwards pulled was a heavy female melodrama called “Dispel the Black Cyclone That Shakes the Throne.” The patient of the week was one Clarissa Rose Genet (Mary Astor), a reclusive opera star whose comeback has been thwarted by blindness (because blind people have never become successful recording artists) and also by the controlling impulses of a live-in manager (Eileen Heckart) who prefers that her solo client remain as helpless as possible. Although Clarissa’s heterosexuality is carefully established by the introduction of an old flame (James Dunn), it’s implied that the hysterical, unsympathetic manager, Polly Jenks (Eileen Heckart), is motivated in part by an obsessive same-sex attraction. Can Dr. Casey untangle all these unhealthy attachments and convince Clarissa to have the surgery she requires?
“It needed – uh, fluidity,” said Edwards of this rather lugubrious outing. “Fluidity” translated into a range of showy, often unmotivated camera movements. Fittingly for someone with a megastar’s ego, Edwards began his directing career on a crane: “Cyclone”’s cold open commences with a crane down into Clarissa’s cavernous foyer, and then a two-minute long-take in which Polly and a doctor (Wilton Graff) outline some of the basic facts of the plot. Edwards tries to enliven several routine dialogue scenes by sending the camera on a slow, circling prowl around the actors. There’s a distracting fast pull-back on Astor during a scene in which she makes a pivotal shift in loyalty, from Polly to her estranged, alcoholic daughter (Luana Anders), and an equally flashy zoom in on Heckart at the moment when Polly learns she has been fired.
Amid the expected overzealousness of a freshman director, though, there are good instincts. Edwards creates a number of stark, forceful close-ups on his actors:
“Where does the shadow go when the sun has set?” is the last line of the episode – Polly’s, as she contemplates an empty life after her break with the healed Clarissa. Edwards creates a literal correlative for this line, a dramatic final image in which the camera pulls back, isolating Heckart in a shadowy hospital corridor amid a row of bright spotlights extending into the background. No actual hospital anywhere in the world, it’s safe to say, has ever employed a lighting scheme of this sort.
Edwards’s second episode, “For a Just Man Falleth Seven Times,” concerns dying businessman Thomas Hardin (Lew Ayres), who experiences a burst of strength and euphoria during his final hours. Once buttoned-down, now impulsive, he goes forth into the seedy side of town and proposes marriage to a coded prostitute (Lee Grant). Edwards tries out more ambitious compositions in the red light district sequences: a handheld camera following Ayres as he walks through the scuzzy streets, a god’s-eye point of view to establish a waterfront dive. The circling pans from “Cyclone” recur, and Edwards sets up several compositions that can be called signature shots. The most evident is a positioning of actors at right angles in different planes, which creates a dramatic depth of field and also allows Edwards to eschew the standard shot-reverse shot grammar of the television conversation. Here it is in “For a Just Man”:
And an earlier instance in “Cyclone”:
Amid the show’s rudimentary sets, Edwards sought out striking places to put the camera. In “For a Just Man” he positions Grant and Sharon Farrell (playing Ayres’s daughter) behind the fence that surrounds the upper-floor terrace (an indoor set) where patients are often seen recuperating.
An identical shot recurs in Edwards’s next episode, “Every Other Minute It’s the End of the World”:
The ninety-degree positioning of actors reappears in “Every Other Minute,” too:
“Every Other Minute” is a convoluted story about a teenaged girl (Patricia Hyland) who’s going blind as a result of diabetic retinopathy; the twist is that her father (Francis Lederer) is a survivor of Nazi medical experimentation and thus vehemently opposes the experimental procedure that Dr. Casey proposes to save Hyland’s eyesight. The script never recovers from that cringeworthy (in)convenience, not even after a wild second-act curveball. Edwards, rather like Dr. Casey, is hell-bent on experimentation, most of which does not spring organically from the material. There’s an attention-grabbing move in a scene between Casey and the German refugee, in which the camera suddenly whirls around a hospital wall and places the two actors in silhouette, behind the window. The dialogue at that moment is routine; nothing in it compels such an extreme shift in emphasis. (Casey even turns off an overhead lamp for no reason, except to make the lighting more dramatic.)
Edwards also sets up some odd shots in a scene where a frantic Hyland go-go dances herself into a coma. At one point, Edwards creates an impossible image, intercutting overhead shots of the dancers with low-angle shots taken from a hole in the floor (which is, of course, not evident in the wider shot). A moment later, Hyland appears to be positioned upright against a wall, even though her character is supposed to be lying on the floor. These shots are disorienting, but without evident purpose.
Hyland, of whose brief acting career Ben Casey was one of the high points, recently spoke favorably of Vince Edwards as “a lovely, generous director” who instilled “a warm sense of trust in her.” Fifty years earlier, Eileen Heckart offered a similar endorsement of Edwards’s first time behind the camera: “I didn’t think much of the script, but he was brilliant. He’d done all his homework.”
All of Edwards’s first three directorial turns feature not just strong performances but, notably, strong performances by women. In “Cyclone,” the two leads deliver work that’s well within their range – Astor world-weary and formidable, Heckart sharp and shrewish – but there’s also a fine, fragile performance by Luana Anders (below) as the neglected, wistful daughter. In “For a Just Man,” solid, enjoyable work by Lew Ayres is upstaged by the two younger women in Hardin’s life: open-faced Sharon Farrell, playing Cordelia to Hardin’s lear, and Lee Grant as the waterfront wife, bitter but secretly vulnerable. (Farrell was dating Edwards at the time; Grant took a similar approach to a similar character two years later on Peyton Place, and won an Emmy for it.)
It’s commonly assumed that actors who become directors will function best as actors’ directors, and Edwards seems to succeeded in that regard. “People who are actors often know how to deal with actors really well. They don’t treat them like a light fixture,” said Hyland. “There’s just a little more rapport.” But another, less intuitive scenario is that actors will take performance as something already mastered, and become more consumed initially with mise-en-scene, because it’s the aspect of the job that’s new to them. This was true of Vic Morrow, the Combat star who started directing for his series a year after Edwards, and of Sydney Pollack and Mark Rydell, two young character actors who initiated a permanent transition into directing on Ben Casey – and of Edwards as well.
Compared to what came before, Edwards’s next three episodes – “Eulogy in Four Flats,” a quasi-comedy about an old con man who fakes illness so that his neighbors will take care of him; “Three L’il Lambs,” an unsold backdoor spinoff about three newly-minted residents of varying skill and commitment; and “Run For Your Lives, Dr. Galanos Practices Here,” a silly, cliched yarn about the generational conflict between an aging Latin American revolutionary and his assimilationist doctor son – were comparatively restrained. The signature shots are still in evidence – for instance, the god’s-eye point of view in “Eulogy”:
And the ninety-degree positioning of actors in “Three Li’l Lambs”:
But the eye-catching set-ups are less evident. In fact, only this restricted composition in “Three Li’l Lambs,” which emphasizes one character’s anxiety about his professional performance and echoes the earlier behind-the-fence set-ups, stands out. (It’s also another long take that allows a two-person conversation to play out without cuts.)
A laziness begins to creep in: “Eulogy” contains a twenty-three second shot of Edwards descending a flight of stairs, a shot duration which (along with some of the endless dancing scenes in “Every Other Minute”) suggests that Edwards’s episodes may have come in short. “Galanos,” in particular, is almost entirely conventional in its lighting and composition. And the performances are uneven: Norman Alden is quite moving in the scene shown above, in which his character expresses uncertainty about the choice of medicine as a career, but he conspicuously overplays an earlier scene in which the character botches a diagnosis. Was Edwards passing out of his experimental phase and trying out a more conventional style? Or was he simply getting bored? Did it matter that none of his second three episodes included female roles as prominent as those in the first three?
If there were only six Edwards-directed Ben Casey segments, they would form a predictable arc from novice’s enthusiasm into easily-distracted TV star’s boredom. But there’s a seventh, an episode called “If You Play Your Cards Right, You Too Can Be a Loser,” which is as overstuffed as its title and as gloriously, wonderfully, touchingly self-indulgent any television episode ever has been. Into it, Edwards crams every crash zoom, Dutch angle, ostentatious dissolve, extreme overhead angle, and action-framed-by-a-random-object-in-the-foreground composition that he can muster. (A very small selection of them appears below.) It is his “Wagon Wheel Joe” moment.
What to make of “If You Play Your Cards Right”? Some of Edwards’s excess is justified by the delirium that is periodically experienced by the central character, a glue-sniffing wife-beater (!) played by Davy Jones (only months before he turned into a Monkee). Much of it, though, seems to be an expression of disinterest or contempt toward the material, which is difficult to fault. The script is tawdry and unsubtle, and Jones’s fatal miscasting sinks what ever chances it had; there isn’t even a bit of throwaway exposition to reconcile his British accent with the American ones in which the actors (John McLiam and Louise Latham) cast as his parents speak. In its final season Ben Casey morphed into a serial, and one could argue (perhaps feebly) that the splintering of episodes like “If You Play Your Cards Right” into three or four discrete subplots invites a disorienting mise-en-scene. And there’s one other X factor, the replacement of the long-time cinematographer Ted Voigtlander with his former camera operator, William T. Cline. But Cline’s imagery in the fifth season is generally no more adventurous than the gifted Voigtlander’s had been, and other directors’ episodes in that year are far more sedate. Plus, there is evidence of a clash between Cline and Edwards. (In his memoirs, producer John Meredyth Lucas claimed that Edwards packed on the pounds in between seasons, then scapegoated Cline for making him look fat after the need to slim down was pointed out.) When Edwards went off the directorial rails, it was his own doing.
*
The initial assumption one makes about TV stars who begin directing their own shows is that they do so purely as an expression of ego. (“Isn’t directing a TV show that you’re acting in an exercise in vanity?” is how The Atlantic put it, rudely, to Slattery last year.) Perhaps. The actors who launched abortive directing careers off their long-running hits often tend to be the same stars who used their clout to seize control of those shows and push out the original creative teams – for instance, Richard Boone on Have Gun Will Travel and Alan Alda on M*A*S*H. Edwards falls into this category to the extent that, after Ben Casey became a hit, the show’s set ran according to his whims. Although there’s no evidence that Edwards controlled the hiring of producers, or influenced story content, as Boone and Alda did, there was little question of anyone saying no when he expressed the desire to direct.
But it’s important to consider the context behind Edwards’s career move. Ben Casey’s initial producer, Matthew Rapf, was committed booster for young talent and the series was a training ground for aspiring directors from the beginning. Sydney Pollack did his first important television work on Ben Casey, and then paid that forward by inviting his friend Mark Rydell out from New York for an on-staff apprenticeship as a director-in-training. Pollack and Rydell in turn became mentors of sorts to Edwards as he prepared to direct. Crucially, in the years just before Ben Casey, Edwards had the good fortune to work as an actor for some of the most promising filmmakers in Hollywood. He’d garnered some acclaim for leading roles in two existential, quasi-independent films noir (Murder by Contract, 1958; City of Fear, 1959) directed by Irving Lerner, who (presumably at Edwards’s behest) became a regular director on Ben Casey. Edwards appeared in The Night Holds Terror (1958) with John Cassavetes, who remained a friend and cast him in a memorable cameo (as a dumb lug who beats up a whole jazz combo in a long pool-hall confrontation) in the second feature he directed, Too Late Blues. And Edwards was in The Killing (1956), and always spoke proudly of having working with Stanley Kubrick. A smart observer – and Edwards, whatever his other flaws, was anything but dumb – couldn’t help but absorb some of the creativity and enthusiasm of these men.
Edwards shot home movies and other films with a personal eight-millimeter camera, and became an avid shutterbug; according to his second wife, the actress Linda Foster, Edwards’s still photographs displayed an excellent eye for composition. (Notwithstanding that a sneering TV Guide article suggested that Edwards mostly enjoyed photographing the pretty nurses on the set of Ben Casey.) Foster and others suggested that Edwards’s interest in directing was not an indulgence but, in fact, a remedy for some of his diva behavior on the Ben Casey set. The more cerebral task of directing diverted his attention from the excesses of stardom and other personal problems and refocused it on the work. “Vince was volatile but when it came directing he quieted right down and got to work. And he worked hard at it,” said actress Kathy Kersh, who was briefly married to Edwards during Ben Casey and appears in “Three Li’l Lambs.”
Asked if Edwards was a cinephile, Foster said no, but noted that his filmgoing was highly focused. “He’d say we’ve got to go this or we’ve got to go see that. It was quite specific. He was never a ‘let’s go to the movies’ type of person. The only movie I remember he liked [in the seventies], he was crazy about Stallone and Rocky.” Earlier, in a 1966 interview, the actor cited at least one influence that suggested he’d been paying attention to new developments in the cinema: Richard Lester’s peppy mod comedy The Knack … And How to Get It, which opened in Los Angeles in July 1965. Given the chronology, The Knack almost certainly explains the left turn in Edwards’s style between “Dr. Galanos” and “If You Play Your Cards Right.” In that interview, Edwards complained about “old-school” (his words) directors who “are so determined to keep the picture in frame that everything becomes ‘static’” (the reporter’s paraphrase, apart from the last word). Lester seems to have liberated Edwards as a visual stylist.
Unfortunately, at the same time, ABC liberated the actor in a different way: they cancelled his show at the end of the 1966 TV season.
*
“[Directing] brings a different sort of adulation. Kazan isn’t mobbed by teen-agers.”
– Vince Edwards
However much Edwards might have enjoyed his work on the back end of the camera, becoming the next Elia Kazan wasn’t on his mind when Ben Casey went off the air in 1966. His priorities, according to a 1965 TV Guide interview, were marriage, kids, and a movie career. Edwards left Ben Casey with a three-picture deal at Columbia and a successful nightclub act that he’d originated during his summer vacations.
Edwards also had a crippling addiction to gambling – specifically, horse racing – one that had been amply covered in the press and that earned him a reputation around town for epic unprofessionalism. He regularly bolted from the set during the middle of the day to go to the racetrack, and even though he’d made millions off of Ben Casey, he was always putting the touch on friends and co-workers for a loan. His lazy attitude towards acting didn’t help, either. While rival TV doctor Richard Chamberlain, also a wooden unknown when Dr. Kildare made him a star, studied the craft and grew into an acclaimed performer, Edwards clung to the snarl and the somewhat smarmy charm that landed him the Ben Casey role. His one-expression-fits-all acting was fodder for nightclubs’ and columnists’ wit. After the three films he top-lined flopped, Edwards had nowhere to go but back to television. If you play the ponies wrong, you too can be a loser.
In 1971, Edwards starred as a psychiatrist in Matt Lincoln, a clear attempt to recreate the magic of Ben Casey; it failed after one abbreviated season. In the meantime Edwards had married (twice) and fathered three kids; with movie and now even TV stardom eluding him, he’d tried all of those goals he enumerated in 1965. Directing worked its way back to the top of the list. One of the last Matt Lincoln episodes was his first directing credit in five years, and his deal with Universal (which produced the series) extended to the closest thing to an auteur effort in Edwards’s videography. Maneater (1973), starring Ben Gazzara and Sheree North, was the first project that Edwards directed without also acting in. He originated the telefilm himself. The story idea about tigers on the loose came from a crony and former stand-in, George Fraser, who had been an animal trainer, and Edwards wrote the teleplay with another member of his entourage, an occasional Ben Casey writer named Marcus Demian. (Horror master Jimmy Sangster did a credited rewrite.) Cecil Smith, TV critic for The Los Angeles Times, wrote that Edwards “builds a fine sense of tension” in his direction, but Maneater earned little attention and mixed reviews.
According to Foster, Edwards expressed a preference for directing over acting more than once, and “tried to develop a couple of things,” but Maneater became the only film or television project that he would originate. During the seventies, Edwards’s always precarious personal life took a nose-dive. He’d been to several psychiatrists to try to control his gambling, but always ended up ditching the sessions and heading to the track. Foster divorced him after nearly a decade of marriage, because of the gambling, and in 1976 he filed for bankruptcy.
It’s likely that most of Edwards’s directing credits after Maneater were undertaken primarily out of financial necessity. He enjoyed a parallel career going back and forth between acting and directing, but most of the directing gigs came from producer friends; Edwards never established himself as a sought-after director. Nearly all of his episodic directing during the seventies and eighties traces back to either David Gerber, Aaron Spelling (a pal since the sixties who called Edwards his “itty-bitty buddy,” and with whom Edwards shared a business manager), or Glen A. Larson (at whose Hawaii estate Edwards married his third wife in 1980).
Most of those shows, with the exception of Gerber’s Police Story, can be charitably called junk, and Edwards was no longer the biggest wheel on the set but, now, just another down-on-his-luck journeyman director. Ten years after the impossible object that is “If You Play Your Cards Right, You Too Can Be a Loser,” do we find anything of the old exuberant Vince Edwards, cineaste, in the likes of Larson’s pablum? Surprisingly, yes – if only a glimmer.
It’s harder to analyze performance in the likes of BJ and the Bear and The Fall Guy than in Ben Casey. Most of the shows Edwards directed in the seventies emphasize action and spectacle over character-driven drama. Of the seven Edwards-directed segments I was able to view, the most accomplished performance came from a young actress: Anne Lockhart (below), playing the guilt-ridden girlfriend of a villain in a two-part Hardy Boys.
Lockhart also turns up in Edwards’s Battlestar: Galactica two-parter, “The Living Legend” (which inspired perhaps the high point of Ronald D. Moore’s remake of that series, making it, in hindsight, the most significant of Edwards’s later directing efforts), giving a less polished performance but still a striking, sexy one. Lloyd Bridges, the primary guest star in “The Living Legend,” does all the things you’ve seen Bridges do a hundred times before, but Edwards assists him with a shadowy entrance that foreshadows the direction his character will turn:
Edwards’s other excursion into the Battlestar empire was a single episode of Galactica 1980, “The Super Scouts Part 1.” In one shot Edwards revives the familiar right-angle positioning of actors that he used repeatedly in Ben Casey:
“Super Scouts” also brings back another favorite Casey tic, the slow circling pan, which is why this child actor ends up addressing Lorne Greene over his shoulder in their scenes together:
Greene and the boy have scenes together on the same set in the second half of this two-parter, which was directed not by Edwards but by Sigmund Neufeld, Jr. While the gauzy fog filter is used there, too, the camera remains static in Neufeld’s scenes. Thus Galactica serves as a rare petri dish in which elements of house style (the filter) can be distinguished from choices made by individual directors (the camera movement).
There are new techniques, not evident during Ben Casey, that Edwards favors in the seventies shows. Here’s a close-up of Lorne Greene from “The Living Legend” in which the actor is positioned toward one side of the frame while others bustle out-of-focus in the background in the other half of the image:
A nearly identical set-up occurs at least three times in Edwards’s episode of BJ and the Bear, “Silent Night, Unholy Night.” Edwards also displays a facility for staging action in real locations, something that Ben Casey – which very rarely left the soundstage – afforded little opportunity to do. Scenes shot in a bank and a department store in “The Super Scouts Part 1” and on the USC campus in Edwards’s episode of David Cassidy – Man Undercover capture more of the flavor of those locations than one typically observes in television location shoots. The “Super Scouts” sequence in which Barry Van Dyke “accidentally” robs a bank builds a unexpected amount of tension as it progresses. As a standalone sequence, it’s more effective than the banal story into which it’s integrated.
Edwards’s rebirth as a TV director fizzled out in the early eighties. There was one outlier, an In the Heat of the Night episode in 1990, and then nothing. According to Linda Foster, he never defeated his addiction to gambling. “He never was going to be a serious filmmaker, because he was too interested in the sixth race at Santa Anita,” said Mark Rydell, who noticed Edwards’s divided focus even as he began preparing for his first turn as a director. “He was a little bit like a rabbit running around rabbit holes. I don’t think he had the patience and discipline to see things through half the time. And he’d get frustrated and take himself off to the racetrack,” said Foster.
“The ultimate satisfaction in film is the director’s. I love it,” said Edwards in 1973, in what may have been his final recorded statement on the subject. “But it’s two months’ work for two weeks’ pay. As an actor, you come in to do an 11-day TV movie, take the money and run. You can’t do that as a director. At least I can’t. I have to be involved every step of the way through post-production up until it’s on the air.”
*
Sources (in addition to linked text above): Dwight Whitney, “Anybody Know What Kind of Mood Vince-Baby Is in Today?” TV Guide, April 4, 1964; Whitney, “Vince Baby Plays It Cool,” TV Guide, February 18, 1967; Cecil Smith, “Will Ben Casey Make a Comeback?” Los Angeles Times, December 6, 1973; Kathy Kersh interview in Tom Lisanti and Louis Paul, Film Fatales: Women in Espionage Films and Television, 1962-1973 (McFarland, 2002); John Meredyth Lucas, Eighty Odd Years in Hollywood: Memoir of a Career in Film and Television (McFarland, 2004); and July 2013 telephone interviews with Patricia Hyland Tackett, Mark Rydell, and Linda Foster Winter.
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Sad movies for all moods, from feeling emotional, to tearing up, to full-on feeling destroyers.
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Blockbusters thrill, comedies kill with laughs, and horror gets the pulse a-poundin’. But for catharsis and rejuvenation, you’ll have to reach for a sad movie (along with plenty of weapons-grade tissues). Here at Rotten Tomatoes we are trying to break your heart, and the fastest way we know to getting there isn’t with food or through the sternum, but with a thoughtful catalog of the truly tragic: the 100 saddest movies ever made.
Our take on the essential and best sad movies doesn’t have a one-cry-fits-all approach. Instead, we split different tiers to flow your tears. We start with the emotional rescue from the likes of The Iron Giant and The Shawshank Redemption, to the water works guarantees offered by Titanic and The Notebook, and up to the five-alarm feeling destroyers of Fruitvale Station, Come and See, Grave of the Fireflies, and Dancer in the Dark.
Read on, as Marya E. Gates takes you through the 100 saddest movies ever.
(Photo by Focus Features/courtesy Everett Collection)
MOVIES THAT WILL MAKE YOU FEEL EMOTIONAL
The beauty of sad movies — or the desire to watch a sad movie — is that they can work on many levels. Some movies may not be earth-shatteringly sad, but they will touch in a deeply emotional way. For example, The Iron Giant touches on themes of loneliness and community and the idea that inherent goodness can win the day. If Beale Street Could Talk looks systematic racism right in the eye while also exploring the strength that can be found in family and love. While still as deeply weird as any film in his filmography, David Lynch’s The Elephant Man asks its viewers to set aside any preconceived notions they have about Joseph Merrick, whose facial deformities made him standout in Victorian-era England, and acknowledge our shared humanity.
In Killer of Sheep, director Charles Burnett explores the beauty, the joy, the desolation, and the resilience of an economically oppressed Black family living in Watts, Los Angeles during the recession of the 1970s through the powerful images and soul-stirring music. In Celine Song’s Past Lives, the writer-director uses the Korean concept of In-Yun to explore missed connections and the powerful mysteries of love in all its many forms. Captained by an iconic performance from star Robin Williams, Dead Poets Society is an ode to the power of teachers to guide their students towards a life led with intelligence and a sense of wonder. Carpe diem!
Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck make an unexpected connection as a runaway princess and an ethically murky journalist who learn the true meaning of sacrifice for the greater good in classic romance Roman Holiday. Prickly family tensions and the steadfast power of love and partnership — as well as Katharine Hepburn and Henry Fonda’s captivating late-career performances — will tug at your heartstrings in On Golden Pond. Similarly, Lee Unkrich’s Coco explores changing family dynamics, forgiveness, and the power of shared memory across generations. Finally, the aging Umberto’s dedication to his dog Flike in Vittorio De Sica’s Umberto D. will touch the heart of even the biggest grinch.
#1
An Affair to Remember (1957) 67%
#1
Adjusted Score: 71260%
Critics Consensus: There's not too much to it besides Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr, but that's still enough to make this An Affair to Remember.
Synopsis: A man and a woman have a romance while on a cruise from Europe to New York. Despite being engaged... [More]
Directed By: Leo McCarey
#2
After Yang (2021) 89%
#2
Adjusted Score: 100750%
Critics Consensus: Although its reach occasionally exceeds its grasp, After Yang yields rich rewards for those willing to settle into its low-key wavelength.
Synopsis: When his young daughter's beloved companion -- an android named Yang -- malfunctions, Jake (Colin Farrell) searches for a way... [More]
Directed By: Kogonada
#3
Coco (2017) 97%
#3
Adjusted Score: 116981%
Critics Consensus: Coco's rich visual pleasures are matched by a thoughtful narrative that takes a family-friendly -- and deeply affecting -- approach to questions of culture, family, life, and death.
Synopsis: Despite his family's generations-old ban on music, young Miguel dreams of becoming an accomplished musician like his idol Ernesto de... [More]
Directed By: Lee Unkrich
#4
Dead Poets Society (1989) 84%
#4
Adjusted Score: 89403%
Critics Consensus: Affecting performances from the young cast and a genuinely inspirational turn from Robin Williams grant Peter Weir's prep school drama top honors.
Synopsis: A new English teacher, John Keating (Robin Williams), is introduced to an all-boys preparatory school that is known for its... [More]
Directed By: Peter Weir
#5
The Elephant Man (1980) 92%
#5
Adjusted Score: 98401%
Critics Consensus: David Lynch's relatively straight second feature finds an admirable synthesis of compassion and restraint in treating its subject, and features outstanding performances by John Hurt and Anthony Hopkins.
Synopsis: Dr. Frederic Treves (Anthony Hopkins) discovers Joseph (John) Merrick (John Hurt) in a sideshow. Born with a congenital disorder, Merrick... [More]
Directed By: David Lynch
#6
#6
Adjusted Score: 100730%
Critics Consensus: Propelled by Charlie Kaufman's smart, imaginative script and Michel Gondry's equally daring directorial touch, Eternal Sunshine is a twisty yet heartfelt look at relationships and heartache.
Synopsis: After a painful breakup, Clementine (Kate Winslet) undergoes a procedure to erase memories of her former boyfriend Joel (Jim Carrey)... [More]
Directed By: Michel Gondry
#7
The Farewell (2019) 97%
#7
Adjusted Score: 115482%
Critics Consensus: The Farewell deftly captures complicated family dynamics with a poignant, well-acted drama that marries cultural specificity with universally relatable themes.
Synopsis: Billi's family returns to China under the guise of a fake wedding to stealthily say goodbye to their beloved matriarch... [More]
Directed By: Lulu Wang
#8
A Hidden Life (2019) 82%
#8
Adjusted Score: 94081%
Critics Consensus: Ambitious and visually absorbing, A Hidden Life may prove inscrutable to non-devotees -- but for viewers on Malick's wavelength, it should only further confirm his genius.
Synopsis: Austrian farmer Franz Jägerstätter faces the threat of execution for refusing to fight for the Nazis during World War II.... [More]
Directed By: Terrence Malick
#9
#9
Adjusted Score: 115498%
Critics Consensus: If Beale Street Could Talk honors its source material with a beautifully filmed adaptation that finds director Barry Jenkins further strengthening his visual and narrative craft.
Synopsis: In early 1970s Harlem, daughter and wife-to-be Tish vividly recalls the passion, respect and trust that have connected her and... [More]
Directed By: Barry Jenkins
#10
The Iron Giant (1999) 96%
#10
Adjusted Score: 103184%
Critics Consensus: The endearing Iron Giant tackles ambitious topics and complex human relationships with a steady hand and beautifully animated direction from Brad Bird.
Synopsis: In this animated adaptation of Ted Hughes' Cold War fable, a giant alien robot (Vin Diesel) crash-lands near the small... [More]
Directed By: Brad Bird
#11
Killer of Sheep (1977) 98%
#11
Adjusted Score: 106609%
Critics Consensus: By turns funny, sad, and profound, Killer of Sheep offers a sympathetic and humane glimpse into inner-city life.
Synopsis: In Watts, an urban and mostly African-American section of Los Angeles, Stan (Henry Gayle Sanders) spends his days toiling away... [More]
Directed By: Charles Burnett
#12
Lady and the Tramp (1955) 93%
#12
Adjusted Score: 98029%
Critics Consensus: A nostalgic charmer, Lady and the Tramp's token sweetness is mighty but the songs and richly colored animation are technically superb and make for a memorable experience.
Synopsis: This Disney animated classic follows a pampered cocker spaniel named Lady (Barbara Luddy) whose comfortable life slips away once her... [More]
#13
Little Miss Sunshine (2006) 91%
#13
Adjusted Score: 100029%
Critics Consensus: Little Miss Sunshine succeeds thanks to a strong ensemble cast that includes Greg Kinnear, Steve Carell, Toni Collette, Alan Arkin, and Abigail Breslin, as well as a delightfully funny script.
Synopsis: The Hoover family -- a man (Greg Kinnear), his wife (Toni Collette), an uncle (Steve Carell), a brother (Paul Dano)... [More]
Directed By: Jonathan Dayton, Valerie Faris
#14
On Golden Pond (1981) 91%
#14
Adjusted Score: 94849%
Critics Consensus: Henry Fonda and Katherine Hepburn are a wondrous duo in On Golden Pond, a wistful drama that movingly explores the twilight years of a loving marriage.
Synopsis: Cantankerous retiree Norman Thayer (Henry Fonda) and his conciliatory wife, Ethel (Katharine Hepburn), spend summers at their New England vacation... [More]
Directed By: Mark Rydell
#15
Paris, Texas (1984) 94%
#15
Adjusted Score: 98549%
Critics Consensus: A quiet yet deeply moving kind of Western, Paris, Texas captures a place and people like never before (or after).
Synopsis: A disheveled man who wanders out of the desert, Travis Henderson (Harry Dean Stanton) seems to have no idea who... [More]
Directed By: Wim Wenders
#16
Past Lives (2023) 95%
#16
Adjusted Score: 112784%
Critics Consensus: A remarkable debut for writer-director Celine Song, Past Lives uses the bonds between its sensitively sketched central characters to support trenchant observations on the human condition.
Synopsis: Nora and Hae Sung, two deeply connected childhood friends, are wrest apart after Nora's family emigrates from South Korea. Two... [More]
Directed By: Celine Song
#17
Roman Holiday (1953) 96%
#17
Adjusted Score: 104704%
Critics Consensus: With Audrey Hepburn luminous in her American debut, Roman Holiday is as funny as it is beautiful, and sets the standard for the modern romantic comedy.
Synopsis: Overwhelmed by her suffocating schedule, touring European princess Ann (Audrey Hepburn) takes off for a night while in Rome. When... [More]
Directed By: William Wyler
#18
The Shawshank Redemption (1994) 89%
#18
Adjusted Score: 99740%
Critics Consensus: Steeped in old-fashioned storytelling and given evergreen humanity by Morgan Freeman and Tim Robbins, The Shawshank Redemption chronicles the hardship of incarceration patiently enough to come by its uplift honestly.
Synopsis: Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins) is sentenced to two consecutive life terms in prison for the murders of his wife and... [More]
Directed By: Frank Darabont
#19
Umberto D (1952) 98%
#19
Adjusted Score: 104794%
Critics Consensus: Anchored by Carlo Battisti's moving performance as Umberto D, Vittorio de Sica's deeply empathetic character study is a bracing glimpse into the lives of the downtrodden.
Synopsis: When elderly pensioner Umberto Domenico Ferrari (Carlo Battisti) returns to his boarding house from a protest calling for a hike... [More]
Directed By: Vittorio De Sica
#20
#20
Adjusted Score: 100147%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: An Iranian schoolboy scours a neighboring village for a classmate's home to return an important notebook.... [More]
Directed By: Abbas Kiarostami
(Photo by Focus Films/Everett Collection)
MOVIES THAT WILL HAVE YOU TEARING UP
This tier of movies feature a scene that will have your eyes misting up. There have been many adaptations of Louisa May Alcott’s novel Little Women, but no scene packs the emotional wallop that Claire Danes brings to her monologue as Beth in Gillian Armstrong’s 1994 version. Similarly, there’s Gary Cooper’s Lou Gerhig addressing the stadium crowd in The Pride of the Yankees, declaring himself “the luckiest man on the face of the Earth.” Add in Heath Ledger’s Ennis as he breaks down holding his lover’s jacket at the end of Ang Lee’s Brokeback Mountain.
Although much of Pig follows Nicolas Cage’s isolated truffle hunter and his violent attempts to get his animal back, the revelation of the heartache at the character’s core and the soulfulness Cage brings to his performance is unexpectedly touching. And try fighting back your tears when an uncontrollable blaze threatens to undo everything the Yi family has accomplished in Lee Isaac Chung’s semi-autobiographical Minari. Or when Moonee (Brooklynn Prince) must say goodbye to her mother in Sean Baker’s The Florida Project. Families being torn apart is also at the center of the classic 1937 weepy Stella Dallas, in which Barbara Stanwyck must make the ultimate sacrifice in order to ensure her daughter’s happiness.
“We’ll always have Paris,” Humphrey Bogart tells Ingrid Bergman in Casablanca and the hearts of movie-goers for decades have yet to recover. Thankfully, not all tearjerker endings leave on a sad note, as Charlie Chaplin and Virginia Cherrill show us in the silent romance City Lights.
#1
Atonement (2007) 83%
#1
Adjusted Score: 91832%
Critics Consensus: Atonement features strong performances, brilliant cinematography, and a unique score. Featuring deft performances from James MacAvoy and Keira Knightley, it's a successful adaptation of Ian McEwan's novel.
Synopsis: This sweeping English drama, based on the book by Ian McEwan, follows the lives of young lovers Cecilia Tallis (Keira... [More]
Directed By: Joe Wright
#2
#2
Adjusted Score: 112128%
Critics Consensus: An engrossing look at the triumphs and travails of war veterans, The Best Years of Our Lives is concerned specifically with the aftermath of World War II, but its messages speak to the overall American experience.
Synopsis: Fred, Al and Homer are three World War II veterans facing difficulties as they re-enter civilian life. Fred (Dana Andrews)... [More]
Directed By: William Wyler
#3
Brokeback Mountain (2005) 88%
#3
Adjusted Score: 97758%
Critics Consensus: A beautiful, epic Western, Brokeback Mountain's love story is imbued with heartbreaking universality thanks to moving performances by Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal.
Synopsis: In 1963, rodeo cowboy Jack Twist and ranch hand Ennis Del Mar are hired by rancher Joe Aguirre as sheep... [More]
Directed By: Ang Lee
#4
Casablanca (1942) 99%
#4
Adjusted Score: 120513%
Critics Consensus: An undisputed masterpiece and perhaps Hollywood's quintessential statement on love and romance, Casablanca has only improved with age, boasting career-defining performances from Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman.
Synopsis: Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart), who owns a nightclub in Casablanca, discovers his old flame Ilsa (Ingrid Bergman) is in town... [More]
Directed By: Michael Curtiz
#5
Central Station (1998) 94%
#5
Adjusted Score: 96498%
Critics Consensus: Director Salles transcends road-movie clichés and crafts a film that is as moving as it is universal.
Synopsis: Bitter former schoolteacher Dora (Fernanda Montenegro) supports herself by taking dictation from illiterate people in Rio de Janeiro who want... [More]
Directed By: Walter Salles
#6
Charlotte's Web (1973) 76%
#6
Adjusted Score: 77454%
Critics Consensus: That's some pig, with spirited vocal performances and a charmingly family-friendly adaptation of E.B. White's winsome story spun around him.
Synopsis: E.B. White's beloved children's tale is brought to life in this animated film, which finds the young farm pig Wilbur... [More]
#7
City Lights (1931) 95%
#7
Adjusted Score: 103706%
Critics Consensus: One of the best underdog romance movies ever, with an ending that will light up any heart.
Synopsis: A hapless but resilient tramp (Charlie Chaplin) falls in love with a blind flower girl (Virginia Cherrill) on the tough... [More]
Directed By: Charlie Chaplin
#8
Drive My Car (2021) 97%
#8
Adjusted Score: 107723%
Critics Consensus: Drive My Car's imposing runtime holds a rich, patiently engrossing drama that reckons with self-acceptance and regret.
Synopsis: Two years after his wife's unexpected death, Yusuke Kafuku (Hidetoshi Nishijima), a renowned stage actor and director, receives an offer... [More]
Directed By: Ryûsuke Hamaguchi
#9
The Florida Project (2017) 96%
#9
Adjusted Score: 113740%
Critics Consensus: The Florida Project offers a colorfully empathetic look at an underrepresented part of the population that proves absorbing even as it raises sobering questions about modern America.
Synopsis: Set in the shadow of the most magical place on Earth, 6-year-old Moonee and her two best friends forge their... [More]
Directed By: Sean Baker
#10
#10
Adjusted Score: 77086%
Critics Consensus: The Fox and the Hound is a likeable, charming, unassuming effort that manages to transcend its thin, predictable plot.
Synopsis: After his mother is killed, Tod the fox (Mickey Rooney) is taken in by the kindly Widow Tweed (Jeanette Nolan).... [More]
#11
The Green Mile (1999) 79%
#11
Adjusted Score: 85783%
Critics Consensus: Though The Green Mile is long, critics say it's an absorbing, emotionally powerful experience.
Synopsis: Paul Edgecomb (Tom Hanks) walked the mile with a variety of cons. He had never encountered someone like John Coffey... [More]
Directed By: Frank Darabont
#12
The Lion King (1994) 92%
#12
Adjusted Score: 102657%
Critics Consensus: Emotionally stirring, richly drawn, and beautifully animated, The Lion King is a pride within Disney's pantheon of classic family films.
Synopsis: This Disney animated feature follows the adventures of the young lion Simba (Jonathan Taylor Thomas), the heir of his father,... [More]
Directed By: Roger Allers, Rob Minkoff
#13
Little Women (1994) 92%
#13
Adjusted Score: 99243%
Critics Consensus: Thanks to a powerhouse lineup of talented actresses, Gillian Armstrong's take on Louisa May Alcott's Little Women proves that a timeless story can succeed no matter how many times it's told.
Synopsis: In this 1994 adaptation of Louisa May Alcott's classic, the March sisters confront growing pains, financial shortages, family tragedies and... [More]
Directed By: Gillian Armstrong
#14
Minari (2020) 98%
#14
Adjusted Score: 117121%
Critics Consensus: Led by arresting performances from Steven Yeun and Yeri Han, Minari offers an intimate and heart-wrenching portrait of family and assimilation in 1980s America.
Synopsis: A tender and sweeping story about what roots us, Minari follows a Korean-American family that moves to a tiny Arkansas... [More]
Directed By: Lee Isaac Chung
#15
Philadelphia (1993) 81%
#15
Adjusted Score: 86929%
Critics Consensus: Philadelphia indulges in some unfortunate clichés in its quest to impart a meaningful message, but its stellar cast and sensitive direction are more than enough to compensate.
Synopsis: Fearing it would compromise his career, lawyer Andrew Beckett (Tom Hanks) hides his homosexuality and HIV status at a powerful... [More]
Directed By: Jonathan Demme
#16
Pig (2021) 97%
#16
Adjusted Score: 110857%
Critics Consensus: Like the animal itself, Pig defies the hogwash of expectations with a beautiful odyssey of loss and love anchored by Nicolas Cage's affectingly raw performance.
Synopsis: A truffle hunter who lives alone in the Oregonian wilderness must return to his past in Portland in search of... [More]
Directed By: Michael Sarnoski
#17
#17
Adjusted Score: 98297%
Critics Consensus: The equally tragic and heroic story of Yankees first baseman Lou Gehrig is eloquently told here with an iconic star turn by Gary Cooper.
Synopsis: This moving biographical drama follows the life of revered baseball player Lou Gehrig (Gary Cooper). Championed by sportswriter Sam Blake... [More]
Directed By: Sam Wood
#18
Room (2015) 93%
#18
Adjusted Score: 108720%
Critics Consensus: Led by incredible work from Brie Larson and Jacob Tremblay, Room makes for an unforgettably harrowing -- and undeniably rewarding -- experience.
Synopsis: Held captive for years in an enclosed space, a woman (Brie Larson) and her young son (Jacob Tremblay) finally gain... [More]
Directed By: Lenny Abrahamson
#19
Stella Dallas (1937) 90%
#19
Adjusted Score: 91110%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: When Stella Martin (Barbara Stanwyck), a working class woman, meets and marries the wealthy Stephen Dallas (John Boles), they quickly... [More]
Directed By: King Vidor
#20
A Walk to Remember (2002) 29%
#20
Adjusted Score: 32087%
Critics Consensus: Though wholesome, the Mandy Moore vehicle A Walk to Remember is also bland and oppressively syrupy.
Synopsis: Set in North Carolina, "A Walk To Remember" follows the rite of passage of a jaded, aimless high school senior... [More]
Directed By: Adam Shankman
(Photo by Sony Pictures)
MOVIES THAT WILL CAUSE A GOOD CRY
When you’re looking for a good cry you want a movie with a prolonged sense of longing or despair or a sense of great loss. Melodrama is a staple genre for this kind of cry, especially films about star-crossed lovers who just can’t seem to make it work, like Jack and Rose in James Cameron’s epic Titanic. Or Tony Leung and Maggie Cheung in Wong Kar-Wai’s In The Mood For Love, whose love blossoms out of the destruction of each other’s marriages. The heartbreak at the center of Geneviève and Guy’s ill-fated young romance in Jacques Demy’s musical drama The Umbrellas of Cherbourg has not only elicited tears from audiences for generations, it served as the inspiration for the ending of Damien Chazelle’s La La Land.
Going even further back to the genre’s heyday is Now, Voyager, which features Bette Davis at her most emotive as a neglected socialite who finds her own strength after finally finding true love with a married man.
Then there are movies like The Notebook which use melodrama to both explore the fraught beginnings of a passionate relationship, but also its bittersweet end. While most of Pixar’s Up is dedicated to widower Carl’s reluctant adventures with his neighbor Russell, the film’s most powerful moment is its opening sequence, which silently depicts Carl’s marriage with his wife Ellie from its inception until his death.
Films about mourning, like David Lowery’s A Ghost Story, tap into that universal feeling of loss that everyone must confront at some point in their life. Good cries can also come from bittersweet films, like Cinema Paradiso, Giuseppe Tornatore’s love letter to movies. Or 1939’s Goodbye, Mr. Chips, which follows the impact a teacher has on his students over a nearly-sixty year period. Lastly, there are movies like Hachi, which tackles both grief and the steadfast loyalty of a very good dog.
#1
Aftersun (2022) 96%
#1
Adjusted Score: 109275%
Critics Consensus: Led by Frankie Corio's tremendous performance, Aftersun deftly ushers audiences to the intersection between our memories of loved ones and who they really are.
Synopsis: At a fading vacation resort, 11-year-old Sophie treasures rare time together with her loving and idealistic father, Calum (Paul Mescal).... [More]
Directed By: Charlotte Wells
#2
Beaches (1988) 42%
#2
Adjusted Score: 45557%
Critics Consensus: Not all great soundtracks make good movies, and Beaches lacks the wind beneath its wings.
Synopsis: Hillary (Barbara Hershey) and CC (Bette Midler) meet as children vacationing in Atlantic City, N.J., and remain friends throughout the... [More]
Directed By: Garry Marshall
#3
Cinema Paradiso (1988) 91%
#3
Adjusted Score: 98710%
Critics Consensus: Cinema Paradiso is a life-affirming ode to the power of youth, nostalgia, and the the movies themselves.
Synopsis: Young Salvatore Di Vita (Salvatore Cascio) discovers the perfect escape from life in his war-torn Sicilian village: the Cinema Paradiso... [More]
Directed By: Giuseppe Tornatore
#4
Doctor Zhivago (1965) 82%
#4
Adjusted Score: 88368%
Critics Consensus: It may not be the best of David Lean's epics, but Dr. Zhivago is still brilliantly photographed and sweepingly romantic.
Synopsis: During the Russian Revolution, Yuri Zhivago (Omar Sharif), is a young doctor who has been raised by his aunt and... [More]
Directed By: David Lean
#5
The English Patient (1996) 86%
#5
Adjusted Score: 92532%
Critics Consensus: Though it suffers from excessive length and ambition, director Minghella's adaptation of the Michael Ondaatje novel is complex, powerful, and moving.
Synopsis: The sweeping expanses of the Sahara are the setting for a passionate love affair in this adaptation of Michael Ondaatje's... [More]
Directed By: Anthony Minghella
#6
A Ghost Story (2017) 91%
#6
Adjusted Score: 106808%
Critics Consensus: A Ghost Story deftly manages its ambitious themes through an inventive, artful, and ultimately poignant exploration of love and loss.
Synopsis: A passionate young couple, unexpectedly separated by a shocking loss, discover an eternal connection and a love that is infinite.... [More]
Directed By: David Lowery
#7
Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1939) 85%
#7
Adjusted Score: 86975%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: Young schoolteacher Charles Edward Chipping (Robert Donat) imposes strict discipline on his young charges at a Victorian-era English public school,... [More]
Directed By: Sam Wood
#8
Hachi: A Dog's Tale (2009) 64%
#8
Adjusted Score: 64251%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: A college professor (Richard Gere) forms a lasting bond with a dog that he finds on a train platform.... [More]
Directed By: Lasse Hallström
#9
Imitation of Life (1959) 82%
#9
Adjusted Score: 85221%
Critics Consensus: Douglas Sirk enriches this lush remake of Imitation of Life with racial commentary and a sharp edge, yielding a challenging melodrama with the power to devastate.
Synopsis: Lora Meredith (Lana Turner), a white single mother who dreams of being on Broadway, has a chance encounter with Annie... [More]
Directed By: Douglas Sirk
#10
Legends of the Fall (1994) 59%
#10
Adjusted Score: 62912%
Critics Consensus: Featuring a swoon-worthy star turn by Brad Pitt, Legends of the Fall's painterly photography and epic sweep often compensate for its lack of narrative momentum and glut of melodramatic twists.
Synopsis: In early 20th-century Montana, Col. William Ludlow (Anthony Hopkins) lives in the wilderness with his sons, Tristan (Brad Pitt), Alfred... [More]
Directed By: Edward Zwick
#11
Life Is Beautiful (1997) 81%
#11
Adjusted Score: 87165%
Critics Consensus: Benigni's earnest charm, when not overstepping its bounds into the unnecessarily treacly, offers the possibility of hope in the face of unflinching horror.
Synopsis: A gentle Jewish-Italian waiter, Guido Orefice (Roberto Benigni), meets Dora (Nicoletta Braschi), a pretty schoolteacher, and wins her over with... [More]
Directed By: Roberto Benigni
#12
Moonlight (2016) 98%
#12
Adjusted Score: 117625%
Critics Consensus: Moonlight uses one man's story to offer a remarkable and brilliantly crafted look at lives too rarely seen in cinema.
Synopsis: A look at three defining chapters in the life of Chiron, a young black man growing up in Miami. His... [More]
Directed By: Barry Jenkins
#13
The Notebook (2004) 54%
#13
Adjusted Score: 59891%
Critics Consensus: It's hard not to admire its unabashed sentimentality, but The Notebook is too clumsily manipulative to rise above its melodramatic clichés.
Synopsis: In 1940s South Carolina, mill worker Noah Calhoun (Ryan Gosling) and rich girl Allie (Rachel McAdams) are desperately in love.... [More]
Directed By: Nick Cassavetes
#14
Now, Voyager (1942) 91%
#14
Adjusted Score: 95794%
Critics Consensus: Now, Voyager is a Hollywood swooner with Bette Davis and Paul Henreid in a melodrama to end all melomers.
Synopsis: Boston heiress Charlotte Vale (Bette Davis) is a neurotic mess, largely because of her domineering mother (Gladys Cooper). But after... [More]
Directed By: Irving Rapper
#15
A Single Man (2009) 86%
#15
Adjusted Score: 93844%
Critics Consensus: Though the costumes are beautiful and the art direction impeccable, what stands out most from this debut by fashion designer Tom Ford is the leading performance by Colin Firth.
Synopsis: George (Colin Firth) is a college professor who recently lost his lover, Jim, in a car accident. Terribly grief-stricken, George... [More]
Directed By: Tom Ford
#16
#16
Adjusted Score: 99785%
Critics Consensus: An exquisitely shot showcase for Maggie Cheung and Tony Leung that marks a somber evolution of Wong Kar-wai's chic style, In the Mood for Love is a tantric tease that's liable to break your heart.
Synopsis: In 1962, journalist Chow Mo-wan (Tony Leung Chiu Wai) and his wife move into a Hong Kong apartment, but Chow's... [More]
Directed By: Kar-Wai Wong
#17
Titanic (1997) 88%
#17
Adjusted Score: 106722%
Critics Consensus: A mostly unqualified triumph for James Cameron, who offers a dizzying blend of spectacular visuals and old-fashioned melodrama.
Synopsis: James Cameron's "Titanic" is an epic, action-packed romance set against the ill-fated maiden voyage of the R.M.S. Titanic; the pride... [More]
Directed By: James Cameron
#18
The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964) 97%
#18
Adjusted Score: 104718%
Critics Consensus: Jacques Demy elevates the basic drama of everyday life into a soaring opera full of bittersweet passion and playful charm, featuring a timeless performance from Catherine Deneuve.
Synopsis: Geneviève (Catherine Deneuve), a beautiful young Frenchwoman who works at a small-town boutique selling umbrellas, falls for dashing mechanic Guy... [More]
Directed By: Jacques Demy
#19
Up (2009) 98%
#19
Adjusted Score: 110264%
Critics Consensus: An exciting, funny, and poignant adventure, Up offers an impeccably crafted story told with wit and arranged with depth, as well as yet another visual Pixar treat.
Synopsis: Carl Fredricksen (Ed Asner), a 78-year-old balloon salesman, is about to fulfill a lifelong dream. Tying thousands of balloons to... [More]
Directed By: Pete Docter, Bob Peterson
#20
William Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet (1996) 74%
#20
Adjusted Score: 78524%
Critics Consensus: Baz Luhrmann's visual aesthetic is as divisive as it is fresh and inventive.
Synopsis: Baz Luhrmann helped adapt this classic Shakespearean romantic tragedy for the screen, updating the setting to a post-modern city named... [More]
Directed By: Baz Luhrmann
(Photo by Columbia/courtesy Everett Collection)
MOVIES THAT WILL HAVE YOU UGLY CRYING
Now, if you want to ugly cry, you need a movie with a scene or a final act that is so devastating you cry so hard snot and tears flow until the credits roll. These include movies in which a character has to part with a beloved animal, like in Wendy and Lucy, where writer/director Kelly Reichardt uses the central human-canine relationship to explore systems of poverty in America. In The Yearling, youngster Jody’s beloved pet deer becomes a symbol of the growing pains that happen when you are asked to put away childish things.
This feeling can also be evoked by films about the passing of a lover, like in Longtime Companion. Abbie Cornish’s reaction after hearing about the death of her betrothed, Romantic poet John Keats, in Jane Campion’s Bright Star is so visceral you feel as pained as she does. In fact, most films that will make you ugly cry including the intense emotions of grieving a loved one, sometimes even before they have left, as in Shirley MacLaine’s show-stopping performance as a mother watching her grown child lose a battle with cancer in Terms of Endearment, or even young Jackie Cooper in 1931’s The Champ, whose tender relationship with his pugilist father played by Wallace Beery comes to a brutal end after one fateful boxing match.
In the classic melodrama Penny Serenade, Irene Dunne and Cary Grant play a married couple who suffer many losses as they attempt to build a family together. There are also films with a line of dialogue that act as the breaking point before the deluge of tears take over. There isn’t a person alive who can make it through My Girl when Vada (Anna Chlumsky) insists her friend Thomas J. (Macaulay Culkin) can’t see without his glasses. Or when good boy Charlie B. Barkin tells his friend Anne-Marie that goodbyes aren’t forever in All Dogs Go To Heaven. Or in Ghost when Sam tells his grieving girlfriend Molly that when you die you take all the love inside you into the afterlife. But some ugly cries come from sadness that is conquered, as in It’s A Wonderful Life where George Bailey (Jimmy Stewart) overcomes his suicidal despair and realizes that no man is a failure who has friends.
#1
#1
Adjusted Score: 44830%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: In this animated feature, canine casino owner Charlie (Burt Reynolds) is killed by gambler Carface (Vic Tayback), but returns to... [More]
Directed By: Don Bluth
#2
Bambi (1942) 91%
#2
Adjusted Score: 99104%
Critics Consensus: Elegantly animated and deeply touching, Bambi is an enduring, endearing, and moving Disney classic.
Synopsis: In a classic Disney animation, a fawn named Bambi joins his new friends, a young rabbit named Thumper and a... [More]
Directed By: David Hand
#3
Bright Star (2009) 83%
#3
Adjusted Score: 89994%
Critics Consensus: Jane Campion's direction is as refined as her screenplay, and she gets the most out of her cast -- especially Abbie Cornish -- in this understated period drama.
Synopsis: In 1818, high-spirited young Fanny Brawne (Abbie Cornish) finds herself increasingly intrigued by the handsome but aloof poet John Keats... [More]
Directed By: Jane Campion
#4
The Champ (1931) 96%
#4
Adjusted Score: 98660%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: Champ (Wallace Beery) is a down-on-his-luck boxer in Tijuana whose son, Dink (Jackie Cooper), adores him despite Champ's addictions to... [More]
Directed By: King Vidor
#5
Ghost (1990) 75%
#5
Adjusted Score: 81412%
Critics Consensus: Ghost offers viewers a poignant romance while blending elements of comedy, horror, and mystery, all adding up to one of the more enduringly watchable hits of its era.
Synopsis: Sam Wheat (Patrick Swayze) is a banker, Molly Jensen (Demi Moore) is an artist, and the two are madly in... [More]
Directed By: Jerry Zucker
#6
It's a Wonderful Life (1946) 94%
#6
Adjusted Score: 108963%
Critics Consensus: The holiday classic to define all holiday classics, It's a Wonderful Life is one of a handful of films worth an annual viewing.
Synopsis: After George Bailey (James Stewart) wishes he had never been born, an angel (Henry Travers) is sent to earth to... [More]
Directed By: Frank Capra
#7
The Joy Luck Club (1993) 86%
#7
Adjusted Score: 94203%
Critics Consensus: The Joy Luck Club traces the generational divide, unearthing universal truths while exploring lives through the lens of a specific cultural experience.
Synopsis: In San Francisco, a group of aging Chinese women (Kiều Chinh, Tsai Chin, France Nuyen, Lisa Lu) meet regularly to... [More]
Directed By: Wayne Wang
#8
Longtime Companion (1990) 91%
#8
Adjusted Score: 92158%
Critics Consensus: Longtime Companion is a sensitive ensemble AIDS drama, lensed with sympathy which builds to a moving finale.
Synopsis: During the 1980s, a group of gay men and their straight female friend confront the spread of AIDS. Personal trainer... [More]
Directed By: Norman René
#9
Love Story (1970) 63%
#9
Adjusted Score: 66532%
Critics Consensus: Earnest and determined to make audiences swoon, Love Story is an unabashed tearjerker that will capture hearts when it isn't inducing eye rolls.
Synopsis: When wealthy Harvard University law student Oliver Barrett IV (Ryan O'Neal) meets Jenny Cavilleri (Ali MacGraw), a middle-class girl who... [More]
Directed By: Arthur Hiller
#10
Million Dollar Baby (2004) 90%
#10
Adjusted Score: 99223%
Critics Consensus: Clint Eastwood's assured direction - combined with knockout performances from Hilary Swank and Morgan Freeman - help Million Dollar Baby to transcend its clichés, and the result is deeply heartfelt and moving.
Synopsis: Frankie Dunn (Clint Eastwood) is a veteran Los Angeles boxing trainer who keeps almost everyone at arm's length, except his... [More]
Directed By: Clint Eastwood
#11
My Girl (1991) 55%
#11
Adjusted Score: 56190%
Critics Consensus: My Girl has a mostly sweet story and a pair of appealing young leads, but it's largely undone by its aggressively tearjerking ending.
Synopsis: Tomboy Vada Sultenfuss (Anna Chlumsky) has good reason to be morbid: her mother died giving birth to her, and her... [More]
Directed By: Howard Zieff
#12
Ordinary People (1980) 89%
#12
Adjusted Score: 100221%
Critics Consensus: Robert Redford proves himself a filmmaker of uncommon emotional intelligence with Ordinary People, an auspicious debut that deftly observes the fractioning of a family unit through a quartet of superb performances.
Synopsis: Tormented by guilt following the death of his older brother, Buck, in a sailing accident, alienated teenager Conrad Jarrett (Timothy... [More]
Directed By: Robert Redford
#13
Penny Serenade (1941) 94%
#13
Adjusted Score: 95909%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: Since marrying Roger Adams (Cary Grant), Julie (Irene Dunne) has wanted to start a family. An accident while she's visiting... [More]
Directed By: George Stevens
#14
Sophie's Choice (1982) 74%
#14
Adjusted Score: 77872%
Critics Consensus: Sophie's Choice may be more sobering than stirring, but Meryl Streep's Oscar-winning performance holds this postwar period drama together.
Synopsis: Stingo (Peter MacNicol), a young writer, moves to Brooklyn in 1947 to begin work on his first novel. As he... [More]
Directed By: Alan J. Pakula
#15
Splendor in the Grass (1961) 74%
#15
Adjusted Score: 76605%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: Bud (Warren Beatty) and his high school sweetheart, Deanie (Natalie Wood), are weighed down by their parents' oppressive expectations, which... [More]
Directed By: Elia Kazan
#16
Steel Magnolias (1989) 73%
#16
Adjusted Score: 80333%
Critics Consensus: Steel Magnolias has jokes and characters to spare, which makes it more dangerous (and effective) when it goes for the full melodrama by the end.
Synopsis: M'Lynn (Sally Field) is the mother of bride-to-be Shelby Eatenton (Julia Roberts), and as friend Truvy Jones (Dolly Parton) fixes... [More]
Directed By: Herbert Ross
#17
Terms of Endearment (1983) 82%
#17
Adjusted Score: 93815%
Critics Consensus: A classic tearjerker, Terms of Endearment isn't shy about reaching for the heartstrings -- but is so well-acted and smartly scripted that it's almost impossible to resist.
Synopsis: Widow Aurora Greenway (Shirley MacLaine) and her daughter, Emma (Debra Winger), have a strong bond, but Emma marries teacher Flap... [More]
Directed By: James L. Brooks
#18
The Way We Were (1973) 64%
#18
Adjusted Score: 67206%
Critics Consensus: The Way We Were is not politically confrontational enough for its story of ideological opposites falling in love to feel authentic, but Barbra Streisand and Robert Redford's beaming star power gives this melodrama romantic lift.
Synopsis: Opposites attract when, during their college days, Katie Morosky (Barbra Streisand), a politically active Jew, meets Hubbell Gardiner (Robert Redford),... [More]
Directed By: Sydney Pollack
#19
Wendy and Lucy (2008) 86%
#19
Adjusted Score: 93377%
Critics Consensus: Michelle Williams gives a heartbreaking performance in Wendy and Lucy, a timely portrait of loneliness and struggle.
Synopsis: Wendy (Michelle Williams), a near-penniless drifter, is traveling to Alaska in search of work, and her only companion is her... [More]
Directed By: Kelly Reichardt
#20
The Yearling (1946) 100%
#20
Adjusted Score: 101633%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: Based on the novel by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, this drama focuses on the family of Civil War veteran Penny Baxter... [More]
Directed By: Clarence Brown
(Photo by TWC/courtesy Everett Collection)
MOVIES THAT WILL DESTROY YOU
Lastly, there are movies that will utterly destroy. These are the movies that do not leave you with any sense of hope. They sit with you like a weight. They change your DNA completely. Often these films take you through the most extreme depths of the human experience.
Made during the Great Depression, Leo McCarey’s Make Way For Tomorrow follows a long-married elderly couple who are forced to separate after they lose their home and none of their grown children will take them. The Studio Ghibli classic Grave of the Fireflies follows two war orphans as they struggle to stay alive in Kobe, Japan during the final weeks of World War II. Louis Malle’s Au Revoir Les Enfants was inspired by his own experience as a student in a boarding school run by Père Jacques, a French priest who attempted to shelter Jewish children during the Holocaust.
Shot on location in post-WWII Rome and starring non-professional actors, a father must find his stolen bicycle or he’ll lose his job and ability to feed his family in Vittorio De Sica’s Bicycle Thieves. Inspired by a Leo Tolstoy novella, Akira Kurosawa’s Ikiru features a soulful performance from his long-time collaborator Takashi Shimura as a terminally ill, widowed Tokyo bureaucrat who strives to leave a meaningful impact on the world before he passes. Robert Bresson’s Au Hasard Balthazar follows a donkey who passes through many owners, all of whom treat the poor creature with nothing but various forms of callous cruelty. In Lynch’s Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me, trouble teenager Laura Palmer finds her life cut short after being used and abused by almost everyone in her life.
Adapted from the 1972 novel by Richard Adams, Martin Rosen’s dystopic animated feature Watership Down uses a society made of rabbits as a way to explore the complexity of life in all its most troubling, violent, haunting, and even joyous ways. Similarly, Mark Romanek ‘s Never Let Me Go, adapted from a novel by Kazuo Ishiguro, raises questions of ethics and explores the fragility of life via the coming-of-age of a trio of teenagers who discover the stark purpose of their lives. And in a world where climate change has caused rising sea levels that have wiped out 99% of existing cities, David, a prototype child-like toy, goes on a journey to find meaning and love after he’s abandoned by his family in Steven Spielberg’s existential masterwork A.I. Artificial Intelligence.
#1
A.I.: Artificial Intelligence (2001) 76%
#1
Adjusted Score: 83436%
Critics Consensus: A curious, not always seamless, amalgamation of Kubrick's chilly bleakness and Spielberg's warm-hearted optimism, A.I. is, in a word, fascinating.
Synopsis: A robotic boy, the first programmed to love, David (Haley Joel Osment) is adopted as a test case by a... [More]
Directed By: Steven Spielberg
#2
Amour (2012) 93%
#2
Adjusted Score: 103444%
Critics Consensus: With towering performances and an unflinching script from Michael Haneke, Amour represents an honest, heartwrenching depiction of deep love and responsibility.
Synopsis: Retired music teachers Georges (Jean-Louis Trintignant) and Anne (Emmanuelle Riva) have spent their lives devoted to their careers and to... [More]
Directed By: Michael Haneke
#3
Au Hasard Balthazar (1966) 100%
#3
Adjusted Score: 105337%
Critics Consensus: Au Hasard Balthazar uses one animal's lifelong journey to trace a soberly compelling -- and ultimately heartbreaking -- outline of the human experience.
Synopsis: This thoughtful and unique French film reveals the surprisingly deep connection between Marie (Anne Wiazemsky), a sensitive farm girl, and... [More]
Directed By: Robert Bresson
#4
Au Revoir, les enfants (1987) 97%
#4
Adjusted Score: 99857%
Critics Consensus: Louis Malle's autobiographical tale of a childhood spent in a WWII boarding school is a beautifully realized portrait of friendship and youth.
Synopsis: In 1943, Julien (Gaspard Manesse) is a student at a French boarding school. When three new students arrive, including Jean... [More]
Directed By: Louis Malle
#5
Bicycle Thieves (1948) 99%
#5
Adjusted Score: 110105%
Critics Consensus: An Italian neorealism exemplar, Bicycle Thieves thrives on its non-flashy performances and searing emotion.
Synopsis: Unemployed Antonio Ricci (Lamberto Maggiorani) is elated when he finally finds work hanging posters around war-torn Rome. His wife, Maria... [More]
Directed By: Vittorio De Sica
#6
Come and See (1985) 90%
#6
Adjusted Score: 95248%
Critics Consensus: As effectively anti-war as movies can be, Come and See is a harrowing odyssey through the worst that humanity is capable of, directed with bravura intensity by Elem Klimov.
Synopsis: The invasion of a village in Byelorussia by German forces sends young Florya (Aleksey Kravchenko) into the forest to join... [More]
Directed By: Elem Klimov
#7
Dancer in the Dark (2000) 70%
#7
Adjusted Score: 74611%
Critics Consensus: Dancer in Dark can be grim, dull, and difficult to watch, but even so, it has a powerful and moving performance from Bjork and is something quite new and visionary.
Synopsis: Selma is a Czech immigrant, a single mother working in a factory in rural America. Her salvation is passion for... [More]
Directed By: Lars von Trier
#8
Fruitvale Station (2013) 94%
#8
Adjusted Score: 103815%
Critics Consensus: Passionate and powerfully acted, Fruitvale Station serves as a celebration of life, a condemnation of death, and a triumph for star Michael B. Jordan.
Synopsis: Though he once spent time in San Quentin, 22-year-old black man Oscar Grant (Michael B. Jordan) is now trying hard... [More]
Directed By: Ryan Coogler
#9
Grave of the Fireflies (1988) 100%
#9
Adjusted Score: 103658%
Critics Consensus: An achingly sad anti-war film, Grave of the Fireflies is one of Studio Ghibli's most profoundly beautiful, haunting works.
Synopsis: A teenager (J. Robert Spencer) is charged with the care of his younger sister (Rhoda Chrosite) after an Allied firebombing... [More]
Directed By: Isao Takahata
#10
Ikiru (1952) 98%
#10
Adjusted Score: 107461%
Critics Consensus: Ikiru is a well-acted and deeply moving humanist tale about a man facing his own mortality, one of legendary director Akira Kurosawa's most intimate films.
Synopsis: Mr. Watanabe suddenly finds that he has terminal cancer. He vows to make his final days meaningful. His attempts to... [More]
Directed By: Akira Kurosawa
#11
Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter (2014) 88%
#11
Adjusted Score: 94087%
Critics Consensus: Powerfully acted and lovely to look at, Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter offers a treat for cinephiles with a taste for the pleasantly peculiar.
Synopsis: Frustrated with her mundane life, a Tokyo office worker (Rinko Kikuchi) becomes obsessed with a fictional movie that she mistakes... [More]
Directed By: David Zellner
#12
Make Way for Tomorrow (1937) 100%
#12
Adjusted Score: 103642%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: Retired married couple Barkley (Victor Moore) and Lucy (Beulah Bondi) struggle through the Great Depression, losing their home to foreclosure.... [More]
Directed By: Leo McCarey
#13
Never Let Me Go (2010) 71%
#13
Adjusted Score: 78397%
Critics Consensus: With Never Let Me Go, Mark Romanek has delivered a graceful adaptation that captures the spirit of the Ishiguro novel -- which will be precisely the problem for some viewers.
Synopsis: Friends Kathy (Carey Mulligan), Tommy (Andrew Garfield) and Ruth (Keira Knightley) grow up together at a seemingly idyllic boarding school... [More]
Directed By: Mark Romanek
#14
Old Yeller (1957) 100%
#14
Adjusted Score: 102505%
Critics Consensus: Old Yeller is an exemplary coming of age tale, packing an emotional wallop through smart pacing and a keen understanding of the elemental bonding between humanity and their furry best friends.
Synopsis: While Jim Coates (Fess Parker) is off on a cattle drive, his wife, Katie (Dorothy McGuire), and sons, Travis (Tommy... [More]
Directed By: Robert Stevenson
#15
Schindler's List (1993) 98%
#15
Adjusted Score: 111832%
Critics Consensus: Schindler's List blends the abject horror of the Holocaust with Steven Spielberg's signature tender humanism to create the director's dramatic masterpiece.
Synopsis: Businessman Oskar Schindler (Liam Neeson) arrives in Krakow in 1939, ready to make his fortune from World War II, which... [More]
Directed By: Steven Spielberg
#16
Tokyo Story (1953) 100%
#16
Adjusted Score: 106661%
Critics Consensus: Tokyo Story is a Yasujiro Ozu masterpiece whose rewarding complexity has lost none of its power more than half a century on.
Synopsis: The elderly Shukishi (Chishu Ryu) and his wife, Tomi (Chieko Higashiyama), take the long journey from their small seaside village... [More]
Directed By: Yasujirô Ozu
#17
#17
Adjusted Score: 69877%
Critics Consensus: For better or worse, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me is every bit as strange and twisted as you'd expect from David Lynch.
Synopsis: In the folksy town of Deerfield, Wash., FBI Agent Desmond (Chris Isaak) inexplicably disappears while hunting for the man who... [More]
Directed By: David Lynch
#18
Vagabond (1985) 100%
#18
Adjusted Score: 101647%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: Mona Bergeron (Sandrine Bonnaire) is dead, her frozen body found in a ditch in the French countryside. From this, the... [More]
Directed By: Agnès Varda
#19
Watership Down (1978) 79%
#19
Adjusted Score: 82061%
Critics Consensus: Aimed at adults perhaps more than children, this is a respectful, beautifully animated adaptation of Richard Adams' beloved book.
Synopsis: When a young rabbit named Fiver (Richard Briers) has a prophetic vision that the end of his warren is near,... [More]
Directed By: Martin Rosen
#20
#20
Adjusted Score: 101337%
Critics Consensus: Led by a volcanic performance from Elizabeth Taylor, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? is a scathing adaptation of the Edward Albee play that serves as a brilliant calling card for debuting director Mike Nichols.
Synopsis: History professor George (Richard Burton) and his boozy wife, Martha (Elizabeth Taylor), return late one Saturday night from a cocktail... [More]
Directed By: Mike Nichols
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The Cowboys
The Score Card
The Movie : 7.5
The story is a simple one: Wayne is a rancher whose hands have succumbed to gold fever and left him without help to drive his 1500 head of cattle to market 400 miles away. Reluctantly he agrees to train ten or eleven schoolboys, none older than 15, one barely half his height, to help him manage the two-month drive. While not without some riding experience, the boys are fairly ignorant about the trail, so they, and us, can expect the drive to be an ordeal. But even before they leave, we can see serious trouble looming in the form of likely bad guys when Bruce Dern and friend are rejected by Wayne as hired help for the liars they are. The light touch Rydell and his writers have with the boys never gets mired into sentimentality – this is no Disney movie of the period. When things turn south, and they do, Rydell doesn't flinch, and the boys find the necessary grit to do what needs to be done. There's a traditional formula that needs to be observed, and Rydell & Co. do so - perhaps too handily and too easily in the end. To some the resolution will seem a satisfying conclusion, to others, its weakness. On this, my first screening of the movie, my feeling is that "growth" came at a high price: namely, by a method not dissimilar from the evil forces opposed to them.
Image : 9 - One of the many things I like about the image is how clear it is when Wayne is seen in close-up – like they went to extra trouble to present every nook and craggy. When the camera pulls back, the texture of his vest and leather accoutrements are downright palpable. The indoor lighting of the classroom is a complete fraud (looks like the roof was taken off just for this shoot) but they are also some of the most gorgeous images in the movie: saturated color, deep focus, great textures. The vistas with large open sky struck me as a tad overexposed and soft, but there was an impression of endless prairie that a more saturated picture might not have offered. The BD image is terrific and hard to imagine we shall see it bettered in our lifetime.
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dbpedia
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https://www.indiewire.com/gallery/best-western-movies-of-all-time/
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en
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The 100 Greatest Westerns of All Time
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2024-06-25T16:35:32+00:00
|
IndieWire editors list the top 100 greatest Western movies of all time, from acclaimed directors including John Ford and Sergio Leone.
|
en
|
IndieWire
|
https://www.indiewire.com/gallery/best-western-movies-of-all-time/
|
“When the legend becomes fact, print the legend.”
If any eight words could sum up the best Western movies in their entirety, it’s those from “The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance.” At times misunderstood, at times marginalized, at times written off by Hollywood as less than bankable even following periods of extraordinary success, the Western is nonetheless the most enduring genre in the history of American movies. Assembling IndieWire’s list of the 100 Greatest Westerns of All Time resulted in movies appearing there that represent every single decade since the turn of the last century: The earliest film on the list is from 1903 and the most recent from 2023, with movies from five continents represented.
That endurance is not just because of sagebrush and spurs and cowboy hats and horses and train robberies and six-shooters, John Wayne and Clint Eastwood. It’s because the best Western movies — whether modern Westerns or those made a century ago — are unparalleled vehicles for ideas about what America is, what it represents, how it was founded, and all the hypocrisies and contradictions and agreed-upon myths therein. Ideas so powerful they inspired reflection among filmmakers from other nations using that cinematic grammar about what their own cultures’ say about themselves too. (The Soviet bloc even made a series of “Osterns” using the imagery of the Western, sometimes displaced to the steppes of Central Asia, to tell their own stories about themselves.) Even unintentionally on many occasions, this is a genre that looks, more than any other, dead-on at race, gender, capitalism, environmentalism, colonialism, and the deepest question of all: Who are you really when there’s no or little authority hanging over you to mediate your behavior? When you don’t have all the creature comforts of civilization? What would you become?
Is that, deep down, who you are already?
That’s why, even though the Western is the ultimate American genre, the ultimate lens through which to examine America, it can even transcend it’s American-ness. Because above all: The Western is a genre about why people are the way that they are. And the many myths we tell ourselves about who we’d like to think we are.
In 1894, at his studio in New Jersey, Thomas Edison made short “actuality” films featuring stars of the touring “Buffalo Bill’s Wild West” show, such as Annie Oakley. 130 years later, the genre continues with Kevin Costner’s “Horizon: An American Saga.” But even before those Edison shorts, Buffalo Bill’s traveling show had been touring the country for over a decade peddling its vision of what the Old West was like… as the Old West was actually happening. Mythmaking about the Old West was happening from the very start — there was a book written about Buffalo Bill in 1869 — simply because, more than anything, America loves to tell stories about itself. An obsession that Hollywood would deepen even so much more.
The Western, as an idea, as a vehicle for other ideas, was so potent that the rest of the world then picked it up. John Ford, as essential a driver of creating an idea of what America is as anyone ever was, influenced Akira Kurosawa, who found a grammar all his own to tell stories about Japan that, when you squint, look a bit like the Western. They’re distinctly not, of course, instead rooted in the traditions of jidaigeki, but Kurosawa’s films influenced Italy’s stunning explosion of Spaghetti Westerns in the 1960s that brought an entirely different lens to the genre. A number of Spaghetti Westerns are on IndieWire’s list of the 100 Greatest Westerns of All Time, as is a Korean Western set in 1930s Manchuria, an Australian Western, and a couple of South American Westerns.
Assembling IndieWire’s list of the 100 Greatest Westerns of All Time resulted in a dawning awareness of the genre’s elasticity: There’s a sci-fi Western serial (doubling as a “singing cowboy” saga) in 1935’s “The Phantom Empire” that paved the way for “Nope.” There are avant-garde short-film takes on the Western, such as Carroll Ballard’s “Rodeo.” There are Westerns set at the time of those films’ actual release, such as “Paris, Texas,” that nonetheless feature journey and reunion motifs central to films set 100 years earlier. There’s the fact that, as much as Black experiences in the Old West have been marginalized by Hollywood (even though around a third of all cowboys in the Old West were Black) there have been many more Black Westerns than are typically acknowledged by the canon today — and that it’s on us now in the present to appreciate what those films have offered. And there’s the realization of iconoclastic, even form-busting, storytelling elements we’ve taken for granted in canonical classics: Which is to say, paraphrasing Robin Wood, that if you don’t love “My Rifle, My Pony, and Me” in “Rio Bravo,” you don’t love movies.
Read on and enjoy, pardner.
This Top 100 Westerns list is a living document and will be added to over time to go beyond 100. With editorial contributions from Tom Brueggemann, Bill Desowitz, David Ehrlich, Kate Erbland, Marya E. Gates, Jim Hemphill, Ryan Lattanzio, Tony Maglio, Tambay Obenson, Harrison Richlin, Sarah Shachat, Anne Thompson, Brian Welk, and Christian Zilko.
|
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6000
|
dbpedia
|
0
| 24
|
https://notesonfilm1.com/tag/mark-rydell/
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en
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First Impressions
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2018-07-05T07:17:26+00:00
|
Posts about Mark Rydell written by NotesonFilm1
|
en
|
First Impressions
|
https://notesonfilm1.com/tag/mark-rydell/
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The Long Goodbye is by now an acknowledged classic. It wasn’t always so. As Pauline Kael writes in her 1973 review, ‘It’s a knockout of a movie that has taken eight months to arrive in New York because after being badly reviewed in Los Angeles last March and after being badly received (perfect irony) it folded out of town. It’s probably the best American movie ever made that almost didn’t open in New York.’ Charles Champlin, one of the initial culprits, titled his review ‘A Private Eye’s Honour Blackened’. But as early as 1974, Stewart Garrett in Film Quarterly was already underlining its importance and influence: ‘‘the masterwork of America’s most interesting working director….In watching Chinatown, one can feel The Long Goodbye lurking behind it with the latent force of a foregone conclusion’. All I want to do here is add my praise, point to a couple of aspects of the film’s particular brilliance, and also indicate some problems with the film that its biggest fans have been too quick to gloss over.
The movie begins and ends with an extract from the song ‘Hooray for Hollywood’, a nod to dreamland and part of the film’s homage to noir and the detective genre. Elliot Gould is a different Marlowe than Humphrey Bogart, looser, gentler, even more addicted to tobacco, with cigarettes constantly dangling from his thick, sensuous lips. The car he drives, the apartment building he lives in, the bars he frequents, all conjure up the forties. But the LA he moves through, a character of its own in this film (the skyline, the highways, the all-night supermarkets, Malibu), with the women in the apartment next door making hash brownies, practicing yoga, and dancing topless, all point to the film’s present. And that interplay between past and present, figured through the casting of Elliot Gould as the central character, is one of joys of the film.
Gould’s Marlow, unkempt, seeming to offer a wry, disbelieving and humours look at everything he sees, is convincingly single, marginal, and over-reliant on his cat for company. He is the most unkempt and bedraggled of leading man: loose, irreverent but convincingly embodying someone who carries the night with him like a halo; a knight errant reeking of stale tobacco, too much booze and too little sleep. His friend Terry Lennox (Jim Bouten) calls hims a born loser.
David Thomson writes of how Altman ‘spends the whole film concentrating on the way Elliott Gould moves, murmurs, sighs, and allows silence or stillness to prevail’. And this at a time when as Pauline Kael writes in her review of the film, by 1973 , ‘Audiences may have felt that they’d already had it with Elliot Gould; the young men who looked like him in 1971 have got cleaned up and barbered and turned into Mark Spitz. But it actually adds poignancy to the film that Gould himself is already an anachronism…Gould comes back with his best performance yet. It’s his movie.’ It certainly is. Next to M*A*S*H and Bob &Carol&Ted&Alice, it’s also become the one he’s most associated with.
The first few scenes in the film dazzle. The whole sequence with the cat at the beginning where Marlowe gets up to feed it, the cat jumping from counter, to fridge, and onto Marlowe’s shoulder is disarming and rather wondrous. Even those who don’t love cats will be charmed. But the scene also conveys quite a bit about who Marlowe is: someone lonely, who relies on cats for company; someone responsible and loving who cares that the cat is well fed and willing to go out in the middle of the night to buy the cat’s preferred brand; a good neighbour too, prepared to get the brownie mix the women next door ask for and unwilling to charge them for it: a gent or a chump? The choices Altman makes to show and tell us the story are constantly surprising, witty and wondrous on their own. See above, a minor example, that begins inside the apartment, showing us the city’s skyline, then the women, then the women in the city, before dollying down, something that looks like a peek at a little leg action before showing us, perfectly framed, Marlowe arriving in his vintage car.
In The Long Goodbye much is filmed through windows, which sometimes look onto something else, allowing action to happen on at least two planes. However the dominant use of this is to show the play of what’s happening between foreground and background, with the pane of glass, allowing partial sight of what’s beyond the glass and the reflection itself only partially showing what’s in front of it; and both together still only adding up to two partial views that don’t make a whole but which suggest there’s a background to things, and things themselves are but pale reflections of a greater underlying reality. You can see an example of this in the still above, from the the interrogation scene at the police station with the two way mirror. It’s a beautiful, expressive composition. According to Richard K. Ferncase, ‘the photography by Vilmos Zsigmond is unlike the heavy chiaroscuro of traditional noir’. However, as evident in the still above, whilst it might be unlike, it certainly nods to and references it. In fact it’s part of a series of references: the gatekeeper who does imitations of James Stewart, Walter Brennan, Barbara Stanwyck etc; the way Marlowe lights matches a la Walter Neff, the hospital scene where it seems like the Invisible Man or Bogart before his plastic surgery in Dark Passage, etc.
This must be one of Vilmos Zsigmond’s greatest achievements as a cinematographer. Garret writes of how, ‘Altman accentuated the smog-drenched haze of his landscape by slightly overexposing, or ‘fogging’ the entire print.’ Ferncase admires the ‘diaphanous ozone of pastel hues, blue shadowns, and highlights of shimmering gossamer’ Zsigmond created by post-flashing the film. Zsigmond himself attributes this to a low budget: ‘We…flashed the film heavily, even more than we flashed it on McCabe. And the reason was basically because we didn’t have a big budget there for big lights and all that. So we were really very creative about how, with the little amount of equipment that we had, how we are going to do a movie in a professional way. A couple of things we invented on that movie — like flashing fifty per cent, which is way over the top. But by doing that we didn’t have to hardly use any lights when go from outside or inside and go outside again.’.
Robert Reed Altman notes how, ‘On Long Goodbye the camera never stopped moving. The minute the dolly stopped the camera started zooming. At the end of the zoom it would dolly and then it would zoom again, and it just kept moving. Why did he do it? Just to give the story a felling, a mood, to keep the audience an an edge’. Zsigmond describes how this came to be, ”On Images, when we wanted to have something strange going on, because the woman is crazy, we decided to do this thing — zooming and moving sideways. And zooming, and dollying sideways. Or zooming forward. What is missing? Up and down! So we had to be able to go up and down, dolly sideways, back and forth, and zoom in and out. Then we made The Long Goodbye and Robert said, ‘Remember that scene we shot in Images? Let’s shoot this movie all that way’.
They did. But it’s worth remarking that whilst Altman was happy to let actors improvise and to grab and use anything useful or interesting that happened to pass by the camera’s path (the funeral procession, the dogs fucking in Mexico, etc.), the use of the camera seems to me to be highly conscious and controlled. See the scene below when Marlowe brings Roger Wade (a magnificent Sterling Hayden, like wounded lion on its last legs) home to his wife.
In the scene above Marlowe has just brought Wade back home to his wife Eileen (Nina van Pallandt), who’d hired Marlowe to do just that. As Marlowe heads to the beach, note how they’re both filmed outside a window, Wade cornered into the left side of the frame, his wife on the right; the palm trees reflected on the glass but outside. Inside the house is dark, the conversation pointed. In the next shot we get closer to Wade but stil framed within frames, encased in his situation, with window shades acting like bars behind him. In the third shot, we get closer to where the first shot was but Wade seems even murkier, hidden. When Eileen says ‘milk, is that what you really want,’ The camera zooms in, first on him, then her, then him, and as he walks over to her, we see Marlow behind a second window in the back. So we are seeing a domestic scene through a window, sunny California reflected in the palms in front, in the surf behind, something dark happening inside the house, and Marlow, pondering outside, for the moment their plaything, and playing on the surf behind, seen through two sets of glass. Much of the scene will be played like that until Wade goes to join Marlowe outside. Brilliantly evocative images, vey expressive of the characters, their situation and their dynamic, and they seem to me to be perfectly controlled to express just that. In fact that series of images evoke what the film’s about (see below)
The scene where the Wades and Marlowe are gathered together for the first time, rhymes with their last one. This time it’s Marlowe and Eileen who talk, and the discussion is about the husband, who as the camera zooms past Eileen and Marlowe’s conversation, and through the window, we see heading, fully dressed, into the ocean. The camera cuts to them from the outside, once more seeing through a window, but the darkness is on the outside now, and we don’t hear what they’re saying. What we hear now is the sounds of night on the beach — the waves, the surf — , and what we see, clearly and without mediation is Wade letting the surf engulf him. It’s a perfect riposte to the first scene, taking elements of the same style, but accentuating different ones — analogous to the way the film uses ‘The Long Goodbye’ song but in completely different arrangements as the film unfolds –, and creating a series of images that remain beautiful and startling in themselves but beautifully express what’s going on, what’s led to this. Had I extended the scene longer, you’d be able to see Eileen and Marlow also engulfed by the sea, the Doberman prancing by the shore, and that indelible image of the dog returning only with Wade’s walking stick. It’s great.
Schwarzenegger makes an uncredited appearance in The Long Goodbye, screaming for attention by flexing his tits, and looking considerably shorter than Elliot Gould. An interesting contrast between a characteristic leading man of the 70s and how what that represents gave way to Schwarzenegger’s dominance in the 80s and 90s, and what that in turn came to represent. But though this is a fun moment in the film, its also what I liked least about it: i.e. the stunt casting. Nina van Pallandt is beautiful and she’s ok. But think of what Faye Dunaway might have brought to the role. Director Mark Rydell as gangster Marty Augustine is also ok but imagine Joe Pesci. As to Jim Bouton, a former ballplayer and TV presenter as Terry Lennox, to say that he’s wooden is to praise too highly. There’s a place in in cinema for this type of casting– and a history of much success — but see what a talented pro like David Carradine brings to the prison scene — not to mention Sterling Hayden and Elliot Gould both so great — and imagine the dimensions skilled and talented actors might have brought to the movie. The Long Goodbye is great in spite of, not because of, the casting of these small but important roles.
Many thanks to Dave Stewart for bringing this Jack Davis ‘Mad’-esque poster of the film to my attention:
*The Vilmos Zsigmond and Robert Reed Altman quotes are taken from Mitchell Zuckoff’s great book on Altman, Robert Altman: The Oral Biography, New York, Knopg, 2009.
José Arroyo
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The original trailer for the French release in 1970 promised that Les choses de la vie/ The Things of Life would be ‘about people, people like you, people to whom things happen, things of life: beautiful, sweet, stupid; things of life that make life worth living’. If the ‘you’ referred to is an ideal ‘you’ – richer, more glamorous, more beautiful – then, the film delivers on that promise.
Les choses de la vie begins with an image of the wheel of a car in a field. We realise that a car has crashed in a rural motorway. Inside the car is Pierre (Michel Piccoli), a successful architect. As he drifts in an out of consciousness, we find out what his life has amounted to, what has been important to him: Catherine (Lea Massari), his wife, whom he’s separated from but who he still has unresolved feelings for; Helène (Romy Schneider), the mistress who adores him but whom he finds a bit clingy and demanding; the son, suddenly grown-up and growing more distant by the day; his parents; the problems with his job; the things he did wrong and might never get a chance to fix; flashes of joy experienced whilst sailing with his family or kissing his mistress in a meadow.
Les choses de la vie could so easily be soap opera; could so easily have become what its American re-make, Intersections (Mark Rydell, USA, 1994), turned out to be: a glossy, glamorous melodrama with people one couldn’t relate to and that remained at one remove, as if the pretty-ness of the image was a glass barrier to feeling. Yet, Sautet’s film is something else: even more exquisite to look, but here the look providing a lens through which to see a complex life in a way that is much deeper, much finer.
It’s a poetic film, sad, with an emphasis on feeling and on thought rather than on action; where things are felt but hidden, half-said, mis-articulated; where the narrative shows all the complexities that the characters cannot themselves express, may not yet know, may in fact be trying to hide; a film where things are expressed visually and aurally, as befits a film.
The film is structured around the car-crash, spectacularly choreographed by Gérard Streiff and shown in a variety of ways depending on the mood the film is intent on conveying when it returns to it, as it does throughout the film; it’s the event that anchors the narrative and permits it to drift off in fragments whilst still being experienced as linear; it works as memory, as drifting thought, but it at all times makes sense to the viewer.
We sometimes see it in slow motion, or with the film speeded up, or even with the film being run backward; and when we return to the accident, we sometimes cut to the witnesses of the crash, sometimes to an event in Pierre’s life; sometimes just to his point-of-view as he’s trying to make sense of what’s happened to him. In one instance we see a shiny black boot, stepping on a gorgeous ground of green grass, poppies and little blue flowers. As Pierre tries to focus, and at the very moment in which he realizes he might die, he can still see beauty amongst the black.
One can understand why Sautet thought Jacqueline Thiédot, chief editor, important enough to come first at the end credits. The film is a masterpiece of editing. But really, the film is a masterpiece for many reasons.
It’s full of wonderful moments: the two scenes where Pierre and Helène discuss their relationship, first in the elevator and then in the car, where the shadows as the elevator ascends through floors, or the lime yellow of passing traffic, create a murkiness, a lack of clarity, that symbolizes all of the mis-communication, the pain of Helène’s honest and vulnerable expression in the light, or lack of light, of Pierre’s inability to express his own emotions, in the light, or lack of light, of his silence.
Or the wonderful close-up of Romy Schneider at the auction (see clip below), where one can see exactly why Pierre fell in love with her; or those moments of bliss sailing, never to be repeated, already in the past as the image fades to white; or the exquisite pan around the wedding banquet where the dream of what might have been suddenly turns into the nightmarish realization of what actually is in one sweeping camera movement. This is the work of a truly great director.
Sautet here also enjoys the collaboration of an extraordinary team. Not only the aforementioned Thiédot but also an intricate screenplay based on the novel by Paul Guimard which Sautet superbly knitted together with Guimard, Sandro Continenza and Jean-Loup Dabadie, who would later write at least dialogue for many of Sautet’s other films (including the marvellous César et Rosalie). Jean Boffety is director of photography and responsible for very beautiful and evocative images with a lighting design that signifies; one in which, things are half shown as they are half-spoken, capable of great beauty in that wonderful Eastman colour that picks up primary colours and makes them almost shine (sadly it is also the process most prone to fade and turn to red ). Also the camera renders the space almost sculptural in the way that it frames all that happens as spaces of changeable feeling and meaning; all this greatly aided by Phillipe Sarde’s very beautiful score (the film itself is almost structured as a fugue).
A popular success, Les choses de la vie was the 8th highest earning film of its year with 2,959, 682 admissions. It won the Louis Delluc Prize for Best Film in 1970. It was also nominated for Golden Palm at 1970 Cannes Film Festival. The film would revitalise the careers of Sautet and Schneider and lead to many future collaborations between them, including Max et les ferrailleurs/ Max and the Junkmen and César et Rosalie, both superb. Les choses de la vie was remade in Hollywood as Intersections directed by Mark Rydell and with Richard Gere, Sharon Stone, Lolita Davidovitch. It might be worth noting that the performances of Piccoli, Schneider and Masari are so great they completely eclipse any memory of the American actors, which I saw first. Courrèges did Romy’s chic, career-girl A-line mini-dresses. Lovely.
To my knowledge, Les choses de la vie is not available in the UK or the US with English sub-titles. I hope someone does something about it soon. It’s only a matter of time before Sautet’s great works are re-disovered. Les choses de la vie is one of them.
José Arroyo
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Living Oscar nominated directors, oldest to youngest
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From the category Best Director
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IMDb
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https://www.imdb.com/list/ls069782581/
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Clinton Eastwood Jr. was born May 31, 1930 in San Francisco, to Clinton Eastwood Sr., a bond salesman and later manufacturing executive for Georgia-Pacific Corporation, and Ruth Wood (née Margret Ruth Runner), a housewife turned IBM clerk. He grew up in nearby Piedmont. At school Clint took interest in music and mechanics, but was an otherwise bored student; this resulted in being held back a grade. In 1949, the year he is said to have graduated from high school, his parents and younger sister Jeanne moved to Seattle. Clint spent a couple years in the Pacific Northwest himself, operating log broncs in Springfield, Oregon, with summer gigs life-guarding in Renton, Washington. Returning to California in 1951, he did a two-year stint at Fort Ord Military Reservation and later enrolled at L.A. City College, but dropped out to pursue acting.
During the mid-1950s he landed uncredited bit parts in such B-films as Die Rache des Ungeheuers (1955) and Tarantula (1955) while digging swimming pools and driving a garbage truck to supplement his income. In 1958, he landed his first consequential acting role in the long-running TV show Tausend Meilen Staub (1959) with Eric Fleming. Although only a secondary player the first seven seasons, he was promoted to series star when Fleming departed--both literally and figuratively--in its final year, along the way becoming a recognizable face to television viewers around the country.
Eastwood's big-screen breakthrough came as The Man with No Name in Sergio Leone's trilogy of excellent spaghetti westerns: Für eine Handvoll Dollar (1964), Für ein paar Dollar mehr (1965), and Zwei glorreiche Halunken (1966). The movies were shown exclusively in Italy during their respective copyright years with Enrico Maria Salerno providing the voice of Eastwood's character, finally getting American distribution in 1967-68. As the last film racked up respectable grosses, Eastwood, 37, rose from a barely registering actor to sought-after commodity in just a matter of months. Again a success was the late-blooming star's first U.S.-made western, Hängt ihn höher (1968). He followed that up with the lead role in Coogans großer Bluff (1968) (the loose inspiration for the TV series Ein Sheriff in New York (1970)), before playing second fiddle to Richard Burton in the World War II epic Agenten sterben einsam (1968) and Lee Marvin in the bizarre musical Westwärts zieht der Wind (1969). In Ein Fressen für die Geier (1970) and Stoßtrupp Gold (1970), Eastwood leaned in an experimental direction by combining tough-guy action with offbeat humor.
1971 proved to be his busiest year in film. He starred as a sleazy Union soldier in Betrogen (1971) to critical acclaim, and made his directorial debut with the classic erotic thriller Sadistico (1971). His role as the hard edge police inspector in Dirty Harry (1971), meanwhile, boosted him to cultural icon status and helped popularize the loose-cannon cop genre. Eastwood put out a steady stream of entertaining movies thereafter: the westerns Sinola (1972), Ein Fremder ohne Namen (1973) and Der Texaner (1976) (his first of six onscreen collaborations with then live-in love Sondra Locke), the Dirty Harry sequels Calahan (1973) and Dirty Harry III - Der Unerbittliche (1976), the action-packed road adventures Die Letzten beißen die Hunde (1974) and Der Mann, der niemals aufgibt (1977), and the prison film Flucht von Alcatraz (1979). He branched out into the comedy genre in 1978 with Der Mann aus San Fernando (1978), which became the biggest hit of his career up to that time; taking inflation into account, it still is. In short, Im Auftrag des Drachen (1975) notwithstanding, the 1970s were nonstop success for Eastwood.
Eastwood kicked off the 1980s with Mit Vollgas nach San Fernando (1980), the blockbuster sequel to Every Which Way but Loose. The fourth Dirty Harry film, Dirty Harry IV - Dirty Harry kommt zurück (1983), was the highest-grossing film of the franchise and spawned his trademark catchphrase: "Make my day." He also starred in Bronco billy (1980), Firefox (1982), Der Wolf hetzt die Meute (1984), City Heat - Der Bulle und der Schnüffler (1984), Pale Rider - Der namenlose Reiter (1985) and Heartbreak Ridge (1986), all of which were solid hits, with Honkytonk Man (1982) being his only commercial failure of the period. In 1988, he did his fifth and final Dirty Harry movie, Das Todesspiel (1988). Although it was a success overall, it did not have the box office punch the previous films had. About this time, with outright bombs like Pink Cadillac (1989) and Rookie - Der Anfänger (1990), it seemed Eastwood's star was declining as it never had before. He then started taking on low-key projects, directing Bird (1988), a biopic of Charlie Parker that earned him a Golden Globe, and starring in and directing Weißer Jäger, schwarzes Herz (1990), an uneven, loose biopic of John Huston (both films had a limited release).
Eastwood bounced back big time with his dark western Erbarmungslos (1992), which garnered the then 62-year-old his first ever Academy Award nomination (Best Actor), and an Oscar win for Best Director. Churning out a quick follow-up hit, he took on the secret service in In the Line of Fire: Die zweite Chance (1993), then accepted second billing for the first time since 1970 in the interesting but poorly received Perfect World (1993) with Kevin Costner. Next was a love story, Die Brücken am Fluss (1995), where Eastwood surprised audiences with a sensitive performance alongside none other than Meryl Streep. But it soon became apparent he was going backwards after his brief revival. Subsequent films were credible, but nothing really stuck out. Absolute Power (1997) and Space Cowboys (2000) did well enough, while Ein wahres Verbrechen (1999) and Blood Work (2002) were received badly, as was Mitternacht im Garten von Gut und Böse (1997), which he directed but didn't appear in.
Eastwood surprised again in the mid-2000s, returning to the top of the A-list with Million Dollar Baby (2004). Also starring Hilary Swank and Morgan Freeman, the hugely successful drama won four Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director for Eastwood. He scored his second Best Actor nomination, too. His next starring vehicle, Gran Torino (2008), earned almost $30 million in its opening weekend and was his highest grosser unadjusted for inflation. 2012 saw him in a rare lighthearted movie, Back in the Game (2012), as well as a reality show, Mrs. Eastwood & Company (2012).
Between acting jobs, he chalked up an impressive list of credits behind the camera. He directed Mystic River (2003) (in which Sean Penn and Tim Robbins gave Oscar-winning performances), Flags of Our Fathers (2006), Letters from Iwo Jima (2006) (nominated for the Best Picture Oscar), Der fremde Sohn (2008) (a vehicle for Angelina Jolie), Invictus - Unbezwungen (2009) (again with Freeman), Hereafter - Das Leben danach (2010), J. Edgar (2011), Jersey Boys (2014), American Sniper (2014) (2014's top box office champ), Sully (2016) (starring Tom Hanks as hero pilot Chesley Sullenberger) and 15:17 to Paris (2018). Back on screens after a considerable absence, he played an unlikely drug courier in The Mule (2018), which reached the top of the box office with a nine-figure gross, then directed Der Fall Richard Jewell (2019). At age 91, Eastwood made history as the oldest actor to star above the title in a movie with the release of Cry Macho (2021).
Away from the limelight, Eastwood has led an aberrant existence and is described by biographer Patrick McGilligan as a cunning manipulator of the media. His convoluted slew of partners and children are now somewhat factually acknowledged, but for the first three decades of his celebrity, his personal life was kept top secret, and several of his families were left out of the official narrative. The actor refuses to disclose his exact number of offspring even to this day. He had a longtime relationship with similarly abstruse co-star Locke (who died aged 74 in 2018, though for her entire public life she masqueraded about being younger), and has fathered at least eight children by at least six different women in an unending string of liaisons, many of which overlapped. He has been married only twice, however, with a mere three of his progeny coming from those unions.
His known children are: Laurie Murray (b. 1954), whose mother is unidentified; Kimber Eastwood (b. 1964) with stuntwoman Roxanne Tunis; Kyle Eastwood (b. 1968) and Alison Eastwood (b. 1972) with his first ex-wife, Margaret Neville Johnson; Scott Eastwood (b. 1986) and Kathryn Eastwood (b. 1988) with stewardess Jacelyn Reeves; Francesca Eastwood (b. 1993) with actress Frances Fisher; and Morgan Eastwood (b. 1996) with his second ex-wife, Dina Eastwood. The entire time that he lived with Locke she was legally married to sculptor Gordon Anderson.
Eastwood has real estate holdings in Bel-Air, La Quinta, Carmel-by-the-Sea, Cassel (in remote northern California), Idaho's Sun Valley and Kihei, Hawaii.
Roman Polanski is a Polish film director, producer, writer and actor. Having made films in Poland, Britain, France and the USA, he is considered one of the few truly international filmmakers. Roman Polanski was born in Paris in 1933.
His parents returned to Poland from France in 1936, three years before World War II began. On Germany's invasion in 1939, as a family of mostly Jewish heritage, they were all sent to the Krakow ghetto. His parents were then captured and sent to two different concentration camps: His father to Mauthausen-Gusen in Austria, where he survived the war, and his mother to Auschwitz where she was murdered. Roman witnessed his father's capture and then, at only 7, managed to escape the ghetto and survive the war, at first wandering through the Polish countryside and pretending to be a Roman-Catholic kid visiting his relatives. Although this saved his life, he was severely mistreated suffering nearly fatal beating which left him with a fractured skull.
Local people usually ignored the cinemas where German films were shown, but Polanski seemed little concerned by the propaganda and often went to the movies. As the war progressed, Poland became increasingly war-torn and he lived his life as a tramp, hiding in barns and forests, eating whatever he could steal or find. Still under 12 years old, he encountered some Nazi soldiers who forced him to hold targets while they shot at them. At the war's end in 1945, he reunited with his father who sent him to a technical school, but young Polanski seemed to have already chosen another career. In the 1950s, he took up acting, appearing in Andrzej Wajda's Eine Generation (1955) before studying at the Lodz Film School. His early shorts such as Zwei Männer und ein Schrank (1958), Der Dicke und der Dünne (1961) and Ssaki (1962), showed his taste for black humor and interest in bizarre human relationships. His feature debut, Messer im Wasser (1962), was one of the first Polish post-war films not associated with the war theme. It was also the first movie from Poland to get an Oscar nomination for best foreign film. Though already a major Polish filmmaker, Polanski chose to leave the country and headed to France. While down-and-out in Paris, he befriended young scriptwriter, Gérard Brach, who eventually became his long-time collaborator. The next two films, Ekel (1965) and Wenn Katelbach kommt... (1966), made in England and co-written by Brach, won respectively Silver and then Golden Bear awards at the Berlin International Film Festival. In 1968, Polanski went to Hollywood, where he made the psychological thriller, Rosemaries Baby (1968). However, after the brutal murder of his wife, Sharon Tate, by the Manson Family in 1969, the director decided to return to Europe. In 1974, he again made a US release - it was Chinatown (1974).
It seemed the beginning of a promising Hollywood career, but after his conviction for the sodomy of a 13-year old girl, Polanski fled from he USA to avoid prison. After Tess (1979), which was awarded several Oscars and Cesars, his works in 1980s and 1990s became intermittent and rarely approached the caliber of his earlier films. It wasn't until Der Pianist (2002) that Polanski came back to full form. For that movie, he won nearly all the most important film awards, including the Oscar for Best Director, Cannes Film Festival's Palme d'Or, the BAFTA and Cesar Award.
He still likes to act in the films of other directors, sometimes with interesting results, as in Eine reine Formalität (1994).
Woody Allen was born on November 30, 1935, as Allen Konigsberg, in The Bronx, NY, the son of Martin Konigsberg and Nettie Konigsberg. He has one younger sister, Letty Aronson. As a young boy, he became intrigued with magic tricks and playing the clarinet, two hobbies that he continues today.
Allen broke into show business at 15 years when he started writing jokes for a local paper, receiving $200 a week. He later moved on to write jokes for talk shows but felt that his jokes were being wasted. His agents, Charles Joffe and Jack Rollins, convinced him to start doing stand-up and telling his own jokes. Reluctantly he agreed and, although he initially performed with such fear of the audience that he would cover his ears when they applauded his jokes, he eventually became very successful at stand-up. After performing on stage for a few years, he was approached to write a script for Warren Beatty to star in: Was gibt's Neues, Pussy? (1965) and would also have a moderate role as a character in the film. During production, Woody gave himself more and better lines and left Beatty with less compelling dialogue. Beatty inevitably quit the project and was replaced by Peter Sellers, who demanded all the best lines and more screen-time.
It was from this experience that Woody realized that he could not work on a film without complete control over its production. Woody's theoretical directorial debut was in What's Up, Tiger Lily? (1966); a Japanese spy flick that he dubbed over with his own comedic dialogue about spies searching for the secret recipe for egg salad. His real directorial debut came the next year in the mockumentary Woody, der Unglücksrabe (1969). He has written, directed and, more often than not, starred in about a film a year ever since, while simultaneously writing more than a dozen plays and several books of comedy.
While best known for his romantic comedies Der Stadtneurotiker (1977) and Manhattan (1979), Woody has made many transitions in his films throughout the years, transitioning from his "early, funny ones" of Bananas (1971), Die letzte Nacht des Boris Gruschenko (1975) and Was Sie schon immer über Sex wissen wollten, aber bisher nicht zu fragen wagten (1972); to his more storied and romantic comedies of Der Stadtneurotiker (1977), Manhattan (1979) and Hannah und ihre Schwestern (1986); to the Bergmanesque films of Stardust Memories (1980) and Innenleben (1978); and then on to the more recent, but varied works of Verbrechen und andere Kleinigkeiten (1989), Ehemänner und Ehefrauen (1992), Geliebte Aphrodite (1995), Celebrity - Schön, reich, berühmt (1998) and Harry außer sich (1997); and finally to his films of the last decade, which vary from the light comedy of Scoop - Der Knüller (2006), to the self-destructive darkness of Match Point (2005) and, most recently, to the cinematically beautiful tale of Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008). Although his stories and style have changed over the years, he is regarded as one of the best filmmakers of our time because of his views on art and his mastery of filmmaking.
Born on August 18, 1936, in Santa Monica, California, to Charles Robert Redford, an accountant for Standard Oil, and Martha Redford, Charles Robert Redford, Jr. was a scrappy kid who stole hubcaps in high school and lost his college baseball scholarship at the University of Colorado because of drunkenness. However, as a high school student, he had displayed a certain aptitude as a caricaturist and this contributed to his decision to seriously study art. Redford then enjoyed a year-long sojourn travelling around Europe, hitchhiking, living in youth hostels and generally living the painter's life. Eventually, he came to realise that his work was unoriginal and not very good. He therefore returned to New York to pursue studies in theatrical design at the Pratt Institute of Art. He subsequently enrolled in acting classes at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts.
By the end of 1960, he was on Broadway in a series of plays including Barefoot in the Park, which launched him to fame. TV and stage experience coupled with all-American good looks led to movies and a breakthrough role in Butch Cassidy und Sundance Kid (1969), when the actor was 33. Jene Jahre in Hollywood (1973) and Der Clou (1973), both in 1973, made Redford No. 1 at the box office for the next three years. Redford used his clout to advance environmental causes and his riches to acquire Utah property, which he transformed into a ranch and the Sundance ski resort. In 1980, he established the Sundance Institute for aspiring filmmakers. Its annual film festival has become one of the world's most influential. Redford's directorial debut, Eine ganz normale Familie (1980), won him the Academy Award for Best Director in 1981. He waited eight years before getting behind the camera again, this time for the screen version of John Nichols' acclaimed novel of the Southwest, Milagro - Der Krieg im Bohnenfeld (1988). He scored with critics and fans in 1992 with the Brad Pitt film Aus der Mitte entspringt ein Fluß (1992), and again, in 1994, with Quiz Show (1994), which earned him yet another Best Director nomination.
Redford married Lola Van Wagenen on August 9, 1958; they divorced in 1985 after having four children, one of which died of sudden infant death syndrome. Daughter Shauna Redford, born November 15, 1960, is a painter who married Eric Schlosser on October 5, 1985, in Provo, Utah; her first child, born in January 1991, made Redford a grandfather. Son James Redford, a screenwriter, was born May 5, 1962. Daughter Amy Redford, an actress, was born October 22, 1970. Redford has a half-brother named William, who worked in medical research.
Since starring in his first film, Fieber im Blut (1961), Warren Beatty has been said to have demonstrated a greater longevity in movies than any actor of his generation. Few people have taken so many responsibilities for all phases of the production of films as producer, director, writer, and actor, and few have evidenced so high a level of integrity in a body of work.
In Regeln spielen keine Rolle (2016), he writes, produces, directs and stars in. Only Beatty and Orson Welles (Citizen Kane) have been nominated by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences as an actor, a director, a writer, and a producer for the same film. Beatty is the only person ever to have done it twice, for Der Himmel soll warten (1978) and again for Ein Mann kämpft für Gerechtigkeit (1981). Beatty has been nominated 15 times by the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, and 8 films he has produced have earned 53 Academy nominations. In 1982 he won the Academy Award for Directing and in 2000 was given the Academy's highest honor, the Irving G. Thalberg Award.
He was awarded Best Director from the Directors Guild of America and Best Writer three times from the Writers Guild of America. He has received the Milestone Award from the Producers Guild, the Board of Governors Award from the American Society of Cinematographers, the Directors Award from the Costume Designers Guild, the Life Achievement Award from the Publicists Guild, and the Outstanding Contribution to Cinematic Imagery Award from the Art Directors Guild. The National Association of Theater Owners has honored him as Director of the Year, as Producer of the Year and as Actor of the Year.
He has won 16 awards from the New York and Los Angeles Film Critics, the National Board of Review, and the Golden Globes. In 1992, he was made a Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters in France; in Italy he received the David di Donatello award in 1968 and again in 1981 and its Lifetime Achievement Award in 1998; in 2001, he received the Donostia Lifetime Achievement Award from the San Sebastian International Film Festival; in 2002, he received the British Academy Fellowship from BAFTA; and in 2011, he was awarded the Stanley Kubrick Britannia Award for Excellence in Film.
In December 2004, Beatty received The Kennedy Center Honor in Washington, D.C. In addition, he is the recipient of the American Film Institute's Lifetime Achievement Award, the HFPA Cecile B. DeMille Award and many others. Politically active since the 1960's, Beatty campaigned with Robert F. Kennedy in his 1968 presidential campaign. That same year he traveled throughout the United States speaking in favor of gun control and against the war in Vietnam. In 1972 he took a year off from motion pictures to campaign with George McGovern.
In 1981, Beatty was a founding board member of the Center for National Policy. He is a founding member of The Progressive Majority, a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and has participated in the World Economic Forum at Davos, Switzerland.
Beatty serves on the Board of Directors of the Motion Picture and Television Fund Foundation. He previously served on the Board of Trustees of The Scripps Research Institute for several years. He has received the Eleanor Roosevelt Award from the Americans for Democratic Action, the Brennan Legacy Award from the Brennan Center for Justice at the New York University School of Law, and the Philip Burton Public Service Award from The Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights.
In multiple forums he has addressed campaign finance reform, the increasing disparity of wealth, universal health care and the need for the Democratic Party to return to its roots.
In March of 2013, he was inducted into the California Hall of Fame.
Beatty was born in Richmond, Virginia. He and his wife, Annette Bening, live in Los Angeles and have four children.
His mother, Kathlyn Corinne (MacLean), was a drama teacher from Nova Scotia, Canada, and his father, Ira Owens Beaty, a professor of psychology and real estate agent, was from Virginia. His sister is actress Shirley MacLaine (born Shirley MacLean Beaty). His ancestry is mostly English and Scottish.
Described by film producer Michael Deeley as "the very best eye in the business", director Ridley Scott was born on November 30, 1937 in South Shields, Tyne and Wear. His father was an officer in the Royal Engineers and the family followed him as his career posted him throughout the United Kingdom and Europe before they eventually returned to Teesside. Scott wanted to join the British Army (his elder brother Frank had already joined the Merchant Navy) but his father encouraged him to develop his artistic talents instead and so he went to West Hartlepool College of Art and then London's Royal College of Art where he helped found the film department.
In 1962, he joined the BBC as a trainee set designer working on several high profile series. He attended a trainee director's course while he was there and his first directing job was on an episode of the popular BBC police series Freie Hand für Barlow (1962), Error of Judgement (1965). More TV work followed until, frustrated by the poor financial rewards at the BBC, he went into advertising. With his younger brother, Tony Scott, he formed the advertising production company RSA (Ridley Scott Associates) in 1967 and spent the next 10 years making some of the best known and best loved TV adverts ever shown on British television, including a series of ads for Hovis bread set to the music of Dvorak's New World Symphony which are still talked about today ("'e were a great baker were our dad.")
He began working with producer David Puttnam in the 1970s developing ideas for feature films. Their first joint endeavor, Die Duellisten (1977) won the Jury Prize for Best First Work at Cannes in 1977 and was nominated for the Palm d'Or, more than successfully launching Scott's feature film career. The success of Star Wars: Episode IV - Eine neue Hoffnung (1977) inspired Scott's interest in making science fiction and he accepted the offer to direct Dan O'Bannon's low budget science fiction horror movie Alien: Das unheimliche Wesen aus einer fremden Welt (1979), a critical and commercial success that firmly established his worldwide reputation as a movie director.
Der Blade Runner (1982) followed in 1982 to, at best, a lukewarm reception from public and critics but in the years that followed, its reputation grew - and Scott's with it - as one of the most important sci-fi movies ever made. Scott's next major project was back in the advertising world where he created another of the most talked-about advertising spots in broadcast history when his "1984"-inspired ad for the new Apple Macintosh computer was aired during the Super Bowl on January 22, 1984. Scott's movie career has seen a few flops (notably Legende (1985) and 1492 - Die Eroberung des Paradieses (1992)), but with successes like Thelma & Louise (1991), Gladiator (2000) and Black Hawk Down (2001) to offset them, his reputation remains solidly intact.
Ridley Scott was awarded Knight Bachelor of the Order of the British Empire at the 2003 Queen's New Year Honours for his "substantial contribution to the British film industry". On July 3, 2015, he was awarded an honorary doctorate by the Royal College of Art in a ceremony at the Royal Albert Hall in London. He was awarded the BAFTA Fellowship in 2018. BAFTA described him as "a visionary director, one of the great British film-makers whose work has made an indelible mark on the history of cinema. Forty years since his directorial debut, his films continue to cross the boundaries of style and genre, engaging audiences and inspiring the next generation of film talent."
Francis Ford Coppola was born in 1939 in Detroit, Michigan, but grew up in a New York suburb in a creative, supportive Italian-American family. His father, Carmine Coppola, was a composer and musician. His mother, Italia Coppola (née Pennino), had been an actress. Francis Ford Coppola graduated with a degree in drama from Hofstra University, and did graduate work at UCLA in filmmaking. He was training as assistant with filmmaker Roger Corman, working in such capacities as sound-man, dialogue director, associate producer and, eventually, director of Dementia 13 (1963), Coppola's first feature film. During the next four years, Coppola was involved in a variety of script collaborations, including writing an adaptation of "This Property is Condemned" by Tennessee Williams (with Fred Coe and Edith Sommer), and screenplays for Brennt Paris? (1966) and Patton: Rebell in Uniform (1970), the film for which Coppola won a Best Original Screenplay Academy Award. In 1966, Coppola's 2nd film brought him critical acclaim and a Master of Fine Arts degree. In 1969, Coppola and George Lucas established American Zoetrope, an independent film production company based in San Francisco. The company's first project was THX 1138 (1971), produced by Coppola and directed by Lucas. Coppola also produced the second film that Lucas directed, American Graffiti (1973), in 1973. This movie got five Academy Award nominations, including one for Best Picture. In 1971, Coppola's film Der Pate (1972) became one of the highest-grossing movies in history and brought him an Oscar for writing the screenplay with Mario Puzo The film was a Best Picture Academy Award-winner, and also brought Coppola a Best Director Oscar nomination. Following his work on the screenplay for Der große Gatsby (1974), Coppola's next film was Der Dialog (1974), which was honored with the Golden Palm Award at the Cannes Film Festival, and brought Coppola Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay Oscar nominations. Also released that year, Der Pate 2 (1974), rivaled the success of Der Pate (1972), and won six Academy Awards, bringing Coppola Oscars as a producer, director and writer. Coppola then began work on his most ambitious film, Apocalypse Now (1979), a Vietnam War epic that was inspired by Joseph Conrad's Herz in der Finsternis (1993). Released in 1979, the acclaimed film won a Golden Palm Award at the Cannes Film Festival, and two Academy Awards. Also that year, Coppola executive produced the hit Der schwarze Hengst (1979). With George Lucas, Coppola executive produced Kagemusha - Der Schatten des Kriegers (1980), directed by Akira Kurosawa, and Mishima - Ein Leben in vier Kapiteln (1985), directed by Paul Schrader and based on the life and writings of Yukio Mishima. Coppola also executive produced such films as Der große Zauber (1982), Hammett (1982) Der schwarze Hengst kehrt zurück (1983), Barfly (1987), Wind (1992), Der geheime Garten (1993), etc.
He helped to make a star of his nephew, Nicolas Cage. Personal tragedy hit in 1986 when his son Gio died in a boating accident. Francis Ford Coppola is one of America's most erratic, energetic and controversial filmmakers.
Adrian Lyne (Director/Writer/Producer) is the creative force behind some of the most talked-about movies of our time, among them, Eine verhängnisvolle Affäre (1987), 9 1/2 Wochen (1986) and Ein unmoralisches Angebot (1993).
Born in Peterborough, England and raised in London, Lyne attended the Highgate school, where his father was a teacher. In his twenties, he played trumpet with the jazz group, The Colin Kellard Band. An avid moviegoer during his school days, he was inspired to make his own films by the work of French New Wave directors like Godard, Truffaut and Chabrol. Two of his early short films, "The Table" and "Mr. Smith," were official entries in the London Film Festival.
Lyne made his feature filmmaking debut in 1980 with Jeanies Clique (1980), a perceptive look at the friendship of four teenage girls growing up in Los Angeles's San Fernando Valley, starring Jodie Foster. His next film, Flashdance (1983), an innovative blend of rock 'n' roll, new dance styles, and breathtaking imagery, created a sensation in 1983. Lyne's bravura visuals, perfectly wedded to Giorgio Moroder's powerful score, propelled the story of an aspiring ballerina (Jennifer Beals), in her film debut) who works in a factory by day and dances in a club at night. The film was nominated for three Academy Awards, with the theme song, "What a Feeling", winning the Oscar for Best Song. In 1986, Lyne attracted controversy with 9 1/2 Wochen (1986); based on a novel by Elizabeth McNeill, the tale of a sexually-obsessive relationship starred Mickey Rourke and Kim Basinger. Although considered too explicit by its American distributor, and cut for US release, it became a huge hit abroad in its unedited version. Lyne's fourth film was the box-office phenomenon Eine verhängnisvolle Affäre (1987), which to date has generated over $600 million in revenues worldwide. The story of a happily-married lawyer (Michael Douglas) who tries to break off an affair with an attractive single woman (Glenn Close), only to have her become obsessed with him and endanger his family, the film struck a powerful chord with audiences and was one of the most successful films of the year. Deemed "the Zeitgeist hit of the decade" by TIME Magazine, Fatal Attraction won six Academy Award nominations including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress (Glenn Close), Best Supporting Actress (Anne Archer), Best Screenplay and Best Editing. In 1990, Lyne pushed the boundaries of psychological terror with the thriller Jacob's Ladder - In der Gewalt des Jenseits (1990). Written by Academy Award-winner Bruce Joel Rubin and starring Tim Robbins, the film took audiences on a tortuous ride through Vietnam veteran Jacob Singer's nightmarish world of reality and unexplainable hallucinations to reveal a shocking and intensely-debated conclusion. The film won Best Picture at the Avoriaz Film Festival. With Ein unmoralisches Angebot (1993), Lyne examined how the sexes look at relationships and money. Starring Robert Redford, Woody Harrelson and Demi Moore, Indecent Proposal became a worldwide hit. His film, Lolita (1997), based on the modern classic novel by Vladimir Nabokov, was filmed for theatrical release, but American distributors shied away from it due to its controversial subject matter. The film premiered on Showtime, and was so well-received that national theatrical distribution soon followed. His next film Untreu (2002) was loosely based on Claude Chabrol's Die untreue Frau (1969). The movie stars Richard Gere and Diane Lane in a disturbing story of a marriage in trouble. Lane received much praise for her performance. She won awards for best actress from the National Society of Film Critics and New York Film Critics, and was nominated for a Golden Globe and an Academy Award for Best Actress.
When not working in the United States, Lyne lives with his family in a rural village in Southern France.
A true master of his craft, Michael Haneke is one of the greatest film artists working today and one who challenges his viewers each year and work goes by, with films that reflect real portions of life in realistic, disturbing and unforgettable ways. One of the most genuine filmmakers of the world cinema, Haneke wrote and directed films in several languages: French, German and English, working with a great variety of actors, such as Juliette Binoche, Isabelle Huppert, Jean-Louis Trintignant, Toby Jones, Ülrich Muhe, Arno Frisch and the list goes on.
This grand figure from Austrian cinema was born in Germany on 23 March 1942, from a German father and an Austrian mother, with both parents being from the artistic world working as actors, a career that Michael also tried but without much success. At the University of Vienna he studied drama, philosophy and psychology, and after graduation he went on to become a film critic and TV editor. His career behind camera started with ...und was kommt danach? (1974), which he wrote and directed. He went on to direct five more TV films and two episodes from the miniseries "Lemminge" (1979)_.
The years spent on television works prompted him to finally direct his first cinema feature, during his early 40's, which is somewhat unusual for film directors. But it was worth waiting. In Der siebente Kontinent (1989), Haneke establishes the foundation of what his future cinema would be about: a cinema that doesn't provides answers but one that dares to throw more and more questions, a cinema that reflects and analyses the human condition in its darkest and unexpected ways outside of any Hollywood formula. Films that exist to confront audiences and not comfort them. In it, Haneke deals with the duality of social values vs. internal values while exposing an apparent perfect family that runs into physical and material disintegration for reasons unknown. It was the first time a film of his was sent to the Cannes Film Festival (out of competition lineup) but he managed to cause some commotion in the audience with polemic scenes that were meant to extract all possible reactions from the crowd.
His next ventures at the decade's turn was in dealing with disturbed youth and the alienation they have in separating reality from fiction, trying to intersect both to drastic results. In Benny's Video (1992), it's the disturbing story of a teen boy who experiences killing for the first time capturing the murder on tape, impressed by the power of detachment that films and videos can cause to people; and later on the highly controversial Funny Games (1997), where two teens hold a family hostage to play sadistic games just for their own sick amusement. The film cemented Haneke's name as one of the greatest authors of his generation but sparkled a great debate with its themes of violence, sadism and the influence those things have in audiences. At the 1997's Cannes Film Festival, it was the film that had the most walk-out's by the audience. In between both films, he released 71 Fragmente einer Chronologie des Zufalls (1994) and Kafka's Das Schloß (1997), the latter being one of the rare times when Haneke developed an adapted work.
In the 2000's, he strongly continued in producing more outstanding works prone to debate and reflection in what would become his most prolific decade with the following films: Code - Unbekannt (2000), Die Klavierspielerin (2001), Wolfzeit (2003), Caché (2005), an American remake shot-by shot of Funny Games U.S. (2007) and Das weiße Band - Eine deutsche Kindergeschichte (2009). His study about romance versus masochism in Die Klavierspielerin (2001) was an intense work, with powerful performances by Isabelle Huppert and Benoit Magimel, that the Cannes jury in the year were so impressed that Haneke managed to actually reverse their award rules where it was decided that film entries at the festival couldn't win more than one main award (the two lead actors won awards and Haneke got the Grand Prize of the Jury, just lost the Palme d'Or). With Das weiße Band - Eine deutsche Kindergeschichte (2009), an enigmatic black-and-white masterpiece following the inception of Nazism in this pre WWI and WWII story focusing on repressed children living in this small village where strange events happen all the time and without any possible reasoning, Haneke conquered the world and audiences with an artistic and daring work that won his first Palme d'Or a Golden Globe as Best Foreign Language Film and received an Oscar nomination for the same category plus the cinematography work of Christian Berger.
2012 was the year that marked his supremacy in the film world with the release of the bold and beautiful Liebe (2012), a love story with powerful real drama and one where Haneke removed most of his usual dark characteristics to present more quiet and calm elements without losing input in creating controversy. The touching story of George and Anne provided one the greatest moments of that year and earned Haneke his second and consecutive Palme d'Or at Cannes and his first Oscar nominations for Best Direction and Best Original Screenplay - and it was one of the several nominees for Best Picture Oscar, winning as Best Foreign Language Film.
After abandoning a flash-mob film project, he returned to the screen with Happy End (2017), a film dealing with the refugee crisis in Europe and again he debuted his film at Cannes, receiving mildly positive reviews.
Besides his film work, Haneke also directs theatre productions, from drama to opera, from Così fan tutte to Don Giovanni.
Martin Charles Scorsese was born on November 17, 1942 in Queens, New York City, to Catherine Scorsese (née Cappa) and Charles Scorsese, who both worked in Manhattan's garment district, and whose families both came from Palermo, Sicily. He was raised in the neighborhood of Little Italy, which later provided the inspiration for several of his films. Scorsese earned a B.S. degree in film communications in 1964, followed by an M.A. in the same field in 1966 at New York University's School of Film. During this time, he made numerous prize-winning short films including The Big Shave (1967), and directed his first feature film, Wer klopft denn da an meine Tür? (1967).
He served as assistant director and an editor of the documentary Woodstock (1970) and won critical and popular acclaim for Hexenkessel (1973), which first paired him with actor and frequent collaborator Robert De Niro. In 1976, Scorsese's Taxi Driver (1976), also starring De Niro, was awarded the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival, and he followed that film with New York, New York (1977) and The Band (1978). Scorsese directed De Niro to an Oscar-winning performance as boxer Jake LaMotta in Wie ein wilder Stier (1980), which received eight Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture and Best Director, and is hailed as one of the masterpieces of modern cinema. Scorsese went on to direct Die Farbe des Geldes (1986), Die letzte Versuchung Christi (1988), GoodFellas - Drei Jahrzehnte in der Mafia (1990), Kap der Angst (1991), Zeit der Unschuld (1993), Casino (1995) and Kundun (1997), among other films. Commissioned by the British Film Institute to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the birth of cinema, Scorsese completed the four-hour documentary, A Personal Journey with Martin Scorsese Through American Movies (1995), co-directed by Michael Henry Wilson.
His long-cherished project, Gangs of New York (2002), earned numerous critical honors, including a Golden Globe Award for Best Director; the Howard Hughes biopic Aviator (2004) won five Academy Awards, in addition to the Golden Globe and BAFTA awards for Best Picture. Scorsese won his first Academy Award for Best Director for Departed: Unter Feinden (2006), which was also honored with the Director's Guild of America, Golden Globe, New York Film Critics, National Board of Review and Critic's Choice awards for Best Director, in addition to four Academy Awards, including Best Picture. Scorsese's documentary of the Rolling Stones in concert, Shine a Light (2008), followed, with the successful thriller Shutter Island (2010) two years later. Scorsese received his seventh Academy Award nomination for Best Director, as well as a Golden Globe Award, for Hugo Cabret (2011), which went on to win five Academy Awards.
Scorsese also serves as executive producer on the HBO series Boardwalk Empire (2010) for which he directed the pilot episode. Scorsese's additional awards and honors include the Golden Lion from the Venice Film Festival (1995), the AFI Life Achievement Award (1997), the Honoree at the Film Society of Lincoln Center's 25th Gala Tribute (1998), the DGA Lifetime Achievement Award (2003), The Kennedy Center Honors (2007) and the HFPA Cecil B. DeMille Award (2010). Scorsese and actor Leonardo DiCaprio have worked together on five separate occasions: Gangs of New York (2002), Aviator (2004), Departed: Unter Feinden (2006), Shutter Island (2010) and The Wolf of Wall Street (2013).
Mike Leigh is an English film and theatre director, screenwriter and playwright. He studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) and further at the Camberwell School of Art, the Central School of Art and Design and the London School of Film Technique. He began his career as a theatre director and playwright in the mid-1960s, before transitioning to making televised plays and films for BBC Television in the 1970s and '80s. Leigh is known for his lengthy rehearsal and improvisation techniques with actors to build characters and narrative for his films. His purpose is to capture reality and present "emotional, subjective, intuitive, instinctive, vulnerable films." His films and stage plays, according to critic Michael Coveney, "comprise a distinctive, homogenous body of work which stands comparison with anyone's in the British theatre and cinema over the same period."
Leigh's most notable works include the black comedy-drama Naked (1993), for which he won the Best Director Award at Cannes, the Oscar-nominated, BAFTA- and Palme d'Or-winning drama Secrets & Lies (1996), the Golden Lion-winning working-class drama Vera Drake (2004), and the Palme d'Or-nominated biopic Mr. Turner (2014). Other well-known films include the comedy-dramas Life Is Sweet (1990) Meantime (1983) and Career Girls (1997), the Gilbert and Sullivan biographical film Topsy-Turvy (1999) and the bleak working-class drama All or Nothing (2002). He won great success with American audiences with the female led films, Vera Drake (2004) starring Imelda Staunton, Happy-Go-Lucky (2008) with Sally Hawkins, the family drama Another Year (2010), and the historical drama Peterloo (2018). His stage plays include Smelling A Rat, It's A Great Big Shame, Greek Tragedy, Goose-Pimples, Ecstasy and Abigail's Party.
Leigh has helped to create stars - Liz Smith in Hard Labour, Alison Steadman in Abigail's Party, Brenda Blethyn in Grown-Ups, Antony Sher in Goose-Pimples, Gary Oldman and Tim Roth in Meantime, Jane Horrocks in Life is Sweet, David Thewlis in Naked - and remarked that the list of actors who have worked with him over the years - including Paul Jesson, Phil Daniels, Lindsay Duncan, Lesley Sharp, Kathy Burke, Stephen Rea, Julie Walters - "comprises an impressive, almost representative, nucleus of outstanding British acting talent." His aesthetic has been compared to the sensibility of the Japanese director Yasujiro Ozu and the Italian Federico Fellini. Ian Buruma, writing in The New York Review of Books in January 1994, commented: "It is hard to get on a London bus or listen to the people at the next table in a cafeteria without thinking of Mike Leigh. Like other original artists, he has staked out his own territory. Leigh's London is as distinctive as Fellini's Rome or Ozu's Tokyo."
Leigh was born to Phyllis Pauline (née Cousin) and Alfred Abraham Leigh, a doctor. Leigh was born at Brocket Hall in Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire, which was at that time a maternity home. His mother, in her confinement, went to stay with her parents in Hertfordshire for comfort and support while her husband was serving as a captain in the Royal Army Medical Corps. Leigh was brought up in the Broughton area of Salford, Lancashire. He attended North Grecian Street Junior School. He is from a Jewish family; his paternal grandparents were Russian-Jewish immigrants who settled in Manchester. The family name, originally Lieberman, had been anglicised in 1939 "for obvious reasons". When the war ended, Leigh's father began his career as a general practitioner in Higher Broughton, "the epicentre of Leigh's youngest years and the area memorialised in Hard Labour." Leigh went to Salford Grammar School, as did the director Les Blair, his friend, who produced Leigh's first feature film Bleak Moments (1971). There was a strong tradition of drama in the all-boys school, and an English master, Mr Nutter, supplied the library with newly published plays.
Outside school Leigh thrived in the Manchester branch of Labour Zionist youth movement Habonim. In the late 1950s he attended summer camps and winter activities over the Christmas break all-round the country. Throughout this time the most important part of his artistic consumption was cinema, although this was supplemented by his discovery of Picasso, Surrealism, The Goon Show, and even family visits to the Hallé Orchestra and the D'Oyly Carte. His father, however, was deeply opposed to the idea that Leigh might become an artist or an actor. He forbade him his frequent habit of sketching visitors who came to the house and regarded him as a problem child because of his creative interests. In 1960, "to his utter astonishment", he won a scholarship to RADA. Initially trained as an actor at RADA, Leigh started to hone his directing skills at East 15 Acting School where he met the actress, Alison Steadman.
Leigh responded negatively to RADA's agenda, found himself being taught how to "laugh, cry and snog" for weekly rep purposes and so became a sullen student. He later attended Camberwell School of Arts and Crafts (in 1963), the Central School of Art and Design and the London School of Film Technique on Charlotte Street. When he had arrived in London, one of the first films he had seen was Shadows (1959), an improvised film by John Cassavetes, in which a cast of unknowns was observed 'living, loving and bickering' on the streets of New York and Leigh had "felt it might be possible to create complete plays from scratch with a group of actors." Other influences from this time included Harold Pinter's The Caretaker-"Leigh was mesmerised by the play and the (Arts Theatre) production"- Samuel Beckett, whose novels he read avidly, and the writing of Flann O'Brien, whose "tragi-comedy" Leigh found particularly appealing. Influential and important productions he saw in this period included Beckett's Endgame, Peter Brook's King Lear and in 1965 Peter Weiss's Marat/Sade, a production developed through improvisations, the actors having based their characterisations on people they had visited in a mental hospital. The visual worlds of Ronald Searle, George Grosz, Picasso, and William Hogarth exerted another kind of influence. He played small roles in several British films in the early 1960s, (West 11, Two Left Feet) and played a young deaf-mute, interrogated by Rupert Davies, in the BBC Television series Maigret. In 1964-65, he collaborated with David Halliwell, and designed and directed the first production of Little Malcolm and his Struggle Against the Eunuchs at the Unity Theatre.
Leigh has been described as "a gifted cartoonist ... a northerner who came south, slightly chippy, fiercely proud (and critical) of his roots and Jewish background; and he is a child of the 1960s and of the explosion of interest in the European cinema and the possibilities of television."
Leigh has cited Jean Renoir and Satyajit Ray among his favourite film makers. In addition to those two, in an interview recorded at the National Film Theatre at the BFI on 17 March 1991; Leigh also cited Frank Capra, Fritz Lang, Yasujiro Ozu and even Jean-Luc Godard, "...until the late 60s." When pressed for British influences, in that interview, he referred to the Ealing comedies "...despite their unconsciously patronizing way of portraying working-class people" and the early 60s British New Wave films. When asked for his favorite comedies, he replied, One, Two, Three, La règle du jeu and "any Keaton". The critic David Thomson has written that, with the camera work in his films characterised by 'a detached, medical watchfulness', Leigh's aesthetic may justly be compared to the sensibility of the Japanese director Yasujiro Ozu. Michael Coveney: "The cramped domestic interiors of Ozu find many echoes in Leigh's scenes on stairways and in corridors and on landings, especially in Grown-Ups, Meantime and Naked. And two wonderful little episodes in Ozu's Tokyo Story, in a hairdressing salon and a bar, must have been in Leigh's subconscious memory when he made The Short and Curlie's (1987), one of his most devastatingly funny pieces of work and the pub scene in Life is Sweet..."
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2017-11-19T01:34:07+00:00
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James Caan in Mark Rydell's CINDERELLA LIBERTY ('73)
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Return to Transcripts main page
CNN LARRY KING LIVE
Friends, Family and Co-Stars Remember Actor James Dean
Aired January 11, 2004 - 21:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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https://letterboxd.com/film/the-river-1984/
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The River (1984)
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Tom and Mae Garvey are a Tennessee farming couple battling violent floods to save their land. In addition to natural disasters, the Garveys fight to stop a selfish land developer and a local corporation from foreclosing on their farm. While Mae stays at home to care for their children and tend to the crops, Tom finds work as a scab at a steel mill to preserve his family's property.
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https://letterboxd.com/film/the-river-1984/
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Here's a little story that may prove of no interest to anyone but me... when I was 13 years old (in 1984), I had a morning paper round in little old Bayston Hill and I asked the newsagent to order me in a magazine called Film Review, which I think came out once a month. I loved it to bits and every time it landed, my paper round seemed to take me a hell of a lot longer to get done, because I couldn't wait till I got home to read the damn thing.
Anyway, I remember that in one of the first issues I read, this film was featured and whilst I knew damn well who Mel Gibson was…
Obsessed with John Williams' folksy, delicate score, ever since seeing it. While I'm not so crazy about the use of electronics and synths, the way he develops various orchestral themes throughout, building towards a full-bodied form that really resonates, is so effective.
The film grabbed me from the very physically, very muddy, rain-lashed opening set piece of a broken dam and a capsized tractor. Vilmos Zsigmond gives us the first of many powerfully punctuating crane shots that lend real scale to an intimate story, and the texture and lighting of the images in extreme weather really anticipates something like the T-Rex attack in Jurassic Park.
The locations and landscapes are as dramatic as the leads, and watching Sissy Spacek, Mel…
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res stock photography and images
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Find the perfect mark rydell stock photo, image, vector, illustration or 360 image. Available for both RF and RM licensing.
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Alamy
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https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo/mark-rydell.html
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Alamy and its logo are trademarks of Alamy Ltd. and are registered in certain countries. Copyright © 29/08/2024 Alamy Ltd. All rights reserved.
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https://www.yumpu.com/en/document/view/63236307/the-art-of-watching-films-8th-edition-by-dennis-petrie
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The Art of Watching Films (8th Edition) By Dennis Petrie
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Read the latest magazines about The Art of Watching Films (8th Edition) By Dennis Petrie and discover magazines on Yumpu.com
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yumpu.com
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https://www.yumpu.com/en/document/view/63236307/the-art-of-watching-films-8th-edition-by-dennis-petrie
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Page 2 and 3: The ART of Watching FILMSEighth Edi
Page 4 and 5: For R. D. BRILES
Page 6 and 7: Characterization Through Internal A
Page 8 and 9: RHYTHMIC QUALITIES OF DIALOGUEAND S
Page 10 and 11: The Dark Knight14Genre Films, Remak
Page 12 and 13: we also include numerous examples f
Page 14 and 15: movies as The Graduate, Psycho, Ple
Page 16 and 17: goal here has been to create a cons
Page 18 and 19: The ART of Watching FILMS
Page 20 and 21: THE UNIQUENESS OF FILMThe tremendou
Page 22 and 23: FIGURE 1.1 Making Fantasy Become Re
Page 24 and 25: FIGURE 1.2 Learning to Dive Watchin
Page 26 and 27: FIGURE 1.3 Suspending Our Disbelief
Page 28 and 29: FIGURE 1.4 Sharing Happiness With O
Page 30 and 31: adamantly present films in what is
Page 32 and 33: FIGURE 1.7 Succeeding by Word of Mo
Page 34 and 35: THEMATIC ELEMENTS2PreciousMovies ar
Page 36 and 37: FIGURE 2.1 Focus on Plot Quantumof
Page 38 and 39: FIGURE 2.4 Focus on Character Somef
Page 40 and 41: FIGURE 2.6 Moral Implications Such
Page 42 and 43: FIGURE 2.10 The Complexity of Human
Page 44 and 45: FIGURE 2.13 A Moral or Philosophica
Page 46 and 47: FIGURE 2.15 Universal Romance Altho
Page 48 and 49: On Evaluating the Theme1. Is the fi
Page 50 and 51: FICTIONAL andDRAMATIC ELEMENTS3Slum
Page 52 and 53:
of that theme. Therefore, the plot
Page 54 and 55:
FIGURE 3.3 The Way Things Never Wer
Page 56 and 57:
FIGURE 3.5 External Action The exci
Page 58 and 59:
FIGURE 3.7 Complexity The levels of
Page 60 and 61:
FIGURE 3.10 Significant Titles Stud
Page 62 and 63:
FIGURE 3.11 Linear Structure In the
Page 64 and 65:
FIGURE 3.13 Ending Up Changed Recen
Page 66 and 67:
FIGURE 3.15 Internal Conflict James
Page 68 and 69:
FIGURE 3.17 Characterization Throug
Page 70 and 71:
FIGURE 3.18 Dramatic Foils In Peter
Page 72 and 73:
FIGURE 3.19 Leitmotif In this scene
Page 74 and 75:
FIGURE 3.21 Developing or DynamicCh
Page 76 and 77:
SYMBOLISMIn the most general terms,
Page 78 and 79:
FIGURE 3.24 Repeated Images of Symb
Page 80 and 81:
through sound effects or use of the
Page 82 and 83:
FIGURE 3.26 Visual Metaphors In Jea
Page 84 and 85:
FIGURE 3.27 Dramatic Irony In this
Page 86 and 87:
the Vera Lynn song’s adding a hau
Page 88 and 89:
5. What facets of the central chara
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each case, follow the instructions
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The story, incorporating many of th
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STANDARD SCREEN-1.33:1The standard
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FIGURE 4.3 Smooth-Grain Film Stock
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FIGURE 4.5 Award-Winning Design The
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FIGURE 4.6 The Claustrophobic Set I
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FIGURE 4.7 Setting as a Reflection
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FIGURE 4.8 Setting for Emotional At
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FIGURE 4.9 Composite Settings Produ
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FIGURE 4.11 Inventive Production De
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I worked out the way this poor alle
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FIGURE 4.15 Low-Key and High-Key Li
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FIGURE 4.18 Natural Lighting Some c
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On Production Design/Art Direction1
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the brief opening sequence [0:54 to
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CINEMATOGRAPHY andSPECIAL VISUAL EF
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The pace of the plot also has disti
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FIGURE 5.2 Subjective Viewpoint In
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FIGURE 5.3 Indirect-Subjective View
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Subjective point of view: Camera sh
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FIGURE 5.6 Size and Closeness of th
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FIGURE 5.11 Foreground Framing In E
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dueling gunfighters. After establis
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our interest and involvement. And a
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FIGURE 5.16 Moving Background,Vibra
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FIGURE 5.19 Deep Focus In this fram
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FIGURE 5.22 Lighting for Depth In t
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FIGURE 5.24 Special Use of Reflecti
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FIGURE 5.25 Extremely High Camera A
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FIGURE 5.27 The Effects of Wide-Ang
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Special Lighting EffectsIn The Grap
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FIGURE 5.29 Special-Effects Miniatu
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FIGURE 5.31 Evolving Life FormsCrea
Page 156 and 157:
FIGURE 5.33 Novelty Effects A blend
Page 158 and 159:
FIGURE 5.35 Grown-Up Money for Anim
Page 160 and 161:
including Bugs Bunny and Porky Pig.
Page 162 and 163:
FIGURE 5.38 British Magician A mode
Page 164 and 165:
FIGURE 5.40 Contemporary AnimationP
Page 166 and 167:
ANALYZING CINEMATOGRAPHY AND SPECIA
Page 168 and 169:
“mini-movie” and then, to learn
Page 170 and 171:
(who often gave life to such creatu
Page 172 and 173:
EDITING6InceptionA feature-length f
Page 174 and 175:
splicing a series of shots so that
Page 176 and 177:
films like Jean-Luc Godard’s Brea
Page 178 and 179:
FIGURE 6.1 Editing Sequence—Actio
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▲ 13. ▼ 15. ▲ 14. ▼ 16.▼
Page 182 and 183:
▲ 29. ▼ 31. ▲ 30. ▼ 32.▼
Page 184 and 185:
Regardless of the nature of transit
Page 186 and 187:
▲ 5. ▼ 7. ▲ 6. ▼ 8.▼ 9.
Page 188 and 189:
as evidenced by Alfred Hitchcock’
Page 190 and 191:
FIGURE 6.3 Editing Sequence—The I
Page 192 and 193:
▲ 13. ▼ 15. ▲ 14. ▼ 16.▼
Page 194 and 195:
▲ 29. ▼ 31. ▲ 30. ▼ 32.▼
Page 196 and 197:
FIGURE 6.4 Slow-Motion Showcase Lat
Page 198 and 199:
exercises, dig their starting holes
Page 200 and 201:
StillsStills are photographs in whi
Page 202 and 203:
FIGURE 6.6 Editing Sequence—Invas
Page 204 and 205:
3. What is the effect of editorial
Page 206 and 207:
Requiem for a Dream:The disc includ
Page 208 and 209:
The added richness and depth that c
Page 210 and 211:
FIGURE 7.2 Atmospheric Colors A wid
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baths. Perhaps the most sophisticat
Page 214 and 215:
FIGURE 7.3 Seeing Red A saturated r
Page 216 and 217:
These generalizations, however, are
Page 218 and 219:
FIGURE 7.7 Still in Kansas (top) Do
Page 220 and 221:
FIGURE 7.9 Expressionistic Color Co
Page 222 and 223:
FIGURE 7.11 Offensive ColorsHeath L
Page 224 and 225:
FIGURE 7.13 Prevailing Shadows In M
Page 226 and 227:
FIGURE 7.15 Painterly Effects Some
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FIGURE 7.17 Special Uses of “Vamp
Page 230 and 231:
FIGURE 7.18 A Poignant Touch of Col
Page 232 and 233:
only for a special segment set off
Page 234 and 235:
DVD FILMMAKING EXTRASThe Art of Col
Page 236 and 237:
SOUND EFFECTS andDIALOGUE8The Hurt
Page 238 and 239:
FIGURE 8.1 Mixing Marvelous Noises
Page 240 and 241:
from two closet-size speaker cabine
Page 242 and 243:
FIGURE 8.3 Off-Screen (Invisible) S
Page 244 and 245:
viewpoint, so the volume and qualit
Page 246 and 247:
FIGURE 8.5 Telling an Inner Story V
Page 248 and 249:
FIGURE 8.6 Slow-Motion Sound Unusua
Page 250 and 251:
FIGURE 8.7 Exaggerated Sound Effect
Page 252 and 253:
FIGURE 8.8 Sound as a Plot Device A
Page 254 and 255:
FIGURE 8.9 Voice-Over Narration as
Page 256 and 257:
FIGURE 8.13 Narration as an Integra
Page 258 and 259:
music, and traffic, all blended int
Page 260 and 261:
FIGURE 8.15 Dubious Dialogue Dubbin
Page 262 and 263:
WATCHING FOR SOUND EFFECTS AND DIAL
Page 264 and 265:
quadrant to another as particular e
Page 266 and 267:
The MUSICAL SCORE9Across the Univer
Page 268 and 269:
Music actually functions as an inte
Page 270 and 271:
emphasis is on the kinetic (the sen
Page 272 and 273:
atmosphere that a given setting nor
Page 274 and 275:
FIGURE 9.4 Exquisite Peter-and-the-
Page 276 and 277:
FIGURE 9.5 Composing Character Amon
Page 278 and 279:
to include transitional music, whet
Page 280 and 281:
FIGURE 9.8 Music First—and Later
Page 282 and 283:
SYNTHESIZER SCORINGOne trend in fil
Page 284 and 285:
The director Sidney Lumet ( Twelve
Page 286 and 287:
the sequence with six or seven diff
Page 288 and 289:
allows one to view the famous showe
Page 290 and 291:
ACTING10Crazy HeartAn audience iden
Page 292 and 293:
Actors must also possess the intell
Page 294 and 295:
FIGURE 10.1 Stage vs. Film Acting M
Page 296 and 297:
FIGURE 10.3 The Actor’s Face The
Page 298 and 299:
and power of the unique “language
Page 300 and 301:
a dead woman. In the third the clos
Page 302 and 303:
the role by filtering it through th
Page 304 and 305:
There’s a mysterious alchemy betw
Page 306 and 307:
FIGURE 10.9 Ensemble Acting In some
Page 308 and 309:
do illustrate a variety of problems
Page 310 and 311:
career, projected a fairly consiste
Page 312 and 313:
FIGURE 10.14 Ordinary People The ex
Page 314 and 315:
FIGURE 10.16 The Tender Years The e
Page 316 and 317:
FIGURE 10.18 Extras In The Majestic
Page 318 and 319:
you can express. I don’t think I
Page 320 and 321:
FIGURE 10.20 What Stars Project Mos
Page 322 and 323:
MINI-MOVIE EXERCISE IAn adaptation
Page 324 and 325:
Unfaithful:“The Charlie Rose Show
Page 326 and 327:
The DIRECTOR’S STYLE11Shutter Isl
Page 328 and 329:
FIGURE 11.1 A Contemporary American
Page 330 and 331:
Before examining the separate eleme
Page 332 and 333:
FIGURE 11.4 Tackling New Subjects S
Page 334 and 335:
FIGURE 11.5 The Ultimate Auteurs Sw
Page 336 and 337:
that is smooth, natural, and unobtr
Page 338 and 339:
FIGURE 11.6 Repeated Directions Som
Page 340 and 341:
FIGURE 11.7 Focused Fragments Direc
Page 342 and 343:
most experimental. A certain freedo
Page 344 and 345:
Directors must guard against typeca
Page 346 and 347:
Michael Ondaatje’s book The Conve
Page 348 and 349:
FIGURE 11.12 Stanley Kubricka. A Cl
Page 350 and 351:
FIGURE 11.13 Steven Spielberga. Min
Page 352 and 353:
FIGURE 11.14 Federico Fellinia. 8½
Page 354 and 355:
FIGURE 11.15 Alfred Hitchcocka. Nor
Page 356 and 357:
c. polished and smooth or rough and
Page 358 and 359:
CHAPTER 5: “Tuileries” (directe
Page 360 and 361:
Lumiere & Company: Forty Intriguing
Page 362 and 363:
Akira KurosawaRashomon (1950)The Se
Page 364 and 365:
In the previous chapters, we broke
Page 366 and 367:
decisions stand up under a complete
Page 368 and 369:
Subjective Evaluation of the FilmUp
Page 370 and 371:
FIGURE 12.3 The Auteur Approach For
Page 372 and 373:
FIGURE 12.4 The Emotional or Sensua
Page 374 and 375:
FIGURE 12.6 The Gender Approach Ear
Page 376 and 377:
FIGURE 12.7 The Psychoanalytical Ap
Page 378 and 379:
FIGURE 12.8 The Eclectic Approach O
Page 380 and 381:
dialogue or argument? What critical
Page 382 and 383:
should add to our understanding of
Page 384 and 385:
MINI-MOVIE EXERCISE IA blurb on the
Page 386 and 387:
( L.A. Weekly ), Julie Burchill ( L
Page 388 and 389:
An adaptation is a film based on an
Page 390 and 391:
FIGURE 13.2 Literature Meets Cinema
Page 392 and 393:
FIGURE 13.3 Two Strong “Voices”
Page 394 and 395:
Near the height of the studio syste
Page 396 and 397:
first-person viewpoint. The subject
Page 398 and 399:
FIGURE 13.5 All the King’s Men (1
Page 400 and 401:
FIGURE 13.6 Film Character Without
Page 402 and 403:
FIGURE 13.7 Cinematic Past Tense In
Page 404 and 405:
ADAPTATIONS OF PLAYSThe similarity
Page 406 and 407:
this length confined in a room woul
Page 408 and 409:
FIGURE 13.11 Cinematic Shakespeare
Page 410 and 411:
FIGURE 13.14 Poetic Justice In Maxw
Page 412 and 413:
for salon.com , critic Charles Tayl
Page 414 and 415:
For most novelists, one witty conte
Page 416 and 417:
15. How well do the actors in the f
Page 418 and 419:
Spielberg seems fascinated that Wel
Page 420 and 421:
GENRE FILMS, REMAKES,and SEQUELS14T
Page 422 and 423:
So we are now led to see that there
Page 424 and 425:
FIGURE 14.1 Genre-Based Satire Much
Page 426 and 427:
FIGURE 14.3 The Western Villain One
Page 428 and 429:
also involves cops versus robbers.
Page 430 and 431:
FIGURE 14.6 Femmes Fatales Frequent
Page 432 and 433:
FIGURE 14.8 Scared Unconscious The
Page 434 and 435:
FIGURE 14.10 Fantasy Voyages of Sel
Page 436 and 437:
FIGURE 14.12 Wacky Couples Romantic
Page 438 and 439:
is no turning back. If it flies, it
Page 440 and 441:
FIGURE 14.14 Popular Subjects Somec
Page 442 and 443:
FIGURE 14.15 Re-Fade to Black Produ
Page 446 and 447:
FIGURE 14.21 New Character The addi
Page 450 and 451:
Jaws (Anniversary Collector’s Edi
Page 452 and 453:
Shutter Island (2010)The Shining (1
Page 454 and 455:
FILM and SOCIETY15The Lives of Othe
Page 456 and 457:
FIGURE 15.1 Cultural Differences An
Page 460 and 461:
Excerpts From the Motion Picture Pr
Page 464 and 465:
CENSORSHIP IN TRANSITION, 1948-1968
Page 466 and 467:
FIGURE 15.5 A Profoundly Significan
Page 468 and 469:
FIGURE 15.6 Too Intense for Young C
Page 470 and 471:
FIGURE 15.7 Uh Oh, Kenny May Die of
Page 472 and 473:
FIGURE 15.8 From PG-13 to R—A Few
Page 474 and 475:
Protests have occurred, though. And
Page 476 and 477:
FIGURE 15.13 Looking for Light Not
Page 478 and 479:
FIGURE 15.14 Energetic Ennui In Dan
Page 480 and 481:
FIGURE 15.17 A Documentary MixThe e
Page 482 and 483:
its maker as well. Grierson, too, f
Page 484 and 485:
FIGURE 15.18 Three Sides to Every S
Page 486 and 487:
4. Examine four films currently pla
Page 488 and 489:
right to create a soundtrack for Ga
Page 490:
The Virgin Spring(1960—Sweden)Whe
Page 493 and 494:
19. Mary Astor, quoted in Film Make
Page 495 and 496:
5. Edward James Olmos, quoted in Li
Page 497 and 498:
25. Lev Grossman, “Feeding on Fan
Page 499 and 500:
commentators See interpreters.compl
Page 501 and 502:
the terms genre and subgenre are us
Page 503 and 504:
Panavision See wide screen.panning
Page 505 and 506:
the curtain fell in order to etch t
Page 507 and 508:
Anderson, Wes, 100, 101, 145Anderss
Page 509 and 510:
characterization (continued)by dram
Page 511 and 512:
Dick, Phillip K., 400Dick Tracy, 20
Page 513 and 514:
form cut, 167Forrest Gump, 101, 240
Page 515 and 516:
Hugo Cabret, 188Hulk, The, 307human
Page 517 and 518:
Long Riders, The, 230-231, 231, 245
Page 519 and 520:
Newman, PaulButch Cassidy and the S
Page 521 and 522:
Rainsberger, Todd, 94Raise the Red
Page 523 and 524:
sound, 220-221ambient, 233analyzing
Page 525 and 526:
2001: A Space Odyssey, 10atmospheri
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https://www.tiktok.com/discover/smith-farm-trail-ride-truck-driver
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Make Your Day
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https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0041932/
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Mark Rydell
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[] |
[] |
[
"Mark Rydell"
] | null |
[
"IMDb"
] | null |
Mark Rydell. Actor: Der Tod kennt keine Wiederkehr. Mark Rydell was born on 23 March 1929 in New York City, New York, USA. He is a director and actor, known for Der Tod kennt keine Wiederkehr (1973), Am goldenen See (1981) and Hollywood Ending (2002). He was previously married to Esther Jacobs and Joanne Linville.
|
en
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IMDb
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https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0041932/
|
I'm a hopeful person; I'm not a cynic. I believe that cynicism is a cancer for an artist. It's a way of insulating yourself from experience. If you're cynical about something, it becomes removed and can't invade you. If you believe that life has to do with an engagement of issues and personalities that make you young and vital, it's hard to be anything but hopeful.
|
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https://filmtalk.org/2014/12/17/sydney-pollack-i-like-to-do-character-driven-stories-about-people-and-relationships/
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INTERVIEWS WITH ACTORS AND FILMMAKERSINTERVIEWS WITH ACTORS AND FILMMAKERS
|
[
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2014-12-17T00:00:00
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Film director Sydney Pollack was one of America’s most celebrated filmmakers of his generation. Multiple Academy Award winner for “Out of Africa” (1985), and director and producer of more than forty films, he also appeared as a character actor in several films, especially in the second half of his illustrious career. Well-spoken, very knowledgeable, and…
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FILM TALK
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https://filmtalk.org/2014/12/17/sydney-pollack-i-like-to-do-character-driven-stories-about-people-and-relationships/
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Film director Sydney Pollack was one of America’s most celebrated filmmakers of his generation. Multiple Academy Award winner for “Out of Africa” (1985), and director and producer of more than forty films, he also appeared as a character actor in several films, especially in the second half of his illustrious career. Well-spoken, very knowledgeable, and an icon filmmaker of numerous excellent films to his credit who initially started as an actor in TV series in the 1950s, I met Mr. Pollack in October 1997 at the Ghent Film Festival (Flanders, Belgium) for a short interview. Later on, he directed two more films, “Random Hearts” (1999) and “The Interpreter” (2005), and as producer, he was involved in several other projects.
Born Sydney Irwin Pollack in Lafayette, Indiana, in 1934, he passed away in May 2008 in Los Angeles at age 73 before some of his final projects as a producer, such as “The Reader” (2009) and “Margaret” (2011), were wrapped, edited and released.
Before visiting the Ghent Film Festival, Mr. Pollack was in London to appear in Stanley Kubrick’s “Eyes Wide Shut,” playing the part of Vitor Ziegler, and then attended the Verona Film Festival. After leaving Ghent, he first went to Balboa, Spain, and finally returned to his home base, Los Angeles.
Mr. Pollack, do you get ‘carte blanche’ when you’re making a film?
Carte blanche may be an exaggeration—when you say carte blanche, you mean I can do whatever I want? Yes, pretty much. I think so.
Some directors of your generation, like John Schlesinger and Arthur Penn, are not on the map anymore as they used to be in 1960s and 1970s, which is a tremendous loss. How do you explain that?
It’s a very sad thing in American cinema; it also happens in Italian and French cinema. We never know why some people remain in the spotlight, and some people have a more difficult time. I have no explanation for it. It just happens that way. But you’re right; John Schlesinger is a marvelous director, he directed some great movies.
What do you consider the highlights of your career so far?
I really don’t think of it that way. I just make them one at a time, and it feels like suddenly I woke up one day, and I had made ten, or twelve, or thirteen films. But I never think of that while I’m doing them, so I don’t know how to think about highlights. I’ve made seventeen films as a director now, the most successful ones you know, the ones that have been the most famous I think are “They Shoot Horses Don’t They” [1969], “The Way We Were” [1973], “Three Days of the Condor” [1975], “Tootsie” [1982] and “Out of Africa” [1985]. The critics also know films as “The Yakuza” [1974] and “The Scalphunters” [1968]—so I don’t know which are the highlights most necessarily, but those are the most famous ones.
How do you look back to your debut feature, “The Slender Thread” [1965]?
Well, it was my first movie; I wasn’t working as well as I would have loved it. It’s not a movie I ever watch. It was my first movie; I was twenty-eight years old, coming out of television, and trying to learn. The performances by Sidney Poiter and Anne Bancroft are wonderful, but I was trying too hard to convince everyone that I was a movie director.
“The Slender Thread” (1965, trailer)
So I suppose that, as a director, you really got started with “This Property Is Condemned” [1966], and “They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?” [1969]?
I guess so. “This Property Is Condemned” created a certain style and mood that have stayed with me in several films that I’ve done since then. “They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?” was an enormously challenging picture; it all took place in one set, with the same activities over and over again, and it had to get slower because they got tired. I had three things that are a director’s nightmare; no visual relief from the set, no relief within the set in terms of the activity, and you couldn’t pick up the pace. It had to get slower, so I had to find other ways to pick up the pace. That was a challenge, and it was a great learning experience.
“The Way We Were” [1973] was a drama set against the background of political activism and blacklisting. Are you politically active?
I’ve never been a politician, but I have been very involved in politics as a supporter, as a fundraiser, sometimes working with candidates, their speeches, and presentations. It’s almost impossible not to be in today’s age. I don’t run for office, but I’m involved with politicians. You’d have to say I’m a liberal democrat.
Have you got the final cut, and will you ever rerelease a film of yours in a director’s cut version ?
I have the final cut. They’ve asked me over and over if I want to rerelease a film in a different cut. You were asking about “The Way We Were.” If I would rerelease it with a director’s cut, then I would say, “You saw it!” I have film that I took out, but I wouldn’t want to put it back in. The same is true for “Out of Africa.” I got a lot of things I took out, but I like the cut better without them.
“The Way We Were” and “Out of Africa” are two films with a very recognizable score and possibly your best scores. Would you agree with that?
They’re the most romantic and melodic from Marvin Hamlish on “The Way We Were,” and John Barry on “Out of Africa.” They’re both big romantic scores, so there’s a lushness to them. They’re kind a sweet. But I like other scores personally. “Havana” [1990] is the best score to me; it won an Academy Award nomination [score by Dave Grusin]. That’s a terrific score, very Latin sounding with romance and lushness, adding a Cuban sound to it. It was very good.
“Out of Africa” (1985, trailer)
Hasn’t “Havana” been underestimated, just like Richard Lester’s “Cuba” [1979]?
I don’t know. Nobody liked the film when it came out. It was a flop, but I personally like it a lot. I think it is a good film. But that doesn’t count [laughs]. My personal opinion about my movies is not what’s important. What is utterly important is what the world thinks of it. At the time when it came out, “Havana” was not a popular movie at all. It had a few critics that liked it, that felt it was underrated.
What’s your point of view towards the press?
Those are the rules. It’s very difficult sometimes when you work very hard on something; you think it’s good, and then it’s so easily dismissed. But I don’t have any right to complain. I can say to you it concerns me, but those are the rules. The press has often been very good to me and has also been very mean to me.
Have you ever considered directing yourself in a leading role?
No, I wouldn’t do that. I just finished “Eyes Wide Shut” with Stanley Kubrick. I don’t care much about acting, but it’s kind of interesting to work with directors like the ones I’ve worked with—Woody Allen and Stanley Kubrick. It gives me an opportunity as a director to see them at work. I like that. But it’s not something I would pursue. I’m going to play a part next month in the new film for John Travolta, being directed by Steven Zaillian, called “A Civil Action.” That’s fun. It’s a small part. But I’m not someone who pursues acting seriously.
Lately, you’ve been directing less than before. You’re more involved now as a producer. Is there an explanation for that?
Yes. It’s just that I’ve had a tough time finding something that I want to direct. It takes me longer, partially because I don’t want to keep repeating myself, so the choices get less, and also partially because it’s a more difficult time now to make films. I couldn’t make “They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?” today, or “Jeremiah Johnson,” or some of those movies. I would never be able to get a studio and make it. They’re looking for something different, and it’s harder today for the kind of movies that I’ve been making. They‘re a little more conventional. They’re a little more traditional movies. I have never learned very much about special effects and big action pictures, so I don’t do that. I usually do relationship stories, and those are a little harder to make.
Do you take a lot of time to direct a film, and do you need several takes?
No, I don’t do a lot of takes. But that may be just because I’m lazy. I don’t have any firm conviction about it. I do as many as it takes to get it right. Sometimes the actors get it right very quickly, and sometimes they don’t.
Do you prefer a film project with an actor in mind, or would you rather wait and see?
Well, it works both ways. Sometimes I choose it with an actor in mind, sometimes, like with “Out of Africa,” you have to search for a long time. I thought about a lot of different women: I thought about Judy Davis, I thought about Julie Christie, I thought about Sigourney Weaver, a lot of different people before I actually had a long meeting with Meryl Streep and as soon as I met with her, I knew she was the right person. Or I felt she was—I had never met her before, I had seen her work, but I didn’t know her.
What’s the chemistry between you and Robert Redford?
We met each other when we were kids. We have certain things in common, certain points of view about Hollywood, about life and films, so we always got along pretty well. Then our respective wives met each other and got along; the kids met each other and got along. The families have been close over the years. We spent a lot of our holidays at Sundance, where we had a house for twenty-five years. It’s been good for me to work with somebody I know so well. I think it’s comfortable for him to work with someone he’s comfortable with. I think we do good work together and have done good work over the years. I guess it’s like Scorsese and De Niro.
A lot of people admire you and your work. Who are the directors that you’ve admired over the years, and looked up to when you started out?
When I was first beginning to direct, the directors that I most watched were the European directors, you know, Federico Fellini, Michelangelo Antonioni, Ingmar Bergman, those people, but also George Stevens, Elia Kazan, Fred Zinnemann, William Wyler, and Billy Wilder. They were still working in the early sixties. But by the end of the sixties, Kazan wasn’t doing much anymore; he did a film with Kirk Douglas [“The Arrangement”] based on his own book in 1969 when I was shooting “They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?” He was working on the next stage to me at Warner Brothers. By the seventies, they weren’t working very much, those guys.
Your generation had taken over?
That’s right, that’s what happened. By the middle of the seventies, the new directors were mostly my age, so there was a new generation, you’re right.
Are you nostalgic about the old Hollywood and its studio system, or do you think independence is the answer?
Well, I got there too late to be a part of the studio system. The studio system was nearly finished in the late 1960s when I started directing movies. But I am nostalgic for the kind of films that we used to make and that we don’t make much anymore. Those have all gone to television or to independence—the sort of standard B movie that Hollywood was famous for over the years. We’re trying so hard now to make some kind of sensationalism in movies to make bigger and bigger explosions, to make bigger and bigger productions and bigger and bigger special effects. I don’t think we’re as focused on classical stories as we were used to be and I miss that. But otherwise, you know, I think there’s still some very good movies made, some of them still very traditional, like “The English Patient” [1996], films like that. It’s a kind of a throwback.
Most of your films, like “Out of Africa,” belong in that same category, don’t they?
Yes, very much so.
Initially, it surprised me, but later on, I was delighted that you decided to do a remake of Billy Wilder’s “Sabrina” [1954].
Yeah, it surprised everybody. I probably shouldn’t have done it, but I did [laughs]. I liked the idea of trying to do that film and update it to the 1990s, but obviously I made a mistake.
You think so?
Well, I made a mistake in terms of the critics and the people because they were angry—they loved the original so much. I saw the old movie, and I liked it, but I wasn’t madly in love with it. I didn’t think it was Billy Wilder’s best movie by a long shot, and I thought in many ways it was silly. I wanted to try and make it like the nineties instead of the fifties, and I was also an enormous fan of Harrison Ford. I loved him in “Witness” [1985], and in movies like “The Mosquito Coast” [1986] where he doesn’t have to punch everybody. And I wanted to work with him that way, so I did.
Would it be correct to describe your films as enriching and high-quality entertainment with a personal interest in human relationships?
I wouldn’t say that, but I’m very happy that you do. I don’t know what to call them. I don’t know what the label is. I think I’ve mostly done traditional genre films.
“The Firm” (1993, trailer)
And several of the classics are traditional genre films.
Yes, yes, like you said, I like to do character-driven stories about people and relationships. That’s what I always try to do. Sometimes they’re in the form of thrillers, or Westerns or something else, but they’re usually very much about characters. With the exception of “Three Days of the Condor” [1975] and “The Firm” [1993], my films are not heavy plotted. “Out of Africa” [1985] has no story, “The Way We Were” [1973] has almost no story; they’re just about what happens to two people over a period of time. Every once in a while, I get a very strong plot, like “Three Days of the Condor,” or “The Firm.” But even then, what I try to do is work very hard to make them about the characters.
Ghent Film Festival, Ghent (Belgium)
October 11, 1997
+ Mr. Pollack passed away on May 26, 2008, at age 73, in Pacific Palisades, California, as a result of stomach cancer.
FILMS
WAR HUNT (1962) DIR Denis Sanders PROD Terry Sanders SCR Stanford Whitmore CAST John Saxon, Robert Redford, Charles Aidman, Sydney Pollack (Sergeant Owen Van Horn), Gavin MacLeod, Tom Skerritt, Francis Ford Coppola
THE SLENDER THREAD (1965) DIR Sydney Pollack PROD Stephen Alexander SCR Stirling Silliphant (article ‘A Decision to Die’ by Shana Alexander) CAST Sidney Poitier, Anne Bancroft, Telly Savalas, Steven Hill, Edward Asner, Dabney Coleman
THIS PROPERTY IS CONDEMNED (1966) DIR Sydney Pollack PROD John Houseman, Ray Stark SCR Francis Ford Coppola, Fred Coe, Edith Sommer CAST Natalie Wood, Robert Redford, Charles Bronson, Kate Reid, Mary Badham, Robert Blake, Dabney Coleman
THE SCALPHUNTERS (1968) DIR Sydney Pollack PROD Arthur Gardner, Jules Levy, Arnold Laven SCR William Norton CAST Burt Lancaster, Shelley Winters, Telly Savalas, Ossie Davis, Dabney Coleman, Paul Picerni
CASTLE KEEP (1969) DIR Sydney Pollack PROD Martin Ransohoff, John Calley SCR Daniel Taradesh, David Rayfiel (novel ‘Castle Keep’ [1965] by William Eastlake) CAST Burt Lancaster, Peter Falk, Patrick O’Neal, Jean-Pierre Aumont, Scott Wilson, Al Freeman, Jr., Bruce Dern
THEY SHOOT HORSES, DON’T THEY? (1969) DIR Sydney Pollack PROD SCR James Poe, Robert E. Thompson (novel ‘They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?’ [1935] by Horace McCoy) CAST Jane Fonda, Michael Sarrazin, Susannah York, Gig Young, Red Buttons, Bonnie Bedelia, Bruce Dern
JEREMIAH JOHNSON (1972) DIR Sydney Pollack PROD Joe Wizan SCR John Milius, Edward Anhalt (novel ‘Mountain Man’ [1965] by Vardis Fisher, story ‘Crow Killer’ by Raymond W. Thorp, Robert Bunker) CAST Robert Redford, Will Geer, Stefan Gierasch, Allyn Ann McLerie, Charles Tyner, Josh Albee
THE WAY WE WERE (1973) DIR Sydney Pollack PROD Ray Stark SCR Arthur Laurents CAST Barbra Streisand, Robert Redford, Bradford Dillman, Lois Chiles, Patrick O’Neal, Viveca Lindfors, Murray Hamilton, James Woods, Susan Blakely, Marvin Hamlish, Cornelia Sharpe
THE YAKUZA (1974) DIR – PROD Sydney Pollack SCR Paul Schrader, Robert Towne (story by Leonard Schrader) CAST Robert Mitchum, Takakura Ken, Brian Keith, Herb Edelman, Richard Jordan, Kishi Keiko
THREE DAYS OF THE CONDOR (1975) DIR Sydney Pollack PROD Stanley Schneider SCR David Rayfiel, Lorenzo Semple, Jr. (novel ‘Six Days of the Condor’ [1974] by James Grady) CAST Robert Redford, Faye Dunaway, Cliff Robertson, Max Von Sydow, John Houseman, Carlin Glynn, Addison Powell
BOBBY DEERFIELD (1977) DIR – PROD Sydney Pollack SCR Alvin Sargent (novel ‘Der Himmel kennt keine Günstlinge’ [1961, a.k.a. ‘Heaven Has No Favorites’] by Erich Maria Remarque) CAST Al Pacino, Marthe Keller, Anny Duperey, Walter McGinn, Romolo Valli, Stephen Meldegg
THE ELECTRIC HORSEMAN (1979) DIR Sydney Pollack PROD Ray Stark SCR Robert Garland (screen story by Robert Garland, Paul Gaer, story by Shelley Burton) CAST Robert Redford, Jane Fonda, Valerie Perrine, Willie Nelson, John Saxon, Nicolas Coster, Sydney Pollack (Man who makes a pass at Alice)
HONEYSUCKLE ROSE (1980) DIR Jerry Schatzberg PROD Gene Taft EXEC PROD Sydney Pollack SCR John Binder, Carol Sobieski, William D. Wittliff (story by Gösta Stevens, Gustaf Molander) CAST Willie Nelson, Dyan Cannon, Amy Irving, Slim Pickens, Joey Floyd, Charles Levin, Priscilla Pointer, Mickey Rooney, Jr., Diana Scarwid
ABSENCE OF MALICE (1981) DIR – PROD Sydney Pollack SCR Kurt Luedtke CAST Paul Newman, Sally Field, Bob Balaban, Melinda Dillon, Luther Adler, Barry Primus, Wilford Brimley, Josef Sommer
TOOTSIE (1982) DIR Sydney Pollack PROD Sydney Pollack, Dick Richards SCR Larry Gelbart, Murray Schisgal (story by Larry Gelbart, Don McGuire) CAST Dustin Hoffman, Jessica Lange, Teri Garr, Dabney Coleman, Charles Durning, Bill Murray, Sydney Pollack (George Fields), Geena Davis, Ellen Foley
SONGWRITER (1984) DIR Alan Rudolph PROD Sydney Pollack SCR Bud Shrake CAST Willie Nelson, Kris Kristofferson, Melinda Dillon, Rip Torn, Lesley Ann Warren, Mickey Raphael, Rhonda Dotson, Richard C. Sarafian
OUT OF AFRICA (1985) DIR – PROD Sydney Pollack SCR Kurt Luedtke (writings by Karen Blixen, book ‘Silence Will Speak: A Study of Denys Finch Hatton and His Relationship With Karen Blixen’ [1977] by Errol Trzebinski, book ‘Isak Dinesen: The Life of a Storyteller’ [1982] by Judith Thurman) CAST Meryl Streep, Robert Redford, Klaus Maria Brandauer, Michael Kitchen, Malick Bowens
BRIGHT LIGHTS, BIG CITY (1988) DIR James Bridges PROD Sydney Pollack, Mark Rosenberg SCR Jay McInerney (also novel ‘Bright Lights, Big City’ [1984]) CAST Michael J. Fox, Kiefer Sutherland, Phoebe Cates, Swoozie Kurtz, Frances Sternhagen, John Houseman, Dianne Wiest, William Hickey, Sam Robards, Jason Robards
THE FABULOUS BAKER BOYS (1989) DIR – SCR Steve Kloves PROD Mark Rosenberg, Paula Weinstein EXEC PROD Sydney Pollack CAST Jeff Bridges, Michelle Pfeiffer, Beau Bridges, Ellie Raab, Jennifer Tilly
PRESUMED INNOCENT (1990) DIR Alan J. Pakula PROD Sydney Pollack, Mark Rosenberg SCR Alan J. Pakula, Frank Pierson (novel ‘Presumed Innocent’ [1987] by Scott Turow) CAST Harrison Ford, Brian Dennehy, Raul Julia, Bonnie Bedelia, Paul Winfield, Greta Scacchi
WHITE PALACE (1990) DIR Luis Mandoki PROD Griffin Dunne, Mark Rosenberg, Amy Robinson EXEC PROD Sydney Pollack SCR Alvin Sargent, Ted Tally (novel ‘White Palace’ [1988] by Glenn Savan) CAST Susan Sarandon, James Spader, Jason Alexander, Kathy Bates, Eileen Brennan, Spiros Focas, Gina Gershon
HAVANA (1990) DIR – PROD Sydney Pollack SCR Judith Rascoe, David Rayfiel (story by Judith Rascoe) CAST Robert Redford, Lena Olin, Alan Arkin, Tomas Milian, Richard Farnsworth, Mark Rydell, Raul Julia
KING RALPH (1991) DIR David S. Ward PROD Jack Brodsky EXEC PROD Sydney Pollack, Mark Rosenberg SCR David S. Ward (novel ‘Headlong’ [1980] by Emlyn Williams) CAST John Goodman, Peter O’Toole, John Hurt, Camille Coduri, Richard Griffiths, Leslie Phillips, Joely Richardson, Julian Glover
DEAD AGAIN (1991) DIR Kenneth Branagh PROD Charles H. Maguire, Lindsay Doran EXEC PROD Sydney Pollack SCR Scott Frank CAST Kenneth Branagh, Emma Thompson, Andy Garcia, Derek Jacobi, Hanna Schygulla, Campbell Scott, Robin Williams
THE PLAYER (1992) DIR Robert Altman PROD Michael Tolkin, David Brown, Nick Wechsler SCR Michael Tolkin (also novel ‘The Player’ [1988]) CAST Tim Robbins, Greta Scacchi, Fred Ward, Whoopi Goldberg, Peter Gallagher, Brion James, Cynthia Stevenson, Vincent D’Onofrio, Dean Stockwell, Richard E. Grant, Dina Merrill, Sydney Pollack (Dick Mellon), Lyle Lovett, Richard Anderson, Harry Belafonte, Shari Belafonte, Karen Black, Gary Busey, Cher, James Coburn, John Cusack, Brad Davis, Peter Falk, Felicia Farr, Louise Fletcher, Teri Garr, Scott Glenn, Jeff Goldblum, Elliott Gould, Joel Grey, Buck Henry, Anjelica Huston, Sally Kellerman, Sally Kirkland, Jack Lemmon, Marlee Matlin, Andie MacDowell, Malcolm McDowell, Jayne Meadows, Nick Nolte, Burt Reynolds, Julia Roberts, Jill St. John, Susan Sarandon, Rod Steiger, Lily Tomlin, Robert Wagner, Ray Walston, Bruce Willis, Patrick Swayze
LEAVING NORMAL (1992) DIR Edward Zwick PROD Lindsay Doran EXEC PROD Sydney Pollack SCR Edward Sollomon CAST Meg Tilly, Christine Lahti, Lenny Van Dohlen, Maury Chaykin, James Gammon, Rutanya Alda
DEATH BECOMES HER (1992) DIR Robert Zemeckis PROD Robert Zemeckis, Steve Starkey SCR David Koepp, Martin Donovan CAST Meryl Streep, Bruce Willis, Goldie Hawn, Isabella Rossellini, Ian Ogilvy, Adam Storke, Nancy Fish, Sydney Pollack (E.R. Doctor)
HUSBANDS AND WIVES (1992) DIR – SCR Woody Allen PROD Robert Greenhut CAST Woody Allen, Blythe Danner, Judy Davis, Mia Farrow, Juliette Lewis, Liam Neeson, Sydney Pollack (Jack), Lysette Anthony, Nora Ephron
THE FIRM (1993) DIR Sydney Pollack PROD Sydney Pollack, Scott Rudin, John Davis SCR Robert Towne, David Rayfiel, David Rabe (novel ‘The Firm’ [1991] by John Grisham) CAST Tom Cruise, Jeanne Tripplehorn, Gene Hackman, Hal Holbrook, Holly Hunter, Wilford Brimley, David Strathairn, Gary Busey
SEARCHING FOR BOBBY FISHER, UK title INNOCENT MOVES (1993) DIR Steven Zaillian PROD Scott Rudin, William Horberg EXEC PROD Sydney Pollack SCR Steven Zaillian (book ‘Searching for Bobby Fisher: The World of Chess, Observed by the Father of a Child Prodigy’ [1988] by Fred Waitzkin) CAST Joe Mantegna, Max Pomeranc, Joan Allen, Ben Kingsley, Laurence Fishburne, Michael Nirenberg, William H. Macey, Dan Hedaya, Josh Mostel
FLESH AND BONE (1993) DIR – SCR Steve Kloves PROD Mark Rosenberg, Paula Weinstein EXEC PROD Sydney Pollack, CAST Dennis Quaid, Meg Ryan, James Caan, Gwyneth Paltrow, Scott Wilson, Christopher Rydell, Betsy Brantley
SENSE AND SENSIBILITY (1993) DIR Ang Lee PROD Lindsay Doran EXEC PROD Sydney Pollack SCR Emma Thompson (novel ‘Sense and Sensibility’ [1811] by Jane Austen) CAST Emma Thompson, Alan Rickman, Kate Winslet, Hugh Grant, James Fleet, Harriet Walter, Gemma Jones, Imelda Staunton, Tom Wilkinson
SABRINA (1995) DIR Sydney Pollack PROD Sydney Pollack, Scott Rudin SCR Barbara Benedek, David Rayfiel (screenplay of SABRINA [1954] by Billy Wilder, Samuel A. Taylor, Ernest Lehman; play ‘Sabrina Fair’ [1953] by Samuel A. Taylor) CAST Harrison Ford, Julia Ormond, Greg Kinnear, Nancy Marchand, John Wood, Richard Crenna, Angie Dickinson, Lauren Holly, Fanny Ardant
A CIVIL ACTION (1998) DIR Steven Zaillian PROD Robert Redford, Scott Rudin, Rachel Pfeffer SCR Steven Zaillian (book ‘A Civil Action” [1996] by Jonathan Harr) CAST John Travolta, Robert Duvall, Tony Shalhoub, William H. Macy, Zeljko Ivanek, Bruce Norris, John Lithgow, Kathleen Quinlan, Peter Jacobson, Sydney Pollack (Al Eustis), Dan Hedaya, James Gandolfini
SLIDING DOORS (1998) DIR – SCR Peter Howitt PROD Sydney Pollack, Philippa Braithwaite, William Horberg CAST Gwyneth Paltrow, John Hannah, John Lynch, Jeanne Tripplehorn, Zara Turner, Douglas McFerran, Virginia McKenna
RANDOM HEARTS (1999) DIR Sydney Pollack PROD Sydney Pollack, Marykay Powell SCR Kurt Luedtke (novel ‘Random Hearts’ [1984] by Warren Alder, adaptation by Darryl Ponicsan) CAST Harrison Ford, Kristin Scott Thomas, Charles S. Dutton, Bonnie Hunt, Dennis Haysbert, Sydney Pollack (Carl Broman), Peter Coyote, Richard Jenkins
THE TALENTED MR. RIPLEY (1999) DIR Anthony Minghella PROD William Horberg, Tom Sternberg EXEC PROD Sydney Pollack SCR Anthony Minghella (novel ‘The Talented Mr. Ripley’ [1955] by Patricia Highsmith) CAST Matt Damon, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jude Law, Cate Blanchett, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Jack Davenport, Lisa Eichhorn
EYES WIDE SHUT (1999) DIR – PROD Stanley Kubrick SCR Stanley Kubrick, Frederick Raphael (inspired by the novella ‘Dream Story’ [1926] by Arthur Schnitzler) CAST Tom Cruise, Nicole Kidman, Sydney Pollack (Victor Ziegler), Marie Richardson, Todd Field, Lisa Leone, Thomas Gibson, Vinessa Shaw, Stanley Kubrick, Christiane Kubrick
UP AT THE VILLA (2000) DIR Philip Haas PROD Geoff Stier EXEC PROD Sydney Pollack, Arnon Milchan, Stanley Buchthal SCR Belinda Haas (novel ‘Up at the Villa’ [1941] by William Somerset Maugham) CAST Kristin Scott Thomas, Sean Penn, Anne Bancroft, James Fox, Jeremy Davies, Derek Jacobi, Massimo Ghini
BLOW DRY (2001) DIR Paddy Breathnach PROD David Rubin, William Horberg, Ruth Jackson EXEC PROD Sydney Pollack, Meryl Foster, Nigel Sinclair, Chris Sievernich, Julie Goldstein, Guy East, Moritz Borman SCR Simon Beaufoy CAST Alan Rickman, Natasha Richardson, Rachel Griffiths, Josh Hartnett, Rachael Leigh Cook, Rosemary Harris, Bill Nighy, Heidi Klum
BIRTHDAY GIRL (2001) DIR Jez Butterworth PROD Steve Butterworth, Diana Phillips EXEC PROD Sydney Pollack, Julie Goldstein, Colin Leventhal, Paul Webster, Rick Schwartz SCR Jez Butterworth, Tom Butterworth CAST Nicole Kidman, Ben Chaplin, Vincent Cassel, Mathieu Kassowitz, Stephen Mangan
THE MAJESTIC (2001) DIR – PROD Frank Darabont SCR Michael Sloane CAST Jim Carrey, Martin Landau, Laurie Holden, David Ogden Stiers, James Whitmore, Jeffrey DeMunn, Ron Rifkin, Bob Balaban; Garry Marshall, Paul Mazursky, Sydney Pollack, Carl Reiner, Rob Reiner (Studio Executives, voice)
IRIS (2001) DIR Richard Eyre PROD Scott Rudin, Robert Fox EXEC PROD Sydney Pollack, Anthony Minghella, Guy East, Harvey Weinstein, David M. Thompson, Tom Hedley SCR Richard Eyre, Charles Wood (books ‘Iris: A Memoir of Iris Murdoch’ [1998] and ‘Elegy for Iris: A Memoir’ [1999] by John Bayley) CAST Judi Dench, Jim Broadbent, Kate Winslet, Hugh Bonneville, Penelope Wilton, Juliet Aubrey, Samuel West, Timothy West, Eleanor Bron
HEAVEN (2002) DIR Tom Tykwer PROD Anthony Minghella, William Horberg, Maria Köpf, Stefan Arndt, Frédérique Dumas EXEC PROD Sydney Pollack, Harvey Weinstein, Agnès Mentré SCR Krzysztof Kieslowski, Krzysztof Piesiewicz (trilogy ‘Heaven, Hell and Purgatory’ by Krzysztof Kieslowski, Krzysztof Piesiewicz) CAST Cate Blanchett, Giovanni Ribisi, Mattia Sbragia, Alberto Di Stasio, Remo Girone, Alessandro Sperduti
THE QUIET AMERICAN (2002) DIR Philip Noyce PROD Staffan Ahrenberg, William Horberg. EXEC PROD Sydney Pollack, Anthony Minghella, Nigel Sinclair, Chris Sievernich, Guy East, Moritz Borman SCR Christopher Hampton, Robert Schenkkan (novel ‘The Quiet American’ [1955] by Grahame Greene) CAST Michael Caine, Brendan Fraser, Do Thi Hai Yen, Rade Sherbedgia, Tzi Ma, Robert Stanton
CHANGING LANES (2002) DIR Roger Michell PROD Scott Rudin SCR Chap Taylor, Michael Tolkin (story by Chap Taylor) CAST Ben Affleck, Samuel L. Jackson, Toni Collette, Sydney Pollack (Stephen Delano), William Hurt, Amanda Peet, Richard Jenkins, Kim Staunton
COLD MOUNTAIN (2003) DIR Anthony Minghella PROD Sydney Pollack, William Horberg, Albert Berger, Ron Yerxa SCR Anthony Minghella (novel ‘Cold Mountain’ [1997] by Charles Frazier) CAST Jude Law, Nicole Kidman, Renée Zellweger, Eileen Atkins, Brendan Gleeson, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Natalie Portman, Donald Sutherland, Ray Winstone
THE INTERPRETER (2005) DIR Sydney Pollack PROD Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Kevin Misher EXEC PROD Sydney Pollack, Anthony Minghella, G. Mac Brown SCR Steven Zaillian, Scott Frank, Charles Randolph (story by Martin Stellman, Brian Ward) CAST Nicole Kidman, Sean Penn, Catherine Keener, Jesper Christensen, Yvan Attal, Earl Cameron, Sydney Pollack (Jay Pettigrew)
FORTY SHADES OF BLUE (2005) DIR Ira Sachs PROD Ira Sachs, Mary Bing, Donald Rosenfeld, Jawal Nga, Margot Bridger EXEC PROD Sydney Pollack, Diane von Fürstenberg, Geoff Stier SCR Ira Sachs, Michael Rohatyn CAST Rip Torn, Dina Korzun, Darren Burrows, Paprika Steen, Red West
CATCH A FIRE (2006). DIR Philip Noyce PROD Anthony Minghella, Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner EXEC PROD Sydney Pollack, Liza Chasin, Debra Hayward SCR Shawn Slovo CAST Tim Robbins, Derek Luke, Bonnie Henna, Mncedisi Shabangu, Tumisho K. Masha, Sithembiso Khumalo
FAUTEUILS D’ORCHESTRE (2006) DIR Danièle Thompson PROD Christine Gozlan SCR Danièle Thompson, Christopher Thompson CAST Cécile de France, Valérie Lemercier, Claude Brasseur, Albert Dupontel, Christopher Thomspon, Laura Morante, Sydney Pollack (Brian Sobinsky), Suzanne Flon
BREAKING AND ENTERING (2006) DIR – SCR Anthony Minghella PROD Sydney Pollack, Anthony Minghella CAST Jude Law, Juliette Binoche, Robin Wright Penn, Martin Freeman, Ray Winstone, Vera Farmiga, Rafi Gavron, Poppy Rogers
MICHAEL CLAYTON (2007). DIR – SCR Tony Gilroy PROD Sydney Pollack, Jennifer Fox, Kerry Orent CAST George Clooney, Tom Wilkinson, Tilda Swinton, Sydney Pollack (Marty Bach), Michael O’Keefe, Ken Howard, David Lansbury
LEATHERHEADS (2008) DIR George Clooney PROD Grant Heslov, Casey Silver EXEC PROD Sydney Pollack, Jeffrey Silver, Bobby Newmyer SCR Rick Reilly, Duncan Brantley CAST George Clooney, Renéé Zellweger, John Krasinski, Jonathan Pryce, Peter Gerety, Jack Thompson
MADE OF HONOR (2008) DIR Paul Weiland PROD Neal H. Moritz SCR Adam Sztykiel, Deborah Kaplan, Harry Elfont (story by Adam Sztykiel) CAST Patrick Dempsey, Michelle Monaghan, Kevin McKidd, Kathleen Quinlan, Sydney Pollack (Thomas Sr.), Kadeem Hardison, Chris Messina
THE READER (2008) DIR Stephen Daldry PROD Sydney Pollack, Anthony Minghella, Donna Gigliotti SCR David Hare (book ‘Der Vorleser’ [1995] by Bernhard Schlink) CAST Kate Winslet, Ralph Fiennes, David Kross, Lena Olin, Bruno Ganz, Matthias Habich, Susanne Lothar, Karoline Herfurth
MARGARET (2011) DIR – SCR Kenneth Lonergan PROD Sydney Pollack, Scott Rudin, Gary Gilbert EXEC PROD Anthony Minghella CAST Matt Damon, Anna Paquin, Mark Ruffalo, Jean Reno, Matthew Broderick, Kenneth Lonergan, Sarah Steele
TV MOVIES
POODLE SPRINGS (1998) DIR Bob Rafelson PROD Tony Mark EXEC PROD Sydney Pollack, William Horberg, Jon Avnet, Jordan Kerner TELEPLAY Tom Stoppard (novel ‘Poodle Springs’ started by Raymond Chandler in 1958, finished by Robert B. Barker after Chandler’s death in 1959) CAST James Caan, Dina Meyer, David Keith, Tom Bower, Julia Campbell, Brian Cox, Joe Don Baker
BRONX COUNTY (1998) DIR Thomas Carter PROD D. Scott Easton. EXEC PROD Sydney Pollack, John Sacret Young CAST Victor Anthony, Sean Nelson, Justin Theroux, John C. McDonnell, Sandrine Holt, Christopher Wiehl
RECOUNT (2008) DIR Jay Roach PROD Michael Hausman EXEC PROD Sydney Pollack, Jay Roach, Len Amato, Paula Weinstein TELEPLAY Danny Strong CAST Kevin Spacey, Bob Balaban, Ed Begley, Jr., Laura Dern, John Hurt, Bruce McGill, Tom Wilkinson
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All 35 Mark Rydell Movies (in Order)
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Get ready to immerse yourself in the world of cinema as we take a deep dive into the vast filmography of the legendary Mark Rydell. From his early beginnings as a director to his critically acclaimed…
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https://medium.com/@milforddonahoe/all-the-mark-rydell-movies-in-chronological-order-553b2e93d961
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Milford Donahoe
·
Follow
14 min read
·
Apr 4, 2024
--
Get ready to immerse yourself in the world of cinema as we take a deep dive into the vast filmography of the legendary Mark Rydell. From his early beginnings as a director to his critically acclaimed works, this roundup article offers an engaging overview of Rydell’s unforgettable contributions to the movie industry.
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1. Crime in the Streets (1956)
Experience the raw, gritty world of “Crime in the Streets” (1956), a powerful drama that explores the social challenges of the era. Set in a poverty-stricken community, a dedicated social worker finds himself drawn into the dangerous world of a local slum gang. As he tries to befriend them, he must navigate a labyrinth of crime and tension, all while facing the harsh realities of life in the streets.
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2. The Fox (1967)
The Fox, “ a gripping 1967 drama, tells the tale of two young women, Jill and Ellen, who attempt to keep a chicken farm running in Canada. Their lives take an unexpected turn when the powerful and gentle Paul Grenfell returns to help them, ultimately proposing marriage to Ellen.
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3. The Reivers (1969)
The Reivers” is a classic 1969 film that takes viewers on a heartwarming and humorous journey through Mississippi at the turn of the century. The film centers around an 11-year-old boy, who, under the influence of two fun-loving adult friends, embarks on a daring adventure that involves stealing the family car and venturing to Memphis.
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4. The Cowboys (1972)
The Cowboys, a 1972 Western directed by Mark Rydell, tells the story of rancher Wil Andersen, portrayed by the legendary John Wayne, who hires a group of inexperienced boys to assist in getting his herd to market. However, their journey is far from easy, as they face dangers and encounter a gang of cattle rustlers on their trail.
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5. The Long Goodbye (1973)
In “The Long Goodbye, “ private investigator Philip Marlowe (Elliott Gould) gets tangled in a web of trouble when he helps a friend, Terry Lennox (Dennis Weaver), in an unrelated case. The friend’s wife, Eileen Wade (Nina van Pallandt), subsequently turns up dead, and Marlowe becomes the prime suspect. This is where the neo-noir crime drama begins, set in the picturesque coastal city of Malibu, California.
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6. Cinderella Liberty (1973)
Cinderella Liberty” is a captivating drama-romance film set in the heart of early 1970s America. Directed by Mark Rydell and written by Darryl Ponicsan, this intriguing movie captures the essence of love and self-discovery as it unfolds its compelling story. The film, released in 1973, was nominated for 3 Oscars and stars notable actors James Caan and Marsha Mason.
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7. Harry and Walter Go to New York (1976)
In the thrilling 1976 comedy-crime film “Harry and Walter Go to New York, “ two vaudevillian con artists named Harry and Walter become entangled with a notorious bank robber in an audacious New York City heist in 1892. Directed by Mark Rydell and written by Don Devlin, John Byrum, and Robert Kaufman, the movie stars James Caan and Elliott Gould, as well as Michael Caine. Set during a time of vaudeville and petty crime, the film offers an engaging mix of comedy and crime, taking audiences on a thrilling ride through the streets of New York.
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8. The Rose (1979)
The Rose” is a heart-wrenching drama that delves into the world of a self-destructive female rock star. The film, set in 1979, tells the tragic story of a woman wrestling with the relentless pressures of her music career and the merciless demands of her ruthless business manager.
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9. Starring Katharine Hepburn (1981)
Starring Katharine Hepburn is a mesmerizing documentary that delves into the awe-inspiring career of an iconic actress. From 1932 to 1981, Hepburn graced the silver screen with her charm and undeniable talent, captivating audiences with her unforgettable performances. In this film, her esteemed co-stars and colleagues share insightful stories and anecdotes from their time working alongside the legendary actress.
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10. On Golden Pond (1981)
On Golden Pond” is a poignant drama film released in 1981, showcasing the heartwarming journey of an estranged father-daughter relationship. The film revolves around the characters Norman, a grumpy yet charming old man, and his daughter Chelsea, a young woman who recently got engaged. Norman and his wife welcome Billy, the son of Chelsea’s new boyfriend, into their lives, leading to an unexpected friendship that blossoms between them.
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11. The Passing (1983)
In “The Passing” (1983), two elderly World War II veterans, Bob and Harry, share a small home and bond over their shared experiences. However, Bob’s fate takes a dark turn when he becomes the human guinea pig of a secretive operation, fusing his older body with those of younger, more functional parts. Returning as an unrecognizable figure, Bob’s identity is concealed, while his friendship with Harry is pushed to its limits.
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12. The River (1984)
The River, “ a dramatic film from 1984, follows the harrowing story of a farming family who faces the trials, tribulations and personal sacrifices that come with trying to save and hold on to their land. As they battle severe storms and the looming threat of losing their farm to a bank, they must endure other hardships that push them to the edge.
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13. Punchline (1988)
In the heart of New York City, Punchline (1988) takes a humorous and heartfelt look at self-discovery and the pursuit of a dream. Sally Field and Tom Hanks star as two unconventional stand-up comedians, struggling to find their place in the competitive world of nightclubs and comedy clubs.
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14. Havana (1990)
Havana, released in 1990, is a gripping drama that takes place in the tumultuous 1950s Cuba. The story follows a professional gambler, played by Robert Redford, as he becomes entangled in a passionate love affair with a woman deeply committed to the revolution movement.
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15. For the Boys (1991)
For the Boys is a heartwarming comedy-drama that takes us back to the World War II era. U. S.
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16. The Man in the Moon (1991)
The Man in the Moon” (1991) is a heartwarming coming-of-age drama set in the heart of the south during the era of Elvis Presley’s peak. Directed by Robert Mulligan and written by Jenny Wingfield, this film stars Sam Waterston, Tess Harper, and Gail Strickland. The story revolves around the unique bond between two sisters, exploring their sister-sister relationship while navigating the challenges of adolescence and love.
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17. A Century of Cinema (1994)
A Century of Cinema” (1994) is an enlightening documentary that celebrates the art of filmmaking while coinciding with cinema’s 100th anniversary. This intriguing journey explores the impact of cinema on society and culture, as well as showcasing numerous interviews with some of the most influential film personalities of the 20th century. With a runtime of just 1 hour and 12 minutes, viewers are treated to a captivating exploration of the evolution of cinema, as well as its lasting effects.
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18. Intersection (1994)
Intersection, “ a 1994 drama-romance film, explores the complexities of human relationships and the internal conflict faced when confronted with difficult choices. Directed by Mark Rydell and written by David Rayfiel, Marshall Brickman, and Paul Guimard, this absorbing movie features a riveting performance by Sharon Stone.
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19. Crime of the Century (1996)
Crime of the Century” is a gripping drama that tells the true story of one of the most shocking and infamous crimes in American history — the Charles Lindbergh baby kidnapping and murder case of 1932. The film delves into the investigation against Bruno Richard Hauptmann, who was eventually convicted and executed for the crime. The plot unravels the corrupt police force’s efforts to pinpoint Hauptmann as a scapegoat while navigating the pressures of a high-profile case under intense public scrutiny.
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20. A Man Is Mostly Water (2000)
A Man Is Mostly Water” is a light-hearted comedy, released in 2000, that centers on the contrasting lives of two unrelated neighbors sharing a duplex: Roper, an exuberant documentarian, and Andy, a wealthy and aimless golf enthusiast. Despite their dissimilar paths, they both find themselves entangled in the whimsical and absurd as they attempt to find their purpose and maintain their relationships. This film is a heartwarming exploration of unconventional friendships and the trials of growing up.
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21. James Dean (2001)
Prepare to unravel the life behind the iconic legend of James Dean in this thrilling biopic, James Dean (2001). Delving into the 1950’s realm of Hollywood, the film presents a dynamic account of the meteoric rise of a man whose tumultuous life mirrored the raw intensity of his acclaimed performances in “East of Eden, “ “Rebel Without a Cause, “ and “Giant. “
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22. Hollywood Rocks the Movies: The 1970s (2002)
Hollywood Rocks the Movies: The 1970s, released in 2002, is a riveting documentary that delves into the era of rock and roll and other pop music-based films from the 20th century. This film takes viewers on a journey through the enigmatic world of Hollywood’s filmmaking and the dynamic growth of the film industry in the 1970s.
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23. Hollywood Ending (2002)
In the whimsical world of Hollywood, the celebrated director Val Wellington (Woody Allen) is in the thick of preparations for his latest film when his reality takes a wild, twisted turn. As if the professional challenges weren’t enough, he’s saddled with an unbearable case of psychosomatic blindness. The cherry on top? .
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24. What’s Up, Scarlet? (2005)
What’s Up, Scarlet? . is a feel-good comedy drama that tells the story of Scarlet, a workaholic matchmaker in Los Angeles who is desperate for a life beyond her job. When she clumsily crashes into a homeless actress named Sabrina, her life takes an unexpected turn.
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25. An Unfinished Life (2005)
An Unfinished Life (2005) follows the heart-wrenching journey of Jean, a single mother struggling to raise her daughter, as she searches for a place to call home. Relying on the help of her estranged father-in-law, a caring but troubled man, she moves in with him, unraveling a web of secrets and long-hidden emotions.
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26. Even Money (2006)
Even Money” is a gripping crime drama that explores the devastating effects of gambling addiction. The film follows the interconnected lives of three people, each grappling with the ruinous consequences of their addiction.
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27. No Subtitles Necessary: Laszlo & Vilmos (2008)
No Subtitles Necessary: Laszlo & Vilmos” is a riveting documentary that explores the lifelong friendship and unparalleled influence of two legendary Hungarian-born cinematographers, László Kovács and Vilmos Zsigmond, on American cinema. This film delves into the captivating journey of these cinematography giants, who revolutionized the industry and left an indelible mark on Hollywood.
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28. Trying to Get Good: The Jazz Odyssey of Jack Sheldon (2008)
In “Trying to Get Good: The Jazz Odyssey of Jack Sheldon, “ viewers are invited to take a thrilling musical journey alongside legendary jazz trumpeter, Jack Sheldon. Despite his incredible talent, Sheldon never stops seeking perfection, reflecting his “divine dissatisfaction” in his pursuit of excellence. The film delves into Sheldon’s personal struggles with addiction, loss, and the unrelenting drive for greatness.
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29. Char·ac·ter (2009)
Char·ac·ter” is an intimate and enlightening documentary, offering a rare look into the lives of some of America’s most esteemed storytellers. Director Drago Sumonja brings together veterans of the acting world, including Dabney Coleman, Peter Falk, Charles Grodin, Mark Rydell, and Harry Dean Stanton. This collection of longtime friends discusses their personal experiences and emotions related to the craft of acting, allowing the audience to glimpse into their hearts and minds.
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30. Remembering Nigel (2009)
Remembering Nigel” is a refreshing, light-hearted comedy that follows a group of individuals as they gather to memorialize a mutual acquaintance named Nigel. The twist? .
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31. And the Oscar Goes to… (2014)
And the Oscar Goes to. . “ — a riveting documentary that delves into the rich history of the Academy Awards. Directed by Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman, the film brings to life the glitz and glamour, the triumphs and tribulations associated with this prestigious event.
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33. Close Encounters with Vilmos Zsigmond (2016)
Close Encounters with Vilmos Zsigmond is a fascinating and heartwarming documentary that delves into the life and artistry of one of the most influential figures in contemporary cinematography, the Hungarian-born neorealist Vilmos Zsigmond. As one of the founding fathers of this craft, Zsigmond has left an indelible mark on the world of film, having worked with some of the biggest names in Hollywood. Through intimate interviews and behind-the-scenes footage, this documentary provides a rare glimpse into the life and work of a true master.
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34. Chicanery (2017)
Chicanery” is a comedy movie released in 2017, with a runtime of 1 hour and 21 minutes. The film’s plot centers around Darren Flare, an Emmy Award-winning, slightly dim newscaster who stumbles upon the story of the decade — the capture of the FBI’s most wanted terrorist, the Imam Abdul Mohammed Zaleeka. Directed by Charles Dennis, “Chicanery” stars Rose Abdoo, Elya Baskin, and Drew Bell.
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35. Senior Entourage (2021)
Senior Entourage” (2021) is a hilarious mockumentary-style comedy that takes the humor of “Seinfeld” and applies it to a group of seniors ranging in age from 9 to 90. The zany cast, featuring Ed Asner, Helen Reddy, Charlie Robinson, Marion Ross, and Mark Rydell, brings a unique blend of wit, charm, and hilarity to the screen.
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🖼️ Check out these cool movie posters & art
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The Cowboys (1972)
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When his cattlemen abandon him for the gold fields, rancher Wil Andersen is forced to take on a collection of young boys as his cowboys in order to get his herd to market in time to avoid financial disaster. The boys learn to do a man's job under Andersen's tutelage, however, neither he nor the boys know that a gang of cattle thieves is stalking them.
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en
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https://letterboxd.com/film/the-cowboys/
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Theoretically I should hate this with every fiber of my curdmugeonly being. An over-the-hill John Wayne is in charge of a dozen prepubescent boys on a cattle drive. It sounds like the worst kind of crowd-pandering, cutesy pie filmmaking imaginable.
But damn it, if the thing didn't hook me. Sure it's adorable seeing pint-size cowboys trying their hand at roping and steering but the kids play it right, striving to be recognized as men while still retaining a healthy degree of youthful hubris and stupidity. There's not a cloying note in the bunch.
And John Ford was right, that son of a bitch Wayne can act. For the most part he plays it crotchety with the kids but he gets…
Why I watched this one? One of the few John Wayne movies that I had not seen. Not counting his many B westerns of the 1930s I have now seen 57 of his movies.
What is this one about? John Wayne needs to move his cattle 400 miles so he can sell them. All of his regular cowboys leave town when a gold rush occurs in a close town. This forces Wayne to hire a bunch of schoolboys to move the cattle. Bruce Dern plays the bad guy in the villain....a guy named Long Hair.
What I thought about this movie? Probably the best Wayne movie of the 1970s (with The Shootist). This one actually has an overture, an intermission…
Mark Rydell's The Cowboys was one of the last really good Westerns that John Wayne made before he died. Of course The Shootist will be remembered as Wayne's final screen performance, and it was a fitting end to a remarkable career, but between 1972 and 1976, or between The Cowboys and The Shootist, Wayne made three other Westerns which didn't warrant his star wattage. Cahill US Marshal was bland and uninspiring, The Train Robbers was unfocused, and Rooster Cogburn, despite Wayne having Katharine Hepburn as a co-star, lacked the "grit" of the original film. The Cowboys however had Wayne starring alongside a group of 11 child actors, an experience that Wayne himself described as one of the best of his…
1972 In Review - January
#5
A grizzled veteran rancher, Wil Andersen (John Wayne) is almost ready to embark on a big cattle drive when his crew abruptly quits to join in a gold rush. Left with no alternative, Anderson enlists the help of a group of local schoolboys. Training the youngsters to be cowboys, Andersen manages to get the drive underway, but their long journey is placed in jeopardy when the devious bandit Long Hair (Bruce Dern) sets his sights on stealing the herd.
The Cowboys feels more like a film from the 50’s or the 60’s. With John Wayne here at his best. He brings such a charismatic magic to these kinds of film, that I can never…
"I'm proud of ya... All of ya. Every man wants his children to be better'n he was. You are." - Wil Anderson
Wow, just wow. I did not expect this one to hit as hard as it did. This was a fun, lighthearted and damn enjoyable adventure until it really wasn’t. I don’t want to give anything away but there is a significant tonal shift happening here and I did not see it coming. All I can say is that I loved it and think that the movie is better for it. It’s really nice to find out that movies can still surprise me. Especially one that is half a century old at this point.
Other than that I think…
"The Cowboys" seems to fit that staple of a John Wayne western where he's the weathered old man who rookie youngsters just entering into manhood look up to as a role model. In this case it's boys from the schoolhouse that show up at Wayne's ranch to drive his herd of cattle to market after the regular "cattle men" had abandoned the Duke at the moment when he most needed them to go look for gold. This is one cool setup actually that turns out to be full of surprises. It borrows from a lot of Wayne's films but mostly "Red River". However "The Cowboys" has its own story to tell even as it constantly reminds you of other westerns…
In the list of John Wayne Westerns, The Cowboys feels like a real deviation from the bunch and is maybe one of the ones that I like more because of the type of film and tone it goes for. Part of this is because it's not an action film at all (until the last half hour) but instead a coming-of-age adventure that sees The Duke taking on a mentor role and most of the movie being a slow, methodical drama. In this, it's oddly tender and has a good deal of heart to it as we see Wayne and his charges embarking on a cattle drive with a story that shows a gentler side to its lead in a very…
I reckon the reason I much prefer John Wayne's later or, in the case of The Cowboys, late westerns is because there's a reflection and self-criticism in them that was largely absent in the earlier parts of his career.
Mark Rydell's film is actually far more contemplative than I was expected, and I also wasn't expecting there to be such a brooding cloud to hang over it. Having read the synopsis of this, I thought it was going to be a fairly comedic affair with Wayne getting the hump with a bunch of nauseating adolescents who think they're cowboys, only to gain a grudging respect for them at the end.
It's really not like that at all, and I'm actually…
☆"Nothin' but cowboys, just like the word says, and I'm gonna remind ya of it every single night."☆
March to the West 2023 – Film #14 of 31
I have a couple films lined up that explore the final decade of John Wayne's career, and though there are some poor films among those 1970s pieces if they're anything like the wonderful The Shootist then I'm all in. The Cowboys certainly isn't at that level but it's a fine watch, because one can begin to see his personal self-reflection after a career lasting a half-century. Admittedly melodramatic, it's hard not to be charmed by Mark Rydell's 1972 Western anyway. Oh, why don't you just stay for the film score, composed by…
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https://moviemusicuk.us/2019/03/11/on-golden-pond-dave-grusin/
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ON GOLDEN POND – Dave Grusin
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2019-03-11T00:00:00
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MOVIE MUSIC UK CLASSICS Original Review by Craig Lysy Jane Fonda was an avid reader, and happened to come across the novel On Golden Pond by Ernest Thompson. She was captivated by the story and bought the film rights, intending for her father Henry Fonda to play the lead role of Norman Thayer. She secured…
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MOVIE MUSIC UK
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https://moviemusicuk.us/2019/03/11/on-golden-pond-dave-grusin/
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MOVIE MUSIC UK CLASSICS
Original Review by Craig Lysy
Jane Fonda was an avid reader, and happened to come across the novel On Golden Pond by Ernest Thompson. She was captivated by the story and bought the film rights, intending for her father Henry Fonda to play the lead role of Norman Thayer. She secured financial backing for the film from Lord Grade, of the British studio ITC Entertainment. Bruce Gilbert was assigned to produce the film, and Mark Rydell was tasked with directing. Jane Fonda had always intended that this film would be a father-daughter endeavor, and so her father Henry Fonda was hired to play Norman Thayer, while she would play the estranged daughter Chelsea. The story’s father-daughter estrangement mirrored the real-life relationship of Jane and her father and ultimately proved to be cathartic, in that it restored their relationship. Joining them would be Katherine Hepburn as Ethel Thayer, Doug McKeon and Billy Ray, Dabney Coleman as Bill Ray, and William Lanteau as Charlie Martin.
The story’s rustic setting is a northern Maine lake called Golden Pond. For decades Norman and his wife Ethel had spent the summer at their beloved cottage on the lake shore, always welcomed back by the haunting tremolo wailing of the loons. Norman, who will soon turn 80, is suffering from heart palpitations and the onset of dementia with growing memory problems. He is a curmudgeon and yet Ethel loves him dearly. Chelsea is his estranged daughter who visits from Los Angeles with her fiancé Bill and his 13-year-old son, Billy. Their father-daughter issues remain unresolved and Chelsea seeks reconciliation. Yet her efforts are not warmly received, but an opportunity presents itself when she asks Norman and Ethel to watch Billy while they go on a vacation. Norman agrees, and after a rocky beginning, he forges a friendship with Billy with their shared love of fishing. A boating accident serves to establish an unbreakable bond, which paves the way for a rapprochement with Chelsea, who returns now married to Bill. A spectacular backflip dive brings a father’s admiration and an embrace for Chelsea, too long absent. All ends well as Chelsea and her family depart, as Norman and Ethel count their blessings in their long life together as a couple. The film was a stunning commercial success, earning over ten times its production cost of $15 million. It received critical acclaim, securing an astounding 10 Academy Award nominations including; Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress Best Supporting Actress, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing, Best Sound, Best Score, winning three for Best Actor, Best Actress and Best Adapted Screenplay.
Although Dave Grusin and Mark Rydell moved in the same social circle, they had never collaborated on a film. With fellow director Sydney Pollack’s blessings, Grusin landed the assignment, stating: “I wanted to do the picture mostly because of Jane and her father. It had a nice story, but there was nothing earth shattering about it. I said yes before I saw any footage. I figured how bad could it be?” Regarding the score, he relates: “It wasn’t planned to be an important part of the film. It’s just that the nature of the story dictated the areas where music could help, and it was the breathing room in the picture that allowed the score to have some kind of life.”
The lake served as Grusin’s muse and little did he realize that he would join a small group of elite composers who managed to become part of cinematic history by creating an iconic melody of such supreme beauty as to become indelibly ingrained within the public’s collective consciousness. First heard during the film’s Main Titles, the Golden Pond Theme achieves a breath-taking confluence with the sparkling pristine beauty of the lake, and its wildlife. The melody embraces the time-honored truth, that there is beauty in simplicity. Grusin described his conception of the theme as an “impressionistic comment on the visual geography of the story,” he further added that the melody’s gentility and harmonies derive from the “indigenous Protestant hymns historically associated with New England.” The melody is for me, a wordless song, which permeates the film, as it speaks to the beauty of the lake, on which the story centers and unfolds. Its A Phrase is carried by piano gentile and harp is pastoral, and contemplative in its sensibilities, while its B Phrase is wistful, and so full of longing.
There are three secondary themes, including; The Family Theme, which is kindred to the Main Theme, and emotes as repeating seven-note phrase, wistful and sad. It speaks to the regrets Norman has in his life, and his fears as he at 80 years of age confronts his mortality. The Hornpipe Theme serves as accompaniment to the New Hampshire Hornpipe speedboat as it soars over the lake. It abounds with the unbridled spirit, youthful exuberance and enthusiasm of a 1980’s pop melody. Lastly, we have the Lake Song Theme, which abounds with Joie de vivre. It offers a free-flowing melody; again with 1980’s pop sensibility. A bubbling piano animato, woodwinds gentile and lyrical strings carry us effortlessly with its wondrous carefree spirit. Because of the small amount of score composed for the film, a dubious creative decision was made to incorporate dialogue so as to expand the playtime to meet the minimum requirements for a soundtrack LP. Regretfully this detracted from the listening experience.
“On Golden Pond (Main Theme)” offers the score’s best cue, the finest in Grusin’s canon, and one, which takes its place in the hallowed halls of the Pantheon of great film score melodies. After a prelude by piano delicato, it is rendered in classical ABA form. It supports the roll of the opening credits against a black background before continuing into the film proper, where we bear witness to one of the most beautiful confluences of music and cinematography in cinematic history. As the film Title displays over the refulgent golden shimmering lights of the lake, Grusin’s immortal theme graces us with sublime lyricism. Emoted by piano delicato, we are awed by the natural beauty as we are carried over the pristine lakeshore, replete with shots of the loons dotting the waters. A coda closes our journey as we see Norman and Ethel arrive at the cottage for another summer. So precious and so rare is it when a composer so perfectly captures a film’s emotional core with the Main Title. “First Call (Norman)” opens magically with an embellished variant of the A Phrase of the Main Theme as they enter the cabin, so full of memories, which they love. Norman’s dialogue with the operator intrudes. We conclude at 1:46 as with the Main Theme coda as we see Norman and Ethel paddling their canoe graced by the haunting calls of the loons.
In “Career Opportunities” we open to dialogue between Ethel and Norman. She sends him out to pick strawberries as he is under foot. The B Phrase of the Main Theme emoted by woodwinds pastorale carries him into the forest. At 1:56 a crescendo of unease rises, which gives way to panic as Norman becomes disoriented and terrified in terrain he no longer recognizes. Strings affanato cry out, supported by wailing woodwinds and a grim piano ostinato as we see terror on Norman’s face. At 3:04 dialogue re turns as Norman returns to Ethel empty handed. At 3:24 we segue into “Back Porch Confessional (Norman & Ethel)” where Norman confides that the reason he came back without strawberries is that he got lost and could not remember his way back. A grim bass sustain sounds with the return of the twinkling frightful piano ostinato playing atop to support the revelation. Ethel, soothes, and comforts him supported by rendering of the B Phrase of the Main Theme by flute delicato, adorned with harp. We conclude warmly and full of love atop the A Phrase of the Main Theme. Grusin demonstrates mastery of his craft in speaking to the powerful emotions of these scenes.
In “Illicit Sex Question (Norman & Bill Ray)” we open magically before flowing into the Family Theme, which joins with the concluding phrase of the Main Theme as Chelsea and Bill arrive by car. At 0:55 we segue into extended dialogue between Norman and Bill to conclude the cue. “Lake-Song” reveals Billy and Norman bonding as they set-off on the lake in the hornpipe to go fishing. The Lake Song Theme, which abounds with sparkling Joie de vivre, supports the scene. Its free-flowing melody is emoted by a bubbling piano animato, woodwinds gentile and lyrical strings, which carry us effortlessly with its wondrous carefree spirit. “Early Bird (Ethel & Chelsea)” reveals a mother-daughter moment, where Ethel tries to console Chelsea. A prelude by a plaintive English horn and sparkling strings establishes the mood, giving way to dialogue at 0:23. Music re-enters at 2:12 as a forlorn solo oboe joins with piano emoting a wistful rendering of the A Phrase of the Main Theme. In “New Hampshire Hornpipe” Grusin introduces his Hornpipe Theme, which serves as accompaniment to the New Hampshire Hornpipe speedboat. When Billy takes it out solo and soars over the lake it abounds with his unbridled spirit, youthful exuberance, and enthusiasm for one of the score’s most joyous moments!
“Purgatory Cove (Norman & Billy)” reveals Norman and Billy taking the hornpipe to Purgatory Cove in search of the great trout Walter. The Family Theme shifts among the woodwinds and foreboding atmospheric writing, replete with loon calls sound as a storm looms and the skies blacken. Dialogue between Norman and Billy enters at 0:59. Fleeting piano phrases of the A Phrase of the Main Theme, shift to and fro, beset by foreboding strings as they prepare to depart. As they depart with Billy at the helm and Norman on the bow spotting for rocks, Grusin raises tension with a string sustain and darting piano figures. At 2:56 low register ominous strings portend danger and launch a timpani roll, which unleashes a frantic string ostinato as Billy panics with Norma’s frantic orders as the hornpipe crashes and throws Norman overboard. Strings affanato join oblique darting piano figures and wailing woodwinds as the hornpipe sinks, and Billy swims to save Norman. We end darkly on a diminuendo as they cling for life to a rock.
“Father-Daughter Relationship (Chelsea & Norman)” reveals Ethel exhorting Chelsea to talk to Norman and end the acrimony. Piano figures and a string sustain speak of her trepidation, but give way to the B Phrase of the Main Theme as she goes to her father. At 0:43 dialogue between the two enters. At 2:57, she resolves to do a back flip to earn his love. The Lake Song Theme carries her with confidence to the floating dock, joined by lush strings to crown her as she completes the back flip! We flow seamless atop the theme into “Season’s End (Ethel & Norman)”, joined by dialogue between Norman and Ethel. Norman lifts a heavy box of china, suffers an attack of angina and falls to the ground. They both fear the end has come, but the nitroglycerin medicine ends the attack and he recovers. At 3:26 the haunting cooing of the loons bid them farewell as they take one last gaze at their beloved lake. We segue seamlessly into “On Golden Pond (Epilogue)” and as we behold the magnificence of autumnal colors we are graced with a sumptuous and tender reprise of the On Golden Pond Theme, which brings a quiver, and a tear to conclude the film as the end credits run.
Having only been previously available on LP and cassette, Varèse Sarabande finally issues the On Golden Pond soundtrack on CD in 2017. The re-mastering provides an exceptional listening experience, although the inclusion of dialogue remains a qualitative problem, which demands a future recording that liberates the score from these intrusive distractions. Grusin joins a small group of elite composers who managed to become part of cinematic history by creating an iconic melody of such supreme beauty as to become indelibly ingrained within the public’s collective consciousness. This immortal melody rightfully takes its place in the hallowed halls of the Pantheon of great film score melodies. Rare and precious is the composer who can capture melodically the emotional core of a film. Throughout the film he deconstructs the theme, using its pastoral and contemplative A Phrase and wistful B Phrase to flesh out the story’s emotions. The secondary themes for the hornpipe and lake just sparkle and exhilarate, exuding an irrepressible Joie de vivre. This intimate, small ensemble score achieves a perfect confluence with the film’s narrative and cinematography. The main theme is I believe, the finest in Grusin’s canon, and the score a gem of the Bronze Age, which I recommend you add to your collection.
For those of you unfamiliar, I have embedded a YouTube link for the immortal Main Title: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dc2BewSmV5E
Buy the On Golden Pond soundtrack from the Movie Music UK Store
Track Listing:
On Golden Pond (Main Theme) (3:52)
First Call (Norman) (2:08)
Career Opportunities/Back Porch Confessional (Norman & Ethel) (6:08)
Illicit Sex Question (Norman & Bill Ray) (5:07)
New Hampshire Hornpipe (2:28)
Lake-Song (3:40)
Early Bird (Ethel & Chelsea) (2:47)
Purgatory Cove (Norman & Billy) (4:46)
Father-Daughter Relationship (Chelsea & Norman) (3:58)
Season’s End (Ethel & Norman) (3:38)
On Golden Pond (Epilogue) (2:48)
Running Time: 41 minutes 10 seconds
Varese Sarabande 302-067-486-8 (1981/2017)
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https://travsd.wordpress.com/2023/03/23/the-movies-of-mark-rydell/
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The Movies of Mark Rydell
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2023-03-23T00:00:00
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This post arises because we recently re-watched Robert Altman's The Long Goodbye (1973) for about the sixth time (in conjunction with re-reading Chandler's book) and got curious about the excellent, funny and scary actor who plays the hoodlum Marty Augustine. The actor is so good, and yet (I realized) I didn't recall him from anything…
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(Travalanche)
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https://travsd.wordpress.com/2023/03/23/the-movies-of-mark-rydell/
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This post arises because we recently re-watched Robert Altman’s The Long Goodbye (1973) for about the sixth time (in conjunction with re-reading Chandler’s book) and got curious about the excellent, funny and scary actor who plays the hoodlum Marty Augustine. The actor is so good, and yet (I realized) I didn’t recall him from anything else. It’s because he is mostly a director, and while he is not hugely prolific, he has an excellent track record with critically acclaimed films you likely know well. The gentleman is Mark Rydell (Mortimer Rydell, b. 1929)
Rydell specialized in character driven works, often period pieces, based on novels and plays, the kinds of movie that were much in vogue in the 1970s. And several of them have a show biz angle, which is our particular jam. His first effort, in 1967, was an adaptation of D.H. Lawrence’s The Fox, starring Sandy Dennis, Keir Dullea (soon of 2001: A Space Odyssey), and Anne Heywood, wife of the film’s producer Raymond Stross. The plot concerns a love triangle set on a farm, with the major innovation being a lesbian relationship between the women (a depiction made possible by the recent elimination of the Hollywood production code). This racy aspect, combined with the film’s tasteful craftsmanship, resulted in a minor hit. This was followed up by an adaptation of William Faulkner’s The Reivers (1969) starring Steve McQueen, the hottest Hollywood actor of the time. Then came the John Wayne western The Cowboys (1972), one of my favorite movies as a kid, which I wrote about here. Cinderella Liberty (1973) was a Navy themed drama with James Caan and Marsha Mason, written by Darryl Ponicsan, whose The Last Detail also came out that year. This is a pretty good run already!
Rydell’s next film should be of special interest to those interested in vaudeville. Set in the 1890’s, Harry and Walter Go to New York (1976) stars James Caan and Elliott Gould as a pair of vaudeville performers who get pinched for stealing the personal belongings of audience members. In stir they meet safecracker Michael Caine (as Adam Worth, an actual historical character) who proposes a job for them. Diane Keaton plays their accomplice, a crusading newspaperwoman, who wants stolen loot to feed poor children (foreshadowing her character in Reds). This kind of thing seems calculated for success, right? It’s in the ’70s nostalgia subgenre we wrote about here. It has stuff in common with both the Redford-Newman team-ups: Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (which also has robberies and a female accomplice who’s the love interest for each of the partners), as well as the Long Con joyride The Sting. It also reminds me of Michael Critchton’s The Great Train Robbery, released two years later. Unfortunately a film like this requires a light comic touch, and Rydell was, well, a Method guy, so he reportedly removed some of the funner elements from the script in order to justify it dramatically. It was an expensive movie to make, and it didn’t fare well at the box office.
Fortunately, Rydell then rebounded in a huge way, with two critically acclaimed hits, back to back: The Rose (1979), starring Bette Midler in a fictionalized telling of Janis Joplin’s life; and the film adaptation of On Golden Pond (1981), the historic Katharine Hepburn–Henry Fonda–Jane Fonda team-up. Unfortunately, this was followed by another big budget miscalculation The River (1984) with Sissy Spacek and Mel Gibson. It was intended to shine a light on the farm crisis that was making the news at the time, which also spawned the Farm Aid concert, and the films Country (with Sam Shepard and Jessica Lange) and Places in the Heart (with Sally Field). Gibson was miscast, and the film ended up seeming the also-ran in this sweepstakes, earning back only 2/3 of its budget.
Rydell turned back to acting for a time, appearing in the stand-up comedy yarn Punch Line (1988) with Sally Field and Tom Hanks, and taking the plum (and well cast) role of Meyer Lansky in Sydney Pollack’s Havana (1990) starring Robert Redford. He then returned to the director two of his previous stars James Caan and Bette Midler in For the Boys (1991) a tale of a romance two major entertainers (perhaps loosely inspired by Bob Hope and Martha Raye) as they tour with the USO during World War Two and the Korean War. I remember this one receiving lots of publicity at the time, but somehow it didn’t click with the public and took a bath at the box office.
In 1994 Rydell directed Intersection, a remake of Les choses de la vie (1970) starring Richard Gere, Sharon Stone, and Lolita Davidovich. This was followed by the HBO film Crime of the Century (1996), about the Lindbergh baby kidnapping, and the 2001 bio-pic James Dean, starring James Franco as the ill-fated star. In 2002 he had a supporting part in Woody Allen’s Hollywood Ending as agent Al Hack. In 2006 he directed his last major project, Even Money, a gambling drama not unlike The Gambler with James Caan or Altman’s California Split. The all-star cast included Kim Basinger, Danny DeVito, Forest Whitaker, Ray Liotta, Kelsey Grammer, and Tim Roth. As long ago as that was, Rydell was pushing 80 by that point!
Trained at Neighborhood Playhouse, Rydell broke into the business as an actor on soap operas. After leaving As the World Turns in 1962 he directed an episode of The Virginian, which led to jobs directing for Gunsmoke, The Wild Wild West, I Spy, and other shows before The Fox came along.
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https://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2024/08/celebrity-deaths-2024/
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Celebrity Deaths 2024: Stars We Lost This Year
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2024-08-15T00:50:23+00:00
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From movie legends to TV superstars and beyond, these celebrity deaths shocked the world in 2024, like the loss of a true legend.
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en
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The Hollywood Gossip
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https://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2024/08/celebrity-deaths-2024/
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It’s never easy when a beloved celebrity dies, and in 2024, we’ve seen some greats pass on. Stars like Shannen Doherty, Donald Sutherland, and Sister Wives star Garrison Brown have all passed so far this year.
But the hits just keep on coming.
Gena Rowlands, best known for her role in The Notebook, died at her California home on Aug. 14, She was 94.
Per the initial report from TMZ., Rowlands’ husband, Robert Forrest, and daughter, Alexandra Cassavetes, were by her side when she died. No word if Rowlands son, The Notebook director Nick Cassavetes, was also there, though they did report he was at her home throughout the week. A cause of death has yet to be determined, however Nick revealed early this year that she was battling Alzheimer’s disease. It’s the same condition that her The Notebook character, the older version of Rachel McAdams’ Allie, suffered from.
Let’s also remember the other actors, singers and other celebrities who died in 2024.
Connie Chiume
South African actress best known for her role in Black Panther has died aged 72, according to her family.
Connie Chiume died in a hospital in Johannesburg, South Africa, on Tuesday, August 6.
“The Chiume family regrets to inform you of the passing of the internationally acclaimed award-winning actress, Connie Chiume,” reads a statement shared via Chiume’s Instagram account.
“Connie Chiume passed on at Garden City Hospital today on the 6th August 2024,” the statement continues. “The family asks for privacy during this difficult period. The family will communicate further details.”
In an interview with South African news network Newzroom Afrika, Chiume’s son, Nongelo Chiume, said the actress was admitted to the hospital for a “medical procedure” before her death.
“We want her to be remembered as someone who was selfless and someone who always wanted to see the next person doing great with their God-given talent,” said Nongelo.
Chiume appeared in Marvel Studios’ Black Panther (2018) as Wakandan citizen Zawavari and reprised her role in 2022’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.
Lord Robert Fellowes
Prince William and Prince Harry’s uncle, Lord Robert Fellowes, died Monday July 29. He was 82.
The cause of death is “undisclosed,” according to his obituary published in the London Times, published on Wednesday, July 31.
Fellowes became Princess Diana’s brother-in-law in April 1978 when he married her sister Lady Jane Fellowes.
As of now, neither William nor Harry has released a statement on his passing. Same goes for the palace. However, both of Diana’s sons are expected to attend the funeral.
Christina Sandera
Clint Eastwood’s longtime girlfriend, Christina Sandera, has died.
The actor paid tribute to the 61-year-old via The Hollywood Reporter on Friday, July 19. In his brief statement, he wrote that Christina was “a lovely, caring woman.”
“I will miss her very much,” the Oscar winner, 94, confessed.
The pair reportedly met when she was working as a hostess at Eastwood’s Mission Ranch Hotel and Restaurant in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California, and started dating in 2014.
A Warner Bros. spokesperson told The Hollywood Reporter that no further details would be forthcoming.
Joe Bryant
Joe Bryant, the father of late NBA legend Kobe Bryant and a former basketball star himself, died at the age of 69 in July 2024.
Joe is said to have recently suffered a massive stroke, according to La Salle University head coach Fran Dunphy, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. Like his son, Joe played basketball at La Salle and Bartram High School before playing multiple seasons in the NBA.
The news comes four years after Kobe and his daughter Gianna, died in a helicopter crash in Calabasas, California, in January 2020. The NBA superstar was 41 at the time of his death and Gianna was just 13.
Shelley Duvall
Shelley Duvall, the actress best known for The Shining, has died. She was 75.
Duvall died in her sleep of complications from diabetes at her home in Texas, according to her longtime partner, Dan Gilroy.
“My dear, sweet, wonderful life partner and friend left us. Too much suffering lately, now she’s free. Fly away, beautiful Shelley,” Gilroy said to The Hollywood Reporter on Thursday.
Shelley has been out of the limelight for a number of years. In November 2016, a disheveled Duvall appeared on an episode of the syndicated talk show Dr. Phil and revealed that she was suffering from mental illness. “I am very sick. I need help,” she said.
Joan Benedict
Joan Benedict, an accomplished actress known for her work in various soap operas including General Hospital, has died.
On June 24, Benedict passed away at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles due to complications from a stroke, a spokesperson for her family announced, per The Hollywood Reporter. She was 96.
The Brooklyn-born actress was best known for her role as Edith Fairchild on General Hospital. She also appeared in recurring roles on Days of Our Lives and The Capitol, and for many years, she was the face of Candid Camera.
Bill Cobbs
Bill Cobbs, the movie star was best known for his roles in The Bodyguard, Night At The Museum, and New Jack City died on June 25th.
Bill had starred in over 200 films in his career, with more recent projects including Air Bud, Oz the Great and Powerful, and Block Party.
Bill died at his home in Riverside, CA, according to his publicist, Chuck I. Jones. The cause of death remains unclear, but he lived a long life. He was 90 years old.
In fact, he just reached the milestone a few days before, on June 16th.
Tamayo Perry
Tamayo Perry, a legendary surfer and actor who held roles in Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides and Blue Crush, died on June 23 after being attacked by a shark in Hawaii, the BBC reported. He was only 49.
According to the Associated Press, Honolulu Ocean Safety and the city’s emergency services responded around 1 p.m. to a call regarding a man who appeared to have suffered from several shark bites near Mālaekahana Beach on Oahu’s North Shore.
Perry, who was also a lifeguard since 2016, was brought to shore by paramedics via jet ski, but sadly pronounced dead at the scene.
Honolulu mayor Rick Blangiardi called Perry’s death “a tragic loss” during a press conference, according to the BBC. “Tamayo was a legendary waterman and highly respected,” he said, adding that he “grew up right over here” and was “just a great member of our Ocean Safety team.”
Taylor Wily
A sumo wrestler-turned-actor, Taylor Wily, best known for his memorable role as Kamekona Tupuola in crime dramas Hawaii Five-0 and Magnum P.I., passed away at the age of 56.
The news was confirmed on June 20, according to a local Hawaiian news outlet, KITV Island News. The reporter who also described Wily as a close family friend, did not release the cause of death.
As for his Hollywood family, Hawaii Five-0 and Magnum P.I. producer Peter M. Lenkov was the first to pay tribute.
“I am devastated. Heartbroken. I’ll post some detailed feelings later. Just too hard right now,” he shared alongside a sweet pic of himself with Wily.
Johnny Wactor
Former General Hospital actor Johnny Wactor was fatally shot down and murdered in downtown Los Angeles, his family confirmed Sunday, May 26.
Over the Memorial Day weekend, Johnny was leaving his job at a downtown rooftop bar around 3 a.m. with one of his coworkers when he saw what looked like someone working on his car.
His mother, Scarlett, told told ABC7 that he approached the three people at his car, thinking he was about to get towed. However, when he got their attention, he saw that they wore masks and one opened fire before they fled.
Johnny was pronounced dead by the paramedics.
Wactor portrayed Brando Corbin on the ABC soap opera from 2020 to 2022, appearing in more than 160 episodes before his character was written off.
General Hospital issued a statement shortly after the news broke: “The entire General Hospital family is heartbroken to hear of Johnny Wactor’s untimely passing. He was truly one of a kind and a pleasure to work with each and every day. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his loved ones during this difficult time.”
Sudan Buckner
Susan Buckner, best known for playing cheerleader Patty Simcox in the 1978 musical comedy Grease, has died. She was 72.
“Susan died peacefully on May 2 surrounded by loved ones,” according to Melissa Berthier, a publicist for the family.
“The light she brought into every room will be missed forever,” Buckner’s daughter, Samantha Mansfield, tells PEOPLE. “She was magic, and I was very lucky to call her my best friend.”
No cause of death was provided at the time of the announcement. Though she continued to act well into the 1980s, Grease would remain her career-defining role and she would retire from the industry sometime after.
Bernard Hill
Bernard Hill, a beloved British actor known for his big roles in the 90’s, passed away at the age of 79.
He died in the early hours of the morning, on May 5. According to a statement from his family, his fiancée Alison and his son Gabriel were at his side as he passed away. No official cause of death has been shared at this time.
Though he had a long and illustrious career, Bernard is best known for this leadership roles in blockbusters from the 90’s.
He played Captain Edward Smith in James Cameron’s 1997 film Titanic and then King Théoden in the Lord of the Rings.
Mandisa
Mandisa, best know for her time on American Idol has died. She was only 47.
Christian rock radio station K-Love announced her passing on Friday, April 19.
“Even more than her music, the Platinum-selling singer will forever be known for her huge heart and sincerity,’ Christian radio station K-Love said in a statement, per Daily Mail.
The California native, whose full name was Mandisa Hundley, competed in Season 5 of American Idol, making it to the top ten of the competition. According to the reports, Mandisa died at her home in Nashville, Tenn., on April 18.
“Mandisa loved Jesus, and she used her unusually extensive platform to talk about Him at every turn. Her kindness was epic, her smile electric, her voice massive, but it was no match for the size of her heart,” the station’s media officer, David Pierce added during the announcement.
Richard Lewis
Richard Lewis, one of America’s most beloved stand-up comics and actors died in February 2024.
His death has been confirmed by multiple outlets, just at the current season of HBO’s Curb Your Enthusiasm was underway.
He famously played a fictionalized version of himself on the show alongside Larry David for many years.
He announced last April he had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease and was retiring from stand-up comedy. The cause of his death was announced shortly after the news of his passing.
Thomas Kingston
Thomas Kingston, a British financier former boyfriend of Pippa Middleton, has died at age 45 at the end of February.
Like Pippa’s sister, Kate Middleton, Thomas also married a royal: Lady Gabriella. a distant cousin of Prince William and Prince Harry.
A statement released on Tuesday on behalf of Lady Gabriella Kingston, and Thomas’s family announced his passing.
“It is with the deepest sorrow that we announce the death of Thomas Kingston, our beloved husband, son and brother. Tom was an exceptional man who lit up the lives of all who knew him. His death has come as a great shock to the whole family, and we ask you to respect our privacy as we mourn his passing.”
It is reported that emergency services were called to his aid after 6 p.m. on Sunday, February 25. Although the cause of death is undetermined, there are no reports that suspicious circumstances or other parties were involved.
Chita Rivera
Chita Rivera was 91 years old when she died on Tuesday, January 30.
She quite literally leapt to stardom in the original Broadway production of West Side Story and became one of the most celebrated Latina stars of her generation.
Her death was confirmed in a statement by her daughter, Lisa Mordente, but a cause of death was not confirmed.
Alec Musser & David Gale
It was especially difficult for soap opera stars this week after not one, but two well-loved stars were lost.
And both were so young.
All My Children actor Alec Musser died at the age of 50, on Jan. 12, 2024.
Alec’s fiancée, Paige Press announced his passing to shocked fans.
The San Diego County Medical Examiner’s Office revealed that Alec died by suicide after an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound to the chest.
Paige reportedly found him in their bathroom after the suicide.
Just a few days after that, David Gale, best known for his role as Dr. Joe Scanlon in the popular soap opera, Port Charles, passed away.
At just 58, the news was confirmed by his sister with a heartbreaking Instagram post. At the time, a cause of death was no immediately given.
Lynn Yamada Davis
Lynn Yamada Davis, the much beloved TikTok star behind the series Cooking with Lynja, has died. She was 67.
Davis died on Jan. 1 at Riverview Medical Center in New Jersey of cancer.
Her daughter, Hannah Mariko Shofet, confirmed her passing to The New York Times.
Davis was diagnosed with throat cancer in 2019; two years later, her conditioned worsened. She was then diagnosed with esophageal cancer.
Davis was best known for her cooking videos. With the help of her son Tim, she started producing content during Covid-19 pandemic. Her big personality quickly became a hit with fans across all social media.
She leaves behind her four children and two grandchildren, plus leagues of fans who will undoubtedly miss her.
Christian Oliver
Hollywood actor Christian Oliver, best known for his roles in Indiana Jones, Speed Racer, and the beloved 90’s hits Baby-Sitters Club and Saved By The Bell: The New Class, was pronounced dead on January 4.
What makes the death so shocking is that both of his young daughters, age 10 and 12, also died.
Oliver, real name Christian Klepser, and his two young daughters were found dead following the recovery of four bodies from a plane crash off a Caribbean island on January 4, according to NBC News.
The star and his kids, Madita and Annik , were the only passengers flying aboard a small single-engine jet. The fourth person to perish was the pilot.
They were headed to St. Lucia after taking off from J.F. Mitchell Airport on the Grenadine island of Bequia. The girls’ mother Jessica, Oliver’s ex-wife, was not on-board at the time.
David Soul
Actor David Soul, best known for his role in the TV series Starsky & Hutch, died at the age of 80. His wife Helen Snell announced his passing on January 4, 2023.
“He shared many extraordinary gifts in the world as actor, singer, storyteller, creative artist and dear friend.
“His smile, laughter and passion for life will be remembered by the many whose lives he has touched.”
Soul played Detective Kenneth “Hutch” Hutchinson alongside Paul Michael Glaser’s Starsky in the hit crime-solving TV series, which ran from 1975 to 1979.
Glynis Johns
Actress Glynis Johns, best known for her role as Mrs. Winifred Banks in the Disney classic Mary Poppins died at the age of 100.
Mitch Clem, her manager, told The Associated Press she died Thursday, January 4th, of natural causes at an assisted living home in Los Angeles.
“Today’s a sad day for Hollywood,” Clem said. “She is the last of the last of old Hollywood.”
Johns appeared in more than 60 movies, and had a celebrated career on the stage as well.
She originated the role of Desiree Armfelt in Stephen Sondheim’s Broadway musical “A Little Night Music” and won a Tony Award and a Drama Desk Award for her performance in 1973.
Celebrities Who Died in 2023
Last year, a staggering number of beloved stars passed away.
Movie icons like Ryan O’Neal and Michael Gambon died. Singing legends like Tony Bennett and Sinead O’Connor left us.
Finally, TV superstars like Andre Braugher, Paul Reubens, and the great Matthew Perry all passed away.
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https://notesonfilm1.com/tag/mark-rydell/
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First Impressions
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2018-07-05T07:17:26+00:00
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Posts about Mark Rydell written by NotesonFilm1
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First Impressions
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https://notesonfilm1.com/tag/mark-rydell/
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The Long Goodbye is by now an acknowledged classic. It wasn’t always so. As Pauline Kael writes in her 1973 review, ‘It’s a knockout of a movie that has taken eight months to arrive in New York because after being badly reviewed in Los Angeles last March and after being badly received (perfect irony) it folded out of town. It’s probably the best American movie ever made that almost didn’t open in New York.’ Charles Champlin, one of the initial culprits, titled his review ‘A Private Eye’s Honour Blackened’. But as early as 1974, Stewart Garrett in Film Quarterly was already underlining its importance and influence: ‘‘the masterwork of America’s most interesting working director….In watching Chinatown, one can feel The Long Goodbye lurking behind it with the latent force of a foregone conclusion’. All I want to do here is add my praise, point to a couple of aspects of the film’s particular brilliance, and also indicate some problems with the film that its biggest fans have been too quick to gloss over.
The movie begins and ends with an extract from the song ‘Hooray for Hollywood’, a nod to dreamland and part of the film’s homage to noir and the detective genre. Elliot Gould is a different Marlowe than Humphrey Bogart, looser, gentler, even more addicted to tobacco, with cigarettes constantly dangling from his thick, sensuous lips. The car he drives, the apartment building he lives in, the bars he frequents, all conjure up the forties. But the LA he moves through, a character of its own in this film (the skyline, the highways, the all-night supermarkets, Malibu), with the women in the apartment next door making hash brownies, practicing yoga, and dancing topless, all point to the film’s present. And that interplay between past and present, figured through the casting of Elliot Gould as the central character, is one of joys of the film.
Gould’s Marlow, unkempt, seeming to offer a wry, disbelieving and humours look at everything he sees, is convincingly single, marginal, and over-reliant on his cat for company. He is the most unkempt and bedraggled of leading man: loose, irreverent but convincingly embodying someone who carries the night with him like a halo; a knight errant reeking of stale tobacco, too much booze and too little sleep. His friend Terry Lennox (Jim Bouten) calls hims a born loser.
David Thomson writes of how Altman ‘spends the whole film concentrating on the way Elliott Gould moves, murmurs, sighs, and allows silence or stillness to prevail’. And this at a time when as Pauline Kael writes in her review of the film, by 1973 , ‘Audiences may have felt that they’d already had it with Elliot Gould; the young men who looked like him in 1971 have got cleaned up and barbered and turned into Mark Spitz. But it actually adds poignancy to the film that Gould himself is already an anachronism…Gould comes back with his best performance yet. It’s his movie.’ It certainly is. Next to M*A*S*H and Bob &Carol&Ted&Alice, it’s also become the one he’s most associated with.
The first few scenes in the film dazzle. The whole sequence with the cat at the beginning where Marlowe gets up to feed it, the cat jumping from counter, to fridge, and onto Marlowe’s shoulder is disarming and rather wondrous. Even those who don’t love cats will be charmed. But the scene also conveys quite a bit about who Marlowe is: someone lonely, who relies on cats for company; someone responsible and loving who cares that the cat is well fed and willing to go out in the middle of the night to buy the cat’s preferred brand; a good neighbour too, prepared to get the brownie mix the women next door ask for and unwilling to charge them for it: a gent or a chump? The choices Altman makes to show and tell us the story are constantly surprising, witty and wondrous on their own. See above, a minor example, that begins inside the apartment, showing us the city’s skyline, then the women, then the women in the city, before dollying down, something that looks like a peek at a little leg action before showing us, perfectly framed, Marlowe arriving in his vintage car.
In The Long Goodbye much is filmed through windows, which sometimes look onto something else, allowing action to happen on at least two planes. However the dominant use of this is to show the play of what’s happening between foreground and background, with the pane of glass, allowing partial sight of what’s beyond the glass and the reflection itself only partially showing what’s in front of it; and both together still only adding up to two partial views that don’t make a whole but which suggest there’s a background to things, and things themselves are but pale reflections of a greater underlying reality. You can see an example of this in the still above, from the the interrogation scene at the police station with the two way mirror. It’s a beautiful, expressive composition. According to Richard K. Ferncase, ‘the photography by Vilmos Zsigmond is unlike the heavy chiaroscuro of traditional noir’. However, as evident in the still above, whilst it might be unlike, it certainly nods to and references it. In fact it’s part of a series of references: the gatekeeper who does imitations of James Stewart, Walter Brennan, Barbara Stanwyck etc; the way Marlowe lights matches a la Walter Neff, the hospital scene where it seems like the Invisible Man or Bogart before his plastic surgery in Dark Passage, etc.
This must be one of Vilmos Zsigmond’s greatest achievements as a cinematographer. Garret writes of how, ‘Altman accentuated the smog-drenched haze of his landscape by slightly overexposing, or ‘fogging’ the entire print.’ Ferncase admires the ‘diaphanous ozone of pastel hues, blue shadowns, and highlights of shimmering gossamer’ Zsigmond created by post-flashing the film. Zsigmond himself attributes this to a low budget: ‘We…flashed the film heavily, even more than we flashed it on McCabe. And the reason was basically because we didn’t have a big budget there for big lights and all that. So we were really very creative about how, with the little amount of equipment that we had, how we are going to do a movie in a professional way. A couple of things we invented on that movie — like flashing fifty per cent, which is way over the top. But by doing that we didn’t have to hardly use any lights when go from outside or inside and go outside again.’.
Robert Reed Altman notes how, ‘On Long Goodbye the camera never stopped moving. The minute the dolly stopped the camera started zooming. At the end of the zoom it would dolly and then it would zoom again, and it just kept moving. Why did he do it? Just to give the story a felling, a mood, to keep the audience an an edge’. Zsigmond describes how this came to be, ”On Images, when we wanted to have something strange going on, because the woman is crazy, we decided to do this thing — zooming and moving sideways. And zooming, and dollying sideways. Or zooming forward. What is missing? Up and down! So we had to be able to go up and down, dolly sideways, back and forth, and zoom in and out. Then we made The Long Goodbye and Robert said, ‘Remember that scene we shot in Images? Let’s shoot this movie all that way’.
They did. But it’s worth remarking that whilst Altman was happy to let actors improvise and to grab and use anything useful or interesting that happened to pass by the camera’s path (the funeral procession, the dogs fucking in Mexico, etc.), the use of the camera seems to me to be highly conscious and controlled. See the scene below when Marlowe brings Roger Wade (a magnificent Sterling Hayden, like wounded lion on its last legs) home to his wife.
In the scene above Marlowe has just brought Wade back home to his wife Eileen (Nina van Pallandt), who’d hired Marlowe to do just that. As Marlowe heads to the beach, note how they’re both filmed outside a window, Wade cornered into the left side of the frame, his wife on the right; the palm trees reflected on the glass but outside. Inside the house is dark, the conversation pointed. In the next shot we get closer to Wade but stil framed within frames, encased in his situation, with window shades acting like bars behind him. In the third shot, we get closer to where the first shot was but Wade seems even murkier, hidden. When Eileen says ‘milk, is that what you really want,’ The camera zooms in, first on him, then her, then him, and as he walks over to her, we see Marlow behind a second window in the back. So we are seeing a domestic scene through a window, sunny California reflected in the palms in front, in the surf behind, something dark happening inside the house, and Marlow, pondering outside, for the moment their plaything, and playing on the surf behind, seen through two sets of glass. Much of the scene will be played like that until Wade goes to join Marlowe outside. Brilliantly evocative images, vey expressive of the characters, their situation and their dynamic, and they seem to me to be perfectly controlled to express just that. In fact that series of images evoke what the film’s about (see below)
The scene where the Wades and Marlowe are gathered together for the first time, rhymes with their last one. This time it’s Marlowe and Eileen who talk, and the discussion is about the husband, who as the camera zooms past Eileen and Marlowe’s conversation, and through the window, we see heading, fully dressed, into the ocean. The camera cuts to them from the outside, once more seeing through a window, but the darkness is on the outside now, and we don’t hear what they’re saying. What we hear now is the sounds of night on the beach — the waves, the surf — , and what we see, clearly and without mediation is Wade letting the surf engulf him. It’s a perfect riposte to the first scene, taking elements of the same style, but accentuating different ones — analogous to the way the film uses ‘The Long Goodbye’ song but in completely different arrangements as the film unfolds –, and creating a series of images that remain beautiful and startling in themselves but beautifully express what’s going on, what’s led to this. Had I extended the scene longer, you’d be able to see Eileen and Marlow also engulfed by the sea, the Doberman prancing by the shore, and that indelible image of the dog returning only with Wade’s walking stick. It’s great.
Schwarzenegger makes an uncredited appearance in The Long Goodbye, screaming for attention by flexing his tits, and looking considerably shorter than Elliot Gould. An interesting contrast between a characteristic leading man of the 70s and how what that represents gave way to Schwarzenegger’s dominance in the 80s and 90s, and what that in turn came to represent. But though this is a fun moment in the film, its also what I liked least about it: i.e. the stunt casting. Nina van Pallandt is beautiful and she’s ok. But think of what Faye Dunaway might have brought to the role. Director Mark Rydell as gangster Marty Augustine is also ok but imagine Joe Pesci. As to Jim Bouton, a former ballplayer and TV presenter as Terry Lennox, to say that he’s wooden is to praise too highly. There’s a place in in cinema for this type of casting– and a history of much success — but see what a talented pro like David Carradine brings to the prison scene — not to mention Sterling Hayden and Elliot Gould both so great — and imagine the dimensions skilled and talented actors might have brought to the movie. The Long Goodbye is great in spite of, not because of, the casting of these small but important roles.
Many thanks to Dave Stewart for bringing this Jack Davis ‘Mad’-esque poster of the film to my attention:
*The Vilmos Zsigmond and Robert Reed Altman quotes are taken from Mitchell Zuckoff’s great book on Altman, Robert Altman: The Oral Biography, New York, Knopg, 2009.
José Arroyo
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The original trailer for the French release in 1970 promised that Les choses de la vie/ The Things of Life would be ‘about people, people like you, people to whom things happen, things of life: beautiful, sweet, stupid; things of life that make life worth living’. If the ‘you’ referred to is an ideal ‘you’ – richer, more glamorous, more beautiful – then, the film delivers on that promise.
Les choses de la vie begins with an image of the wheel of a car in a field. We realise that a car has crashed in a rural motorway. Inside the car is Pierre (Michel Piccoli), a successful architect. As he drifts in an out of consciousness, we find out what his life has amounted to, what has been important to him: Catherine (Lea Massari), his wife, whom he’s separated from but who he still has unresolved feelings for; Helène (Romy Schneider), the mistress who adores him but whom he finds a bit clingy and demanding; the son, suddenly grown-up and growing more distant by the day; his parents; the problems with his job; the things he did wrong and might never get a chance to fix; flashes of joy experienced whilst sailing with his family or kissing his mistress in a meadow.
Les choses de la vie could so easily be soap opera; could so easily have become what its American re-make, Intersections (Mark Rydell, USA, 1994), turned out to be: a glossy, glamorous melodrama with people one couldn’t relate to and that remained at one remove, as if the pretty-ness of the image was a glass barrier to feeling. Yet, Sautet’s film is something else: even more exquisite to look, but here the look providing a lens through which to see a complex life in a way that is much deeper, much finer.
It’s a poetic film, sad, with an emphasis on feeling and on thought rather than on action; where things are felt but hidden, half-said, mis-articulated; where the narrative shows all the complexities that the characters cannot themselves express, may not yet know, may in fact be trying to hide; a film where things are expressed visually and aurally, as befits a film.
The film is structured around the car-crash, spectacularly choreographed by Gérard Streiff and shown in a variety of ways depending on the mood the film is intent on conveying when it returns to it, as it does throughout the film; it’s the event that anchors the narrative and permits it to drift off in fragments whilst still being experienced as linear; it works as memory, as drifting thought, but it at all times makes sense to the viewer.
We sometimes see it in slow motion, or with the film speeded up, or even with the film being run backward; and when we return to the accident, we sometimes cut to the witnesses of the crash, sometimes to an event in Pierre’s life; sometimes just to his point-of-view as he’s trying to make sense of what’s happened to him. In one instance we see a shiny black boot, stepping on a gorgeous ground of green grass, poppies and little blue flowers. As Pierre tries to focus, and at the very moment in which he realizes he might die, he can still see beauty amongst the black.
One can understand why Sautet thought Jacqueline Thiédot, chief editor, important enough to come first at the end credits. The film is a masterpiece of editing. But really, the film is a masterpiece for many reasons.
It’s full of wonderful moments: the two scenes where Pierre and Helène discuss their relationship, first in the elevator and then in the car, where the shadows as the elevator ascends through floors, or the lime yellow of passing traffic, create a murkiness, a lack of clarity, that symbolizes all of the mis-communication, the pain of Helène’s honest and vulnerable expression in the light, or lack of light, of Pierre’s inability to express his own emotions, in the light, or lack of light, of his silence.
Or the wonderful close-up of Romy Schneider at the auction (see clip below), where one can see exactly why Pierre fell in love with her; or those moments of bliss sailing, never to be repeated, already in the past as the image fades to white; or the exquisite pan around the wedding banquet where the dream of what might have been suddenly turns into the nightmarish realization of what actually is in one sweeping camera movement. This is the work of a truly great director.
Sautet here also enjoys the collaboration of an extraordinary team. Not only the aforementioned Thiédot but also an intricate screenplay based on the novel by Paul Guimard which Sautet superbly knitted together with Guimard, Sandro Continenza and Jean-Loup Dabadie, who would later write at least dialogue for many of Sautet’s other films (including the marvellous César et Rosalie). Jean Boffety is director of photography and responsible for very beautiful and evocative images with a lighting design that signifies; one in which, things are half shown as they are half-spoken, capable of great beauty in that wonderful Eastman colour that picks up primary colours and makes them almost shine (sadly it is also the process most prone to fade and turn to red ). Also the camera renders the space almost sculptural in the way that it frames all that happens as spaces of changeable feeling and meaning; all this greatly aided by Phillipe Sarde’s very beautiful score (the film itself is almost structured as a fugue).
A popular success, Les choses de la vie was the 8th highest earning film of its year with 2,959, 682 admissions. It won the Louis Delluc Prize for Best Film in 1970. It was also nominated for Golden Palm at 1970 Cannes Film Festival. The film would revitalise the careers of Sautet and Schneider and lead to many future collaborations between them, including Max et les ferrailleurs/ Max and the Junkmen and César et Rosalie, both superb. Les choses de la vie was remade in Hollywood as Intersections directed by Mark Rydell and with Richard Gere, Sharon Stone, Lolita Davidovitch. It might be worth noting that the performances of Piccoli, Schneider and Masari are so great they completely eclipse any memory of the American actors, which I saw first. Courrèges did Romy’s chic, career-girl A-line mini-dresses. Lovely.
To my knowledge, Les choses de la vie is not available in the UK or the US with English sub-titles. I hope someone does something about it soon. It’s only a matter of time before Sautet’s great works are re-disovered. Les choses de la vie is one of them.
José Arroyo
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With his latest movie, The Long Goodbye, Robert Altman is once again asking for trouble—and once again there’s every reason to believe he’s going to get it. In the American film industry, this director is the ultimate heretic: he has a lucid vision of the world and he’s sticking to it, no matter what the momentary fancies of popular commerce. Only once has this vision coincided with the national mood and given him a smash box-office success; that was M*A*S*H, which is five movies back in his career. Now Altman has gone and pushed his audacity beyond the limits of chutzpah and into the realm of hubris. He has taken a film property with a fervent built-in following—one of Raymond Chandler’s detective novels—and transformed it into a movie that seems bound to bore and alienate that very audience. The Long Goodbye, like most of this brilliant director’s work, is some kind of wonderful picture, but it probably won’t win him any friends among the already skeptical gnomes of Hollywood.
The movies just doesn’t lend itself to an easy sell. When United Artists opened it in a handful of cities months ago, the accompanying promotion campaign led the public to believe that The Long Goodbye was, as one might expect, smack in the grand tradition of all the other Chandler-inspired pictures—the most table of which, Howard Hawks’ The Big Sleep (1946), starred Humphrey Bogart as fictional private eye Philip Marlowe. But Altman’s film, as it turns out, owes little to that past; Bogey is dead and the director is far less interested in arranging a second coming than he is dancing on graves. Audiences hoping for nostalgia binge were turned off, and UA yanked the movie from distribution.
Now The Long Goodbye is being given a New York City opening and some new publicity that bills the film as “a dark and comic send-up of the 1940s’ gumshoe genre.” A well-meaning try, but no cigar. The movie is not satire either, and audiences who come to it expecting an orgy of in-jokes are going to have a rotten time. Altman doesn’t want to play games with our cultural legends; he wants to annihilate them.
That’s precisely what he did two years ago when he took on the western in McCabe and Mrs. Miller. Although Altman employed all the phenomena of the horse opera—the manly gunman with a storied past, the raunchy saloon, the two-fisted madam and the final shoot-out—the film turned these cliches inside out, completely defying an audience’s normal expectation of either a madcap wester M*A*S*H or the plain good-guy, bad-guy theatrics of a John Wayne oater. It was a movie in which the two glamorous and seemingly “made for each other” stars (Warren Beatty and Julie Christie) did not fall in love; one in which the whole town did not turn out for the climactic showdown and instead left the hero to die alone and unmourned, an anonymous stiff to be buried by the unremitting snow.
Philip Marlowe, who turns up in the form of a rumpled and ill-shaven Elliott Gould, is still on the case—who can give a damn about the case?
Altman even tampered with the basic devise of narrative storytelling. Not only did the “plot” seem to be unfolding in some vague fashion off-screen, but much of the movie’s dialogue was intentionally inaudible. By liberating his film from all the dramatic and sentimental constraints of the past, Altman came up with a ballad of the frontier that, while accommodating courage and humor and love, was sung in an apocalyptic key. It was a few of the Golden West that had more in common with Nathanael West’s Day of the Locust than with James Fenimore Cooper’s Leatherstocking tales.
So it’s not really too surprising that this time around Altman turns to Chandler for source material, for, like our current reigning detective-novelist Ross Macdonald, Chandler was one of Nathanael West’s spiritual heirs. His fiction provides a perfect means for Altman to transport his western dreams from the turn-of-the-century wilderness to the southern California where American civilization came to its grim dead end. Indeed Altman and screenwriter Leigh Brackett (who, along with William Faulkner, Jules Furthman and the uncredited help of Chandler himself, adapted The Big Sleep a generation ago) have plunked Philip Marlowe down into the immediate present—an L.A. of all night supermarkets, hash-stoned freaks and underworld gangs so ecumenical they can accommodate equal numbers of Jews, Blacks, Italians and Mexicans among their ranks.
Philip Marlowe, who turns up in the form of a rumpled and ill-shaven Elliott Gould, is still on the case—who can give a damn about the case? For Altman, the story is a nuisance that he reluctantly displays in incoherent dribs and drabs. And so, The Long Goodbye is in truth another ballad, belonging to that special brand of neon soul music we associate with insomnia and dashed hopes. This is a movie about a society that is choking on dirty money and its own high-proof bile.
In this way the film’s “mystery” is far less important that the people and places Marlowe encounters while pursuing it. More often than not his clues lead him to a ritzy housing development in Malibu where a burnt-out, crazy writer named Roger Wade (Sterling Hayden) lives with his wife Eileen (Nina van Pallandt). Although their household is built on mounds of cash, it is bankrupt in just about every important way. The Wades’ existence is defined by a sea of drunken beach parties so immutable that even when a man walks into the ocean to commit suicide one night, neighbors insist on coming over during the search mission to break out some more booze.
At least there’s still some tribal sense of community in Malibu; L.A. itself has become a frontier ghost town like all the others where the boom went bust. The piano bars still have their solitary Hoagy Carmichaels, but there are no customers besides Marlowe, and the owners have to give their wares names like “Hot Pants Drinks” in a desperate maneuver to lure clientele. While the city’s lowest caste of tradesmen and hangers-on still do movie star impressions at the drop of a hat, the subjects of such hero worship are the forgotten stars of the Hollywood firmament—like Walter Brennan and Barbara Stanwyck. But perhaps the most haunting specters of doom are the young stoned-out and semi-nude women who, night and day, can be seen dancing to the slow and silent beat of some transcendental drummer on the terrace across from Marlowe’s flat; they support themselves by dipping candles for “a cute little shop on Hollywood Boulevard”—presumably the town’s last, degenerated outlet for what used to be known as craft.
As usual Altman has a crew of distinctive supporting players around, and they are as central to depicting the dreary moral landscape as is the fine, smoggy Vilmos Zsigmond (McCabe, Deliverance) cinematography. Though the director’s stock company (Rene Auberjonois, Bud Cort, Sally Kellerman, et al.) is not on hand, the casting is by and large as fortunate as it is unlikely. Nina van Pallandt, the paramour of yesteryear’s Clifford Irving-Howard Hughes “book” affair, is a terribly appropriate choice for the cagey blonde Eileen, and Hayden, bearded and boorish, makes a pitiable hack-Hemingway of a husband for her. Ex-ballplayer Jim Bouton captures the peculiar, smooth assurance of a kept man, and TV comic Henry Gibson, whose talents had heretofore seemed obscure, is a fitting quack shrink, and “albino turd,” as one character describes him, who moves with the exaggerated, bouncing strides of a figure from a James Thurber cartoon.
Like such other Altman heroes as McCabe, Brewster McCloud and the M*A*S*H surgeons, Marlow has the courage that prods him to take chances and settles scores.
There is also Mark Rydell as Marty Augustine, a mobster whose polished social graces and almost casual cruelty make him all but indistinguishable from respectable folk like the Wades. Marty is nouveau riche and Jewish, a nice guy who would rather be at Sabbath services than at work, and who is prone to bragging about the $1,000-a-week health farm he can afford for his overweight wife. Rydell makes Marty appear rational even during the character’s more eccentric moments—like the one where he tells his mistress in all hushed sincerity that he loves her, and then proceeds to punctuate his affectionate declaration by picking up a Coke bottle and quite off-handedly smashing it across her face.
But most of all there is Elliott Gould as Marlowe. This actor has finally risen from the ashes of all those films like Getting Straight and I Love My Wife, in which he has been debasing himself for more years than he or anyone else would care to recall. His performance in The Long Goodbye is unmannered and endearing as well as comic.
Outwardly, Gould’s Marlow is a shambles of a man who walks around in soiled dime-store suits and can’t command the allegiance of his pet cat, not to mention that of a woman. (If Lauren Bacall were around she’d probably have him arrested for vagrancy.) But Gould’s mumbling, happy-go-lucky cynic of a private eye also radiates a constant, if fatalistic, sense of integrity that the outward chaos cannot belie.
Like such other Altman heroes as McCabe, Brewster McCloud and the M*A*S*H surgeons, Marlow has the courage that prods him to take chances and settles scores, even though he suspects that the death and greed around him may wipe out his small acts of valor in the long run. It’s not for nothing that Altman, in his most startling departure from the original Chandler novel, has Marlowe pull out a gun in the film’s final moments and smilingly knock off an unfaithful friend. This act is essential to the director’s conception of the hero and, not so incidentally, it’s the only instance of justice in the movie.
It’s a joyous moment, too, as murders go, and Altman extends it by a long closing shot in which we watch Marlow skip and dance up a country road as “Hooray for Hollywood” creeps up on the soundtrack. Hooray for Hollywood? Well, of course. Like his heroes, Robert Altman cannot live without getting the last mocking—and quite possibly self-destructive—laugh.
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2024-03-14T08:28:11+00:00
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Christopher Rydell (born 16 November 1963; age 60) is the actor who played the Alien Astronaut in the Star Trek: Enterprise first season episode "Dear Doctor". Rydell is the son of Star Trek: The Original Series guest actress Joanne Linville and director Mark Rydell. His sister Amy Rydell is...
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en
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https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/memoryalpha/images/4/4a/Site-favicon.ico/revision/latest?cb=20240722023401&path-prefix=en
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Memory Alpha
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https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Christopher_Rydell
|
Real world article
(written from a production point of view)
Christopher Rydell (born 16 November 1963; age 60) is the actor who played the Alien Astronaut in the Star Trek: Enterprise first season episode "Dear Doctor".
Rydell is the son of Star Trek: The Original Series guest actress Joanne Linville and director Mark Rydell. His sister Amy Rydell is also an occasional actress.
Rydell has started his career when he was young and appeared in small roles in films, directed by his father. Among the films he has played in are Cinderella Liberty (1973), Harry and Walter Go to New York (1976, with Bert Remsen and Ted Cassidy), Gotcha! (1985, with Greg Karas and Gene LeBell), Listen to Me (1989, with Anthony Zerbe, Timothy Dang, Tom Schanley, Lilyan Chauvin, and Tricia Sheldon), By the Sword (1991, with F. Murray Abraham, Doug Wert, and Brett Cullen), For the Boys (1991, with Jack Sheldon, Bruce Gray, Matthew Faison, Andy Milder, David Selburg, David Bowe, and Andy Dick), Flesh and Bone (1993, with Barbara Alyn Woods), A Man Is Mostly Water (2000), Last Goodbye (2004), and Dr. Rage (2005, with John Kassir).
Rydell has also guest starred in several television series such as Cagney & Lacey (1984), Family Ties (1984, with Robert Pine), The Hitchhiker (1990), and as the narrator in the Beyond the Glory episode The Buss Family (2004).
[]
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6000
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dbpedia
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https://medium.com/applaudience/running-scared-a-conversation-with-wayne-kramer-a23cbb90864
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en
|
RUNNING SCARED: A CONVERSATION WITH WAYNE KRAMER
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2016-11-07T17:59:21.597000+00:00
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Wayne Kramer — the writer and filmmaker born in Johannesburg-Kew, South Africa — delivered an unforgettable cinematic experience ten years ago with Running Scared, his second full-length feature…
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en
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https://miro.medium.com/v2/5d8de952517e8160e40ef9841c781cdc14a5db313057fa3c3de41c6f5b494b19
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Medium
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https://medium.com/applaudience/running-scared-a-conversation-with-wayne-kramer-a23cbb90864
|
I saw the film as a Grimm’s Fairy Tale nightmare and around each corner was always some escalating evil lurking. Oleg (Cameron Bright) was a version of Pinocchio and he’s on a journey to find his way back home to a real family where he can be treated like a real boy (unlike in the abusive household of his stepfather, Anzor).
Along the way, he encounters iconic fairy tale-like characters representing both good and evil. We meet Divina the hooker who is a representation of the Blue Fairy (from Pinocchio) and a force for good. He also encounters the psychopathic pimp Lester, who represents the Mad Hatter from Alice in Wonderland. To me, Joey (Walker) was always the Big Bad Wolf who turns out to a sheep in wolf’s clothing and Oleg’s real protector.
And then there’s Dez and Edele, who together represent the evil witch from Hansel & Gretel.
In the case of Dez and Edele (who inhabit a modern-day version of the Gingerbread House — only instead of a house made from candy, it’s videogames and toys), I wanted to give Teresa (Farmiga) a reference point for absolute evil in a world where her husband was involved with mobbed-up bad guys — but even these bad guys operated with some kind of code and didn’t just commit evil for evil’s sake.
They were more about business and protecting their interests, whereas Dez and Edele are the purest form of evil: child predators and murderers.
Teresa (who herself is a version of the protective Blue Fairy) fears that Joey has intentions to hurt Oleg, possibly even to kill him to silence him (playing into the theme of “nobody knows nobody” as Tommy says in the junkyard before shooting Sal).
Discovering the atrocities committed by Dez and Edele and coming face to face with the purest form of evil, it puts things into perspective for Teresa.
She knows in her gut and from having lived with Joey for so many years that he’s not “evil” and could never really hurt a kid. She wants to believe this in the beginning, but it’s reinforced by her encounter with the pedophile couple. It also gives her the strength to call Joey out on his behavior that night (in the dialogue outside the ice cream store).
As for the playroom floor in Dez and Edele’s apartment, it has always puzzled me why viewers think there is something buried under the floor or that they don’t understand the point of the construction plastic. They live in an apartment, so there wouldn’t be much space to hide any bodies under the floor.
The plastic is so that they can protect the carpet from blood stains when they murder the kids and then they can wrap the bodies up in the construction plastic and dispose of them.
The plastic is taped down to the carpet, so it’s easily removable; I think I discuss this on the DVD commentary. But a lot of people do indeed think that they’re burying the bodies under the floor. As for the texture of the carpet, that’s just the material. There isn’t anything diabolical about it — other than the child-like puzzle design to the floor itself.
Everything in the playroom was conceived to be super-creepy with an emphasis on bondage and entrapment. Also, inside the closet is rolls of tape and cleaning products — and body bags and weird little dress-up costumes. There are also hanging devices and ropes around the room.
Basically, everything is intended to get under your skin and leave you feeling absolutely creeped-out by what goes on in that room. Which is exactly what Teresa vibes when she barges her way in there.
The apartment was built as a set and we made sure it had no corners, so like trapped mice the children couldn’t hide anywhere. There are also very few-to-no shadows in the apartment (other than in the children’s bedroom) — and the Nosferatu-like shadows of the couple through the bathroom window, suggesting Oleg’s impression of their inner evil.
I try to avoid stock villains in my work. Alec Baldwin’s Shelly Kaplow in The Cooler was a villain that I tried to weave out of somewhat sympathetic cloth as well. Very few people are truly evil. There is a difference between people who do evil and completely evil people like Dez and Edele.
The people who do evil, like mob guys and hitmen and dirty cops, they all love their families just like we do.
I wanted Anzor to be a fully-rounded character and for the audience to understand how he got to be the person we are introduced to in the beginning of the film.
Anzor represents the failure of the American dream, or the failure for someone to achieve the American dream as mythologized to a young kid back in Communist Russia. Anzor is a life soured and lived unfulfilled.
He did the decent thing by saving Mila’s life and he paid a steep price for it, losing his standing in his uncle’s criminal enterprise. As such, he resents Oleg because he projects his own failures and shortcomings on the child whose life he saved, along with Oleg’s mother. Anzor did a selfless thing in marrying and saving Mila, but can’t come to terms with the consequences, so he takes his rage and frustration out on the two of them.
Anzor also lives with an idealized version of America in his head.
It’s a version where heroes like John Wayne don’t get shot in the back. The ‘good guy’ always wins in the end. He fails to understand the selflessness of Wayne’s character Wil Andersen in The Cowboys that gets him shot in the back at the end of the second act — that’s he protecting the kids (which is ironic since that is what Anzor did for Mila when he stood up to his uncle).
Anzor has this epiphany on the ice rink at the end and finally understands the power of Wil Andersen’s sacrifice and it’s like a white hot light hitting him. He decides to make a stand against his uncle and comes full circle on his original selfless act.
He decides to go out as the good guy, just like John Wayne — rather than commit evil and kill a child.
I don’t think there was Super 8 cutdown of The Cowboys for kids. I made that part up — although maybe some abridged version did exist; I never had a copy. But I did collect Super 8 edited versions of feature films when I was a kid. Growing up in South Africa, I never had all the great stuff that I saw advertised in American and UK 8mm collectors magazines, like Jaws or The French Connection or The Exorcist or Alien. I just never had access to it and they were also super-expensive.
My family never had money and there was no way I could afford some of these titles — and you couldn’t legally import them since a lot of these films like The Exorcist and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre were banned in South Africa. I had older Super 8 excerpts like 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea (the squid scene) and Westerns like The Virginian and The Spoilers (starring John Wayne).
I knew that even if I could get my hands on Super 8 titles like The Exorcist, Deliverance, Bullitt, etc., they wouldn’t have the entirety of the story and lots of important bits would be cut out. At the same time, I remember seeing The Cowboys in the theater when I was a kid and being shocked beyond belief that John Wayne died in the film.
That was never supposed to happen! I kept thinking he was going to come back to life. It ruined the whole film for me because I couldn’t get over the fact that the hero didn’t make it. It was my first brush with seeing an iconic leading man not survive on screen. It would be like Sean Connery dying in a Bond film. That moment stuck with me and resonated for many years.
I guess the combination of that movie awakening for me, that heroes and leading men could die in films, and the fact that I collected Super 8 cut-downs just converged in my subconscious and the Anzor backstory was birthed out of it.
The more I played with it, the more it became a metaphor for disillusionment with the American dream, which is something as an immigrant to America I completely understand and identify with.
America itself is one huge commercial to the rest of the world and it arrives via our movies and TV and popular culture. You can’t help but be infected with it as a child who doesn’t have access to a similar culture. That is why movies have such a powerful effect on us in our formative years.
Even though I didn’t become an American until 2000 when I got naturalized, I had already become an American when I was a kid in South Africa watching American films and wanting to be apart of that culture. I think Anzor felt the same way — only his path to finding “America” was paved with disappointment and bitterness. I think he dies finding his America in the end.
ON CASTING PROCESS
I was absolutely involved in every aspect of the casting. Paul’s agent at the time was very insistent that I consider him for the part. I was only familiar with Paul from The Fast and The Furious films and wasn’t sure he was the right physical type, although I thought he was very charismatic on screen.
I met with Paul a few weeks later and was hugely impressed with him.
He had an intensity about him in person that I wasn’t expecting and I also found him to be quite earnest, which was refreshing for someone who was already a movie star (or well on his way to becoming one).
All my doubts about whether he could play the part went away after that meeting.
ON CONTRAST BETWEEN TWO FEMALE LEADS
I don’t know if I consciously thought about that, but it certainly turned out that way. Like Joey, Teresa knows that some bad shit is going on next door, but she chooses not to get involved with it until that ‘bad shit’ hits the fan. But Teresa is every bit as tough as Joey, if not tougher, so there’s no way she would allow a man to put his hands on her (in a way that she didn’t want) unlike Mila, who puts up with years of abuse.
I think the contrast I was going for was more the difference between Teresa being an American woman who stands up for herself and Mila being an immigrant whose very existence in America is one based on exploitation and subjugation: she arrives in America owing a debt to the Russian mob (as a hooker) then after Anzor saves her from his uncle, she’s paying off a different debt — this time to Anzor for ‘ruining’ his life.
Mila has never had a moment where she’s been ‘debt-free,’ so she doesn’t know how to live with her head held high — which is how Teresa conducts her life. So they do contrast each other very well.
On the other hand, both Teresa and Divina are versions of the Blue Fairy from Pinocchio for me. They’re both super-tough, both wear blue and both represent the forces of good in the film. They are both protectors of Oleg on his journey. Mila tries to protect Oleg (as in the pizza scene), but she doesn’t have the toughness of Teresa and Divina. She doesn’t have it in her to fight back. In the end, her only escape from victimization (and because she believes she wasn’t able to protect her son) is to take her own life.
Both Mila and Anzor are tragic figures and represent the dark side of the American dream unfulfilled.
ON “SAY I’M AN AMERICAN” SCENE
This was a bit of dialogue that I could have easily cut for time and pacing, but it was personal to me because as a naturalized American, I love America (flaws and all) and I wanted to give a shout-out to the country which is so often portrayed in a negative light.
I knew this exchange could be (and often is) interpreted as being jingoistic by some, but my attitude was, “Fuck it.” When it comes down to it, I’m happy to put a bit of flag-waving on the screen. But it also represents who Joey is: he’s Jersey proud, blue collar, loves his country and loves being an American.
He has a Cold War attitude about Russia, which you tend to still hear among a lot of blue collar workers — and, ironically, it’s more apt today since the relationship between America and Russia has deteriorated significantly since we made the film.
We have definitely entered a second Cold War. I also think the East Coast American crime film is a unique beast and so many of these characters, even the full-on scumbags, are super patriotic.
On another level, my films are always looking at America from an outsider’s point of view and I’m interested in capturing on film the “America” that I saw on the film and television when I was a kid and a teenager growing up in South Africa. I don’t think natural-born Americans are aware of it because they’re living ‘inside’ of it, but outsiders like myself and other foreign born filmmakers like Mike Newell (Donnie Brasco), Alan Parker, Adrian Lyne, Tony (R.I.P.) and Ridley Scott and many others, I think we’re super-conscious of capturing that quintessential ‘America’ that illuminated our childhoods.
Which is why I’m so attracted to urban thrillers with their decaying, rundown cityscapes or the old school glitz of Las Vegas, or the L.A. private detective genre with films like Chinatown, Night Moves or The Long Goodbye. These films just don’t resonate the same with me when they’re not rooted in some version of the American landscape.
Ultimately, it is a bonding moment between Joey and Oleg. It’s Joey, once again, saying to Oleg, you and me are the same. And you belong. You belong to this country. Stop presenting yourself as an outsider. And, of course, by the end Oleg has joined Joey’s family, so he has found his place in the world.
DIFFERENCE IN WRITING APPROACH FOR EACH FILM
Mindhunters (which I wrote and sold at least six or seven years before The Cooler and went into production about the same time as The Cooler) was completely rewritten (by five or six different writers even though it’s only credited to myself and one other writer) — so the final movie doesn’t represent much more than a rough skeleton of my original script. I don’t think there’s a single line of my dialogue (from my original drafts) in the film.
I have huge problems with the plot holes in that film and, unfortunately, they’re credited to me and Kevin Brodbin, but were inflicted upon the script by other writers.
Stylistically, it doesn’t represent me as a filmmaker other than from a conceptual point of view and as someone who is a big fan of the thriller and whodunit genre.
The Cooler is very much my voice and I think you can see the stylistic building blocks that lead from The Cooler to Running Scared. We had a very tight budget on The Cooler and very few shooting days, so there wasn’t time to execute super-complicated camera moves — although there are some ambitious steadicam shots in the film.
I’m proud of the look of The Cooler and wish more people saw it on the big screen because the way we shot it — using a bleach bypass process — just doesn’t come across on video (and unfortunately there is no Blu-Ray release of it). Maybe if we remastered it and tried again today we could get closer, but it really needs to be experienced on a 35mm print to truly appreciate the highlights, crushed blacks and overall grittiness of the images.
This is a hard one to reconcile. The film was essentially treated like a red-headed stepchild by the distributor and almost not released theatrically at all. The film was acquired by New Line during post-production and it basically caused a civil war to erupt within the company. The creative side of the company appreciated the film and saw the potential in it, but the marketing and distribution side of the company hated the film outright and saw no clear way to market it. When you have such internal conflict and negativity directed toward your film, you stand little chance of the studio getting behind it.
There are definite villains who got between a successful release of the film and the public. The critics (with the exception of a few notable voices like Roger Ebert and Andrew Sarris) went out of their way to kill the film. Google the Los Angeles Times review to see what I’m talking about. They seemed to have a huge problem with the violence and the child endangerment theme and could care less about the performances or the subtext or the craft that went into it.
There seems to be some critical reassessment of the film today, but that certainly isn’t reflected on the fourty percent Rotten Tomatoes score that has tainted the film since its release — and continues to do so since almost every cable TV menu and online film rental/sales site quotes the Rotten Tomatoes score.
I like to think that I’m in good company with Man On Fire’s thirty-nine percent.
Maybe audiences had an aversion to seeing a Paul Walker action film that wasn’t called The Fast and The Furious, I don’t know. You certainly couldn’t tell what this film was about from the trailers and marketing. The trailers, mostly due to MPAA rules (from what I was told), couldn’t show children in jeopardy, so the entire hook of the film is missing from the theatrical trailer. It just plays like some low rent action/mob film with no edge.
I think the audiences that did take a chance on it were quite shocked by the film they found themselves viewing based purely on the trailer. New Line didn’t even hold a premiere for us, so some of the cast and crew turned up to the opening night show at the Los Angeles Cinerama Dome and it was so depressing because we were almost the only people in this huge theater.
It just died that opening weekend.
I did receive a lot of support from within the industry, from filmmakers and film executives who had seen it privately and were impressed with it. I even got a very surprising call from David Geffen, who had seen it the night before it opened and loved it and was so frustrated with the terrible LA Times review that he felt compelled to call me up and tell me that the critics could go to Hell. Quentin Tarantino was another fan of the film who reached out to me to tell me how much he enjoyed it.
Once Running Scared hit DVD, word-of-mouth helped it find a bigger audience — certainly among cinephiles — but it has never really entered the mainstream.
I would say it’s probably the most popular film I’ve directed, but comparable to similar films by guys like Tarantino, Antoine Fuqua, Guy Ritchie, Tony Scott, etc. — it’s barely been seen, so that is a bit frustrating.
It’s a shame that it doesn’t play on the big screen more often in revival theaters because it’s a beautiful-looking film on 35mm and the camera moves are so much more impactful on the big screen. I only know of it playing once at the New Beverly in L.A. a couple of years ago. It’s now available on Netflix, so I imagine it’s being discovered (or revisited) by a whole lot more people.
ON VISION COMPARED TO RESULT
Running Scared is the film I’m most proud of that I’ve made.
I was pretty much allowed to make and release the film I wanted to make. There are definitely things I would do differently with the film if I could go back and do it over, but I don’t want to prejudice anyone’s enjoyment of it by mentioning them. Like most directors I imagine, I mostly see the flaws in my own work and it makes it tough for me to look back at my films.
But I think my cast and crew kicked ass on the film and I’m pretty sure we couldn’t get Running Scared made today — and certainly not for the budget we had in 2004 (when we shot it), despite being pretty low for an action film with so many different scenes and locations.
I was coming off The Cooler which was well-received at the time, so I had that rare opportunity to get this crazy crime film financed (by this company, Media 8) that no one else would touch. That’s how these things work: it just takes one company with vision to bring something like Running Scared into being.
I think if I had followed The Cooler up with something more art house in subject matter and tone to that film, I may have a better career today — but I bet everything on black and the ball landed on red.
At the end of the day, I wanted to make a film that I would be chomping at the bit to see when I was younger (and even still today) and one that also echoed back to the great crime films of the 70's and 80's by filmmakers that I revered like Brian De Palma, Walter Hill, Sam Peckinpah, Don Siegel, Robert Aldrich, Clint Eastwood… I probably made it twenty years too late.
But I’m glad it exists and I hope film lovers continue to discover it.
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https://www.amazon.com/Lion-Among-Wolves-Story-Bishop/dp/151520927X
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Amazon.com
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6000
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Tage des Ruhms, Tage der Liebe (1991)
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[] |
1992-02-06T00:00:00
|
For the Boys - Tage des Ruhms, Tage der Liebe: Directed by Mark Rydell. With Bette Midler, James Caan, George Segal, Patrick O'Neal. Talented USO entertainer Dixie Leonard and comedian Eddie Sparks deal with their relationship over the course of 5 decades from World War II to the Vietnam War era to their twilight era in the 90's.
|
en
|
IMDb
|
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0101902/
|
Every so often a film comes along that is misunderstood by critics and ignored by the public, but is subsequently rediscovered and reappraised. I sincerely hope that "For the Boys" will join those ranks. It is an uncommonly sincere, insightful and touching film, and the only things to be held against it amount to quibbles. True, the old age make up is dreadful, and the last five minutes seriously weaken the impact of the film, but the sum total is moving and perceptive.
Bette Midler, giving the performance of her career to date, was robbed of the Oscar in my opinion. It is a brave and sincere effort on her part, and such a pity that it was not met with greater recognition. James Caan plays the shallow, slightly dim Eddie Sparks almost too well. There are times when he truly frightened me. The performances on the whole are restrained; when the occasion for histrionics comes, both stars rise to it.
Thoroughly recommended. I sincerely hope this film finds its audience one day.
|
|||||
6000
|
dbpedia
|
1
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https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q953627
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en
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Mark Rydell
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American actor, film director, and producer
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6000
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dbpedia
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2
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https://www.barbra-archives.info/nuts-1987-movie
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en
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NUTS 1987 Film Drama
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Barbra Streisand starred in this 1987 film drama about a prostitute on trial to prove her sanity. This page looks at the development of NUTS, originally for Debra Winger, then the production, casting, and filming of Streisand's production.
|
en
|
https://www.barbra-archives.info/nuts-1987-movie
|
With Streisand attached to the film, Mark Rydell asked writer Darryl Ponicsan (Taps, Vision Quest) to take a go at the script. At the same time (and unbeknownst to Ponicsan), Rydell engaged his friend Alvin Sargent (Ordinary People, Paper Moon) to write it, too.
Darryl Ponicsan continues the story: “I met with Barbra Streisand and fell in love, though I was expecting to hate her, by reputation. The entire situation on Nuts was just that – nuts – and it was unique. I remember having lunch with [Sydney] Pollack at his office on the lot. He made us salads in his little kitchen, and I told him I was going to go do Nuts. He casually warned me. He said, ‘be careful.’ I had no clue what he meant, nor did I press him. But it turns out that Alvin Sargent and I had both been commissioned to write competing drafts of the same script, something that’s a big no-no with the [Screen Writers Guild]. I’m friends with Alvin, and neither of us had any clue. When we found this out, naturally, we were very upset. And we wanted off the project.”
Streisand explained that “I suggested that they work together on the script because they both have very different qualities. Alvin is very gentle and can explore his feminine side even though he’s very masculine. And Darryl is a tougher guy, a tough-talking, tough guy. A wonderful guy. He wrote the movie Cinderella Liberty. They were both great guys. I had a vision of it in my head to use these flashbacks, to try to explain some of her life to the audience.” Streisand enjoyed the writing process. “I had the most creative time I’ve ever had working with writers [on Nuts],” Barbra stated. “We delivered the script in seven days because we had great food. We sat around my dining room table for one week and delivered the script to Warner Brothers, so I was very pleased with that process.”
Ponicsan agreed. “Barbra requested that both Alvin and I spend a week alone with her in her Beverly Hills home, without Rydell, who, naturally, was very upset about being excluded. Streisand has a nun-like devotion to whatever she undertakes. Works like a mule. Good sense of humor and feeds you well. I remember having some very intense conversations with her about the prices she’d be charging for her sexual favors in the film, as she played a prostitute. She really got into it.”
Streisand was attracted to several of the themes in Nuts. “I had a miserable relationship with my stepfather. That's another thing that drew me to this project. I was abused as well — not sexually but emotionally. I don't think I had a conversation with that man.”
Nuts — once a small-budgeted film starring Debra Winger — was now a major studio film with a budget a little over $20 million (with Streisand receiving $5 million to star and $50,000 as a producer’s fee).
Next, Warner Brothers let Mark Rydell go, paying him his entire salary. “She tried to become the mediator between Mark and Warner Bros.,” said Marty Erlichman, Barbra’s manager. “When Barbra found that there was no way she was going to convince Warners to take him back … she said she would like an actor’s director. And they selected Marty Ritt.”
Streisand considered directing the movie herself, but not for long. “I always wanted to work with Marty, and asked him if he’d like to direct it,” she said in an interview with Gene Shalit. “He read the script and he liked it, and he came to see me, came over for lunch, and he said to me, ‘I’d like to do this movie. There’s only one thing. I don’t know if you could play the part.’ And I said, ‘What?’ And I thought, He said the right thing. He got my hair up, you know, my challenging bones ready, and I said, ‘Good. You’re the one. It’s a match.’”
Director Martin Ritt (Norma Rae, The Great White Hope) joined the film around April 1986.
Rydell, who sounds a tad bitter about his time on Nuts (and possibly constrained by a non-disclosure), stated, “Debra, with whom I worked on the material, was absolutely spectacular,” he said. “[Streisand] is a very strong-willed, extremely gifted woman,” said Rydell, “whose career has been characterized by a kind of monomania and self-absorption.”
With Martin Ritt attached as director, and a screenplay that the studio, Streisand, and Ritt agreed upon (featuring flashbacks about Claudia's early life), they proceeded to cast the film.
Richard Dreyfuss was the frontrunner for the role of Aaron Levinsky. Streisand had seen Dreyfuss in The Normal Heart at Las Palmas Theatre in Hollywood and was very impressed with his performance. Those negotiations were stymied, however, when Dreyfuss opted out of Nuts to make Tin Men with Barry Levinson.
Enter Dustin Hoffman.
Martin Ritt told columnist Marilyn Beck that Dustin Hoffman was “absolutely interested,” Ritt said. “Warner’s is very interested in him.” Streisand and Dustin Hoffman were spotted eating dinner in New York at Wilkinson’s, discussing his role in Nuts. Ultimately, Hoffman declined the role, some say because Warner’s wasn’t willing to pay his fee
.
Martin Ritt and Streisand decided to delay production of Nuts until October 1986 to allow Dreyfuss to complete filming Tin Men. “Richard Dreyfuss is a wonderful actor and he’s a very smart, disciplined person—and yet open to the moment,” Barbra said. “So I thought he was great as the attorney.”
The casting of Levinsky could have gone a different, interesting way, though. Barbra’s ex-husband, Elliott Gould, stated recently, “Barbra once called me when she was casting Nuts. First, we thought Mark Rydell was going to direct the picture with Debra Winger, and he had talked to me about playing her lawyer. But he couldn’t do it, so then Barbra decided to do it, and then Richard Dreyfuss wound up playing the lawyer. Barbra called me when she was doing the film and asked, ‘If you had a choice, what would you do? Your television series or my movie?’ My television series at that point and moment was a series for CBS called Together We Stand with Dee Wallace Stone and the whole family. I said, ‘I don’t have a choice, I’m committed to the television series, I’m in New York to meet the affiliates. We had done a pilot, they picked us up and they want us to go on air.’ And then she said, ‘But if you had a choice?’ I said, ‘Okay, I’ll talk with you later.’ Richard Dreyfuss, who wound up doing it, was excellent and terrific.”
“For every movie I like to do a lot of research,” Streisand said in the Nuts DVD commentary, “and I went to visit doctors and patients, schizophrenic patients; I watched a lot of tapes on sexual abuse. Went to hospitals, observed patients and doctors. Talked to some of them. It was very interesting to go to one of these mental hospitals and see that the behavior of the doctors was crazier than the patients.
“I walked into this place and I saw a girl that was very interesting, drawing barefoot,” Streisand said. “I asked if she could come into the room. And we needed an extra chair in the room. The doctor started to yell at the nurse. Maniacal, I swear to god. And the girl was very interesting, and she wanted to draw me. She drew me as a llama. And then said, ‘when I get out of here, can I come visit you?’ And I said, ‘No, you can’t come visit me.’”
One column reported that before filming began Streisand spent a day at one of the “best houses in Los Angeles” where she spoke to the women there about their circumstances and what made them choose that line of work. The newspaper ended the story with a joke: a businessman saw the star waiting for her car and asked the madam, “How much are you charging for the Barbra Streisand look-alike?”
Streisand filmed the only location scenes for the movie in early October 1986 at Whitehall and Bridge Streets in lower Manhattan. They also filmed scenes at the U.S. Custom House in New York, which doubled as the exterior of the courthouse. None of those scenes ended up in the movie, but there are plenty of stills of Streisand cavorting with construction workers and homeless people on the steps of the building.
Because Nuts was a courtroom drama, with many of its scenes taking place indoors, the majority of it was filmed on stages 15, 16, and 28 in Hollywood at Warner Brothers.
Karl Malden recalled a comradery between the older character actors during the courtroom testimony scenes. “When, for example, Eli [Wallach] was on the stand and Marty would call, ‘Cut!,’ Eli would look over to me. I would smile and nod, sometimes hold up one finger for one more take. And then when I was on the stand Eli would do the same thing. It had nothing to do with usurping Barbra’s power or Marty’s; it was just wanting the other person to be as good as we knew that person was capable of being. We had seen the best we all had to offer so many times before.”
“It was the toughest film I've ever made,” Martin Ritt said. Not because of Streisand's temperament, he explained, but because “you've got 71 pages of courtroom action without a jury to cut to.”
It was clear on set that Streisand, as producer and star, held as much power as director Ritt. Malden recognized that Streisand’s concentration was “spread so thin,” though. “At one point Barbra came up to me and said that she had specifically hired Marty because he was supposed to be good with women. What had happened, she wondered,” Malden stated. “I said, ‘Barbra, let him direct.’ But it is just not in her makeup to turn over the reins.”
Streisand stressed that “It was a very collaborative relationship, me and Marty [Ritt]. Since [Ritt] told me he respected the work I did in Yentl, it was a very close creative relationship. Sometimes if he didn’t even agreewith me, he would say, ‘But you have final cut’ since I was the executive producer, so I’ll try it from that point of view. He was usually very accommodating to what I saw, what I imagined, and that was good.”
“We had our arguments, but the film got made,” Ritt said. “She won some, I won some. She's tough, but I'm sure I'm not easy. I figure you could call it a washout.”
Ritt was ambivalent in the press about the issue of ‘final cut,’ however. “The producer, you see, is always reserved final cut,” Ritt explained. “It was never used with me until I worked with Streisand. She’s a very complicated lady.” Ritt also told the Dallas Morning News, “Barbra was not my favorite girl. When the cast and crew arrived on the set each morning, they expected a huge fight between Barbra and myself. They were never disappointed.”
When a Dallas Morning News reporter asked Richard Dreyfuss about Ritt’s quote, Dreyfuss replied, “Well, I’ll comment on the making of Nuts, but only after everyone else involved in the movie is dead.”
Others who worked on the film had positive things to say about Streisand. Cece Hall, supervising sound editor for Nuts, said: “I found Barbra really easy to work with as the producer. She was actively involved, very hands-on, and she worked hard. She had a clear, strong vision of what she wanted so nothing was confusing. That made my job easier. Sound effects can create important, significant, and subtle nuances in a scene. In Nuts, her character was in a kind of mental ward, which offered lots of fascinating sound backgrounds. I loved working with her and with her executive producer, Teri Schwartz.”
Robert “Buzz” Knudson was a sound re-recording mixer on Nuts. He also worked for Streisand on A Star is Born and The Main Event. “I will say that most directors, the Streisands, the Taylor Hackfords, the Friedkins, they’re all very bright people and they learn quickly,” Knudson said. “And you know Barbra is just—she’s a genius I think. Her mind works so well. When you do a picture with her now she’s light years ahead of you and what you’re thinking … I never will forget the very first foot of the pre-dub, there was a line that—I reached up to hit stop and she was getting ready to tell me to stop. She said, ‘You and I are going to get along good because we both think the same way.’”
Streisand assumed a new behind-the-scenes role for Nuts—composer. “I was able to write the score for this movie because I saw very little music in it,” Streisand stated. “I don’t know how to read or write music. I hear it in my head. I have somebody write the notes down. I sing it. That’s what I actually do. I’ll sing somebody the melody and then they write it down. Irving Berlin never wrote down music either … I actually wrote this melody on the guitar — the Nuts melody—then I have to hire an arranger to arrange it.”
Streisand hired Jeremy Lubbock. “I remember calling up Jeremy at two or three in the morning singing him the atonality, like Bartok, Stravinsky, of the theme I wrote to play it with cellos,” said Streisand. “Jeremy’s wonderful at changing the chords. It’s the minor side of the chord. I’m told I always gravitate toward the ninth of the chord, the eleventh of the chord. It’s not the five or the seven. I love it because when you do it correctly, it comes out right. Unlike when you cook, and you can try to follow the recipe, and it still doesn’t come out right ... But when it comes out right it’s very rewarding.”
Nuts was ignored by the Academy Awards in 1988 but nominated for three Golden Globe Awards (Best Drama Film, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor). Barbra Streisand only did one television interview in the U.S. to promote the movie (perhaps she was still feeling stung by the criticism of Yentl five years earlier?) Her publicist Lee Solters explained to the press that Streisand “doesn’t feel like she has to” do hundreds of interviews for the film. “She’s going to let the picture stand on its own feet.”
For Europe and Australia, Streisand participated in a handful of T.V. and print interviews.
She told the Daily Mail: “When I wasn’t nominated for an Oscar for Nuts, someone actually said it was because I looked too coiffed in my appearance. But the woman I play looks rough because she is going through a pretty bad time emotionally and that is what I had to show. They say I care so much about my appearance that I cut people out of my films or I cut them down. But … I don’t know who they are talking about. Certainly not me. Would I pick a lousy actor for a part just to make myself look better?”
Tom Topor, who saw the play he wrote move from Broadway to the Big Screen, commented on the final film: “I think Nuts is a good movie, a very good movie. It’s not the movie I would have made. It’s Barbra Streisand and Marty Ritt’s movie. When you consider how much they eliminated, it’s not bad at all. Except for one sentimental scene, when Dreyfuss visits her in the prison hospital, it’s an enormously brave picture for her.”
Richard Dreyfuss was reflective about the experience with Streisand on Nuts. “Barbra is a case,” he said. “She’s very specific. I think if there is one thing that you can say is a common denominator to all movie stars — especially female movie stars — is that they are, as opposed to the other actresses, they are definite. You can see a clear line around Katharine Hepburn’s personality, and Bette Davis’ personality, and Joan Crawford’s personality, and Gene Arthur, and Barbra Streisand. That is what sets them apart and makes them compelling for us to watch them. But what Barbra is is definite. And because she’s a woman we take issue with that in a greater degree than if she were a man. If she were a producer-star-director of the male gender, we would accept all of her eccentricities in a much more forgiving, normal, unquestioning way. The fact that she is a woman brings all those things out in very sharp relief. And that’s why, in a sense, we’re here discussing Barbra’s personality. We wouldn’t be discussing Marty Ritt’s personality, or mine or yours. That doesn’t mean I forgive her eccentricities, by the way, it just means that’s the phenomenon we’re discussing.”
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https://www.themoviedb.org/person/21958-mark-rydell%3Flanguage%3Den-US
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Mark Rydell
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Mark Rydell (born March 23, 1935 , in New York City) is an American actor, film director and producer. He has directed many Academy Award-nominated films including The Fox (1967), The Reivers (1969), Cinderella Liberty (1973), The Rose (1979), The River (1984) and For the Boys (1991). He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Director for On Golden Pond (1981).
Rydell's initial training was in music. As a youth, he wanted to be a conductor. He began his career as an actor and first became known for his role as Walt Johnson on The Edge of Night and as Jeff Baker on As the World Turns, which he played from 1956 to 1962. When he would not sign a long-term contract to remain on ATWT the producers had his character die in a car crash. He won plaudits for his role of violent Jewish mob kingpin Marty Augustine in Robert Altman's The Long Goodbye (1973). His most recent significant film role was in Woody Allen's Hollywood Ending (2002).
As a director, Rydell's credits include The Reivers (1969), The Cowboys (1972), Cinderella Liberty (1973), The Rose (1979), On Golden Pond (1981), for which he received an Oscar nomination as Best Director, The River (1984), For the Boys (1991), and Intersection (1994). He directed the TV movie The Crime of the Century (1996), which starred Isabella Rossellini and Stephen Rea. In 2006, Rydell directed the movie Even Money.
Rydell was also the director of the TV bio-pic James Dean (2001), which earned actor James Franco a Golden Globe award. Rydell also acted in the movie, playing Jack L. Warner (head of Warner Bros).
In 2009, Rydell, working with actor Martin Landau and screenwriter/playwright Lyle Kessler, produced an education seminar, The Total Picture Seminar. It is a two-day event covering the disciplines of acting, directing, and writing for film. The three have worked together as a team for many decades at The Actors Studio teaching and coaching professional actors, writers, and directors. In 2010, Rydell joined the Advisory Board of Openfilm, an online video sharing site created to help aspiring independent filmmakers.
Description above from the Wikipedia article Mark Rydell, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia
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The Movie Database
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https://www.themoviedb.org/person/21958-mark-rydell
|
Mark Rydell (born March 23, 1935 , in New York City) is an American actor, film director and producer. He has directed many Academy Award-nominated films including The Fox (1967), The Reivers (1969), Cinderella Liberty (1973), The Rose (1979), The River (1984) and For the Boys (1991). He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Director for On Golden Pond (1981).
Rydell's initial training was in music. As a youth, he wanted to be a conductor. He began his career as an actor and first became known for his role as Walt Johnson on The Edge of Night and as Jeff Baker on As the World Turns, which he played from 1956 to 1962. When he would not sign a long-term contract to remain on ATWT the producers had his character die in a car crash. He won plaudits for his role of violent Jewish mob kingpin Marty Augustine in Robert Altman's The Long Goodbye (1973). His most recent significant film role was in Woody Allen's Hollywood Ending (2002).
As a director, Rydell's credits include The Reivers (1969), The Cowboys (1972), Cinderella Liberty (1973), The Rose (1979), On Golden Pond (1981), for which he received an Oscar nomination as Best Director, The River (1984), For the Boys (1991), and Intersection (1994). He directed the TV movie The Crime of the Century (1996), which starred Isabella Rossellini and Stephen Rea. In 2006, Rydell directed the movie Even Money.
Rydell was also the director of the TV bio-pic James Dean (2001), which earned actor James Franco a Golden Globe award. Rydell also acted in the movie, playing Jack L. Warner (head of Warner Bros).
In 2009, Rydell, working with actor Martin Landau and screenwriter/playwright Lyle Kessler, produced an education seminar, The Total Picture Seminar. It is a two-day event covering the disciplines of acting, directing, and writing for film. The three have worked together as a team for many decades at The Actors Studio teaching and coaching professional actors, writers, and directors. In 2010, Rydell joined the Advisory Board of Openfilm, an online video sharing site created to help aspiring independent filmmakers.
Description above from the Wikipedia article Mark Rydell, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia
Mark Rydell (born March 23, 1935 , in New York City) is an American actor, film director and producer. He has directed many Academy Award-nominated films including The Fox (1967), The Reivers (1969), Cinderella Liberty (1973), The Rose (1979), The River (1984) and For the Boys (1991). He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Director for On Golden Pond (1981).
Rydell's initial training was in music. As a youth, he wanted to be a conductor. He began his career as an actor and first became known for his role as Walt Johnson on The Edge of Night and as Jeff Baker on As the World Turns, which he played from 1956 to 1962. When he would not sign a long-term contract to remain on ATWT the producers had his character die in a car crash. He won plaudits for his role of violent Jewish mob kingpin Marty Augustine in Robert Altman's The Long Goodbye (1973). His most recent significant film role was in Woody Allen's Hollywood Ending (2002).
As a director, Rydell's credits include The Reivers (1969), The Cowboys (1972), Cinderella Liberty (1973), The Rose (1979), On Golden Pond (1981), for which he received an Oscar nomination as Best Director, The River (1984), For the Boys (1991), and Intersection (1994). He directed the TV movie The Crime of the Century (1996), which starred Isabella Rossellini and Stephen Rea. In 2006, Rydell directed the movie Even Money.
Rydell was also the director of the TV bio-pic James Dean (2001), which earned actor James Franco a Golden Globe award. Rydell also acted in the movie, playing Jack L. Warner (head of Warner Bros).
In 2009, Rydell, working with actor Martin Landau and screenwriter/playwright Lyle Kessler, produced an education seminar, The Total Picture Seminar. It is a two-day event covering the disciplines of acting, directing, and writing for film. The three have worked together as a team for many decades at The Actors Studio teaching and coaching professional actors, writers, and directors. In 2010, Rydell joined the Advisory Board of Openfilm, an online video sharing site created to help aspiring independent filmmakers.
Description above from the Wikipedia article Mark Rydell, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia
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https://bplusmovieblog.com/2016/04/03/the-oscar-quest-reconsidered-best-director-1981-1982/
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The Oscar Quest: Reconsidered (Best Director, 1981-1982)
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2016-04-03T00:00:00
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The Oscar Quest began in May of 2010. I finished about fifteen months later, and wrote it up for this site. That was essentially the first thing I did on here. Five years have passed since then. I've grown as a person. My tastes have changed, matured (or gotten more immature, in some cases). So…
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https://secure.gravatar.com/blavatar/ea3a3f137056719de8b1e880588615198cf22a9ac8f8155a4dd1f4038211ac26?s=32
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B+ Movie Blog
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https://bplusmovieblog.com/2016/04/03/the-oscar-quest-reconsidered-best-director-1981-1982/
|
The Oscar Quest began in May of 2010. I finished about fifteen months later, and wrote it up for this site. That was essentially the first thing I did on here. Five years have passed since then. I’ve grown as a person. My tastes have changed, matured (or gotten more immature, in some cases). So it feels fitting, on the five year anniversary of the site and of the Oscar Quest, to revisit it.
I want to see just how my opinions about things have changed over the past five years. I didn’t do any particular work or catch-up for this. I didn’t go back and watch all the movies again. Some I went back to see naturally, others I haven’t watched in five years. I really just want to go back and rewrite the whole thing as a more mature person, less concerned with making points about certain categories and films than with just analyzing the whole thing as objectively as I can to give people who are interested as much information as possible.
This is the more mature version of the Oscar Quest. Updated, more in-depth, as objective as possible, less hostile. You can still read the old articles, but know that those are of a certain time, and these represent the present.
1981
Warren Beatty, Reds
Hugh Hudson, Chariots of Fire
Louis Malle, Atlantic City
Mark Rydell, On Golden Pond
Steven Spielberg, Raiders of the Lost Ark
Analysis:
Reds. Warren Beatty’s magnum opus about communism. Well, it’s not really about communism. It’s about a communist. John Reed, who wrote the book “Ten Days that Shook the World.” He’s an American journalist who gets swept up in the communist Revolution.
It’s him, Diane Keaton and Jack Nicholson. Mostly it’s him and Keaton. We see him becoming a communist, falling in love with her, and then Nicholson is playing Eugene O’Neill, who also is in love with her, and then Beatty goes to Russia and stays behind, and they’re separated for a while, then he comes back, there’s the whole reunion scene at the train station — it’s a long movie. It’s good, though. Be prepared for a lot of scenes of people in meeting halls talking about communist values.
The direction is good. It’s appropriately epic. He also structures it in a style that people hadn’t seen before. Which is basically how Band of Brothers structured their story. Real people (a mix of real and fictional people) talking about the characters as if it were a documentary, and then flashing back and forth from them to the action. This is the classy choice in the category and it makes total sense that he won. I can’t argue this having won. I’m probably going a different way, but I do understand him winning.
Chariots of Fire. I used to call this the worst Best Picture choice of all time. I don’t know if I feel as strongly now. I think it’s a bad choice, but now I understand it more based on what I know about the Academy and how they vote.
The film is about people who run. One kid is jewish and the other is catholic. We follow them in college and then as they run professionally and then all the way to the Olympics. That’s pretty much the film. There’s more. But that’s the general overview of the story.
The movie is fine. I don’t think it holds up very well at all and I’m still surprised that the Academy liked it enough to vote for it. I’m really curious how the year turned out. Because either there was a huge favorite that went down to the underdog, or they had no idea how it was gonna turn out and it was a dogfight to get the most votes and this just happened to win. From the looks of it, Reds had the most nominations, but it was about communism. And there’s no way the Academy as it was constituted in 1981 was going to vote for a movie about communism. And then there was Raiders, which was the populist choice (like Mad Max was), but wasn’t taken seriously by them for wins outside of the technical categories. Atlantic City was never gonna happen, so it became between On Golden Pond and this. And with BAFTA firmly behind this, and this having that uplifting kind of sports feel to it… I understand it. It’s not a choice that holds up, but I do understand it.
As for the direction, I would not vote for it. I think it’s fine, but I’d have him third in the category at best. I don’t even love the movie, but I’d still have him third here.
Atlantic City. No one even knows what this movie is. It was directed by Louis Malle, but feels quintessentially American. And 80s.
Burt Lancaster is an aging gangster who runs numbers (small time). Susan Sarandon is a cocktail waitress whose husband hasn’t lived with her for a while but shows up with a bunch of cocaine he’s gonna sell. He gets Lancaster involved, but then gets killed by the people he stole the coke from. So now, Lancaster is got a full on crush on Sarandon and wants to impress her. So the mobsters are now after her, and he’s trying to be young again and be a big man for her, and it’s actually quite good. Lancaster plays a really pathetic guy you completely understand.
The direction is fine. I like the film. I don’t think I’d consider it any higher than fourth in the category. It looks and feels like a lot of 80s movies. Nothing to make me want to vote for it over any of the major contenders in this category.
On Golden Pond.
I love this movie. I mean, it would have been a bit of a joke had it won, given how slight the subject matter is, but I love it nonetheless.
Henry Fonda and Katharine Hepburn (both in their final film roles) are an elderly couple who have gone to the same lake house every summer for something like fifty years. Fonda just celebrated his 80th birthday and is basically a cranky old man. They hear from their daughter (Jane Fonda), who has just married a man she met a few months ago, and they’re going on their honeymoon. And his son is now gonna stay with them for a few weeks until she comes back. So they’re left with this kid for half the movie, and a lot of it is the kid being kind of a dick, but then warming to them and becoming a regular nice kid — you know the drill. And then Fonda comes back, and there’s some personal shit that needs to be hashed out (which has an added real life father-daughter element to it). The movie is great. Hepburn and Fonda are so entertaining and so good, and it’s one of those movies you can’t help but love.
That said — the direction is clearly fifth in the category. There’s nothing particularly exemplary about it. It almost feels like a TV movie. The film is great, but there is zero need to even think about voting for it in this category. It’s actually a little surprising that it even got nominated here. Look at Driving Miss Daisy eight years after this. Wasn’t even nominated. This could have been like that and everyone would have understood.
Raiders of the Lost Ark. It’s Raiders, man. Indiana Jones, Ark of the Covenant, Marion, “Snakes.” Everyone knows this movie. We’ve all seen it. It’s great.
Spielberg was arguably the best choice in the category at the time, but, in a way similar to this past year with George Miller, the Academy just doesn’t seem to like for movies they consider blockbusters. They had a real vendetta it seemed against Steven Spielberg for a good fifteen years before he finally won. I think this is tops in the category and is gonna be my vote, but I completely understand taking Warren Beatty instead.
– – – – – – – – – –
The Reconsideration: It’s either Spielberg or Beatty. I don’t see any other choice as being viable. Rydell is lucky to be nominated, with his film looking like it was made for TV. Malle’s reward is the nomination. It’s fine, but not anything particularly standout. And Hudson — I guess, if you wanted to not split the vote. But I think it’s middle of the pack at best. So you’re left with the two solid efforts of Spielberg and Beatty. I’m okay with either. The Academy went Beatty, I’m going Spielberg. Either is a good choice.
– – – – – – – – – –
Rankings (category):
Steven Spielberg, Raiders of the Lost Ark
Warren Beatty, Reds
Hugh Hudson, Chariots of Fire
Louis Malle, Atlantic City
Mark Rydell, On Golden Pond
Rankings (films):
Raiders of the Lost Ark
On Golden Pond
Reds
Atlantic City
Chariots of Fire
My Vote: Steven Spielberg, Raiders of the Lost Ark
Recommendations:
Raiders of the Lost Ark is practically a life essential film. How does one grow up without seeing it? As a film buff, it’s essential.
The rest… ehh.
Reds isn’t essential, but you should see it. It’s a classic, it’s Beatty directing, a lot of Oscar nominations, he won Best Director. It’s definitely something you should see as a film buff, but you don’t need to rush into it. See the big movies first, and get to this around college.
Chariots of Fire is almost essential, but that’s only because it won, and if you want to complain about it having won, you need to see it. That’s how that works. So for people who really care about the Oscars, you need to see it. For film buffs, you can see it, because it is a Best Picture winner, but you don’t need to. And for casual film people — take it or leave it.
On Golden Pond is an absolutely lovely film. I think you should see it because it’s entertaining as shit. Also it won both lead acting Oscars. I’ll leave it as such — if the names Katharine Hepburn and Henry Fonda mean anything to you as a film buff, then you should see this movie.
Atlantic City is a solid, forgotten film of the 80s. Really well done. Later Burt Lancaster in his last truly awesome role, and a young Susan Sarandon. A crime movie, well made. Not gonna appeal to all, but very solid. It’s worth seeing because of its place in Oscar history, but it’s not essential by any means. This is the kind of story that, nowadays, would have been a subplot on three episodes of The Sopranos.
The Last Word: I say it’s either Beatty or Spielberg. Take your pick. Both are deserving. One is the “classy” choice, and the other is the populist choice. I’m taking Spielberg, but either one is a good decision.
– – – – – – – – – –
– – – – – – – – – –
1982
Richard Attenborough, Gandhi
Sidney Lumet, The Verdict
Wolfgang Petersen, Das Boot
Sydney Pollack, Tootsie
Steven Spielberg, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
Analysis:
Gandhi. As you can tell by the title, this is a biopic of Warren G. Harding.
It’s long, it’s epic, it really captures Gandhi the man. It’s great. You can’t really argue with this having won. Would I vote for it? Maybe. Is it deserving? Absolutely. So we’ll see where it shakes out.
The Verdict. Sidney Lumet again. Why is it that any time he gets nominated there’s always some reason to not vote for him? Definitely goes to back up the notion that he’s one of the most overlooked directors in history.
Paul Newman is a disgraced lawyer who was once a hot shot and is now a drunk ambulance chaser. His friend sends him a case as an act of charity that will basically settle out of court and get him a nice payday. A woman was given anesthesia at a church-run hospital and ended up almost dying and is now in a coma. The woman’s family wants the settlement so they can keep her alive. Newman, however, sees this as his chance for redemption and refuses the offer. So now he’s taking on the church and all their deep pockets. And of course, now that it’s going to trial, stuff starts happening. The star witness disappears, and the defense has James Mason, a top lawyer who practically guarantees a win, and even the judge seems to be working against him.
It is a GREAT movie. It’s really good. David Mamet wrote it, by the way. Paul Newman delivers a powerhouse performance, and arguably should have won Best Actor. The direction is really solid. Potentially worth a vote. Not sure if I would, but definitely something to consider.
Das Boot. Literally, “The Boat.” Sounds way better in German.
It’s about a bunch of men on a German U-Boat. We follow through the eyes of a young officer as the crew members work on this boat during World War II.
The story doesn’t matter, the movie is GREAT. It’s utterly captivating, and much of the movie is shot on the cramped quarters of a submarine. There are three different versions, the original 150 minute version, the 210 minute directors cut (typically the one people watch) and an uncut 290 minute version (which is almost five hours).
The direction is so great. It’s foreign, but it belongs right up there for a vote with everything else in this category. What Petersen achieves is nothing short of astounding. After this movie he made nothing but Hollywood features from then on.
Tootsie. Ah, Tootsie. Most people know this as “the movie where Dustin Hoffman dresses like a woman” but it’s actually a lot more than that. It’s really an amazing movie. I watched it again recently. It holds up.
Dustin Hoffman is a temperamental actor who can’t book a job because people know how difficult he is. He hears his friend is going up for a job as a nurse on a popular soap, and, desperate, decides that since no one will hire him, he’ll audition dressed like a woman. So he goes in and gets the part. And quickly his character becomes the best part of the show. So now he has to pretend to be a woman half the time. And on top of that, he falls in love with Jessica Lange, the female lead of the soap, who has taken a strong liking of her co-star (him, as a woman). Comedy ensues, but there’s a lot of weight to it. It’s not just a frivolous comedy. There’s actually drama here too. This movie manages to do it all.
It’s really great. One of the best movies of the 80s, and a definite Best Picture player, for when we get there. Underrated Oscar year, this one. As for the direction — good. Maybe you can want to vote for it. Tough category, tough year. But worth a vote, which means we keep it in play for later.
E.T. I want to say “oh fuck you if you don’t know what this is,” but that would be overly mean and more in line with what I did last time.
But seriously, it’s E.T. You should have heard of it. Boy finds an alien in the backyard, takes him in, tries to help him “phone home.”
It’s an all-time classic. Another one of those movies where, in 1982, I bet they were super pissed when Spielberg didn’t win, because the Academy just didn’t respect him. Why? Because this movie beat Star Wars to become the highest grossing movie of all time when it came out. And to them, that didn’t necessarily mean a film was “awards worthy.”
Definitely is worth a vote. Not sure what I’m doing, but absolutely is he right there in the end. I think we might have a category with all five as potential choices.
– – – – – – – – – –
The Reconsideration: All five are worth the vote, honestly. Some more than others, but I could understand making a case for all five.
The first two off for me are Tootsie and The Verdict. They’re great movies, but the direction for me doesn’t beat the other three. Not sure how I rank them, they’re about the same to me, but in terms of a vote, those come off first.
Then, with the other three — honestly, I’m still gonna take Das Boot here. I think what Petersen accomplishes, shooting so much of the movie inside a submarine, is really astounding. I think he deserved this.
I can’t be upset with Attenborough having won, but I don’t think I’d vote for him. His film is shot on an epic scale, which means wife shots, big sets, lots of people. It looks grand. It’s easy to make it look grand. I don’t think he did all that much outside of shoot in the scale to really make me want to vote for him over Petersen. And to be perfectly honest, I’d vote for Spielberg over Attenborough. Because with Spielberg, he made some really classic images in his film that stick with me way more than the ones from Gandhi do. Gandhi is a great film, but the direction of E.T. I feel is overall stronger.
But either way, I think Petersen takes this for me. Every time I see that film, I’m amazed by his direction.
– – – – – – – – – –
Rankings (category):
Wolfgang Petersen, Das Boot
Steven Spielberg, E.T the Extra-Terrestrial
Richard Attenborough, Gandhi
Sidney Lumet, The Verdict
Sydney Pollack, Tootsie
Rankings (films):
The Verdict
Tootsie
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
Das Boot
Gandhi
My Vote: Wolfgang Petersen, Das Boot
Recommendations:
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial is life essential. How you could make it to college without having seen it is unfathomable.
Das Boot isn’t essential, but you should see it as a film buff. It’s a really famous film, and it’s just a masterwork of direction. One of the great war films, too. Highly, highly recommended. Put it this way — if you’re here, you trust my opinion enough to know that I’ve seen enough movies to at least know what I’m talking about. And if I’m actually voting for something, there’s a reason for it. You may not agree with me, in the end, but if a movie you haven’t heard of or haven’t seen is something I’m voting for on this Quest, it’s probably something you should see. Otherwise, what are you doing reading this site?
Tootsie is an all-time classic and an essential movie for film buffs. It should be essential for everyone, it’s so good.
The Verdict is also an essential movie for film buffs. It’s a great trial movie, a genre that is always interesting, directed by Sidney Lumet and featuring one of the most iconic Paul Newman performances of all time. If you like movies, you need to see it.
Gandhi is a movie I’m calling life essential, because we should all be educated as to who this man was and why he had such an impact on the world and on history. You should see it as a human being. It’s not life essential the way E.T. is — I can understand if you haven’t seen it at age 20. But you should see it, so just get on that. It’ll make you a better person.
The Last Word: You can make a case for all five. Lumet seems slightest to me. Attenborough’s effort seems appropriately epic but doesn’t inspire much passion from me. Pollack’s effort is really solid but also doesn’t feel enough to warrant a vote. Spielberg is close, but every time I want to vote for him, I’m reminded how much I love Petersen’s effort. So, I take Petersen, but you could feel differently and take any one of the other four directors and be totally legitimized in doing so. As long as you can make a case as to why you think their effort is best, I can see voting for just about any one of the five nominees here. A very strong category.
– – – – – – – – – –
(Read more Oscar Quest articles.)
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https://crackedrearviewer.wordpress.com/tag/mark-rydell/
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Mark Rydell – cracked rear viewer
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2017-12-16T18:34:58-05:00
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Posts about Mark Rydell written by gary loggins
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cracked rear viewer
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https://crackedrearviewer.wordpress.com/tag/mark-rydell/
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THE COWBOYS is not just another ‘John Wayne Movie’ from the latter part of his career. Not by a long shot. Duke had read the script and coveted the part of Wil Andersen, who’s forced to hire a bunch of wet behind the ears adolescents for a 400 mile cattle drive across the rugged Montana territory. Director Mark Rydell wanted George C. Scott for the role, but when John Wayne set his sights on something, he usually got what he wanted. The two men were at polar opposites of the political spectrum, and the Sanford Meisner-trained Rydell and Old Hollywood Wayne were expected to clash. They didn’t; putting their differences aside, they collaborated and cooperated to make one of the best Westerns of the 70’s.
Andersen’s regular hands have all deserted him when gold is discovered nearby, leaving the aging rancher in the lurch. He heads for Boseman to look for recruits and, finding none, takes the advice of his old friend Anse (western vet Slim Pickens) and puts out the call at the local schoolhouse. Ten boys show up, green as grass but willing and eager to learn the ropes. An eleventh, the “mistake of nature” Cimarron, rides in, but after getting into a fight with another boy and pulling a weapon, Andersen refuses to take him along. Some older men, led by “Long Hair” Asa Watts, ask to join the drive, but when Andersen catches him in a lie he sends them packing.
Andersen’s in for another surprise when the cook he hired turns out to be a black man, Jebediah Nightlinger. The boys soon learn life on a cattle drive is no Sunday school picnic, and hardships are plentiful. Slim almost drowns crossing the river, until who rides up to save him but Cimarron. The wild child is then given a spot on the drive by Andersen, but there’s more hardship to come: Long Hair and his rustlers are following the herd, waiting for the right moment to strike…
Wayne’s Wil Andersen is an ornery cuss, tough as leather from his years as a cattleman, yet he shows a surprising tenderness toward the boys. The aging Duke gives yet another fine performance, and does marvelous work with his neophyte costars. Can you imagine being one of them, working with the legendary John Wayne! I would have killed for an opportunity like that! Wayne also works well with Roscoe Lee Browne (Nightlinger); the two have a grudging respect for each other that turns into something resembling friendship. Offscreen, the two actors discovered a mutual love for poetry – bet you didn’t know that about big, macho John Wayne!
Bruce Dern was an actor on the rise when he made THE COWBOYS, and he’s one scary hombre. His character is mean as hell, bullying one of the kids he catches alone, threatening to slit his throat if the boy dares tells Andersen he’s being followed. When he rides into camp and menaces the youngster, Andersen loses his cool, and the two men engage in a brutal brawl. Andersen, trouncing the younger man, turns his back on Watts, who in a rage shoots the older man in the back five times… AND BECOMES THE MOST HATED MAN IN CINEMA HISTORY! Believe me, it was a shock to see Duke get killed on the screen back in 1972, and to this day, there are fans who’ve never forgiven Bruce Dern for murdering John Wayne – after watching that scene, I hated him for years! (But enough time has passed, Bruce – all is forgiven!)
The cowboys themselves are played by Alfred Barker Jr (Fats), Nicholas Beauvy (Dan), Steve Benedict (Steve), Robert Carradine (making his film debut as Slim), Norman Howell (Weedy), Stephen Hudis (Charlie Schwartz), Sean Kelly (Stuttering Bob), A Martinez (Cimarron), Clay O’Brien (Hardy), Sean O’Brien (Jimmy), and Mike Pyeatt (Homer). They’re all good, especially when they stumble upon an encampment of whores led by Colleen Dewhurst, a scene that’s both funny and poignant. After the death of Wil Andersen, the boys decide “we’re gonna finish the job”, and THE COWBOYS becomes a revenge tale, picking off their adversaries one by one until the violent climax where Bruce Dern gets his just desserts!
Director Rydell learned his craft in the world of episodic TV (BEN CASEY, I SPY, GUNSMOKE), and had previously made THE REIVERS with Steve McQueen . Rydell had his own personal vision of what the film should be and Wayne, whose clout was enormous and easily could’ve taken control of the production over, stepped back and just acted as part of the ensemble. For his part, Rydell and cinematographer Robert Surtees paid homage to Wayne’s films with John Ford in the composition of many shots; there’s even the familiar door motif from THE SEARCHERS, and a scene of Andersen at his own children’s gravesite that echoes SHE WORE A YELLOW RIBBON . John Williams , as he did for Rydell’s previous film, contributes a memorably majestic score.
Big John Wayne was nearing the end of the trail when he made THE COWBOYS. Of his six remaining films, only THE SHOOTIST stands out as a quality piece of filmmaking. THE COWBOYS is yet another testament to his acting ability, and a damn good movie. Surrounded by an unfamiliar cast and crew, ailing from the cancer that eventually killed him, Wayne is out of his comfort zone, and gives his all in the role of Wil Andersen. It’s not a “John Wayne Movie”, it’s a movie featuring John Wayne, actor. As it turns out, THE COWBOYS is one of his best 70’s cinematic outings, and a movie I can still watch and enjoy over and over.
Elliott Gould was a hot Hollywood commodity in the early 1970’s. The former Mr. Barbra Streisand broke through in the 1969 sex farce BOB & CAROL & TED & ALICE, earning an Oscar nomination for supporting actor. He was marketed as a counter-culture rebel, quickly appearing in MOVE, GETTING STRAIGHT, LITTLE MURDERS, and Robert Altman’s M*A*S*H. But his flame dimmed just as fast, and his erratic onset behavior and rumored drug abuse caused him to become unemployable. When Altman decided to make the neo-noir THE LONG GOODBYE, he insisted on casting Gould as Philip Marlowe. The film put Gould back on the map, and though critics of the era weren’t crazy about it, THE LONG GOODBYE stands up well as an artifact of its era and a loving homage to Raymond Chandler’s hard-boiled hero.
Philip Marlowe is clearly an anachronism is 70’s LA, with his ever-present cigarette, cheap suit, beat-up ’48 Lincoln, and love for old jazz tunes. He’s a loner with only a cantankerous cat for company. Friend Terry Lennox pays him a visit, asking Marlowe to drive him to Tijuana after a fight with his wife. Marlowe accommodates his buddy, and is greeted upon his return by the cops, who tell him Lennox brutally beat his wife to death. Marlowe’s arrested when he refuses to cooperate, and sits in jail for three days. The cops let him go when it’s discovered Lennox committed suicide in Mexico. Marlowe doesn’t believe the murder rap against his buddy, and smells a rat, but the cops close their case.
The private eye is summoned to ritzy Malibu Colony, coincidently where Lennox lived, by beautiful Eileen Wade. She hires Marlowe to find her husband Roger, a successful author with a heavy drinking problem. He tracks Wade to a rehab facility run by Dr. Verringer, a quirky little quack who only accepts the very rich. Marlowe brings the errant husband home, and when he’s finished the job, he runs into trouble in the form of Marty Augustine, a psycho gangster who claims Lennox robbed him of $350k, and demands Marlowe get the money back.
Chandler’s dense plot gets the Altman treatment, with the director’s trademark overlapping dialogue and long-range tracking shots mixing well with the story. Screenwriter Leigh Brackett was familiar with the turf, having wrote THE BIG SLEEP with Bogie and Bacall twenty-seven years earlier. Ms. Brackett was a prolific science fiction author, but comfortable in the crime genre, too. She also contributed to the screenplays for RIO BRAVO and THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK (or whatever they call it these days). The late Vilmos Zsigmond’s cinematography gives us a sunny, pastel-hued California in stark contrast to the shady goings-on.
The cast is eclectic, to say the least. Roger Wade is played by Sterling Hayden, a long way from his days as a Hollywood leading man. He’s bearded and bat-shit crazy as the dissipated Wade. Maybe he wasn’t acting at all, as it’s been rumored Hayden was drinking and smoking weed throughout the film’s shoot. Nina Van Pallandt (Eileen) was better known as the mistress of Clifford Irving, who perpetrated a literary hoax when he published a book claiming to be the autobiography of billionaire (and former owner of noir factory RKO) Howard Hughes. Mark Rydell (Augustine) was the director of films like THE REIVERS, THE COWBOYS, CINDERELLA LIBERTY, and ON GOLDEN POND. Jim Bouton (Lennox) was a former pitcher for the New York Yankees who made a splash with a tell-all book of his own, BALL FOUR. Henry Gibson (Verringer) was a comedian from TV’s ROWAN & MARTIN’S LAUGH-IN, who became an Altman regular. Others include Warren Berlinger, Rutanya Alda, Jack Riley, David Carradine (in an amusing cameo), and future action star and California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger (in a small role as a hood).
Gould worked again with Altman in CALIFORNIA SPLIT and NASHVILLE. Though he never reclaimed the lofty heights of his early 70’s success, he managed to reintroduce himself to audiences as Ross and Monica’s dad on the sitcom FRIENDS, and later in the OCEAN’S 11 remake and it’s sequels. His Marlowe’s a far cry from Humphrey Bogart, but THE LONG GOODBYE isn’t exactly your traditional film noir. Taking the character and updating him to self-centered 70’s LA may have seemed like blasphemy to Chandlerphiles at the time, but that’s precisely the point. The times they had a-changed, and it’s a much sadder place today without men like Philip Marlowe in it.
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https://www.britannica.com/biography/Mark-Rydell
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Mark Rydell | Biography, Movies, Director, & Facts
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2014-01-03T00:00:00+00:00
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Mark Rydell, American actor and director who was best known for helming On Golden Pond (1981). His other notable credits included The Rose (1979). Rydell also acted, in his own films as well as in those directed by others, such as Robert Altman’s The Long Goodbye (1973). Learn more about Rydell’s life and work.
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/favicon.png
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Encyclopedia Britannica
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https://www.britannica.com/biography/Mark-Rydell
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Mark Rydell (born March 23, 1929, New York, New York, U.S.) is an American actor and director who was best known for helming On Golden Pond (1981).
Rydell trained at the Juilliard School of Music and The Actors Studio. He initially worked as a jazz pianist, and in 1952 he made his Broadway debut, appearing in Seagulls over Sorrento. The following year Rydell began acting on television, and from 1956 to 1962 he had a lead role on the popular television soap opera As the World Turns. In 1956 he appeared in his first feature film, Don Siegel’s juvenile delinquent saga Crime in the Streets. Rydell later acted in several TV series before moving behind the camera in 1963 to direct episodes of Ben Casey. He subsequently worked on such shows as I Spy, The Fugitive, and Gunsmoke.
Britannica Quiz
Pop Culture Quiz
In 1968 Rydell made his film-directing debut with The Fox, a brooding adaptation of a D.H. Lawrence novella, starring Sandy Dennis and Anne Heywood as housemates whose rural life—and lesbian relationship—is disrupted when a handsome stranger (played by Keir Dullea) moves in unexpectedly. The entertaining The Reivers (1969), which was based on William Faulkner’s comic (and final) novel, starred Steve McQueen as a high-spirited handyman who takes a young boy (Mitch Vogel) and a friend (Rupert Crosse) on a car ride to Memphis. Far less lively was The Cowboys (1972), an acerbic western starring John Wayne as an old rancher who recruits 11 youngsters to help him on an epic cattle drive; along the way, they battle an outlaw (Bruce Dern). Rydell next directed Cinderella Liberty (1973), a bittersweet romantic drama about a sailor (James Caan) and a jaded prostitute (Marsha Mason, nominated for an Academy Award) who is raising a son. Harry and Walter Go to New York (1976) was a strained comedy starring Caan and Elliott Gould as a pair of unsuccessful vaudeville performers who decide to become bank robbers.
In 1979 Rydell had his first major hit with The Rose. The drama featured Bette Midler in a breakthrough role as a Janis Joplin-like rock singer who is self-destructive. Frederic Forrest played her boyfriend, and both performers were nominated for Oscars. Rydell then scored his biggest success—both critically and commercially—with On Golden Pond (1981), Ernest Thompson’s Oscar-winning adaptation of his play about the joys and pains of growing old. Henry Fonda (in his last feature film) and Katharine Hepburn portrayed long-married New Englanders, and Jane Fonda was their angry daughter. Hepburn and Henry Fonda won Oscars, and the film and Rydell were also nominated. In addition, On Golden Pond was one of the highest-grossing movies of the year.
Rydell’s next films, however, were less successful. The River (1984) was a well-meaning but flawed drama, in which Mel Gibson and Sissy Spacek starred as a farming couple who struggle to avoid foreclosure and then must deal with a flood. The film was largely ignored by moviegoers, as were For the Boys (1991), a show business saga starring Midler and Caan as USO performers whose turbulent romance spans a half century, and Intersection (1994), in which Richard Gere portrayed a man who, during a fatal car crash, reexamines his love life.
Rydell had more success with James Dean (2001), a television film in which James Franco effectively embodied the iconic actor; Rydell cast himself as Jack Warner, an executive at Warner Brothers. His final film as a director was the gambling drama Even Money (2006), which featured Kim Basinger, Danny DeVito, Ray Liotta, and Forest Whitaker. In 2007 Rydell directed an episode for the TV miniseries Masters of Science Fiction.
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https://wpgtalkradio.com/son-of-showboat-atlantic-city-nj-owner-passes-away-suddenly/
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Son of Showboat Atlantic City, NJ Owner Passes Away Suddenly
|
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2024-08-05T09:06:41+00:00
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Son of Showboat Atlantic City, NJ Owner Passes Away Suddenly
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WPG Talk Radio 95.5 FM
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https://wpgtalkradio.com/son-of-showboat-atlantic-city-nj-owner-passes-away-suddenly/
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I learned yesterday, as word quickly spread about the sudden passing of Bart Blatstein’s son, Ryan.
I want to take this opportunity to extend my deepest condolences to Bart, who is a good friend and the owner of Showboat Atlantic City.
Bart is presently living every parent’s worst nightmare, the impossible loss of a child.
A profound loss such as this, goes against the laws of nature, as no parent should ever have to suffer the loss of a child.
The photo above and below is from Laura Goldman, a freelance producer at Good Morning America, who wrote about Bart and his son Ryan flying to Israel to volunteer on a military base during the war against Hamas through through Sar-El.
Goldman shared about Bart and Ryan’s journey (in Bart’s own words) in an effort to encourage others to volunteer.
This is a great example of the kind of person that Bart Blatstein is and the volunteer mission with his son Ryan is a case study as to how they have lived their lives together.
Bart said that “if Jews can’t be safe in Israel, there's no where we can be safe,” Blatstein told Goldman.
Bart explained to Goldman why he volunteered on this mission to Israel:
I was 13 years old when the 6 day War broke out. We were living in Northeast Philly across the street from our synagogue, Shaare Shamayim. At the breakout of the war, all members were called to the synagogue for an emergency meeting. I remember like it was yesterday. I remember even where I sat that night. It was one of those things that are forever burned in your memory ; where you were when Kennedy was assassinated, the 9/11 attack, etc.
October 7th changed me forever. I always telt an underlying antisemitism in the world, but never could I imagine the viciousness of what is happening now. How could the world be blind to the utterly blatant lying of the haters? Israel is smaller than New Jersey, has never attacked another country, is the only democracy in the Middle East, and accepts all people as equal in Israel, said Blatstein, to Goldman.
Blatstein was greatly influenced by his Father, Harry and here he was in Israel with his son, Ryan doing such important and unselfish work.
This is The Bart Blatstein that I have gotten to know over the past decade.
Please pray for Bart Blatstein and his family during this very difficult time of profound loss.
SOURCE: Laura Goldman, Freelance Producer at Good Morning America via Facebook.
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http://thehollywoodinterview.blogspot.com/2008/03/
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en
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The Hollywood Interview
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http://thehollywoodinterview.blogspot.com/favicon.ico
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http://thehollywoodinterview.blogspot.com/favicon.ico
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By Alex Simon and Terry Keefe. A collection of our best talks.
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http://thehollywoodinterview.blogspot.com/favicon.ico
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http://thehollywoodinterview.blogspot.com/2008/03/
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https://www.goldderby.com/gallery/best-sally-field-movies-ranked/
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en
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Sally Field movies: 16 greatest films ranked from worst to best
|
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[] |
[] |
[
""
] | null |
[
"Robert Pius",
"Misty Holland",
"Chris Beachum"
] |
2023-11-03T18:30:57+00:00
|
Tour our photo gallery including 'Norma Rae,' 'Places in the Heart,' 'Steel Magnolias,' 'Lincoln' and more.
|
en
|
GoldDerby
|
https://www.goldderby.com/gallery/best-sally-field-movies-ranked/
|
15. BEYOND THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE (1979)
Director: Irwin Allen. Writer: Nelson Gidding. Starring Michael Caine, Karl Malden, Telly Savalas.
It took seven years for this sequel to the immensely successful and beloved “The Poseidon Adventure” to hit movie screens and in that time the love for the genre had pretty much ended. Director Irwin Allen who had pioneered the disaster epic had a bomb the year before with “The Swarm” and the fate of this film was quite similar. BUT despite its place on many critics year’s end worse movie lists Field managed to give a surprisingly refreshing performance as one of the passengers trying to escape the capsized ship. She brings a comedic self-deprecation to her role and the moment when all the men rush to help a glamorous and beautiful Veronica Hamel (of “Hill Street Blues”) fame while letting Field fend for herself is a nice comic scene set amidst all the how shall we say, disaster.
14. BACK ROADS (1981)
Director: Martin Ritt. Writer: Gary DeVore. Starring Tommy Lee Jones, David Keith, Michael V. Gazzo.
After her Oscar win for “Norma Rae” made Field a movie star she only released two films in the following years both sequels (the aforementioned “Beyond the Poseidon Adventure” and “Smokey and the Bandit II.” Her next big film was supposed to be this comedy that reunited her with her “Norma Rae” director Martin Ritt. The film casts Field as a hooker who meets a down on his luck boxer played by Tommy Lee Jones. The two stars clashed vehemently on the set and Jones would later apologize to Field for his attitude during the film. Interestingly they would both earn Oscar nominations years later for “Lincoln.”
14. SPOILER ALERT (2022)
Director: Michael Showalter
Writers: David Marshall Grant, Dan Savage. Based on the book “Spoiler Alert: The Hero Dies” by Michael Ausiello
Starring: Jim Parsons, Ben Aldridge, Sally Field, Bill IrwinParsons stars in and produces this moving, frank and straight ahead love story-turned-tragedy that’s based on the 2017 memoir “Spoiler Alert: The Hero Dies” by Michael Ausiello, editor-in-chief of TVLine (owned by Gold Derby parent PMC) and who also serves as an executive producer of the film. It tells the story of Ausiello’s (played by Parsons) 13-year relationship with the man who ultimately became his husband, Kit Cowan (Aldridge), who dies of cancer way too young. Field turns in her usual powerful performance, playing Kit’s mother Marilyn Cowan as a tender and loving chatterbox who bonds with Ausiello, particularly during her son’s illness. The movie mostly misfires when it goes for laughs but connects in illustrating the natural cycle of romantic love and the profound ways in which commitment defines our humanity.
13. HELLO MY NAME IS DORIS (2015)
Director: Michael Showalter. Writers: Laura Terruso,Michael Showalter. Starring Max Greenfield, Kumail Nanjiani, Stephen Root.
Field recently had a minor hit with this touching comedy about an older somewhat out of touch woman who strikes up a friendship with a much younger man with whom she works. Doris is an oddly dressed older woman working among a bunch of hip young New York millennials. Max Greenfield plays the object of her desire who unknowingly (or does he?) encourages her affection. The film is surprisingly touching and allows Field to use her comedic chops which haven’t been seen on screen for a long time.
12. KISS ME GOODBYE (1982)
Director: Robert Mulligan. Writer: Charlie Peters. Starring James Caan, Jeff Bridges, Claire Trevor.
Set in the world of the Broadway theater, “Kiss Me Goodbye” is an American version of the acclaimed Brazilian film “Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands.” Field plays a woman whose choreographer husband falls to his death down a staircase in their townhouse. When she returns to the house a while later with a new fiancee she finds that the old husband (James Caan) is haunting the house.
11. ABSENCE OF MALICE (1982)
Director: Sydney Pollack. Writer: Kurt Luedtke. Starring Paul Newman, Melinda Dillon, Bob Balaban.
Field earned a Golden Globe nomination and Paul Newman eared an Oscar nomination for this story about ethics in journalism. Field plays a reporter who publishes a story which leads to the suicide of a woman (Melinda Dillon, also Oscar nominated.) Field stepped into the role after Diane Keaton dropped out of the film. This is an interesting entry on Field’s resume since it is one of the rare times that she was cast as a somewhat unlikable character. It is interesting to watch Field consciously trying to suppress the perky sweetness that is often present in her work.
10. SMOKEY AND THE BANDIT (1977)
Director: Hal Needham. Writers: James Lee Barrett, Charles Shyer, Alan Mandel. Starring Burt Reynolds, Jerry Reed, Paul Williams.
Due to her initial exposure to audiences as a TV star Field had trouble gaining film roles even after her acclaimed Emmy winning work in the mini-series “Sybil.” She took what film she could including this car chase comedy that was a huge hit for her and her then boyfriend Burt Reynolds. Field plays a runaway bride who somehow gets caught up in the auto tricks the film specializes in.
9. SOAPDISH (1991)
Director: Michael Hoffman. Writers: Robert Harling, Andrew Bergman. Starring Whoopi Goldberg, Kevin Kline, Robert Downey Jr.
This popular comedy stars Field as a daytime soap opera star trying to hold onto her job while a scheming co-star and producer try to get rid of her. She is also forced to reunite with an ex lover whom she loathes (Kevin Kline) and a starstruck relative who in soap opera fashion turns out to be her daughter (Elisabeth Shue) who wants to get into the acting business.
8. PUNCHLINE (1988)
Director and writer: David Seltzer. Starring Tom Hanks, John Goodman, Mark Rydell.
This somewhat forgotten entry on Field’s resume was the first time she was paired with Tom Hanks with whom she would later go on to make film history. The film is set in the world of stand up comedy which was thriving during the eighties. Hanks plays a somewhat self-destructive comic desperate for success while Field plays a suburban mother and wife who starts dabbling in the comedy world but is torn over the strain it places on her family.
7. MRS. DOUBTFIRE (1993)
Director: Chris Columbus. Writers: Randi Mayem Singer, Leslie Dixon. Starring Robin Williams, Pierce Brosnan, Harvey Fierstein.
“Mrs Doubtfire” stars Robin Williams as a divorced man who dresses up as an English nanny and takes a job working for his ex-wife so he can be closer to his children. The interesting thing about Field’s performance is how genuinely seriously she takes the role. The audience’s belief that this is really a proper English woman and not Robin Williams in drag depends a lot on how realistically Field plays her scenes with Mrs. Doubtfire whom she never once suspects is really her ex-husband. Outtakes of the film released in a recent documentary on Williams show how on her toes Field had to be since it was always unpredictable as to when Williams would begin to ad lib.
6. MURPHY’S ROMANCE (1985)
Director: Martin Ritt. Writers: Harriet Frank Jr., Irving Ravetch. Starring James Garner, Brian Kerwin, Corey Haim.
Field earned a Golden Globe nomination and her co-star James Garner earned his only Oscar nomination for this film about a woman who returns to her small town and finds herself falling in love with a somewhat older man. The films conclusion with Field announcing she’s in love for the first time in her life and Garner saying he’s in love for the last time in his life is romantic comedy at its most touching.
5. FORREST GUMP (1994)
Director: Robert Zemeckis. Writer: Eric Roth. Starring Tom Hanks, Robin Wright, Gary Sinise.
“Forrest Gump” became a bit of a national sensation when it was released in the summer of 1994. Field plays the mother of the title character who despite his mental limitations goes on to lead a full life and also develops a knack for being in the right place when history is being made. Field’s death bed conversation with Forrest where he asks her what his destiny is and she informs him that he’ll have to find that out for himself ranks as one of the most spine tingly moving moments in film history.
4. LINCOLN (2012)
Director: Steven Spielberg. Writer: Eric Roth. Starring Daniel Day-Lewis, Tommy Lee Jones, David Strathairn.
After a long absence from the Academy Awards Field returned to the competition with her work as Mary Todd Lincoln opposite Daniel Day-Lewis’ Oscar winning turn as Abraham Lincoln. Field earned her first Best Supporting Actress nomination for the film (and it was also the first time she was Oscar nominated and didn’t win.) Field’s story of how she was cast in the film when it was to star Liam Neeson but then years went by without the film being made is a bit inspiring. When the film eventually was going to be shot Steven Spielberg called Field saying he just didn’t think it was going to work out since Day-Lewis was younger and he didn’t think they’d make a believable couple. Field asked to audition with Day-Lewis and won the role which shows even a two time Oscar winner should be humble enough to audition when a plum role like Mary Todd Lincoln is on the line.
3. STEEL MAGNOLIAS (1989)
Director: Herbert Ross. Writer: Eric Roth. Starring Shirley MacLaine, Dolly Parton, Julia Roberts.
This beloved film casts Field as one of a group of friends who frequently discuss life’s ups and downs while they are getting their hair done in a salon owned by the Dolly Parton character in the rural south. The film provided then unknown Julia Roberts with a star making role as Field’s daughter who insists on having a child even though that could be quite dangerous to her health given she is a diabetic. Field’s final grave yard scene is one of the rawest displays of emotion and grief ever displayed on film and the comic twist at the end of it is just a gem of a moment. According to co-star Shirley MacLaine Field gave her performance with full out emotion for each of her co-stars closeup scenes which prompted MacLaine to proclaim her the most generous co-star she with whom she ever worked.
2. PLACES IN THE HEART (1984)
Director and writer: Robert Benton. Starring John Malkovitch, Danny Glover, Lindsay Crouse.
Unfortunately “Places in the Heart” will be forever linked with Field’s emotional Oscar speech where she proclaimed “you like me” and then was endlessly mocked by comedians for years afterwards. That is too bad because this entry which in addition to its Oscar for Best Actress for Field also earned a Best Original Screenplay Oscar for legendary filmmaker Robert Benton really is filmmaking at its best. Field plays Edna Spalding a suddenly widowed woman who defies the odds to keep her family intact by raising cotton. The movie features everything from a riveting tornado scene to a harrowing display of the racial hatred of the KKK. Especially touching in the film is a scene where Field’s blind embittered boarder (Oscar nominee John Malkovitch in an early film role) asks Field to describe what she looks like. Field and Malkovitch play the scene beautifully as the two troubled souls find a moment of connection and a brief bit of happiness in their turbulent lives.
1. NORMA RAE (1979)
Director: Martin Ritt. Writer: Irving Ravetch ,Harriet Frank Jr. Starring Ron Liebman, Beau Bridges, Pat Hingle.
Nobody in the film business seemed to want to play the title role in “Norma Rae.” A-List film actresses Jane Fonda, Jill Clayburgh, Marsha Mason, and Diane Keaton all turned down the role leaving director Martin Ritt to give the part to Field who was largely considered a television actress at this time and the transition from TV to movies was a tough jump back then. Field took the role and ran with it giving jone of the most acclaimed performances ever on film. She would go on to run the compete derby of awards winning the Cannes Film Festival, all the major film critic’s awards, the Golden Globe and finally the Oscar as Best Actress. Interestingly her Oscar competition included all the women who turned down the role (Fonda, Clayburgh, and Mason as well as Diane Keaton who wasn’t even nominated for her work in that year.) Field plays a somewhat irresponsible and hopeless woman who works in a small town mill. She finds purpose in life when she joins up with a man who is trying to unionize the factory. Field’s standing on a table with the word “union” written on it which slowly convinces her coworkers to join the union is one of those goose flesh inducing moments that only rarely come about in movies.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/For_the_Boys
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For the Boys
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/For_the_Boys
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1991 film directed by Mark Rydell
For the BoysDirected byMark RydellScreenplay byMarshall Brickman
Neal Jimenez
Lindy LaubStory byNeal Jimenez
Lindy LaubProduced byBette Midler
Bonnie Bruckheimer
Margaret SouthStarringCinematographyStephen GoldblattEdited byJerry Greenberg
Jere HugginsMusic byDave GrusinDistributed by20th Century Fox
Release date
Running time
138 minutesCountryUnited StatesLanguageEnglishBudget$40 millionBox office$23.2 million
For the Boys is a 1991 American musical comedy-drama film that traces the life of Dixie Leonard, a 1940s actress/singer who teams up with Eddie Sparks, a famous performer, to entertain American troops.
The film was adapted by Marshall Brickman, Neal Jimenez, and Lindy Laub from a story by Jimenez and Laub. It was directed by Mark Rydell and the original music score was composed by Dave Grusin. It stars Bette Midler, James Caan, George Segal, Patrick O'Neal, Arye Gross, and Norman Fell. A then-unknown Vince Vaughn made his film debut as a cheering soldier in a crowd.
As in The Rose, Midler's first starring role and also a large budget quasi-biopic, the film is fiction. However, actress and singer Martha Raye believed that Midler's character was based on many widely known facts about her life and career with the USO and pursued legal action based on that assumption. After a protracted legal engagement, Raye ultimately lost the case. The Caan character was generally believed to be based on Bob Hope.
For her performance, Midler won a Golden Globe Award and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress. The soundtrack features covers of many classic songs, including "Come Rain or Come Shine", "Baby, It's Cold Outside" by Frank Loesser, "P.S. I Love You", "I Remember You" and the Beatles' "In My Life". Five of the 13 songs have lyrics by Johnny Mercer. The soundtrack's first single, "Every Road Leads Back to You," was an original written by Diane Warren.
Despite a mixed critical reception and box office failure, the film was adapted for the musical stage in 2011 by Aaron Thielen and Terry James and debuted at the Marriott Theatre in Lincolnshire, Illinois.[1][2]
In the early 1990s, retired entertainer Dixie Leonard has a commitment to attend a Hollywood ceremony being televised live to honor her and her longtime show-biz partner Eddie Sparks. When a young man from the TV show comes to pick her up, Dixie balks and explains what brought Eddie and her together, as well as what drove them apart. The majority of the film is an extended flashback.
Dixie's story begins during World War II when she receives an offer to entertain the troops overseas as part of Eddie's act. Dixie is an instant hit with the boys in uniform, but Eddie wants her gone, ostensibly because he finds her kind of humor too coarse, but in actuality because she stole the show by topping his jokes. Dixie doesn't care for him much, either, but fellow entertainers and her joke-writer uncle Art persuade her to stay.
Eddie wins her over, particularly by reuniting Dixie with her soldier husband on stage. However, later in the war, Dixie's husband dies in battle.
Despite her distaste for Eddie, Dixie continues working with him back in the States...mostly to support herself and her son Danny. Eddie is married with daughters, yet he becomes a proud surrogate father to Danny.
As the Korean War breaks out, Eddie announces on stage that he and Dixie will be performing for the U.S. troops there, without having told Dixie of his plans first. In revenge, Dixie announces that Eddie made a $100,000 donation ($1,174,000 today) to the Red Cross. Reluctantly, she travels to Korea with him. On their way to the camp, they encounter a unit of soldiers that has been ambushed. Dixie cares for a wounded soldier but cannot save him: he is pronounced dead on arrival at the field hospital. Dixie and Eddie appear to spend the night together. At the Christmas dinner, a fight ensues after Art announces to everybody that Eddie has fired him for being a communist sympathizer.
In the meantime, Danny has grown up to be a soldier like his father and is deployed to Vietnam. At Art's suggestion, Dixie eventually agrees to perform there for Christmas with Eddie. On their way to the camp, the performers are warned of the camp possibly being attacked, because of which they are to be flown out immediately after their performance. Before going on stage, Dixie and Eddie meet Danny, who reveals to them the barbarity that is spreading among his comrades. The show begins with the performance of a dancer, who starts getting harassed by the soldiers, and only Eddie's intervention prevents the situation from getting out of control. Dixie comes on stage and makes some cynical remarks about the soldiers, then sings “In My Life”. While she is still on stage, the camp is attacked in a mortar barrage. Dixie and Eddie find shelter, but Danny is killed right in front of them; both mourn deeply for him.
Dixie has not forgiven Eddie for his part in all this, and they have another heated argument in the dressing room. Eddie goes out on stage alone. But, at the last minute, because he speaks of their joint loss in Vietnam, Dixie joins him on stage for one last song and dance, before appearing to accept their mutual love for one another.
The film received mixed reviews from critics, holding a 44% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 16 reviews, with an average rating of 5/10.[3] John Simon of the National Review called For the Boys "mindless".[4]
Produced on a $40 million budget, For the Boys was a commercial disappointment upon its original release, returning just $23 million in box office receipts worldwide.
Award Category Nominee(s) Result Academy Awards[5] Best Actress Bette Midler Nominated Chicago Film Critics Association Awards[6] Best Actress Nominated Golden Globe Awards[7] Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy Won Best Original Score – Motion Picture Dave Grusin Nominated
The soundtrack album is composed largely of popular standards from the era, although several were written after the time period in which the film takes place.
Track Listing Information based on the album's Liner Notes[8]
"Billy-a-Dick"
Performed by Bette Midler
with Orchestra arranged & conducted by Marc Shaiman
Music composed by Hoagy Carmichael
Lyrics written by Paul Francis Webster
Background Vocals: Patty Darcy
"Stuff Like That There"
Performed by Bette Midler with Orchestra conducted by Billy May
Written by Jay Livingston & Ray Evans
Arranged by Billy May & Arif Mardin
"P.S. I Love You"
Performed by Bette Midler
Music composed by Gordon Jenkins
Lyrics written by Johnny Mercer
Rhythm arranged by Dave Grusin
Strings arranged by Arif Mardin
"The Girl Friend of the Whirling Dervish"
Orchestra arranged & conducted by Marc Shaiman
Music composed by Harry Warren
Lyrics written by Al Dubin and Johnny Mercer
Background Vocals arranged by Marc Shaiman, Morgan Ames & Lorraine Feather
"I Remember You/Dixie's Dream"
Performed by Bette Midler and James Caan
Arranged by Marc Shaiman
"I Remember You" Music composed by Victor Schertzinger
"I Remember You" Lyrics written by Johnny Mercer
"Dixie's Dream" Written by Marc Shaiman
"Baby, It's Cold Outside"
Performed by Bette Midler and James Caan
Written by Frank Loesser
Rhythm arranged by Marc Shaiman
Strings arranged by Arif Mardin
"Dreamland"
Performed by Bette Midler
Music composed and arranged by Dave Grusin
Lyrics written by Alan and Marilyn Bergman
"Vickie and Mr. Valves"
Trumpet Solo performed by Jack Sheldon
Orchestra arranged & conducted by Marty Paich
Written by Lenny Lacroix
"For All We Know"
Performed by Bette Midler with Orchestra conducted by Ralph Burns
Music composed by J. Fred Coots
Lyrics written by Sam Lewis
"Come Rain or Come Shine"
Performed by Bette Midler
Music composed by Harold Arlen
Lyrics written by Johnny Mercer
Rhythm arranged by Marc Shaiman
Strings and Woodwinds arranged by Arif Mardin
"In My Life"
Performed by Bette Midler
Written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney
Music arranged by Robbie Buchanan
Strings and Background Vocals arranged by Arif Mardin
Guitar: Steve Lukather
Music programmed by Robbie Buchanan, Joe Mardin & Eric Persing
"I Remember You"
Performed by Bette Midler with Orchestra conducted by Arif Mardin
Music composed by Victor Schertzinger
Lyrics written by Johnny Mercer
Background Vocals arranged by Arif Mardin
"Every Road Leads Back to You"
Performed by Bette Midler
Written by Diane Warren
Arranged by Joe Mardin
Drums: Jeff Porcaro
Guitar: John Goux
Two Bette Midler singles were issued from the soundtrack, although neither performed particularly well on the U.S. singles charts. "Every Road Leads Back to You" peaked at No. 78 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 15 on the Adult Contemporary chart, while "In My Life" reached No. 20 on the Adult Contemporary chart while failing to register at all on the pop side.
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6 posts published by dcpfilm during July 2013
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Juraj Herz’s The Cremator is a bizarre experience. Maybe a good companion piece for The Conformist (and maybe that film + Mephisto as a way to describe it), it follows Kopfrkingl (Rudolpf Hrusinsky) a cremator in Czechoslovakia in the late 1930s. He’s loquacious, a … Continue reading →
It shouldn’t be much of a surprise that Birth is so good. It’s directed by Jonathan Glazer, who’s 2000 film Sexy Beast was a great debut, and written by the great John-Claude Carrier, who I most associate with Luis Bunuel, but whose filmography … Continue reading →
Dinner at Eight is an early George Cukor film that came recommended. I’m not too familiar with Cukor’s filmography, but I do know works like The Philadelphia Story, Gaslight, Adam’s Rib, and Born Yesterday, all of which range from good to excellent, and all of … Continue reading →
Thanks to Zimbo Films for turning me onto this one. Harry and Walter Go To New York is worth it just to hear Elliot Gould and James Caan’s many duets. The two star as vaudeville actors-turned-thieves opposite Michael Caine in Mark … Continue reading →
Port of Shadows precedes Marcel Carne’s better-known films Le Jour Se Leve (1939 – which I remember being introduced to as an undergraduate as the very early beginnings of film noir, interestingly enough) and Children of Paradise (1945), but it’s probably my favorite … Continue reading →
This post contains SPOILERS for season 2 of AMC’s The Killing While I don’t think that The Killing is a very good show, and admittedly have never seen the Danish original, there are still a lot of things to like. Joel Kinnaman is … Continue reading →
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https://kansascitytheater.wordpress.com/2016/03/13/bruce-dern-on-tarantino-westerns-and-john-wayne/
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Bruce Dern on Tarantino, Westerns and John Wayne
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2016-03-13T00:00:00
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At last I was on the phone with man who murdered John Wayne. Bruce Dern, a 79-year-old two-time Oscar nominee, has done movies and TV. He has performed in Westerns, thrillers, biker movies and science fiction films. He has worked with great directors — Alfred Hitchcock, John Frankenheimer, Elia Kazan — and he has shared…
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Stage & Scream in Kansas City
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https://kansascitytheater.wordpress.com/2016/03/13/bruce-dern-on-tarantino-westerns-and-john-wayne/
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At last I was on the phone with man who murdered John Wayne.
Bruce Dern, a 79-year-old two-time Oscar nominee, has done movies and TV. He has performed in Westerns, thrillers, biker movies and science fiction films. He has worked with great directors — Alfred Hitchcock, John Frankenheimer, Elia Kazan — and he has shared the screen with genuine movie legends, including Robert Mitchum, Bette Davis, Burt Lancaster and his old friend Jack Nicholson.
Now Dern is part of the ensemble cast of Quentin Tarantino’s “The Hateful Eight,” a big-budget Western to which Dern lends what I call genre credibility. Dern’s penchant for playing frontier psychopaths got him plenty of work on TV Westerns in the 1960s, and he made a singular contribution to the genre in “The Cowboys,” a 1972 film. In it, Dern, playing a low-life rustler called Long Hair, became the first actor in a Western to kill Wayne, the most iconic screen cowboy of them all.
In “The Cowboys,” Dern was doing what he’d been doing for years on TV, playing a flea-bitten S.O.B. with a gun. (Director Mark Rydell had once directed Dern in an episode of “Gunsmoke,” the long-running CBS Western.)
But “The Cowboys” was something different. Wayne usually surrounded himself with cronies, but Rydell decided to put him with “New York” actors — Dern and Roscoe Lee Browne, who played the trail cook, had come out of the Actors Studio in New York, and Colleen Dewhurst, a veteran of the New York stage, had a prominent cameo as the madam of a traveling whorehouse.
The result? Wayne delivered one of his best performances in one of his best movies. And Dern entered the Villains Hall of Fame. Wayne had been killed off in a handful of other films, but never in a Western. And all of this took place not long after Wayne restated his right-wing political views in a Playboy magazine interview.
“He said to me, ‘Oh, how they’re gonna hate you for this,’ ” Dern recalled. “And I said, ‘Maybe, but in Berkeley I’ll be a (bleeping) hero.’ He put his arm around my neck and showed me to the entire crew of about a hundred people standing there, and he said, ‘This is why this prick is in my movie — ’cause he understands that bad guys are funny.’ ”
Dern said he came to appreciate Wayne’s acting chops.
“To tell you the truth, he was a better actor than people gave him credit for,” Dern said. “There’s one thing John Wayne had, and that’s a presence. When John Wayne comes through a door, he’s a formidable being. He’s not someone you want to (mess) with. And I think he became a better actor as he went along. He was always relaxed, and he would have a nip or two during the day, but who (cares)? As an actor, he looked at you and listened to you and responded to what you said.”
In “The Hateful Eight,” Dern is part of an ensemble that includes Samuel L. Jackson, Kurt Russell and Jennifer Jason Leigh. Dern plays Gen. Sandy Smithers, a former Confederate officer who has come to Wyoming to find his missing son. Dern and Jackson have a particularly unpleasant encounter in a major sequence midway through the film.
Dern places Tarantino on the short list of directors he considers authentic geniuses. But the two had never met until Tarantino asked him to perform a cameo in “Django Unchained,” his previous movie.
“We have a lunch or two a year that last about five hours where we play … movie trivia and things like that,” Dern said. “He’s always had a reverence for me because he grew up watching me be (a bad guy) on television. He can even quote dialogue from shows I did on TV.
“He sent me the script of ‘The Hateful Eight,’ and that was the first I’d heard of it. I was excited that he wanted me to do it and that he had apparently tailored it for me.”
Little in Dern’s background suggested a career in Westerns. He grew up in an influential family in Chicago — he said he was a black sheep for choosing to be an actor — and as a young actor studied under Kazan and Lee Strasberg at the famed Actors Studio. He even drove a cab in New York to pay the rent. But after moving to Hollywood he found plenty of work on television, especially shows about the Old West, so much so that he became associated with the genre.
Dern recalled a bit of advice Kazan gave him when he was about to leave New York for California.
“Kazan said to me: ‘You’re gonna go to Hollywood now, and for a long time you’re gonna be the fifth cowboy from the right. Just make sure you’re the most memorable, unique fifth cowboy from the right anybody … saw.”
In the 1960s Dern appeared in every genre of TV show, but he found the most opportunities on Westerns. He appeared repeatedly on “Gunsmoke,” “The Big Valley,” “Wagon Train” and “The Virginian.” His first big-screen Western was “The War Wagon,” another Wayne movie.
“When I came to Hollywood in 1961, Universal Pictures alone made 14 hours a week of Westerns,” he said.
But his versatility has allowed him to work with some of the best directors in movies — Frankenheimer (“Black Sunday”), Hitchcock (“Family Plot”), Kazan (“Wild River”) and Walter Hill (“The Driver”). Along the way he earned a couple of Oscar nominations, one for “Coming Home” in 1979 and the other for “Nebraska” in 2014.
Tarantino, he said, is an actor’s director motivated by a reverence for the history of film.
“He encourages you,” Dern said. “The win is to be cast by Tarantino. And then you’re on the team. He’s had this group of actors he’s worked with through the years. And he kind of hired me to help lend a hand to what he was doing.”
In addition to Tarantino, Dern’s list of geniuses include Kazan, Hitchcock, Douglas Trumbull (who cast Dern in the science fiction film “Silent Running”) and Alexander Payne (who directed “Nebraska.”)
“My definition of genius has always been that at any point any member of the crew or cast can walk up to the director and say, ‘What is my contribution to this particular shot?’ and they can tell you succinctly,” he said. “In a way they’re teachers, they’re professors.”
Another “professor” was Roger Corman, the king of low-budget genre films, including biker movies and horror flicks. Dern and Nicholson appeared in several of Corman’s movies early in their careers. Dern and Robert De Niro played members of Ma Barker’s gang in Corman’s “Bloody Mama.”
“Jack and I always felt like we got to go the University of Corman because neither one of us finished college,” Dern said.
Dern said he doesn’t like to rehearse except for the camera movements. And he’s not bashful about inserting his own line of dialogue if he thinks it will help the film.
“Alexander Payne said to me the very first day of shooting on ‘Nebraska,’ ‘You see anything this morning you’ve never seen before?’ And I said: ‘Yes I do. I see that everyone is pulling his oar, and it’s 29 degrees.’ ”
The message from Payne was: Dare to fail.
“Let us do our jobs,” Payne told him. “Never show us anything. Let us find it.”
Dern said when he heard that he knew that “for the first time in my career I had a partner I could trust.”
And that’s how he felt about Tarantino on “The Hateful Eight.”
“I think the greatest thing Quentin has is his reverence for what went before,” Dern said. “He’s not a revolutionary, but he’s leading the troops at Valley Forge as far as I’m concerned right now.”
|
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dbpedia
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2
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https://facts.net/celebrity/30-facts-about-bobby-womack/
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en
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30 Facts About Bobby Womack
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2024-08-06T23:11:34+08:00
|
Discover 30 fascinating facts about the legendary musician Bobby Womack, from his early life to his influential career in the music industry.
|
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|
https://facts.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/fac-icon.ico
|
Facts.net
|
https://facts.net/celebrity/30-facts-about-bobby-womack/
|
Source: Azcentral.com
Bobby Womack was a legendary soul singer, songwriter, and musician whose career spanned over six decades. Known for his gritty voice and heartfelt lyrics, Womack left an indelible mark on the music industry. Born in Cleveland, Ohio, he started his journey in the early '60s with his family band, The Valentinos. His collaborations with icons like Sam Cooke and Aretha Franklin, along with his solo hits such as "Across 110th Street," showcased his versatility. Despite facing personal struggles and industry challenges, Womack's resilience and talent kept him relevant. Discover 30 intriguing facts about this musical powerhouse, from his early beginnings to his lasting legacy.
Our commitment to delivering trustworthy and engaging content is at the heart of what we do. Each fact on our site is contributed by real users like you, bringing a wealth of diverse insights and information. To ensure the highest standards of accuracy and reliability, our dedicated editors meticulously review each submission. This process guarantees that the facts we share are not only fascinating but also credible. Trust in our commitment to quality and authenticity as you explore and learn with us.
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http://www.filmreference.com/film/86/Mark-Rydell.html
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Mark Rydell Biography (1934-)
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Theatre, Film, and Television Biographies
John Romano to Waldo Salt
Mark Rydell Biography (1934-)
Born March 23, 1934, in New York, NY; son of Sidney (a stockbroker) and Evelyn Rydell; married Joanne Linville; married Esther; children: Christopher (anactor), Amy (an actress), Alexander. Addresses: Office: Concourse Productions, 171 Pier Ave., Suite 354, Santa Monica, CA 90405-5363.; Contact: 1 Topsail St., Marina Del Rey, CA 90292-7124.
Nationality
American
Gender
Male
Occupation
Director, producer, actor
Birth Details
March 23, 1934
New York, New York, United States
Famous Works
CREDITS
Film Director
The Fox, Warner Bros., 1967
The Reivers (also known as Yellow Winton Flyer), National General, 1969
The Cowboys, Warner Bros., 1972
Cinderella Liberty, Twentieth Century-Fox, 1974
Harry and Walter Go to New York, Columbia, 1976
The Rose, Twentieth Century-Fox, 1979
On Golden Pond, Universal, 1981
The River, Universal, 1984
For the Boys, Twentieth Century-Fox, 1991
Intersection, Paramount, 1994
Film Producer
The Cowboys, Warner Bros., 1972
Cinderella Liberty, Twentieth Century-Fox, 1974
The Man in the Moon, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer/Pathe, 1991
Intersection, Paramount, 1994
Film Executive Producer
For the Boys, Twentieth Century-Fox, 1991
Film Appearances
Lou Macklin, Crime in the Streets, Allied Artists, 1956
Marty Augustine, The Long Goodbye, United Artists, 1973
Romeo, Punchline, Columbia, 1988
Meyer Lansky, Havana, Universal, 1990
Himself, A Century of Cinema (documentary), 1994
Hollywood Ending, DreamWorks Distribution LLC, 2002
Television Director
Movies
Crime of the Century, HBO, 1996
(And executive producer) James Dean, TNT, 2001
Episodic
Gunsmoke (also known as Marshall Dillon and Gun Law), CBS, 1964-1966
Ben Casey, ABC, 1965
I Spy, NBC, 1966
Family, ABC, 1976
Also directed episodes of The Fugitive, ABC, and The Wild, WildWest.
Television Appearances
Series
Walt Johnson, The Edge of Night (also known as Edge of Night), 1956
Jeff Baker, As the World Turns, CBS, 1956-1962
Movies
Jack Warner, James Dean, TNT, 2001
Episodic
"Crime without Motive," Philco Television Playhouse, 1954
"Saw My Baby There," Naked City, 1959
"Criss Cross," Wanted--Dead or Alive, CBS, 1960
Himself, Naked Hollywood (also known as A&E Premieres),Arts and Entertainment, 1991
"Henry Fonda: Hollywood's Quiet Hero," Biography, Arts and Entertainment, 1997
Also appeared as Private Tommy Vandemere, "Rich Kid," The Phil SilversShow; himself, The Directors, Encore; on Inside the Actors Studio.
Specials
Unauthorized Biography: Jane Fonda, syndicated, 1988
"Sanford Meisner: The Theatre's Best Kept Secret," American Masters, PBS, 1990
Steve McQueen: The King of Cool, AMC, 1998
Himself, Lesley Ann Warren: A Cinderella Story (also known as Celebrity: Lesley Ann Warren), 2000
Stage Appearances
Made Broadway debut in Seagulls over Sorrento; also appeared in Moonbirds and Handful of Fire.
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dbpedia
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https://boo.world/database/profile/315962/mark-rydell-personality-type
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en
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Mark Rydell's Personality Unveiled: MBTI, Enneagram and More
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What 16 personality type is Mark Rydell from Film Producers? Find out Mark Rydell's 16 type, Enneagram, and Zodiac sign in the Soulverse, the comprehensive personality database.
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Boo
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https://boo.world/database/profile/315962/mark-rydell-personality-type
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Mark Rydell Personality Type
Mark Rydell is an ESTP and Enneagram Type 3w4.
What is Mark Rydell's personality type?
|
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6000
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https://flixpatrol.com/person/mark-rydell/
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Mark Rydell • FlixPatrol
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Mark Rydell (born March 23, 1935 , in New York City) is an American actor, film director and producer. He has directed many Academy Award-nominated films including The Fox (1967), The Reivers (1969), Cinderella Liberty (1973), The Rose (1979), The River (1984) and For the Boys (1991). He was…
|
en
|
/static/img/favicons/favicon.svg
|
FlixPatrol
|
https://flixpatrol.com/person/mark-rydell/
|
Numbers represent the title popularity measured on streaming. Every day, we track the popularity of movies and TV shows on Netflix, HBO Max, Disney+, Amazon Prime Video, Paramount+, and other streaming services in more than 160 countries worldwide. Viewership by hours or accounts is not provided, so we use the rankings from TOP 10 and other popularity charts, and from that, we build the point system for tracking the changes. See more about how the points and numbers are calculated.
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|
dbpedia
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2
| 47
|
https://www.nytimes.com/1984/12/16/movies/how-the-river-came-to-the-screen.html
|
en
|
HOW 'THE RIVER' CAME TO THE SCREEN
|
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"The New York Times",
"Esther B. Fein"
] |
1984-12-16T00:00:00
|
en
|
/vi-assets/static-assets/favicon-d2483f10ef688e6f89e23806b9700298.ico
|
https://www.nytimes.com/1984/12/16/movies/how-the-river-came-to-the-screen.html
|
The trees of Central Park were alternating shades of maize and red, and the stream of yellow taxis along Fifth Avenue blended into the autumn palette. Mark Rydell stood at the window of his 24th-floor hotel suite and smiled at the bold landscape, fraught with contrasts - of golds and grays, of nature and construction, of people and machines.
The people moving across town looked different from the farmers he had come to know last year, when he directed the filming of ''The River,'' which opens Wednesday at the Beekman Theater. The steel facades they work within, and hide behind, seemed so distant from the weathered homes, and faces, of the Tennessee Valley.
''It's hard sometimes to believe it when you compare them superficially, but the essential elements of life and family and work are really common to both environments,'' said Mr. Rydell. ''The issues transcend the tapestry. They are basic, fundamental, primitive.'' ''The River,'' starring Mel Gibson and Sissy Spacek, is the story of the Garveys - a young family determined to save their farm and rural heritage in the face of a flood, technical progress and economic pressure.
The farmer's plight has been explored recently in other movies, such as ''Country'' and ''Places in the Heart.'' All three movies contain elements of a family's devotion to their farm, a devastating force of nature, an unsympathetic bureaucracy and a strong-willed woman who binds her family during adversity.
''The River'' is the last of these movies to be released, but Mr. Rydell, who won an Academy Award nomination for his direction of ''On Golden Pond,'' did not lament competition.
''If so many filmmakers are drawn to the subject, it must mean that we are recognizing real concerns,'' he said. ''There must be a communal sense that we are losing something, letting something valuable go. I am grateful that they are devoting their attention to a great problem.''
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0
| 48
|
https://bplusmovieblog.com/2016/04/03/the-oscar-quest-reconsidered-best-director-1981-1982/
|
en
|
The Oscar Quest: Reconsidered (Best Director, 1981-1982)
|
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2016-04-03T00:00:00
|
The Oscar Quest began in May of 2010. I finished about fifteen months later, and wrote it up for this site. That was essentially the first thing I did on here. Five years have passed since then. I've grown as a person. My tastes have changed, matured (or gotten more immature, in some cases). So…
|
en
|
https://secure.gravatar.com/blavatar/ea3a3f137056719de8b1e880588615198cf22a9ac8f8155a4dd1f4038211ac26?s=32
|
B+ Movie Blog
|
https://bplusmovieblog.com/2016/04/03/the-oscar-quest-reconsidered-best-director-1981-1982/
|
The Oscar Quest began in May of 2010. I finished about fifteen months later, and wrote it up for this site. That was essentially the first thing I did on here. Five years have passed since then. I’ve grown as a person. My tastes have changed, matured (or gotten more immature, in some cases). So it feels fitting, on the five year anniversary of the site and of the Oscar Quest, to revisit it.
I want to see just how my opinions about things have changed over the past five years. I didn’t do any particular work or catch-up for this. I didn’t go back and watch all the movies again. Some I went back to see naturally, others I haven’t watched in five years. I really just want to go back and rewrite the whole thing as a more mature person, less concerned with making points about certain categories and films than with just analyzing the whole thing as objectively as I can to give people who are interested as much information as possible.
This is the more mature version of the Oscar Quest. Updated, more in-depth, as objective as possible, less hostile. You can still read the old articles, but know that those are of a certain time, and these represent the present.
1981
Warren Beatty, Reds
Hugh Hudson, Chariots of Fire
Louis Malle, Atlantic City
Mark Rydell, On Golden Pond
Steven Spielberg, Raiders of the Lost Ark
Analysis:
Reds. Warren Beatty’s magnum opus about communism. Well, it’s not really about communism. It’s about a communist. John Reed, who wrote the book “Ten Days that Shook the World.” He’s an American journalist who gets swept up in the communist Revolution.
It’s him, Diane Keaton and Jack Nicholson. Mostly it’s him and Keaton. We see him becoming a communist, falling in love with her, and then Nicholson is playing Eugene O’Neill, who also is in love with her, and then Beatty goes to Russia and stays behind, and they’re separated for a while, then he comes back, there’s the whole reunion scene at the train station — it’s a long movie. It’s good, though. Be prepared for a lot of scenes of people in meeting halls talking about communist values.
The direction is good. It’s appropriately epic. He also structures it in a style that people hadn’t seen before. Which is basically how Band of Brothers structured their story. Real people (a mix of real and fictional people) talking about the characters as if it were a documentary, and then flashing back and forth from them to the action. This is the classy choice in the category and it makes total sense that he won. I can’t argue this having won. I’m probably going a different way, but I do understand him winning.
Chariots of Fire. I used to call this the worst Best Picture choice of all time. I don’t know if I feel as strongly now. I think it’s a bad choice, but now I understand it more based on what I know about the Academy and how they vote.
The film is about people who run. One kid is jewish and the other is catholic. We follow them in college and then as they run professionally and then all the way to the Olympics. That’s pretty much the film. There’s more. But that’s the general overview of the story.
The movie is fine. I don’t think it holds up very well at all and I’m still surprised that the Academy liked it enough to vote for it. I’m really curious how the year turned out. Because either there was a huge favorite that went down to the underdog, or they had no idea how it was gonna turn out and it was a dogfight to get the most votes and this just happened to win. From the looks of it, Reds had the most nominations, but it was about communism. And there’s no way the Academy as it was constituted in 1981 was going to vote for a movie about communism. And then there was Raiders, which was the populist choice (like Mad Max was), but wasn’t taken seriously by them for wins outside of the technical categories. Atlantic City was never gonna happen, so it became between On Golden Pond and this. And with BAFTA firmly behind this, and this having that uplifting kind of sports feel to it… I understand it. It’s not a choice that holds up, but I do understand it.
As for the direction, I would not vote for it. I think it’s fine, but I’d have him third in the category at best. I don’t even love the movie, but I’d still have him third here.
Atlantic City. No one even knows what this movie is. It was directed by Louis Malle, but feels quintessentially American. And 80s.
Burt Lancaster is an aging gangster who runs numbers (small time). Susan Sarandon is a cocktail waitress whose husband hasn’t lived with her for a while but shows up with a bunch of cocaine he’s gonna sell. He gets Lancaster involved, but then gets killed by the people he stole the coke from. So now, Lancaster is got a full on crush on Sarandon and wants to impress her. So the mobsters are now after her, and he’s trying to be young again and be a big man for her, and it’s actually quite good. Lancaster plays a really pathetic guy you completely understand.
The direction is fine. I like the film. I don’t think I’d consider it any higher than fourth in the category. It looks and feels like a lot of 80s movies. Nothing to make me want to vote for it over any of the major contenders in this category.
On Golden Pond.
I love this movie. I mean, it would have been a bit of a joke had it won, given how slight the subject matter is, but I love it nonetheless.
Henry Fonda and Katharine Hepburn (both in their final film roles) are an elderly couple who have gone to the same lake house every summer for something like fifty years. Fonda just celebrated his 80th birthday and is basically a cranky old man. They hear from their daughter (Jane Fonda), who has just married a man she met a few months ago, and they’re going on their honeymoon. And his son is now gonna stay with them for a few weeks until she comes back. So they’re left with this kid for half the movie, and a lot of it is the kid being kind of a dick, but then warming to them and becoming a regular nice kid — you know the drill. And then Fonda comes back, and there’s some personal shit that needs to be hashed out (which has an added real life father-daughter element to it). The movie is great. Hepburn and Fonda are so entertaining and so good, and it’s one of those movies you can’t help but love.
That said — the direction is clearly fifth in the category. There’s nothing particularly exemplary about it. It almost feels like a TV movie. The film is great, but there is zero need to even think about voting for it in this category. It’s actually a little surprising that it even got nominated here. Look at Driving Miss Daisy eight years after this. Wasn’t even nominated. This could have been like that and everyone would have understood.
Raiders of the Lost Ark. It’s Raiders, man. Indiana Jones, Ark of the Covenant, Marion, “Snakes.” Everyone knows this movie. We’ve all seen it. It’s great.
Spielberg was arguably the best choice in the category at the time, but, in a way similar to this past year with George Miller, the Academy just doesn’t seem to like for movies they consider blockbusters. They had a real vendetta it seemed against Steven Spielberg for a good fifteen years before he finally won. I think this is tops in the category and is gonna be my vote, but I completely understand taking Warren Beatty instead.
– – – – – – – – – –
The Reconsideration: It’s either Spielberg or Beatty. I don’t see any other choice as being viable. Rydell is lucky to be nominated, with his film looking like it was made for TV. Malle’s reward is the nomination. It’s fine, but not anything particularly standout. And Hudson — I guess, if you wanted to not split the vote. But I think it’s middle of the pack at best. So you’re left with the two solid efforts of Spielberg and Beatty. I’m okay with either. The Academy went Beatty, I’m going Spielberg. Either is a good choice.
– – – – – – – – – –
Rankings (category):
Steven Spielberg, Raiders of the Lost Ark
Warren Beatty, Reds
Hugh Hudson, Chariots of Fire
Louis Malle, Atlantic City
Mark Rydell, On Golden Pond
Rankings (films):
Raiders of the Lost Ark
On Golden Pond
Reds
Atlantic City
Chariots of Fire
My Vote: Steven Spielberg, Raiders of the Lost Ark
Recommendations:
Raiders of the Lost Ark is practically a life essential film. How does one grow up without seeing it? As a film buff, it’s essential.
The rest… ehh.
Reds isn’t essential, but you should see it. It’s a classic, it’s Beatty directing, a lot of Oscar nominations, he won Best Director. It’s definitely something you should see as a film buff, but you don’t need to rush into it. See the big movies first, and get to this around college.
Chariots of Fire is almost essential, but that’s only because it won, and if you want to complain about it having won, you need to see it. That’s how that works. So for people who really care about the Oscars, you need to see it. For film buffs, you can see it, because it is a Best Picture winner, but you don’t need to. And for casual film people — take it or leave it.
On Golden Pond is an absolutely lovely film. I think you should see it because it’s entertaining as shit. Also it won both lead acting Oscars. I’ll leave it as such — if the names Katharine Hepburn and Henry Fonda mean anything to you as a film buff, then you should see this movie.
Atlantic City is a solid, forgotten film of the 80s. Really well done. Later Burt Lancaster in his last truly awesome role, and a young Susan Sarandon. A crime movie, well made. Not gonna appeal to all, but very solid. It’s worth seeing because of its place in Oscar history, but it’s not essential by any means. This is the kind of story that, nowadays, would have been a subplot on three episodes of The Sopranos.
The Last Word: I say it’s either Beatty or Spielberg. Take your pick. Both are deserving. One is the “classy” choice, and the other is the populist choice. I’m taking Spielberg, but either one is a good decision.
– – – – – – – – – –
– – – – – – – – – –
1982
Richard Attenborough, Gandhi
Sidney Lumet, The Verdict
Wolfgang Petersen, Das Boot
Sydney Pollack, Tootsie
Steven Spielberg, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
Analysis:
Gandhi. As you can tell by the title, this is a biopic of Warren G. Harding.
It’s long, it’s epic, it really captures Gandhi the man. It’s great. You can’t really argue with this having won. Would I vote for it? Maybe. Is it deserving? Absolutely. So we’ll see where it shakes out.
The Verdict. Sidney Lumet again. Why is it that any time he gets nominated there’s always some reason to not vote for him? Definitely goes to back up the notion that he’s one of the most overlooked directors in history.
Paul Newman is a disgraced lawyer who was once a hot shot and is now a drunk ambulance chaser. His friend sends him a case as an act of charity that will basically settle out of court and get him a nice payday. A woman was given anesthesia at a church-run hospital and ended up almost dying and is now in a coma. The woman’s family wants the settlement so they can keep her alive. Newman, however, sees this as his chance for redemption and refuses the offer. So now he’s taking on the church and all their deep pockets. And of course, now that it’s going to trial, stuff starts happening. The star witness disappears, and the defense has James Mason, a top lawyer who practically guarantees a win, and even the judge seems to be working against him.
It is a GREAT movie. It’s really good. David Mamet wrote it, by the way. Paul Newman delivers a powerhouse performance, and arguably should have won Best Actor. The direction is really solid. Potentially worth a vote. Not sure if I would, but definitely something to consider.
Das Boot. Literally, “The Boat.” Sounds way better in German.
It’s about a bunch of men on a German U-Boat. We follow through the eyes of a young officer as the crew members work on this boat during World War II.
The story doesn’t matter, the movie is GREAT. It’s utterly captivating, and much of the movie is shot on the cramped quarters of a submarine. There are three different versions, the original 150 minute version, the 210 minute directors cut (typically the one people watch) and an uncut 290 minute version (which is almost five hours).
The direction is so great. It’s foreign, but it belongs right up there for a vote with everything else in this category. What Petersen achieves is nothing short of astounding. After this movie he made nothing but Hollywood features from then on.
Tootsie. Ah, Tootsie. Most people know this as “the movie where Dustin Hoffman dresses like a woman” but it’s actually a lot more than that. It’s really an amazing movie. I watched it again recently. It holds up.
Dustin Hoffman is a temperamental actor who can’t book a job because people know how difficult he is. He hears his friend is going up for a job as a nurse on a popular soap, and, desperate, decides that since no one will hire him, he’ll audition dressed like a woman. So he goes in and gets the part. And quickly his character becomes the best part of the show. So now he has to pretend to be a woman half the time. And on top of that, he falls in love with Jessica Lange, the female lead of the soap, who has taken a strong liking of her co-star (him, as a woman). Comedy ensues, but there’s a lot of weight to it. It’s not just a frivolous comedy. There’s actually drama here too. This movie manages to do it all.
It’s really great. One of the best movies of the 80s, and a definite Best Picture player, for when we get there. Underrated Oscar year, this one. As for the direction — good. Maybe you can want to vote for it. Tough category, tough year. But worth a vote, which means we keep it in play for later.
E.T. I want to say “oh fuck you if you don’t know what this is,” but that would be overly mean and more in line with what I did last time.
But seriously, it’s E.T. You should have heard of it. Boy finds an alien in the backyard, takes him in, tries to help him “phone home.”
It’s an all-time classic. Another one of those movies where, in 1982, I bet they were super pissed when Spielberg didn’t win, because the Academy just didn’t respect him. Why? Because this movie beat Star Wars to become the highest grossing movie of all time when it came out. And to them, that didn’t necessarily mean a film was “awards worthy.”
Definitely is worth a vote. Not sure what I’m doing, but absolutely is he right there in the end. I think we might have a category with all five as potential choices.
– – – – – – – – – –
The Reconsideration: All five are worth the vote, honestly. Some more than others, but I could understand making a case for all five.
The first two off for me are Tootsie and The Verdict. They’re great movies, but the direction for me doesn’t beat the other three. Not sure how I rank them, they’re about the same to me, but in terms of a vote, those come off first.
Then, with the other three — honestly, I’m still gonna take Das Boot here. I think what Petersen accomplishes, shooting so much of the movie inside a submarine, is really astounding. I think he deserved this.
I can’t be upset with Attenborough having won, but I don’t think I’d vote for him. His film is shot on an epic scale, which means wife shots, big sets, lots of people. It looks grand. It’s easy to make it look grand. I don’t think he did all that much outside of shoot in the scale to really make me want to vote for him over Petersen. And to be perfectly honest, I’d vote for Spielberg over Attenborough. Because with Spielberg, he made some really classic images in his film that stick with me way more than the ones from Gandhi do. Gandhi is a great film, but the direction of E.T. I feel is overall stronger.
But either way, I think Petersen takes this for me. Every time I see that film, I’m amazed by his direction.
– – – – – – – – – –
Rankings (category):
Wolfgang Petersen, Das Boot
Steven Spielberg, E.T the Extra-Terrestrial
Richard Attenborough, Gandhi
Sidney Lumet, The Verdict
Sydney Pollack, Tootsie
Rankings (films):
The Verdict
Tootsie
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
Das Boot
Gandhi
My Vote: Wolfgang Petersen, Das Boot
Recommendations:
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial is life essential. How you could make it to college without having seen it is unfathomable.
Das Boot isn’t essential, but you should see it as a film buff. It’s a really famous film, and it’s just a masterwork of direction. One of the great war films, too. Highly, highly recommended. Put it this way — if you’re here, you trust my opinion enough to know that I’ve seen enough movies to at least know what I’m talking about. And if I’m actually voting for something, there’s a reason for it. You may not agree with me, in the end, but if a movie you haven’t heard of or haven’t seen is something I’m voting for on this Quest, it’s probably something you should see. Otherwise, what are you doing reading this site?
Tootsie is an all-time classic and an essential movie for film buffs. It should be essential for everyone, it’s so good.
The Verdict is also an essential movie for film buffs. It’s a great trial movie, a genre that is always interesting, directed by Sidney Lumet and featuring one of the most iconic Paul Newman performances of all time. If you like movies, you need to see it.
Gandhi is a movie I’m calling life essential, because we should all be educated as to who this man was and why he had such an impact on the world and on history. You should see it as a human being. It’s not life essential the way E.T. is — I can understand if you haven’t seen it at age 20. But you should see it, so just get on that. It’ll make you a better person.
The Last Word: You can make a case for all five. Lumet seems slightest to me. Attenborough’s effort seems appropriately epic but doesn’t inspire much passion from me. Pollack’s effort is really solid but also doesn’t feel enough to warrant a vote. Spielberg is close, but every time I want to vote for him, I’m reminded how much I love Petersen’s effort. So, I take Petersen, but you could feel differently and take any one of the other four directors and be totally legitimized in doing so. As long as you can make a case as to why you think their effort is best, I can see voting for just about any one of the five nominees here. A very strong category.
– – – – – – – – – –
(Read more Oscar Quest articles.)
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https://kids.kiddle.co/Mark_Rydell
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Mark Rydell facts for kids
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Learn Mark Rydell facts for kids
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https://kids.kiddle.co/Mark_Rydell
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Mark Rydell (born Mortimer H. Rydell; March 23, 1929) is an American film director, producer, and actor. He has directed several Academy Award-nominated films including The Fox (1967), The Reivers (1969), Cinderella Liberty (1973), The Rose (1979), and The River (1984). He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Director for On Golden Pond (1981).
Actor
Rydell initially trained in music. As a youth, he wanted to be a conductor. ..... "Knowing that I have an addict's personality in that a little is good but a lot is better, I knew I was in danger. So I went back to college and went to the Neighborhood Playhouse." He studied acting at The Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre in New York City. His first significant roles were as Walt Johnson on The Edge of Night, and as Jeff Baker on As the World Turns, which he played from December 12, 1956, to 1962. The role of Jeff was a particularly popular role with the audience. During the series run he directed Roots off-Broadway in 1961.
In 1962, Rydell declined to sign another long-term contract at ATWT, and producers had his character die in a car crash. He later won plaudits for his role of violent Jewish mob kingpin Marty Augustine in Robert Altman's The Long Goodbye (1973). His most recent significant film role was in Woody Allen's Hollywood Ending (2002).
TV director
Rydell moved into directing television and soon became very successful. He did episodes of Mr. Novak; Ben Casey; The Reporter; Slattery's People; I Spy; The Wild Wild West; The Long, Hot Summer; and Gunsmoke. He said later: "I come from the school of sitting around the table for two weeks examining every detail of the material, working out relationships with the actors, so they know what they are doing, bringing them to locations, so they can get comfortable."
Feature films
Rydell's first feature as director was The Fox (1967) which was a box-office hit, in part due to its then-rare lesbian content. He signed a multi picture contract with the film's producer Raymond Stross, but disliked working with him. Rydell said he ended up paying out four times his fee for the picture to get out of the contract. Nonetheless, he credits Stross for starting his film career. He directed Steve McQueen in The Reivers (1969). Rydell and friend Sydney Pollack, who had known each other since they were both actors, formed a company, Sanford Productions, and signed a six picture contract with the Mirisch Brothers. They planned to make Good Luck, Miss Wyckoff, which was eventually made in 1979 by other filmmakers.
Rydell directed John Wayne in The Cowboys (1972). He made a romantic comedy, Cinderella Liberty (1973), with James Caan and Marsha Mason. Around this time he said he did not want to make genre movies: "I want to create my own genre." He was reunited with Caan on Harry and Walter Go to New York (1976) which was a box-office flop, and directed the pilot episode of Family (1976).
Rydell directed The Rose (1979), starring Bette Midler, which was a huge hit. So too was On Golden Pond (1981), starring Henry Fonda and Katharine Hepburn, for which Rydell received an Oscar nomination as Best Director. "I'm this week's heat," he joked at the time. He was going to make a film based on the play Nuts but instead did The River (1984), with Mel Gibson and Sissy Spacek. It was not a commercial success. Neither was Rydell's next film, For the Boys (1991), with Caan and Midler.
Rydell made the television movie McBride and Groom (1993) and the feature Intersection (1994). He directed the television movies Crime of the Century (1996), which starred Isabella Rossellini and Stephen Rea, and James Dean (2001), which earned actor James Franco a Golden Globe award. Rydell also acted in the movie, playing Jack L. Warner (head of Warner Bros). He was credited as executive producer on An Unfinished Life (2005).
In 2006, Rydell directed the movie Even Money. His last credit to date was an episode of Masters of Science Fiction, "A Clean Escape".
Three years later – working with actor Martin Landau and screenwriter/playwright Lyle Kessler – he produced an education seminar, The Total Picture Seminar. The two-day event covers the disciplines of acting, directing, and writing for film. The three have worked together as a team for many decades at The Actors Studio teaching and coaching professional actors, writers, and directors. In 2010, Rydell joined the Advisory Board of Openfilm, an online video sharing site created to help aspiring independent filmmakers.
He executive produced the documentary A Coup in Camelot (2015).
Personal life
Mortimer H. Rydell was born on March 23, 1929, to a Jewish family in New York City.
Rydell married actress Joanne Linville in 1962. The couple had two children, Amy and Christopher, both actors. Rydell and Linville divorced in 1973. Rydell had another son, Alexander, from his second marriage to documentary producer Esther Rydell. That union ended in divorce in 2007.
Filmography
As director
Film
The Fox (1967)
The Reivers (1969)
The Cowboys (1972)
Cinderella Liberty (1973)
Harry and Walter Go to New York (1976)
The Rose (1979)
On Golden Pond (1981)
The River (1984)
For the Boys (1991)
Intersection (1994)
Even Money (2006)
Television
The Phil Silvers Show (episode on TV series) (1955)
Mr. Novak (episode on TV series) (1964)
Ben Casey (episodes on TV series) (1963–64)
The Reporter (episode on TV series) (1964)
Slattery's People (episode on TV series) (1965)
I Spy (episodes on TV series) (1965)
The Wild Wild West (episode on TV series) (1966)
The Long, Hot Summer (episodes on TV series) (1965–66)
The Fugitive (episode on TV series) (1966)
Gunsmoke (episodes on TV series) (1964–66)
Family (episode on TV series) (1976)
McBride and Groom (TV movie) (1993)
Crime of the Century (TV movie) (1996)
James Dean (TV movie) (2001)
Masters of Science Fiction (episode on TV mini-series) (2007)
As actor
Crime in the Streets (1956) as Lou Macklin
The Long Goodbye (1973) as Marty Augustine
Punchline (1988) as Romeo
Havana (1990) as Meyer Lansky
A Man Is Mostly Water (2000) as Distributor
Hollywood Ending (2002) as Al
Senior Entourage (2020) as Mark
See also
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https://dcpfilm.wordpress.com/2013/07/08/harry-and-walter-go-to-new-york-rydell-1976/
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Harry and Walter Go To New York (Rydell, 1976)
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2013-07-08T00:00:00
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Thanks to Zimbo Films for turning me onto this one. Harry and Walter Go To New York is worth it just to hear Elliot Gould and James Caan's many duets. The two star as vaudeville actors-turned-thieves opposite Michael Caine in Mark Rydell's 1976 effort, five years prior to what I know the director for, On Golden Pond.…
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Thanks to Zimbo Films for turning me onto this one. Harry and Walter Go To New York is worth it just to hear Elliot Gould and James Caan’s many duets.
The two star as vaudeville actors-turned-thieves opposite Michael Caine in Mark Rydell’s 1976 effort, five years prior to what I know the director for, On Golden Pond. It’s not just Caine, Gould and Caan (who all, oddly enough, would appear in A Bridge Too Far the next year…well maybe that’s not too odd. Everyone’s in A Bridge Too Far), it’s also Diane Keaton and an awesome cast of supporting players, including a lascivious Charles Durning as a bank owner, Burt Young as a warden, and Carol Kane as one of Keaton’s cohorts.
Mark Rydell’s direction is very modest as he lets the actors do the work, and they mostly do a good job outside of a bit of overacting from Gould’s Walter. It’s the small humor that makes the first and third acts of HWNY really funny. Two of my favorite lines are both from Gould: “Ahhh, I never liked corn, Harry!” when they find themselves amidst a cornfield post-prison break; and “Watch the cat. Oh, it’s a dog,” as a total throwaway line that’s hilarious for how improvised it feels.
The middle act of HWNY really drags, but the climax, where the vaudevillians finally get to put their true talents to use is awesome. It’s not only a good example of a these two actors’ comedic range, but also a nice take down on self-serious theater.
Small SPOILER:
There’s a major bummer at the end of the film. Diane Keaton’s Lissa Chestnut has proved to be a staunch advocate for social justice and moderately characterized as a feminist throughout. Michael Caine’s Adam Worth, on the other hand, seems to be a bit of a chauvinist and is certainly prone to violence. They’re entirely at odds with one-another. Yet, instead of keeping things logical and true to the progression of the script to that point, Rydell and writers Don Devlin and John Byrum have Chestnut inexplicably leave with Worth at the end. It’s a kick in the pants to what was a really strong female character and a total cop-out.
Still, there are other nicely written and directed moments like this one, which takes place at the climax. As the rag-tag gang run by Chestnut, Harry and Walter prepare to rob a bank we see (they don’t) that there’s a missing link in their dynamite. One of Worth’s accomplices comes into the bank amidst their attempt and sees the string of dynamite:
He traces the string back, a bit confused as to what’s going on-
-and inadvertently completes the chain with his hand, thereby enabling the dynamite:
It’s funny largely because it’s clever and because Rydell goes out of his to show us the missing link long before this accomplice comes in, thereby giving us an idea of what’s going to happen before it does.
What is it about these 1960s-70s period/heist films and desaturated sepia tones and ending freeze frames? As the film came to a close I actually said ‘freeze frame’ out loud…and then, sure enough:
I mean, sure, there’s Butch Cassidy, but does every period piece about charlatans or folk heroes need to then cement their legacy by freezing them into the cinematic history books? I wonder how many American genre films did this from 1969 – 1979.
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Make Your Day
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Film in American Popular Culture
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THE TENDERFOOT IN CONTEXT
In the first Western film, Edward S. Porter's The Great Train Robbery (1903), Broncho Billy Anderson, one of cinema's first cowboy stars, played the role of the tenderfoot who is made to dance at gunpoint by a bunch of roughnecks. After a few seconds, he runs off never to be seen again. The character exists as a joke, a bit of humor that doesn't really advance the story. However, Anderson wouldn't be the last tenderfoot to ever make an appearance in a Western film. In the over 100 year history of the Western film genre, the tenderfoot has played an important role in many films. Among the Western films in which the tenderfoot plays a significant character are three, produced in the 1970s, starring Jeff Bridges. Actor Jeff Bridges â whose best-known work as a Western film star was his re-imagining of John Wayne's 1969 Oscar-winning performance of Rooster Cogburn in the Coen Brothers' True Grit (2010) â may not come to mind as a significant star of Western films. However, in the 1970s, Bridges starred in almost as many Westerns as Eastwood. In films like Robert Benton's Bad Company (1972), Howard Zieff's Hearts of the West (1975), and Frank Perry's Rancho Deluxe (1975), Bridges's performances as a cowboy are a significant contribution to the Western film genre that is sadly underappreciated. Although his cowboys don't necessarily live in the same temporal space as cowboys played by Tom Mix, John Wayne, and Clint Eastwood, the uniqueness of Bridges's characters and the quality of his performances place him in a Western world, perhaps less entrenched in the traditional Western film mythos than the better known Western film icons, yet still within the vast open spaces that define the horizons of the Western film genre. The three Western films listed above contain a number of the traditional, clearly recognizable aesthetics established within the long history of the genre. Among these aesthetics is a common story element found in many Westerns: the education of the tenderfoot. Although previous analyses of the Western genre are more likely to focus on some more traditional story elements such as the vanishing frontier, the unique skills of the cowboy, and the relationship between the cowboy and the Indian; the element of the tenderfoot as a significant character type and the teaching of the tenderfoot has played an important role in many Western films as well.
Specific to this analysis is the exploration of that teaching moment in each film â whether Bridges is the student or teacher â as a key focal point both in terms of the plot as well as providing insight into the character Bridges plays. For purposes of this article, the term tenderfoot will be used to designate characters in a Western film who, because they are new to the West or Western traditions, lack a certain education necessary to survive.
Historically, most heroes of Western films are men who are self-sufficient, who need little coaching in the ways of survival in the old West, and who seem to have been born into the role of the Western hero. According to Douglas J. Den Uyl, "There are very few 'greenhorns' among western heroes." In the past, those greenhorns or tenderfoots may not have been the heroes, but their relationships with the heroes were often important to defining the hero at an important juncture in the film. John Wayne, who played a leading role in around eighty Westerns, was clearly one of those self-sufficient men who never played a greenhorn or tenderfoot. Wayne's characters were always good with the gun, could lead a cattle drive, and understood the ways of the Indians. As Stanley J. Solomon explains, "The Wayne figure itself became probably the dominant heroic type in the genre." Throughout Wayne's long career, because of the inherent iconography of his persona as well as the traditional nature of the plots of his films, he played the role of the tenderfoot teacher to not always a younger man, but always a less experienced man in the West, who needed the guidance of someone who had survived the violent world in order to survive himmself. By way of example, Wayne plays the teacher of the tenderfoot in films like John Ford's Fort Apache (1948), Howard Hawks's Red River (1948), John Ford's The Searchers (1956), John Ford's The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence (1962), Mark Rydell's The Cowboys (1972), and Don Siegel's The Shootist (1976).
When Bridges starred in Bad Company, Hearts of the West, and Rancho Deluxe in the 1970s, he was moving along familiar territory in the Western film genre. There have always been tenderfoots and the experienced old cowboy, like Wayne, to educate the tenderfoot. However Bridges, even though he received top billing in all three films was, unlike Wayne, more likely to play the tenderfoot than to be the teacher of the tenderfoot. In addition, those lessons taught to the men of the West played by Bridges were less about heroic deeds accomplished by a larger than life icon like those played by Wayne and more about the practical necessities for a naïve wanderer trying to survive the mundane realities of life in a variety of Western environments.  Â
HEARTS OF THE WEST: HOW THE TENDERFOOT BECOMES A COWBOY MOVIE STAR
The opening of The Shootist begins with a montage of Wayne in a number of his earlier roles as a Western film star. The purpose of the montage is to establish for the audience a historic context for Wayne's J. B. Books as a master gunfighter. That context is critical to understanding Books's motivation throughout the film. However, beyond the narrative motivation, the montage also reminds the audience that Wayne was above all things, "the" Western movie star and that The Shootist belongs firmly in that earlier body of work. In other words, the producers are breaking the fourth wall to inform the audience that they're watching a Western movie starring the last of the great cowboy stars. According to Thomas Schatz, "This narrative device establishes Wayne/Books not as a historic entity, but rather as an amalgam of previous performances in Western movies: the genre has created its own field of reference." Other Western films have also let it be known that their narratives are part of the mythmaking tradition of the Western film narrative. In George Roy Hill's Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid (1969), the credits are shown over a silent film of Butch and Sundance robbing a train. The silent film proclaims in the beginning that the two iconic outlaws are dead now. But the end of the silent film marks the beginning of the story of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and frames the rest of the film as an exploration of the Western film genre. Even after the silent film ends â the film within a film â when Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid transitions to a talking film, the black and white imagery remains for the first two scenes. Both scenes are rooted in the iconography of the Western film genre. The first scene, Butch sizing up a bank he would like to rob, and the second scene, Sundance playing Poker and shooting the gun belt off a man who accuses him of cheating, are not in color. By remaining in black and white, Hill draws a connection between one cinematic era and another much like the opening montage and the beginning of The Shootist. Both The Shootist as well as Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid acknowledge the anthropology of the Western film. They're both about the tradition of the Western film and the origin of its myth as much as they are about the stories of J.B. Books, Butch Cassidy, and The Sundance Kid. The cinematic references at the beginning of each film are a reminder to even the most casual observer that the symbols of Western cinema, beginning with The Great Train Robbery, remain important to the genre.
Hearts of the West takes the examination of the anthropology of the Western film to a greater depth than both The Shootist and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Hearts of the West is a film that looks at how those B-Westerns were produced during the Golden Age of Hollywood. The purpose of the story of Hearts of the West is not to show what it was like to be a cowboy in the old West, but how to be a cowboy actor in the 1930s.
Jeff Bridges plays Lewis Tater who is an outlaw in his own home. Rather than settle down to a role he was born into, a farmer during the Great Depression, his thoughts wander off into the American West. Like many cinematic cowboys, Solomon states, Tater "is maladjusted to society," at least in terms of his circumstances on the farm. But unlike the traditional outcasts of the Western genre, Tater doesn't want to be a cowboy. He doesn't want to be Wyatt Earp, Pat Garrett, or Wild Bill Hickock. Tater doesn't even want to a movie cowboy. He wants to be Zane Gray, the next great writer of epic Western prose. Considering Tater's circumstances, a farm boy stuck on a farm he doesn't want to farm, with a family he can barely tolerate, it's no wonder that his thoughts turn to the freedom of being a writer of a genre that in American culture most represents freedom.
Like many men in Western films, Tater goes West to escape the civilization that he finds suffocating. His first journey is to a correspondence school that allegedly will teach him how to be Zane Grey, but instead of finding a stereotypical college campus, Tater only finds a post office box in a train station in the middle of nowhere and two crooks who run the bogus college. Tater, the tenderfoot student, can't fully understand how a college with a great advertising campaign could be fake. Ever the tenderfoot, more comic than heroic, Tater inadvertently steals money from the two men who run the college then escapes into the desert, like many cinematic cowboys, only to find thirst and the threat of death.
Ironically, Tater is saved not by real cowboys, but by a group of movie cowboys on location filming a Western. The movie company takes Tater with them to Hollywood. Once there, Tater doesn't seek to be an actor. He still wants to write, but there are no jobs for writers. However, there is a place for him onscreen as a cowboy actor saying the words he would prefer to write.
In the opening scene of Hearts of the West, director Zieff employs a flash-forward of Tater performing a screen test. Tater, who is not a tenderfoot cowboy, but a tenderfoot cowboy star, is directed to engage not in real cowboy actions, but in the type of behavior that cowboy movie stars must perform. Tater is asked by the voice of an unseen director to confront another cowboy in a saloon, looking like many other saloon sets from countless Western films, first by using his fists and then by drawing his guns. Tater, the Western movie star tenderfoot, is being directed to act the cowboy myth. Even his cowboy costume, from his perfectly white clothes to his makeup, is right out of central casting.
In The Shootist, Books, a legendary gunfighter, is dying of cancer. Gillom Rogers (Ron Howard) plays the son of the woman who owns the boarding house where Books is spending his last days. Gillom is a tenderfoot regarding the realities of the old West, whose mind has been filled with the lies written in dime novels and thus has a romanticized vision of what the life of a man of the West must have been like. Books, who has lived that life, tries to teach Rogers that the narrative often told by men like Bat Masterson was often far from reality. According to Books, "Masterson always was full of...sheep-dip."
Books does provide Rogers with advice on how to be a gunfighter, but the most important advice Books provides reaches beyond the myth of the West. Books's advice to Rogers, the tenderfoot, is advice that is well served not just in the dusty streets and rowdy saloons of Dodge City or Abilene Kansas but also in an America where the old West is being replaced by a modern twentieth century America. "I won't be wronged," Books tells Rogers. "I won't be insulted. I won't be laid a-hand on. I don't do these things to other people, and I require the same from them." In contrast to The Shootist, Tater's John Wayne is Howard Pike, played by Andy Griffith, a cowboy actor doing bit parts who, at one time, must have been a bigger Western star. Pike's lessons to his tenderfoot partner Tater are not how to use a gun to survive, but how to die onscreen like a movie cowboy, how to get more money from the director for doing a stunt, or how to negotiate a better contract from the producer.
As the cowboy actors are preparing for a gunfight with the leading man, Tater tells Pike that he plans to act as he has been shot in the head. "The forehead is terrible, is awful," Pike responds. "In this business a man gets shot through the heart. Clean. Unless of course they're looking to graze him then in which case the gun hand or the shoulder is acceptable." After the day's shoot, Pike tells Tater to "just die natural." Late in the night, while on location, Tater types away at his Western novel while the rest of the cowboy extras try to sleep. "I know one tenderfoot who is going to get his pecker shot off if he don't turn in," one of the extras warns. Tater is a tenderfoot cowboy actor who does not understand that his fellow actors just need some sleep especially after they have been given a lecture earlier that evening on how bad they were during the filming and that the production is falling behind. Tater, the tenderfoot, has a lot to learn as an actor because if he doesn't learn how to die on cue, the consequences are not death, as in the real old West, but a loss of employment. "You'll catch on," Pike tells Tater after a day's shooting during which Tater screwed up a scene that put production behind. "Of course it don't always work out that way. Some guys get the axe. Especially if they fouled up."
Later in the shoot, the producer wants one of the extras to jump off a balcony on to a horse. Tater, the tenderfoot too eager to please, agrees to do the stunt without receiving extra pay. The stunt is a classic act in the myth of the old West played out on movie screens for almost as long as Westerns have been produced. But one thing that Tater doesn't realize is the stunt man needs to wear protection for his private parts. Tater does the stunt, lands on the saddle, and clearly hurts his manhood in the process. One of the cowboy extras who pulls the injured Tater off his horse asks, "He didn't wear a cup?"
Pike responds, "Didn't anybody tell him?" The lessons of a tenderfoot cowboy actor are not always easy lessons, and they can be painful. Pike scolds the wounded Tater who is lying on the dusty street of the fake Western town: "Whenever they want something special like that kind of jump you have to make them wait it out. You wait 'til the price gets high enough to make it worth your while. You never do it for nothing. You'll ruin the business."
Tater catches the eye of the producer who wants to replace his expensive prima donna cowboy star with an actor who will work for less and take direction better. Once again, Pike offers Tater advice on making it in the Western movie business: "Personally. I wouldn't accept anything less than one-fifty a week. When you're with Kessler, wait 'til he starts to squawk. Then head slowly for the door."
"What'll happen?" Tater asks.
"You'll never reach the knob," responds Pike. "Guaranteed. Play him like a fish. Anything less than that tell him to take a dunk."
Unfortunately for Tater, Pike's advice only gets him fired. Although, based on the reaction shots from some of the other cowboy extras who were listening to Pike give his advice, there is reason to believe that Pike was trying to get Tater fired. In the more cinematic old West, a tenderfoot, like a Gillom Rogers in The Shootist, could trust the advice of the man of the West like a Books. By contrast, in the world of Hollywood that turned the narratives of the real cowboys into the myths of Western cinema, the advice of veteran cowboy actors can't be trusted.
In the end, Tater, who has been shot twice by one of the men who ran the bogus correspondence school, is saved by Pike. The irony is that is seems as if Pike saves Tater in the traditional cowboy way, with a six gun blasting away at the bad guys, when it turns out that the gun was full of blanks and that Pike stops the bad guys with guile and a swift kick in the rear end. The final lesson for Tater, the tenderfoot trying to make it in the brutal world of a studio that cranks out B-Westerns by the hundreds during the Golden Age of Hollywood, is that a fake cowboy firing blanks can save the day.
At the end of Hearts of the West, the wounded Tater doesn't ride off into the sunset like Shane. Instead he rides to the hospital in an ambulance with the woman who handles continuity for those Western films. As the screen fades to black, it doesn't matter if Tater has learned a lesson a tenderfoot needs to know to be a cowboy star. He still wants to be Zane Gray, not Tom Mix.
BAD COMPANY: THE TENDERFOOT LEARNS THE TOOLS OF THE COWBOY
Wayne was the consummate man of the West with a firearm. In a number of his roles, he offered the tenderfoot sage advice on how to use the gun to survive. His life and death lessons to tenderfoot cowboys trying to survive in a violent West with the best tool possible, a man's gun, are at the core of several films that Wayne starred in.
In Hawks's Red River , Wayne's character Tom Dunson, after he outduels a man, is asked by his fourteen-year-old companion Matt Garth, a tenderfoot cowboy, "How did you know when he was gonna draw?"
"By watching his eyes," Dunson replies. "Remember that."
"I will," Garth states with certainty. In Ford's The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence, Wayne plays the role of Tom Doniphon, an experienced rancher who has more than once defended his territory with a gun. Doniphon's tenderfoot is an Eastern lawyer named Ransome Stoddard (James Stewart) who's trying to bring law and order to the old West by way of the law book, not the gun. Doniphon finds this approach to Western survival foolish at best. "I know those law books mean a lot to you," Doniphon tells Stoddard, "but not out here. Out here a man settles his own problems." And for Doniphon, the only way to solve those problems in the West is with a gun. In The Shootist, after Wayne's character offers young Rogers a shooting lesson in which Rogers has hit a target as well as Books, "Mr. Books," a puzzled Rogers asks, "how is it you've killed so many men? My spread wasn't much bigger than yours."
"First of all, friend," Books responds sagely, "there's no one up there shooting back at you. Second, I found most men aren't willing, they bat an eye, or draw a breath before they shoot. I won't." What Rogers, the tenderfoot, doesn't understand is that survival with a handgun is not just about physical acumen, but the psychological will to kill without thinking.
In Benton's Bad Company, Bridges as Jake Rumsey is not the tenderfoot, at least at the beginning of the film. Instead, he's the wiser sage among the company of boys and teenagers, essentially delinquents who are mostly up to no good. Rumsey is less John Wayne and more Fagin, of Dickens's Oliver Twist, leading and teaching his old West versions of artful dodgers how to survive on the streets of St. Joseph, Missouri. The boys live outside of town where the only shelter seems to come from an abandoned old stagecoach without wheels.
The main tenderfoot is Drew Dixon (Barry Brown), a boy who's trying to dodge serving in the American Civil War. In the tradition of the Western film genre, as Jeremy Agnew reminds us, many of the narratives are an extension of the Civil War, particularly its aftermath. In The Searchers, for example, John Wayne's Ethan Edwards is a Civil War veteran who fought on the wrong side and is not willing to accept defeat: "I don't believe in surrenders." Edwards, like the James Gang in other Western films, is a bitter veteran fighting through the Civil War's version of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder by extending their battles into other threats of war. In contrast to Edwards and the James Gang, Dixon avoids the war altogether. His motivation for escape is not to be a casualty of the war like his older brother. As a result, Dixon enters into the old West with less suspicion or bitterness than is evident in the Western heroes who were Civil War veterans. That's why Dixon is a tenderfoot. An innocent in a world that is far from innocent, he's vulnerable to a more experienced hand who can exploit him.
Dixon, the Civil War draft dodger and tenderfoot, encounters Rumsey on the streets of St. Joseph as he's attempting to book passage on the next train to Virginia City. Rumsey, quick to spot a tenderfoot, gains the confidence of Dixon by stating that he too is running away from his obligation to fight in the war. Rumsey then offers Dixon advice on how to avoid authorities looking for draft dodgers, how not to get robbed on the mean streets of St. Joseph, as well as directions to the nearest Methodist church. Dixon, the trusting tenderfoot, follows Rumsey into an alley, an alleged shortcut, only to be hit over the head and robbed by Rumsey himself.
Despite this initial clearly contentious meeting between Rumsey and Dixon, Dixon is eventually convinced to join Rumsey and the rest of the Lost Boys of the West leaving St. Joseph for parts West and bigger returns on their criminal activities. Whether or not these boys can survive in the wilds of the West based on Rumsey's ability is dubious at best. It becomes evident early into their journey that Rumsey's gang, in the words of Rumsey, "All hand-picked for gumption," are ill-equipped to make it as outlaws or anything in the old West because they don't even have the most basic survival skills in the wilderness. This fact becomes apparent when the gang traps a rabbit for food, but none of the gang, save Rumsey, is able to skin the rabbit so that it can be eaten. "Oh for the love of Jesus don't any of you peashooters know how to clean a rabbit?" Rumsey asks his band of tenderfoots. "Damn, I'm sick and tired of being the only boy who gets the job done around here."
The great teachable moment in Bad Company, then, has nothing to do with guns. This is the most significant scene, both in terms of the tenderfoot and the teachable moment, but it debunks the myth regarding modes of survival in traditional Western films. The scene involves Rumsey teaching his young tenderfoots how to skin the rabbit. The best tool for survival is not a gun, but a sharp knife. The seemingly well fed cowboy is an invisible aesthetic of Western films because fans always take it for granted that wherever the cowboy travels, even in the most remote parts of the wilderness, the chuck wagon is always full.
Rumsey teaching his tenderfoots how to skin a rabbit in Bad Company is akin to Books teaching Rogers how to shoot a gun in The Shootist. Both examples are lessons in survival on a very basic level in the old West. But the teachable moment in The Shootist with the gun is a well-accepted requisite aesthetic in a Western film. The legendary gunfighter passing on his skills to a younger man, in films like Red River or Shane, is a basic element of the Western epic tale. By contrast to the more practical and less reverential lesson on how to clean a rabbit in Bad Company, although authentic, lacks the romance of the shooting lesson in The Shootist. However, it doesn't matter how proficient a gunfighter is with his firearms if he doesn't have enough to eat. Â We don't see Bridges actually skin the rabbit. There are no graphic close-ups of the process. Director Benton cleverly relies mostly on Bridges narrating the cleaning process to his charge of young runaways. Bridges's body language, facial expressions, as well as the hyper-real sound effects of the gutting of the rabbit, are both disturbing and strangely funny, but inherently more authentic than Wayne's teaching moment in The Shootist. Benton never reveals the faces of the tenderfoots as they watch Rumsey perform his role as professor in the hard and unforgiving college of Western life. The scene belongs to Rumsey alone giving additional weight to his place as the supreme educator.
However, as a leader of a group of tenderfoot outlaws, Rumsey is mediocre at best. Being a tenderfoot outlaw himself, he's clearly no Jesse James. Rumsey's gang of tenderfoots never are able to make a living as holdup men, which eventually leads to the death of most of the gang and his own capture where he's sentenced to hang. It is Dixon, the last survivor of Rumsey's tenderfoot gang, who manages to free Rumsey, and they both escape.
In the end, Dixon is the one who has grown and seems to have learned from his experiences, and it is he, not Rumsey, who will lead them further West as outlaws. In the final scene, Dixon and Rumsey enter a bank. "Say, how'd that Jane Eyre turn out?" Rumsey asks Dixon.
"Fine. Just fine," Dixon responds. Dixon then turns to the bank patrons and states, indicating that he is in charge of this gang and no longer the tenderfoot: "Stick 'em up."
RANCHO DELUXE: THE INDIAN TEACHES THE TENDERFOOT
In Rancho Deluxe, Bridges plays Jack McKee, a 1970s refugee from a prosperous life somewhere in an affluent yet underdetermined neighborhood in the suburbs of America. McKee is something like Ben Braddock (Dustin Hoffman) from Mike Nichol's The Graduate (1967) had Braddock left Elaine sometime after they escaped the church where Elaine was in the process of marrying the wrong man. McKee is an escapee along the lines of any number of Western film heroes, bad men as well as tenderfoots like Lewis Tater or Jake Rumsey.
In McKee's case, he's running from his parents, but mostly from a woman he loves for all of the wrong reasons although those reasons are never fully explained. But in the old West, a man's past is often a sacred secret. In the great Western tradition, McKee escapes to Montana leaving his secrets behind where he finds a partner in crime, in this case an Indian named Cecil Colson (Sam Waterston). Together, they become modern day cattle rustlers relying more on a pickup truck to make their escape than horses.
In Wayne's long film career, one of the few films in which he died was The Cowboys. In the film, Wayne's character Wil Andersen is forced to use boys, still in school, to help him drive his cattle to market. In Red River, Wayne is also a cattle rancher, but he has only one tenderfoot to teach. In The Cowboys, Wayne's Andersen has eleven tenderfoots to teach. The night before Andersen and his tenderfoot cowboys begin their perilous 400 mile cattle drive, Andersen tells them that the only way they will all make it is if they follow his orders without question. "Bring a bed roll, couple of good ropes, horse if ya got one," Andersen tells his cowhands as they start the drive. "You'll get the best food in the territory, no rest, damn little sleep. And fifty big silver dollars, if we make it to Belle Fourche. Now, you'll show up at my place first Monday after school's out at 5:00 a.m. And come with grit teeth, 'cuz gentlemen, that's when school really begins." Unfortunately, Andersen does not finish the cattle drive because he was killed trying to stop rustlers. Andersen's cowboys, still in their teens with tenderfeet, grow up by hunting down the rustlers, killing them all with guile and cunning, and finish the drive on their own. The tenderfoot cowboys learned well from Andersen, which is how they survived even after their teacher's death. On the tombstone the boys have made for Andersen is inscribed these words of endearment: "Beloved Husband and Father." Andersen was more than just a great cattle rancher to eleven tenderfoot cowboys. He was a positive life influence.
However, prior to The Cowboys, the cattleman haven't always been the good guys in the Western film. They're more likely to be the antagonist than the protagonist. George Steven's Shane (1953) is a classic example in which the cattle baron is an antagonist who hires mercenaries to kill innocent homesteaders. As Edward Buscombe explains, the Western has a long tradition of being anti-capitalist. Even John Wayne's portrayal of a cattleman in Red River is shaded more in the shadows of a needlessly violent man than the fatherly figure in The Cowboys for whom violence is a necessary adjunct of the profession he imparts to the tenderfoot cowboys under his tutelage. In The Cowboys, even though Wayne is not alive to finish the cattle drive with his boys under his guidance, use of deadly force does bring about the success of the drive. By contrast, as John G. Cawelti explains, "in Red River Wayne's overbearing individualism, his tyrannical authority, and his ruthless appeal to violence nearly bring about the destruction of the cattle drive."
Wayne, in the 1960s, viewed his film roles, even his Western roles, as a means to project his right wing values regarding capitalism and private property against the "radicals" and "hippies" that he thought were threatening those values. Andrew V. McLaglen’s Chisum (1970), much like The Cowboys, was built off the foundation of Wayne's personal political beliefs. Cawelti states, "In Chisum, corrupt and lawless men threaten to destroy the peaceful cattle empire which John Chisum has built up through hard work and honest dealing." However, eight years earlier, in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, Wayne's character Tom Doniphon fights against the cattle ranchers who are creating a state of anarchy in the territory in order to intimidate the innocent homesteader and stop the movement toward statehood.
In Rancho Deluxe, the relationship between cattle rustlers McKee and Colson as well as rancher John Brown (Clifton James) is different than the traditional relationship of the rustler and the rancher. In other words, the lines between whether the rustler or rancher is the antagonist or protagonist are not clear. Brown, like McKee, is also an outsider. Brown apparently made his fortune elsewhere then came to Montana to buy a cattle ranch almost like a hobby. However, Brown, despite his outsider status, is respected by McKee. Whereas cattle barons in previous Westerns were seen as the impediments to progress, democracy, civilization, the rights of homesteaders, and the rights of immigrants â because that type of progress is good in the American narrative â McKee respects Brown because he's trying to save the West from the evils of progress. "I don't know if John Brown is so bad either," McKee says to Colson after they have rustled one of Brown's cattle. "He keeps some of these...tourists from putting an aluminum house trailer on a quarter of an acre of pasture."
McKee may be a rustler, but he's ever the Western romantic, despising the loss of ranchland due to the influx of civilization. As William Indick asserts, "a common element in all of the Western character types is the fact that they exist in what Slotkin referred to as 'a terminal environment,' 'a place in time that is fleeting.' In the case of the gunfighters and the outlaws, because they fight against their destiny, trying desperately to change themselves in the last act of their stories, their fate is typically death or disintegration into the vast emptiness of the frontier, as symbolized in the traditional ending in which the hero rides off into the sunset."
"Did you ever see Cheyenne Autumn?" Colson asks McKee.
"Oh yes," McKee responds almost reverentially.
"Well, in another twenty years, they're going to make Aluminum Autumn."
This comment reveals that Colson has a better understanding of the meaning of progress in the old West than McKee does. Colson clearly comprehends that there is a certain irony in McKee's wailings against progress. Both that rationale and irony are lost on the white man and tenderfoot McKee. Colson better understands the concept of "the terminal environment" of the West because he's a Native American. Colson, in his subtle way, is telling McKee that those with the greatest nostalgia for the past have little or no right to that nostalgia especially if that nostalgia is based on a movie written, produced, and directed by white men.
Brown, in a later conversation with his wife, admits that he, like McKee, is not entirely happy with his life in Montana. When Brown's wife suggests that he go out and track down the rustlers, Brown responds, "They've probably not even been around." Brown is like a spoiled child whose game has been ruined because the other kids will not play by his rules. The rules that Brown wants to play by are the same rules that McKee wants to play by, the rules established by Western movies. Both Brown and McKee are caught up in a feedback loop regarding the myth of the old West. Brown and McKee may be rivals, the cattle baron versus the cattle rustler, but they are both just a couple of tenderfoots stumbling around their perception of what the West should look like in a John Ford Western one year after the death of John Ford.
"I'll take your Sharps. Jack and me are about the last of the plainsmen," Colson says to a man who's willing to trade a Sharps .50 caliber Buffalo rifle for some beef that Colson and McKee rustled from Brown. McKee, the tenderfoot, probably doesn't understand the irony of Colson calling himself a plainsman and wanting the weapon used by plainsmen such as Buffalo Bill Cody that helped destroy both a major food source and way of life for the Plains Indians. McKee does not seem to understand Colson's attempt at dark ironic humor. McKee may revere Cheyenne Autumn, but he really doesn't understand that his reverence for the film is misplaced.
In Raoul Walsh's They Died With Their Boots On (1941), a Civil War hero by the name of George Armstrong Custer (Errol Flynn) comes West to fight the Native Americans only to discover that he's a tenderfoot and that the Sioux Indians are "the finest light cavalry on earth. I found that out this morning." Later, when Crazy Horse (Anthony Quinn), the Chief of the Sioux, escapes Custer's stockade and fort in a spectacular manner, he chalks up the mistake by his inexperienced company as a teachable moment from a great teacher, Crazy Horse. "You know..." Custer says, "in a way, I don't mind that Indian getting off."
In Arthur Penn's Little Big Man (1970), Jack Crabb (Dustin Hoffman), the only white survivor of the Battle of theLittle Bighorn tells a scholar, who wants to know some of the tales of the Plains Indians, of his early days with the Cheyenne who saved him from the Pawnee after the Pawnee had killed all of his family, save his sister, and everyone else in the wagon he was traveling in. Once in the care of the Cheyenne, Crabb, the tenderfoot, is taught to survive as an Indian. Crabb explains, "Shadow That Comes In Sight taught me the bow and arrow...and how to stalk game. Burns Red In The Sun showed me how to protect my pale skin from sunburn. It's little known that some Indians, like Burns Red,...will sunburn their own selves. But my real teacher was my adopted grandpa, Old Lodge Skins. He taught me to read a trail, Cheyenne language and lots of other things. For a boy, it was a kind of paradise."
In Fort Apache, the incoming company commander, an Indian fighting tenderfoot, Lt. Colonel Thursday (Henry Fonda) tells one of his officers Captain York (Wayne) that he's not intimidated by the Apaches he has seen up to that point. "Well, if you saw them, sir," York, the veteran of previous campaigns against the Apaches warns, "they weren't Apaches." These examples reinforce a major aesthetic of Western film, be the Indian your friend or enemy, the tenderfoot white man, in order to survive in the old West, must respect and learn from the Indian.
Colson, the Indian in Rancho Deluxe, also has lessons for another white man new to the territory, McKee, that are equally important to survive in an ever-changing West. Those lessons â featured in other Western films â include understanding the territory, having a good strategy against a technologically superior enemy, and knowing the importance of stealth.
"B-Bar or Lazy T?" McKee asks Colson about which ranch they should rustle.
"B-Bar," Colson responds emphatically.
"Why do you say that?" McKee asks, doubting Colson's judgment.
"Because," Colson responds, "their fire road runs above their corral and you can't see it from the house."
But McKee, the white tenderfoot, cannot seem to take good advice. "Let's toss a coin," states McKee, trusting their success to fate rather than the advice of the wise Indian who knows better.
"Let's just decide," replies Colson, not trusting in luck.
Then the conversation between the tenderfoot white man and the wise Indian takes a different turn. "Did you ever walk a quarter between your fingers�" McKee asks.
"Never mind that," Colson says with some indignation. "That's the first thing they teach you in jail. How to walk a quarter between your fingers. Simple minded card tricks are next."
It appears as if Colson has a criminal past, acquired sometime before McKee ever came to Montana to rustle cattle. Perhaps Colson went to jail because he made the mistakes a tenderfoot would make. Therefore Colson, in the tradition of the Western film, must teach McKee the ways of the West. Colson's experience and confidence allow him to make the right choices. After McKee shoots the cow they want to steal, it is Colson who remains calm when the chainsaw they have bought to butcher the cow will not start immediately. Because by choosing the correct ranch to steal from, Colson knows they're less likely to be spotted in the act of the crime than had they chosen the other ranch.
McKee hatches a plan to steal a truckload of Brown's cattle, but his rationale seems naïve if not downright ignorant. "This is just to prevent us from falling asleep don't you know that?" McKee tells Colson.
"Well...old pal," Colson replies, "the thing is I don't have trouble keeping awake."
Colson is the most aware character in Rancho Deluxe, which is why when McKee and Colson are caught and arrested by an old stock detective, who is on horseback no less, it is McKee, the tenderfoot, who seems surprised that the plan didn't work out. By contrast, Colson takes his capture from the perspective that the plan would fail, and his capture was inevitable.
Rancho Deluxe refers to the prison where McKee and Colson are sent. In the final scene, as McKee and Colson get ready to begin their day's work, Colson sets out the lesson plan for McKee. First, he explains the itinerary for the ranch chores. Then he tells McKee, "I'll make the lunch while you practice walking that coin between your fingers. You can wash the dishes while I practice card tricks."
"Whatever you say...we can find a way," McKee responds, understanding that he is, in fact, still just a tenderfoot who can learn much more from the wiser Indian.
CONCLUSION
Hearts of the West, Bad Company, and Rancho Deluxe may bypass many of the traditional aesthetics of the Western film, but they're still part of the Western film tradition. At the end of each, it's not clear whether or not the characters Jeff Bridges played will remain a tenderfoot, but the lessons they have experienced are the same lessons the tenderfoot has experienced since the beginning of the Western genre. The lack of a clear resolution in all three films as well as the lack of a clear fate for Bridges's characters may have something to do with the time in which each of the Western films were produced. The aesthetics of any genre are fluid and open to change in the hand of quality filmmakers. As James Monaco explains, Rancho Deluxe "reverses the equation by playing with no longer sacred Western myths in a modern setting." According to Siegfried Kracauer, the nature of the time when a specific genre of a film like a Western was produced has a direct influence on making clear classifications of any genre problematic at best: "Because of their dependence on changing social historical and social circumstances, these subjects or topics elude systematic classification." Therefore, for the aficionado of the Western film genre who is not a tenderfoot Hearts of the West, Bad Company, and Rancho Deluxe are as authentically Western as any Western directed by John Ford.
February 2019
From guest contributor William Gombash, Valencia College
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dbpedia
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1
| 93
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https://www.nytimes.com/1984/12/19/movies/film-farmers-plight-in-the-river.html
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en
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FILM: FARMERS' PLIGHT IN 'THE RIVER'
|
[
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[
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] | null |
[
"Vincent Canby"
] |
1984-12-19T00:00:00
|
Struggling farmers. Muddled.
|
en
|
/vi-assets/static-assets/favicon-d2483f10ef688e6f89e23806b9700298.ico
|
https://www.nytimes.com/1984/12/19/movies/film-farmers-plight-in-the-river.html
|
''THE RIVER,'' which has absolutely nothing to do with Jean Renoir's 1951 classic set in India, is about Tom and Mae Garvey (Mel Gibson and Sissy Spacek), their two children and their attempts to hang on to their farm in spite of mounting bank debts, big business interests and, of course, the river.
The setting is rural Tennessee and the time is now. For generations the Garvey family has been farming the rich, brown, bottom lands along the river's banks. Every few years, after heavy rains, the river does what rivers have tended to do since the beginning of time. It overflows and wipes away crops, livestock, buildings and, frequently, people.
The problems faced by the Garveys are real and, in many parts of this country, they are still almost commonplace. Why do such farmers stay on? The land is incredibly rich and when there are no floods, the harvests are bountiful. It's also their land. Their roots are there. There is something staunch and heroic about farmers like the Garveys, but not about this movie, directed by Mark Rydell (''On Golden Pond'') and written by Robert Dillon and Julian Barry.
''The River,'' which opens today at the Beekman Theater, has a meticulously detailed physical production and, from time to time, is acted with passion by its cast. Yet its ideas are so profoundly muddled that the film must run mainly on sentimentality. It is so mixed up, in fact, that it makes Jessica Lange's ''Country,'' which it resembles in many ways and which has its own problems, seem a model of clarity.
The film's most peculiar decision was to make a villain of the one person who has some idea of what might be done to temper the effects of nature. This man is Joe Wade (Scott Glenn), a childhood sweetheart of Mae's who has married rich and is a farmer himself. Wade appears to be the only man in the area to understand - as did the Administration of Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1933 - that nature may be altered. Though Wade is out to make his own fortune in the process and, if possible, to seduce Mae, his ideas are essentially sound.
It was in 1933 that the Federal Government sponsored the Tennessee Valley Authority and the eventual construction of a network of dams, canals and locks along the Tennessee River and its tributaries, not only to control flooding but also to provide cheap electrical power and to increase river transportation.
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6000
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dbpedia
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3
| 6
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intersection_(1994_film)
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en
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Intersection (1994 film)
|
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2005-06-02T11:35:49+00:00
|
en
|
/static/apple-touch/wikipedia.png
|
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intersection_(1994_film)
|
1994 American film
IntersectionDirected byMark RydellWritten byDavid Rayfiel
Marshall BrickmanProduced byMark Rydell
Bud YorkinStarringCinematographyVilmos ZsigmondEdited byMark WarnerMusic byJames Newton HowardDistributed byParamount Pictures
Release date
Running time
98 minutesCountryUnited StatesLanguageEnglishBudget$45 million[1]Box office$61.3 million
Intersection is a 1994 romantic drama film, directed by Mark Rydell, and starring Richard Gere, Sharon Stone, Lolita Davidovich and Martin Landau. It is a remake of the French film Les choses de la vie (1970) by Claude Sautet, the story — both filmed and set in Vancouver, British Columbia — concerns an architect (played by Gere) who, as his classic Mercedes 280SL roadster hurtles into a collision at an intersection, flashes through key moments in his life, including his marriage to a beautiful but chilly heiress (Stone) and his subsequent affair with a travel writer (Davidovich).
Plot
[edit]
Vincent Eastman and his wife, Sally, run an architectural firm together. He is the architect and creative director while Sally handles the firm's business end. Unhappy in his marriage to Sally, with whom he has a daughter, Vincent considers his relationship more of a business than a family.
Vincent encounters a journalist, Olivia Marshak at an antique auction and a romantic spark ignites between them. They begin seeing each other whenever possible. After a quarrel with Sally at home, Vincent moves out but is still torn between his marriage and the possibility of a future with Olivia.
At first, deciding that the best course of action for everyone is for him to remain in his unhappy marriage, Vincent writes a letter to Olivia explaining that he is going back to his wife. Before he can mail it, he stops at a convenience store in the country and sees a little girl who reminds him of Olivia. Realizing his true feelings for Olivia, Vincent calls her and leaves a message on her answering machine, telling Olivia that he loves her, wants to start a life with her and that he's certain about his choice.
While speeding back to the city to be with Olivia, Vincent is in a car accident which results in his death. At the hospital, Sally receives Vincent's belongings and finds the letter to Olivia. When Olivia shows up at the hospital, Sally does not tell Olivia about the letter; in turn, Olivia does not tell Sally about the message that Vincent left for her.
The women part ways, each believing that she was Vincent's true love.
Cast
[edit]
Richard Gere as Vincent Eastman
Sharon Stone as Sally Eastman
Lolita Davidovich as Olivia Marshak
Martin Landau as Neal
David Selby as Richard Quarry
Jennifer Morrison as Meaghan Eastman (as Jenny Morrison)
Veena Sood as Intern
Reception
[edit]
The film received poor reviews from critics, with Rotten Tomatoes presenting this film with a score of 9% based on 32 reviews. Roger Ebert described the film as "a belated reminder of one of the unmourned genres of earlier years, the Shaggy Lover Story, in which a doomed romance is told against a backdrop of impending heartbreak. The twist at the end is supposed to send you out of the theater blowing your nose, but the people around me seemed more concerned with clearing their sinuses."[2] Kenneth Turan in the Los Angeles Times wrote that the film, "as directed by Mark Rydell[,] is riddled with miscalculations. It is miscast, filled with characters who are incapable of eliciting sympathy, and relates a story so unsatisfying one can only wonder that it got made at all."[3] Janet Maslin of The New York Times said that "as a soap opera elevated by its stellar cast and given the illusion of contemplativeness by repeated slow-motion shots of a car crash, Intersection really ought to be more fun. But despite the glossiness, it winds up seeming profoundly uneventful, perhaps because the car crash is the story's only real dramatic turn. The film's uncredited fourth star, the scenery of Vancouver, adds visual appeal without raising the energy level, although Harold Michelson's lavish production design will hold an audience's interest."[4]
The film opened to mixed reviews in Vancouver itself. Peter Birnie of the Vancouver Sun wrote that the film "is all Canadian – and the best evocation of Vancouver ever seen on screen", but decried its numerous cliches and its "confusing flashback-within-flashback format that's one hard act to follow."[5] More critical of the film was Lee Bacchus of sister newspaper The Province, who wrote that "director Mark Rydell doesn't seem to know how to kickstart this intriguing yet ultimately boring drama into overdrive. It looks good but doesn't have any spark. It coasts on some solid, subtle and mature work from Gere and company but spins its wheels in its own bland bog of inertia. The car crash – an elegant slow-motion symphony of impending doom – provides the opening frames of Intersection but stops short of actual impact. So does the movie."[6]
Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade "C+" on scale of A to F.[7] It also won Sharon Stone a Golden Raspberry Award and a Stinker award[8] for Worst Actress for her performance in the film (also for The Specialist).
Box office
[edit]
The film opened at number 3 at the US box office on its opening weekend behind Mrs. Doubtfire and Philadelphia,[9] and went on to gross $21.3 million in the US and Canada. It grossed $40 million overseas[10] for a worldwide gross of $61.3 million against a $45 million budget.
Year-end lists
[edit]
9th worst – Dan Craft, The Pantagraph[11]
Top 10 worst (not ranked) – Dan Webster, The Spokesman-Review[12]
Dishonorable mention – Glenn Lovell, San Jose Mercury News[13]
Worst (not ranked) – Bob Ross, The Tampa Tribune[14]
References
[edit]
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|
dbpedia
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3
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https://www.britannica.com/topic/Coogans-Bluff
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en
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Coogan’s Bluff | Clint Eastwood, New York City, Crime Drama
|
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"Coogan’s Bluff",
"encyclopedia",
"encyclopeadia",
"britannica",
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] | null |
[
"Lee Pfeiffer"
] |
2011-10-05T00:00:00+00:00
|
Coogan’s Bluff, American crime drama, released in 1968, that marks the first teaming of Clint Eastwood and director Don Siegel, who later collaborated on the popular Dirty Harry movies. Deputy Sheriff Walt Coogan (played by Eastwood) is a tough lawman from Arizona who travels to New York City to
|
en
|
/favicon.png
|
Encyclopedia Britannica
|
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Coogans-Bluff
|
Coogan’s Bluff, American crime drama, released in 1968, that marks the first teaming of Clint Eastwood and director Don Siegel, who later collaborated on the popular Dirty Harry movies.
Deputy Sheriff Walt Coogan (played by Eastwood) is a tough lawman from Arizona who travels to New York City to extradite an escaped killer, James Ringerman (Don Stroud). Ringerman, however, is in the hospital after overdosing on LSD. Coogan grows increasingly frustrated at the legal technicalities hindering Ringerman’s release and soon takes matters into his own hands. He tricks the hospital into releasing Ringerman into his custody, but plans go awry when the killer’s girlfriend arranges for Coogan to be beaten. Ringerman escapes with a gun stolen from Coogan, leading to further chases—on motorcycles and on foot—and additional fights, including a vicious confrontation in a pool hall, before the fugitive is finally apprehended.
Britannica Quiz
Best Picture Movie Quote Quiz
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6000
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dbpedia
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0
| 26
|
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/bette-midler-movie-stardom-the-rose-1235892815/
|
en
|
Hollywood Flashback: Bette Midler Bloomed and Withered in ‘The Rose’
|
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2024-05-14T17:45:00+00:00
|
Mark Rydell’s 'The Rose' marked the feature debut of Bette Midler and set a standard for films like the Amy Winehouse music biopic ‘Back to Black.
|
en
|
The Hollywood Reporter
|
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/bette-midler-movie-stardom-the-rose-1235892815/
|
In 1979, Bette Midler shot to movie stardom with 20th Century Fox’s The Rose.
Directed by Mark Rydell, the musical drama featured Midler as Mary Rose Foster (nicknamed “The Rose”), a brassy rock diva whose talent and fame are undercut by substance abuse. Loosely modeled on the life of Janis Joplin — and setting a music biopic standard narrative with its rise-and-fall storyline, as seen in Focus Features’ Amy Winehouse film Back to Black, in theaters May 17 — The Rose is notable for its live concert performances filmed across the country. THR attended one at the then-dilapidated Wiltern theater in Los Angeles. “Midler is definitely Movies Today (from her “Hello, mother f—–‘s” dialogue to the whole Bette look, audience hold and star persona) while the Wiltern house itself is a sobering relic from the Movies Past,” wrote Robert Osborne in June 1978 (inset). (THR critic Ron Pennington reiterated this in his October 1979 review: “Midler is especially superb in these concert sections, and she also makes the most of the coarse humor of the script.”)
Midler’s star had been on the rise since the release of her debut album in 1972; she won a Grammy, Tony and Emmy all before starring as a lead in a feature film (she’d made her movie debut in 1966’s Hawaii, set in her birthplace, in an uncredited role). While the actress downplayed the similarities between Rose and Joplin at a press conference announcing her casting in 1977, critics couldn’t resist noting the tragic connection between the fictional singer — who dies of an overdose onstage at the end of the movie — and Joplin, who met a similar fate in a Hollywood motel room. Reviews were mixed, but the film would go on to earn four Oscar noms, including best actress for Midler, who won a Golden Globe for her performance, plus her second Grammy for the title song written by Amanda McBroom — beating fellow singer-actresses Irene Cara, Olivia Newton-John, Donna Summer and Barbra Streisand for best female pop vocal performance.
|
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|
dbpedia
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3
| 24
|
https://www.steynonline.com/11983/john-wayne-must-die-the-cowboys-and-the-western
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en
|
John Wayne Must Die: The Cowboys and the Western
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[
"Rick's Flicks John Wayne Must Die: The Cowboys and the Western"
] | null |
[
"Rick McGinnis"
] |
2021-12-18T00:00:00
|
At the risk of spoiling a 50-year-old film, the most efficient way to introduce The Cowboys, a 1972 western produced and directed by Mark Rydell, is that it's the one where John Wayne gets killed. To be sure, Wayne died in more than just one film, but of
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https://www.steynonline.com/favicon.ico
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SteynOnline
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https://www.steynonline.com/11983/john-wayne-must-die-the-cowboys-and-the-western
|
At the risk of spoiling a 50-year-old film, the most efficient way to introduce The Cowboys, a 1972 western produced and directed by Mark Rydell, is that it's the one where John Wayne gets killed. To be sure, Wayne died in more than just one film, but of the ten where he does, five of the deaths are offscreen and one of them is so early in his career that his unfortunate character doesn't even have a name (1933's Central Airport).
But The Cowboys was notorious for Wayne's death, one full act before the film's finale, as it had been over a decade since the Duke bought the farm in a film, playing Davy Crockett in The Alamo, making a heroic exit by blowing up the fort's powder magazine and a whole bunch of Santa Anna's troops. He'd die again onscreen, of course â four years later in The Shootist, his final film. But Wayne's death in The Cowboys happened at a cultural moment when killing John Wayne wasn't just a plot twist but a political statement, or at least that's how it was interpreted during the long twilight of the '60s that seemed to last until the middle of the '70s.
Following the ironclad rule that there's no such thing as a period film as much as a movie about the time when it was made, dressed up in costumes, The Cowboys is a story about generations â one receding, the other emerging. Even if events offscreen didn't underline this theme, it would be hard to miss from the elegiac tone and the forlorn mood that seems to have overtaken the older characters.
Wayne plays "Wil" Andersen, a sixty-year-old Montana rancher whose ranch hands desert him when news of a gold strike empties out the territory with fortune seekers. He has a herd of cattle that need to be driven to market four hundred miles away, and nobody to do it until a friend in nearby Bozeman tells him to try his luck at the local schoolhouse.
Wil is a hard man, made harder by losing both of his sons when they were still young men. "They went bad â or I did," he admits later in the film. It's hard to miss that he's being given a second chance when he takes on eleven boys, none of them older than fifteen, to drive over a thousand cattle through a landscape that ranges from prairie scrub brush to forest to mountain foothills.
His initial reluctance is overcome by other characters reminding him that he was still a boy when he did his first cattle drive, but Wil is sure â as most older generations are, throughout time â that he was somehow tougher, more resilient â in a word, better â than any young person now.
The cattle drive east from Bozeman to Belle Fourche, South Dakota (almost exactly four hundred miles in the real world, to give credit to the film's producers and William Dale Jennings, author of the book the film is based on), takes Wil and the boys past the site of the Little Bighorn massacre, where they find the bleached bones of Custer's troops, still lying on the battlefield.
This places the film's setting at the end of the 1870s at the earliest, just a decade before the 1890 US census that's considered the official closing of the frontier, at least according to the Frederic Turner Jackson thesis that informed so many of the movie westerns that would come years later. (The voiceover on the film's original trailer tells us it's 1878.)
"It's a different day," Wil's wife tells him at the start of the film, and this only adds to the sense of an era passing, and with it the shared history and experience of a generation that includes a vast, bloody war that marked their lives forever and changed history â a war still vivid in their memories, but already ancient history to the young.
Director Mark Rydell was not one of the Hollywood veterans Wayne made his reputation with â legends like John Ford, Howard Hawks or journeymen like Henry Hathaway â but a former soap opera actor and television director who made his feature debut with The Fox in 1967, a Canadian film based on D.H. Lawrence's novella about a romantic triangle with a lesbian base.
As a director, Rydell was very much a man of his time; after The Cowboys he made Cinderella Liberty (1973), a drama about prostitution and miscegenation with James Caan and Marsha Mason, and Harry and Walter Go to New York (1976), a period comedy starring Caan, Elliott Gould and Diane Keaton and a notorious bomb. He recovered with The Rose in 1979 â the Bette Midler vehicle that combined Janis Joplin with A Star is Born â and On Golden Pond (1981), which cast Henry and Jane Fonda as father and daughter and won Oscars for the former and Katharine Hepburn.
This would be the peak of his career, but in 1971 he was still a director trying to make his reputation, and a self-described liberal who was wary when the prospect of casting John Wayne in his film became a possibility. (He wanted George C. Scott for Wil.) In a bonus feature included with the 2007 deluxe DVD reissue of the movie, Rydell remembers meeting Wayne on the Mexican set of Big Jake, expecting a fire-breathing right-winger and meeting a humble actor who practically begged him for the role of Wil.
In May of 1971, when the film was still in production, Wayne gave an interview to Playboy magazine that caused a scandal at the time, and then again three years ago, when it was "rediscovered" just as cancel culture emerged to wreck careers for both the living and the dead. (Mahatma Gandhi joined Wayne on the list of those to be posthumously canceled that year.)
In the interview, Wayne described Midnight Cowboy as "a story about two fags" and told the interviewer that "I believe in white supremacy." It was unsettling to people who'd grown up watching his films, so you can imagine the effect it had on people born long after Wayne died, who had probably only ever encountered him in parodies whose context they found baffling.
A Guardian article from 2019 about the Playboy interview's "rediscovery" says that "revisiting Wayne's views is important: we should be mindful to revise and decolonise the film canon, and it's essential to reassess cinema's heroes in the light of our shifting politics."
So far, so Guardian.
"On the other hand," writer Caspar Salmon continues, "it's possible to feel a certain weariness about a new right-on mindset finding fault with, of all people, John Wayne. Who next, Charlton Heston? Ronald Reagan? Pity the modern film buff who happens, during their internet travels, upon Frank Sinatra's ill-advised links to organised crime! Seeing a brouhaha erupt over these comments shows that there exists in our discourse a certain incuriosity about the past, a lack of education on movie history, and a want of nuance in understanding politics in the golden age of Hollywood."
It's always shocking to read the Guardian and find something that sounds reasonable. At the same time it's strange to feel a tug of nostalgia for 2019, when it was possible to think you could resist the growing craze for social and cultural defenestration and not expect your own imminent cancelation.
Even over thirty-five years later, Rydell still talked about the political gulf between himself and Wayne, the reaction to the Playboy interview, and the on-set clash that he's still surprised never happened.
For the boys, Rydell cast a group of unknowns, some actors, some young rodeo veterans who could handle the film's action scenes. The most notable of them all was Robert Carradine, the younger brother of Keith and David, and son of legendary character actor John Carradine. It was his first role, one that he'd follow up with a small one in Mean Streets, before hitting the big time by starring in the Revenge of the Nerds films.
The boys manage to learn enough to begin the cattle drive with Wil and Nightlinger, a hired chuck wagon driver played by Roscoe Lee Brown, whose sonorous, theatrical baritone constantly threatens to steal the film from Wayne. Black characters with major parts in westerns weren't that unusual by the early '70s â Woody Strode was a regular in John Ford's films, and Sidney Poitier had starred in Duel at Diablo (1966) before releasing his first film, Buck and the Preacher, the same year The Cowboys came out, starring in it alongside Harry Belafonte and Ruby Dee.
Modern audiences would find the reaction to Brown's Nightlinger in The Cowboys triggering; while Wil never uses racial epithets around him, the boys casually call their worldly cook the n-word, alongside the film's villain â Bruce Dern as "Long Hair", in full psycho mode.
Young people today find the word shocking, even unendurable, in almost any context. It's hard to convince them that it actually was shocking to hear in 1972, even at a time when it was still used casually, and not long after it was commonplace, but before it joined the list of words with unaccountable magical powers.
But nobody hearing the boys say it to Nightlinger's face thought the film was making a judgment on them as racists as much as naïve and uncouth boys, born just after the end of the US Civil War. But when Dern's Long Hair uses the word it's plainly one of the red flags signaling that he deserves whatever punishment the film should see fit to visit upon him before the credits roll. (Dragged to death by his horse, if you're curious.)
Dern's Long Hair â his character is named Asa Watts, but the credits notably call him Long Hair â is introduced as an ex-convict who tries to get work on the cattle drive with Wil, and returns later in the film at the head of a gang of rustlers shadowing Wil, Nightlinger and the boys. In retrospect, Dern said that playing the man who killed John Wayne damaged his career for many years to come; his reputation was tainted with casting directors and Wayne's fans would accost him on the street, calling him names and saying "You killed my buddy!"
Dern's onscreen offing of Wayne is notorious: after being bested by the older man in a fistfight, the cowardly rustler takes a gun from one of his men and shoots Wil in the back - not once but three times - before leaving him to die, gut shot, abandoned in the wilderness with the boys. Dern recalled that the Duke was drunk when they filmed the scene late one night, and told Dern that "they're gonna hate you for this."
True, Dern replied, "but at Berkeley I'll be a f**king hero!"
It's hard to imagine that The Cowboys would get made today, even if we still made westerns, and not only because its very contemporary anti-racism would be mistaken for racism now. There's also its length â over two hours, padded out with John Williams' symphonic hoedown overture and intermission music â and leisurely pace, complete with an interlude where two of the boys are briefly tempted by a mobile brothel run by Colleen Dewhurst's madam, a scene that alludes to the sirens of Homer's Odyssey, included for audiences who'd actually get the reference.
It's hard to argue that the film doesn't fall apart after Wayne dies, as satisfying as it is to see Brown and the boys exact their vengeance on Dern and his gang. Reviewing the film for the Chicago Sun-Times, Roger Ebert complained about "the final shootout, during which every one of the range-wise, hardened, experienced, jailbird gunmen is killed and not a single kid gets nicked, even. Let me tell you, it takes a lot of heroic music to paper over this ending."
Time magazine and Pauline Kael in the New Yorker were critical about how violence and revenge were crucial in the boys' coming of age. "There are good men and there are bad men; there are no crossovers or nothing in between," Kael wrote about Wayne's Wil. "People don't get a second chance around him; to err once is to be doomed." While there's no doubt Kael was a brilliant, influential critic, she could sometimes write about genre films as if she'd never seen another example of its type before.
In The Western: From Silents to the Seventies, their authoritative book on the genre, George Fenin and William K. Everson call The Cowboys one of Wayne's "traditional 'good and right' films," dismissing it as a "glib tale" that was "blessed by the Establishment and the Parent-Teacher Association." It's sometimes stunning how much the present is reviving the intensely polarized politics I remember from the '70s, albeit with many roles reversed and goal posts moved miles downfield.
By the turn of the '70s nobody was making westerns that weren't at least cautiously revisionist anymore; if you still wanted to see a traditional western, Bonanza was on TV until 1973. With Rydell as director, The Cowboys was at least half a revisionist western, but thanks to Wayne, it still had one foot in the world of John Ford and backlot western main street sets.
It would take Wayne's death, just five years later, for westerns to float free of their historical moorings and cease to exist as a freestanding genre altogether. But to make that happen, you had to kill John Wayne.
|
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6000
|
dbpedia
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2
| 87
|
https://www.nexusmods.com/stardewvalley/mods/999
|
en
|
Portraiture
|
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2024-03-04T07:23:00
|
Add higher resolution portraits and easily switch between different Portrait Mods.
|
en
|
Nexus Mods :: Stardew Valley
|
https://www.nexusmods.com/stardewvalley/mods/999
|
'Another' Igor's Anime Portrait for Leah 'Another' Igor's Anime Portrait for Sebastian *optional 'Older' Jas Anime Portrait *optional ( sve ) victor portrait (1.6 UNOFFICIAL UPDATE) Gigi's Hi-Res Portraits mod for All Characters (Abandoned) Aura's Portrait Mod (CP) CL's Haley Portrait Mod (RRRR) Portraiture - ADORE Wizard Portrait (RSV)Shie's style Ridgeside NPC HD portrait(only 8 NPC) (Unofficial) The Twlight Traveller-Custom NPC (API) for 1.6 （使用高清头像需要的前置模组） 9SEN's Emily Portraits A Cuter Freckled Emily A New Custom NPC---BuwangYu A new portrait of Magnus (Wizard) for SVE A new portrait of young Willy A recolour of ohodavi's anime portraits required for the mod to work Abigail Catgirl Anime Portrait Adomin8ers HD Portraits and Genderbend This will revert to HD Portraits when it becomes compatible with Version 1.6. Ador's Wizard Portraits and Deniz's Matching Sprites for Romanceable Rasmodius Aideen_new_Portraits Akipana's Portraits - Combined Girls (Shane) (Required) Akipana's Portraits - Combined Girls(Alex) (Required) Akipana's Portraits - Combined Girls(Sabrina) (Required) Alice - Governor Portrait(AI) Alternate IceFox Portrait (mermaid island) An Older and Depressed-Looking Shane Anime Catboy Portrait Mod Anime Catboy Portrait Mod - Wizard Update SVE anime girl portraits AsianJellyfish's Mr.Qi Portraits For the portraits to works Asri's Portrait for Rasmodia Atmos_Fierce Harvey Cosplay Portrait bigsimp78's Abigail Portraits bigsimp78's Alex Portraits bigsimp78's Elliott Portraits bigsimp78's Emily Portraits bigsimp78's Haley Portraits bigsimp78's Harvey Portraits BingMiao's Dwarf Dialogue Expansion - English Translation BingMiao's dwarf dialogue expansion and portrait 1.8.1 Blanche Portraits by Eva Breads Anime Portrait Reworked Breads Anime Portraits Bullety's female Pierre portraits and sprite Bullety's girls Portrait Mod Busty Bachelorettes High Resolution requires this. Optional if you plan on using Low Resolution. Cale Henituse Replaces Shane Portrait and Sprite Mod by EvellynYuri Caleb's Portraits Camilla Portraits by Ricca - SVE NPC Retexture Or other high-res portraits mods Candicorn Bachelor Portrait Pack Candicorn Bachelorette Portrait Pack Candicorn Handsome Young Wizard Portraits CandiCorn NPC Portrait Pack 1 CandiCorn NPC Portrait Pack 2 CandiCorn NPC Portrait Pack 3 CandiCorn NPC Portrait Pack 4 Chelle's Portraits (WIP) Clint to Yue Qingyuan - HD Portraits and Sprites Clone high jfk portrait replacer made to be used with this Coldazrael's HD Portraits for Portraiture version Custom NPC - Belos Custom NPC - Belos (Portuguese) Custom NPC - Belos English Translation SVE Version Custom NPC - OpenFire Custom NPC - OpenFire English Translation SVE Compatible Custom NPC - Thurstan Custom NPC Amon 頭像請記得放在這裡。 Custom NPC Amon HD Portraits CUSTOM NPC BELOS - SVE VERSION INDONESIA TRANSLATION Custom NPC Carnelian Custom NPC Carnelian - English Translation Custom NPC Carnelian - HD Portraits by EvellynYuri Custom NPC Eugene - Simplified _Traditional Custom NPC Lin Simply replace the out-of-place portrait into a more clear and full picture of Lin. Custom NPC Lucikiel HD Portrait for Portraiture by EvellynYuri Custom NPC Magpie(Que) Custom NPC Mod Seven Deadly Sins Eng Translation Custom NPC Snow English Translation Custom NPC Thurstan (Ru) Custom NPC Thurstan - English Mod uses an hd portrait, not necessary if you're using the HD Portraits conversion. Custom NPC-YunShen 下载像素肖像则不需要该Mod。 Cute Krobus portraits(2) Portraiture Cuter child You only need to choose one of Portraiture and HD Portraits! Cuter elf child You only need to choose one of Portraiture and HD Portraits! Cuter Haley Cuter Maru with Curly Hair Cuter wizard child You only need to choose one of Portraiture and HD Portraits! Cuter Zayne child You only need to choose one of Portraiture and HD Portraits! Dabi my Beloved Darkflower's 1.6 Hi-Res Portraits Dodo's Dwarf replacement Doki Doki Valley - Alex Elliott Sam and Sebastian Full Replacer - Portrait and Sprite - CP and HD Portraits Dory's Portraits Dusty Overhaul Optional (for HD portraits) Dusty Overhaul - SVE Optional (for HD portraits) eihwaz's portraits of Lance (SVE) - Revised Eirenel's Krobus portraits and sprite Elegant suit_Shane_New Portrait and Characters Elegant_Shane_Portrait and Character Elliott change Passenger Elliott to Albedo From Genshin Impact Eskbl's Wizard Portrait Eskbl's Wizard Portraits in Pixel Art by b0rszcz Eugene New portrait Eugene's new portraits Eugene's Portrait Evelyn to Kongsang Master HD Portrait and Sprite 1.6 Compatible Everyone wears Japanese clothing Drag PNGs into this file. Female Alex Sprite and Hi-Res Portrait FF14 Haurchefant Mod Firecherno's NPCs (Belos and OpenFire) in Shie's Style fish's cute Marnie(sprites and portrait) Fishking's All the villagers Portraits 1.6 Available Fishking's SVE Portraits Fishking's Walkable character portraits Version 1.6 Available flairconny's krobus portraits and sprites Front-view Abigail FUWAMOCO Character and portrait Gabreu's Sam Portraits Gender Swap Abigail Portraits Gender Swap Abigail Portraiture And Sprite Gender Swap Emily Portraits Gender Swap Haley Portraits Gender Swap Haley Portraiture And Sprite Gender Swap Leah Portraits Gender Swap Penny Portraits Gentleman from Old Korea - Custom NPC Optional for the high quality portraits. George to Master Tusu HD Portrait and Sprite 1.6 Compatible Ghibli Valley Portrait Mod Ghibli Valley Portrait Mod - Bachelorettes ONLY Ghibli Valley Portrait Mod - Bachelors ONLY Gigi's (Chaekal's) Wizard Portrait Edits for Romanceable Rasmodius Gigi's and Finnsinn's portraits edits (adding new characters with animal characteristics) Required (Unless you use another mod which does the same) Gigi's Beardless Wizard for Romanceable Rasmodius and SVE Gigi's Hi-Res Portraits mod for All Characters 100% Required as this is a hi-res mod and the files will not work anywhere else. Gnash Studio - Stardew Valley Portraits Goha Yuga Mod Goober Portraits The folder titled "Portraits" is where you should drop this pack. Gothic Emily Granny Eun's Alternate Portraits for RSV Granny Eun's Portraits for SVE Granny Eun's Vanilla Portraits Green spirit Linus -High Res Portraits Gus To Ban Haley HD portrait for portraiture HAN's portraits Handsome And Cute Sebastian HD portrait for Portraiture Harvey Portraits and Sprite by EvellynYuri (New and Old Version) Includes Ginger Island Harvey to Takuto Maruki(persona 5) Hayley's HD portrait is cute HD Anthro Alex Portraits - 1.6 Compatible HD Anthro Elliott Portraits - 1.6 Compatible HD Anthro Haley Portraits - 1.6 Compatible HD Anthro Harvey Portraits - 1.6 Compatible HD Anthro Sam Portraits - Masc and Fem - 1.6 Compatible HD Anthro Sebastian Portraits - Masc and Fem - 1.6 Compatible HD Anthro Shane Portraits - Masc and Fem - 1.6 Compatible HD portrait of a white-haired wizard HD Portraits - Caleb Alternative Seasonal Portraits HD Portraits Sam 1.6 Compatible HD Pretty Penny Hard requirement. Install portraiture and unzip the file into a new folder inside Stardew Valley\Mods\Portraiture\Portraits. New folder is required. HD Romanceable Rasmodius Portraits - 1.6 Compatible HD Witch and Henchman with Cute Krobus Anime Portraits Or any other HD portrait enabler should work HI-RES Butch Emily Portrait High Res Portraits for Adarin's girl mod Horrid Effigy (PORTRAITURE) Ichor's Wizard Portrait Retek (RRRR Compatible) Igor's Anime Portrait for Lewis Igor's Anime Portrait for Susan SVE Igor's Anime Portraits for SDV NPC *optional Igor's Realistic Portrait for Emily INKY's Wizard Portrait (For RRRR) IshaliArt's Portrait Mod -Work in Progress- Jas HDPortraits by Hei Yujun mobie jas Japanese comic style portrait Jas wqw Jio-Ridgeside Village Joen New Portraits Kazbus' Morris Portraits Needed for Portraits to work Kazbus' Pierre Portraits Needed for Portraits to work Kigakeun's Alex HD Anime Portrait Won't work without it. Kigakeun's Harvey HD Anime Portrait (No Glasses - Glasses - Vanilla) Won't work without it. Kigakeun's Kenneth HD Anime Portrait - Ridgeside Village Won't work without it. Kigakeun's Sebastian HD Anime Portrait Won't work without it. Kigakeun's Shane HD Anime Portrait Won't work without it. Kigakeun's Victor HD Anime Portrait - SVE Won't work without it. KivoValley Aris(Abigail) HD Portraits the latest version which supports SDV 1.6 and above (最新即可) KivoValley Azusa(Leah) HD Portraits and Characters the latest version which supports SDV 1.6 and above (最新即可) KivoValley Fuuka(Gus) HD Portraits the latest version which supports SDV 1.6 and above (最新即可) KivoValley Haruna(Governor) HD Portraits and Characters the latest version which supports SDV 1.6 and above (最新即可) KivoValley Kaichou(Grandpa) the latest version which supports SDV 1.6 and above (最新即可) KivoValley Kozeki Ui(Gunther) HD Portraits and sprites the latest version which supports SDV 1.6 and above (最新即可) KivoValley KuroFuku(Krobus) HD Portraits the latest version KivoValley Mari(Penny) HD Portraits the latest version which supports SDV 1.6 and above (最新即可) KivoValley Mika(Haley) HD Portraits and sprites the latest version which supports SDV 1.6 and above (最新即可) KivoValley Mimori(Emily) HD Portraits and sprites the latest version which supports SDV 1.6 and above (最新即可) KivoValley Miyu(Linus) HD Portraits and sprites (Marriable) 1.12.1-alpha.20240304 KivoValley Mob(Krobus) HD Portraits and Sprites the latest version which supports SDV 1.6 and above (最新即可) KivoValley NPCs Collection KivoValley Serina(Harvey) HD Portraits and Sprites the latest version which supports SDV 1.6 and above (最新即可) KivoValley Shiroko(Alex) HD Portraits (Female) the latest version which supports SDV 1.6 and above (最新即可) krag's talko-style Mister Ginger Portraits For Portraiture version kragon's talkohlooeys-style RSV Bachelorette Portraits Leo portrait by sheyn Lienyan's portrait of Sebastian and the Overworld Sprites lilico's Gigi Portrait Edits (Chaekal's Wizard) for LfL lilico's Shie Portrait Edits (Clint) LINUS PORTRAIT Louis's Garage and Renault 5 Expansion Optional for Louis HD Portraits Louis's Garage and Renault 5 Expansion - Russian Translation Дополнительно: HD-портреты Луи lovely and young Miss Marnie LT's Portraits for boys LT's Wizard RRRR Portrait Lucas the Wizard sprite and High res portrait for LFL Lucikiel Anime Portraits for 1.6 (Portraiture) lunakatt's DCBurger Style Portraits for SVE Luumi's talkohlooeys Style Portraits for Hat Mouse Lacey if you are using the Portraiture version Magnus Rasmodius Wizard portraits for RRRR Maid Bella Dwellin(Original) Maid of all works Bella Dwellin - Vietnamese Mang (BT21) Marie's Portaits HQ (Leah) Marie's Portaits HQ (Updated) McKay's Abigail Anime Portraits Required Men of the Valley - REVAMPED Miku NPC High-res Portrait Miku portraiture HD Important to download Milo's Headcanon Portraits Minu High definition vertical drawing Mit164 Krobus portraits Morris Portraits Morris to Kunikazu Okumura Moth Custom NPC Portrait My Babies are so Kawaii (Children Portraits) Nanami Kento NPC High Res Portrait Naty-js Anime Portraits - Bachelors Nekromeowncer's Portraits (Base game and SVE) New NPC -Qbhx if you want to use hd Portraiture.如果你想用高清头像 New NPC Alune New NPC Alune HD Portrait for Portraiture by EvellynYuri New NPC Rydell (PT-BR) New Sam Portrait (Includes Alternative Yandere Version) New Sebastian Mod for Portraiture (Includes Alternative Yandere Version) New Sprite-Accurate Belos Portrait and Sprite (With Portraiture Correction) New Sprite-Accurate Big Dog Belos Portrait Sprite and Fix New__Paul_portrait ninthalley's Abi Portrait (PNG) Nora New Portraits Normal and Yandere Seasonal Elliott Portraits for Portraiture NPC_Eugene_Portrait Nyapu-style's RRRRasmodia Witch Portraits Nyde Bachelorettes Portrait 1.6 Ordinary Elliott and Yandere Elliott Portraits for Portraiture Ordinary Harvey and Yandere Harvey Portraits for Portaiture Ordinary Shane and Yandere Shane Portraits for Portraiture PaiNT Anime Girls Expanded Portraits - SVE Optional PaiNT Anime Girls of the Valley (Genderbend - Boy into Girl - Bachelor to Bachelorette) Optional PaiNT Anime Girls Portraits Optional PaiNT Anime Rasmodia Portrait (Female Wizard) Optional PaiNT Anime Xtardew Portraits Optional PaiNT HD Chibi Anime Portraits - (Ai) Optional Panda's Portraits PearStar's Marriage Candidates Portraits Personal style portrait MOD Pinorest's Portraits for Elliott PlsBuffSeraphine's almost DCBurger's style Portrait for Adventurer's Guild Expanded (Portraiture) PlumAdorable's Female Bachelor Portraits PNG Only HD Portraits - Custom NPC Isaiah Portrait For The Twlight Traveller 必要 Portrait of a witch Portrait of a young wizard Portrait of Abigail Portrait of Ridgeside Village Portrait of Young Gill Portrait of Young Gunther Portraits Portraits for Astarion - Baulder's Valley Portraiture Portraits for Marlon by Btkki Portraits for Vanilla Characters Super necessary for the mod to work Portraits of Clint Pam Willy Portraits of Linus Portraits of Marriable Figures Portraits of SVE PortraiturePlus the latest version Ppanyagteuli's Gender Swap Penny Portraits and Hoesjibnyaong's Matching Sprites Qewbi's Wizard Portraits (RRRR) Rare's Rare Alex Portrait Rasmodia Portraits for Romanceable Rasmodius-RRRR RazzPixel's Pixel Portraits RB's Sebastian Portraits ***NEEDED TO MAKE THE PORTRAITS WORK*** Redraw of the Wizard portrait by Chaekal-Rizum Replace portraits and walking picture with Genshin Impact. Replacement Portrait for Gale Dekarios - Wizard of Waterdeep Portraiture Ridgeside Village Ian anime portraits You only need to choose one of Portraiture and HD Portraits! Ridgeside Village Jio and Philip anime portraits You only need to choose one of Portraiture and HD Portraits! Ridgeside Village Zayne anime portraits You only need to choose one of Portraiture and HD Portraits! Rin's portrait mod - Bachelors Ro's Magnus Rasmodius Wizard Portraits Robin's New Portrait(AI generation) 非必须 rosesong Marriage Candidates HD Portraits - 1.6 Compatible RRRR Wizard Catboy 32 Portraits Required (Unless you use another mod which does the same) RRRR Young Wizard Portrait RRRRasmodius Wizard Portrait SageFelix - RRRR Old ver. Wizard Magnus Rasmodius Portraits SageFelix - Younger Magnus Rasmodius Portraits Sam Portrait Sam portraits for Portraiture Sam seasonal portraits (Anime style) Required Sandy AI Portrait 建议使用 Sebastian by echo Sebastian HD portraits Winter Beach has been updated Sebastian Portrait By Bambii143 Sebastian Portrait with more Piercings in my artstyle put the png in [Stardew Valley\Mods\Portraiture\Portraits\new file]folder to install; see Portraiture mod for more info Sebastian Portraits and Sprites Sebastian Portraits by noetinyy Sebastian Portraits for Portraiture SEMI REALISTIC - PORTRAIT Shane Doomer Replacer Shie Portraits extended (Shie-esque portraits) Required for Mermaid Island portraits Shie style Ridgeside Village 11Bachelorette Portraits Shie style Ridgeside Village Children Portraits SHIE'S PORTRAITS Shie-Esque Sunny Portrait Required Short-Haired Bachelorettes Siasz's Abigail Portraits Siasz's Demetrius Portraits Siasz's Haley Portraits Siasz's June Portraits Siasz's Linus Portraits Siasz's Maru Portrait I dont know how to do any content patcher downloads, Just copy the PNG photo to portraitures files with all your photos, and have it replace any Maru photos you want it to Siasz's Sebastian Portraits Silhy's HD AGE Portraits Required Silver-Haired Portrait and Sprite for Custom NPC College Boy Mike Sin's Haley Portraits Single ponytail Abigail HD portraits SlimBosco's Alex Portrait Mod SolaLuuka's HD Character's Portraits To use my HD portraits Sophia for myself sparrow's Portrait Mod Sprite-Accurate Portrait for Custom NPC Wilford (Non-Seasonal) stardew x koikatsu Sterling-Always Raining in the Valley-East Scarp Sunshine Portraits SVE DCBurger portraits (in progress) SVE Olivia Portraits SweetishLemon's Sebastian V2 REQUIRED TO WORK. drag and drop files into this mod folder! SweetishLemons Sebastian Protraits (OLD) required for the mod to work properly Syllo00's Portrait Mod T304's Alex portraits T304's Elliott portraits Talkohlooey's pastel portraits Use it like talkohlooey talkohlooey-style Extended Female Wizard Portraits Edit talkohlooey-style Wizard Child NPC Portrait use unofficial ver, linked in description talkohlooeys-style RRRR Wizard Portraits Optional - for Portraiture version. Tantan's Mr. Qi Portrait And Sprite Tantan's Non-giftable NPCs Portraits and Sprites Taru portraits for ver 1.0.3 Portraiture Teacinno's DCBurger style Susan The DayBreak Character beautification The Twlight Traveller-Custom NPC (API) 更换高清头像用前置（可选） TmTz's Caroline Cute Portrait TmTz's Linus White Portrait And Sprite Tomorrownight NPC - English Translation Optional (For High Res Portraits) Toro's Anime Sebastian Portraits Town Mayor Mumbo This mod is required due to me accidentally making the portraits too big, might fix in the future Tubbybito's custom anime portraits - Haley and Emily Needs portraiture to load the HD portrait Turn the baby into a TRICKSTAR Twilight's Shie-Esque Seven Deadly Sins UnofficialSkeleton's Portrait Mod Follow the instructions carefully Vanilla pixel art Belos portrait and matching sprite Verumew's Portraits Vicent's dialogue character beautification 必须下载 Vincent HD portraits Visual Crossing Portrait Overhaul Who's High Res Wizard Portrait and Sprites Willy Portraits Wizard Wizard -- style RRRR Portraits 必须 Wizard Ku's Anime Portrait Mods (All Marriage Candidates) This mod must be placed in Portraitre Wizard Portrait and Sprite by funamusea Wizard Portrait and Sprites VM need's for portrait Wizard Portraits by Riccia Or other high-res portraits mods xxz's portraits of all the villagers xxzbb portraits1.6 Yandere Alex HD Portrait for Portraiture by EvellynYuri Yandere Elliott - for HD Portraits - 1.6 Compatible Yandere Shane Portraits - 1.6 Compatible - Remake Yandere_Spicy Sebastian Portrait with more Piercings in my artstyle YaoYao replaces Jarvis Young Marlon Portraits Young Wizard Portraits YZY's SHIE style portrait zhiyu's Sam Portraits zhiyu's Sebastian Portraits zhiyu's Shane Portraits Zino's Vanilla Bachelor Portraits ZXsherry's Marriage Candidates High Res Portraits ZXsherry's Portraits ZYNU's High-Res Portraits
|
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6000
|
dbpedia
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0
| 71
|
https://deadline.com/2017/07/martin-landau-dies-oscar-winner-ed-wood-1202129843/
|
en
|
Martin Landau Dies: Oscar-Winning ‘Ed Wood’, TV’s ‘Mission: Impossible’ Actor Was 89
|
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[] |
[] |
[
""
] | null |
[
"Dino-Ray Ramos"
] |
2017-07-17T00:32:50+00:00
|
Martin Landau, the Academy Award winning actor of "Ed Wood," died at the age of 89 due to "unexpected complications."
|
en
|
Deadline
|
https://deadline.com/2017/07/martin-landau-dies-oscar-winner-ed-wood-1202129843/
|
Martin Landau, whose role as Bela Lugosi in Tim Burton’s 1994 film Ed Wood earned the popular player an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, died Saturday at 89 following “unexpected complications” after a brief stay at the UCLA Medical Center, his publicist Dick Guttman confirmed Sunday.
In a career spanning more than half a century of roles on television and film, Landau may have been best known for his run as undercover operative Rollin Hand in the Mission: Impossible TV series that initially ran from 1966 to 1973 on CBS. The show co-starred Landau’s wife at the time, Barbara Bain.
Also known for his varied roles in classic films from Alfred Hitchcock’s North by Northwest to Woody Allen’s Crimes and Misdemeanors, Landau was not only one of the most familiar faces in Hollywood but also one of the most highly regarded character actors in the business. “Martin Landau is living proof that Hollywood will find great roles for great actors at any stage of their careers,” said Guttman in confirming his client’s death.
Landau was born in Brooklyn, NY June 20, 1928 and went on to study at the Pratt Institute. The year he auditioned for the Actors Studio, he and Steve McQueen were accepted out of 2000 applicants. This was the start of both his careers and his lifelong devotion to the Studio, the center of American method acting that he eventually headed up as artistic director with actor and director Mark Rydell. His students there included Jack Nicholson and Anjelica Huston.
Watch on Deadline
‘Ageism is something that does exist. I don’t like to do what I call “the grunters” — a character who sits at a table and grunts, and young people make fun of. I turn a lot of those down. I like a character that is still alive, and is necessarily thinking, and either grows or diminishes, or whatever.’ – Martin Landau
Landau made his big screen debut in the Gregory Peck war film Pork Chop Hill in 1959, but his first major film appearance was in North by Northwest, a role he nabbed when Hitchcock after he saw his stage performance with Edward G. Robinson in Paddy Chayefsky’s Middle of the Night.
He starred opposite Jeff Bridges in Francis Ford Coppola’s Tucker: The Man His Dream in 1988, for which he received his first Oscar nomination. The following year he earned his second Oscar nod for his role as Judah Rosenthal in Allen’s bitter drama Crimes and Misdemeanors. His performance in Ed Wood also earned him a Golden Globe Award the Screen Actor Guild’s first annual award, The American Comedy Award, The New York Film Critics Award, The National Society of Film Critics Award, The Chicago Film Critics Award, The Los Angeles Film Critics Award, and every other award for Best Supporting Actor in 1994. He collaborated with Burton again as a voice actor for his animated features 9 and Frankenweenie.
More recently, he starred opposite with Paul Sorvino in the dramedy The Last Poker Game, which bowed earlier this year at Tribeca Film Festival. Deadline had the honor of interviewing him for the film which centered on the challenges and complexities of old age but emphasizing that life must be lived fully at any age.
“Ageism is something that does exist,” Landau acknowledged then. “As a young actor, I was working much more readily, and being offered more things. I don’t like to do what I call ‘the grunters’—a character who sits at a table and grunts, and young people make fun of. I turn a lot of those down. I like a character that is still alive, and is necessarily thinking, and either grows or diminishes, or whatever.”
He also starred with legendary actor Christopher Plummer in the 2015 indie Holocaust drama Remember from director Atom Egoyan. He also starred in The Red Maple Leaf with Kris Kristofferson and James Caan as well as the critically acclaimed Lovely with Ellen Burstyn.
‘If one could examine his DNA, it would read ACTOR. He embraced every role with fire and fierce dedication. Playing Bela Lugosi in Tim Burton’s “Ed Wood” was his loving tribute to all actors and garnered him a well-deserved Academy Award. His work was his joy and his legacy.’ —Barbara Bain
Landau’s versatile talents shined on TV as he made appearances on the small screen after his memorable role on Mission: Impossible. He nabbed six Emmy nominations including two for guest starring appearances on Without A Trace as well as the HBO comedy Entourage.
As a writer, Landau was working on a yet-untitled memoir which detailed his accomplishments in theatre, film and television. He also wrote the foreword of Life magazine’s book on his friend and fellow Hollywood icon James Dean. In addition a documentary entitled An Actor’s Actor: The Life of Martin Landau was in development.
He is survived by his daughters Susie Landau Finch and Juliet Landau, his sons-in-law Roy Finch and Deverill Weekes, former wife and co-star Barbara Bain, godson Dylan Becker, friend Gretchen Becker, sister Elinor Schwartz and his 8-year-old granddaughter Aria Isabel Landau Finch.
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dbpedia
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2
| 13
|
http://thehollywoodinterview.blogspot.com/2009/06/mark-rydell-directing-john-wayne-in.html
|
en
|
The Hollywood Interview: MARK RYDELL REMEMBERS KILLING JOHN WAYNE...AND BETTE MIDLER!
|
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|
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[
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(Mark Rydell directing John Wayne in The Cowboys , above.) By Jon Zelazny (Note: This interview is also appearing at Eight Million Stories...
|
en
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http://thehollywoodinterview.blogspot.com/favicon.ico
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http://thehollywoodinterview.blogspot.com/2009/06/mark-rydell-directing-john-wayne-in.html
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http://www.money-into-light.com/2015/10/an-interview-with-michael-moriarty-part_4.html
|
en
|
MONEY INTO LIGHT: AN INTERVIEW WITH MICHAEL MORIARTY (PART 2 OF 2)
|
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|
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[] |
[] |
[
""
] | null |
[
"Paul Rowlands"
] | null |
Reviews, Interviews and Articles by Paul Rowlands
|
en
|
http://www.money-into-light.com/favicon.ico
|
http://www.money-into-light.com/2015/10/an-interview-with-michael-moriarty-part_4.html
| ||||
6000
|
dbpedia
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2
| 52
|
https://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/james-dean-3-films-childhood-acting/20951/
|
en
|
With only three films, James Dean changed what it means to be an actor
|
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[] |
[] |
[
""
] | null |
[
"Laura Townsend"
] |
2022-03-01T21:14:42+00:00
|
Although James Dean's career was cut short at age 24, the three films he starred in were enough to make the actor a legend.
|
en
|
American Masters
|
https://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/james-dean-3-films-childhood-acting/20951/
|
Writer Laura Townsend looks at the influence James Dean’s personal life had on his Hollywood persona, exploring how the late actor’s iconoclastic approach to acting differentiated him from the work of his peers.
Although James Dean‘s career was cut short at age 24, the three films he starred in were enough to make the actor a legend. Dean drew audiences in with his raw vulnerability and left them captivated, his brutally honest performances lingering in their hearts and minds long after credits stopped rolling. Many might surmise that Dean’s iconic image—that of a lackadaisical teen with slicked-back hair and a cigarette dangling between his lips—was merely an extension of the rebellious characters Dean portrayed on-screen. In reality, Dean’s characters reflected his real life persona.
By bringing his personal experiences, attitudes and feelings into his acting and silver screen image, Dean blurred the line between reality and fantasy in Hollywood. He did something that few other actors had done before him: he invited audiences to understand him intimately through the lens of fictional storytelling.
The problems that the character Jim Stark faced in “Rebel Without a Cause,” particularly involving his family and upbringing, bore a striking resemblance to James Dean’s own difficult childhood. Dean was born in the small and provincial town of Marion, Indiana, where his father worked as a farmer. When Dean was six years old, his family moved to Santa Monica, California where his father traded the farm fields for a career in dentistry. As a child, Dean was not particularly close to his father, but had a special connection with his mother. The boy dreamed of becoming an actor and spent his days learning to tap dance, making art and playing the violin. His hobbies were not congruent with what was expected of a young boy in the 1930s. Biographer Michael DeAngelis writes in “Gay Fandom and Crossover Stardom: James Dean, Mel Gibson, and Keanu Reeves,” that Dean felt his mother was “the only person capable of understanding him.”
When Dean was just nine years old, his mother died of uterine cancer. His life would never be the same. Dean’s father was not up to the task of raising his young son on his own. He sent him 2,000 miles away to live with an aunt and uncle in a Quaker household in Fairmount, Indiana.
Dean found escape in radio shows and spent hours holed up inside, glued to his radio set. As he got lost in other people’s stories, his dream of leaving Indiana and becoming an actor intensified.
According to friend and fellow actor Mark Rydell, “the truth of the matter is that [Dean] was haunted, throughout his life, his short life, by his need for a father. His father was brutal to him. His mother abandoned him by dying when he was nine and so he was, in a sense, an orphan. When he went back to Indiana after his mother’s death his father promised to be there.”
In reality, his father never returned to Indiana and Dean “never saw him again until he was eighteen or so. So Dean was left with a gigantic hole in his personality. The hunger for a daddy, for someone to connect with him, to nurture him and take care of him and to guide him and to lead him.”
Following his high school graduation, Dean moved between Los Angeles and New York in pursuit of an acting career. After landing a few key roles in television and on the stage, he was asked to star in director Elia Kazan‘s feature film “East of Eden.” This film would not only set Dean’s career in motion, but it would also introduce the world to an actor who was unafraid to insert all of himself—his real experiences, vulnerabilities and emotions—into a role.
“He understood pain,” says actor Martin Landau. “Young people usually don’t have that kind of pain or don’t wear it as externally.”
Dean’s ability to channel his pain into his acting differentiated him from other actors of his generation. “One of the things that made [Dean] noticed,” Landau explains, “was his vulnerability. He understood a mother he didn’t have…’East of Eden’ was like a chance to meet his mother again, if one accepts that.”
Not only did “East of Eden” give Dean a chance to confront his grief for his mother, but it also allowed him to deal with his feelings of abandonment by his father. According to Rydell, director Elia Kazan was aware of Dean’s feelings toward his father and “actually directed [Dean] to utilize that” in his performance.
“Kazan realized this guy’s perfect for a part where a guy is struggling with his father, needing the love of his father. Kazan had wisdom in that area; it’s kind of a psychological perception that is at the root of all good casting. You find out what the needs of the part are and you try to find somebody who needs those things.”
Dean was notorious for improvising his lines and ignoring the screenplay. Sometimes, he would even move from the positions the director instructed him to stand in. “He would [work] depending on how he felt at the moment,” remembered actor Eli Wallach, which often aggravated his co-stars. On one occasion, while filming “East of Eden,” Dean’s co-star Raymond Massey approached Kazan to complain about Dean’s erratic behavior. Kazan responded by telling Dean to “keep it up” because Massey was “getting irritated . . . [and] that’s the color I want in the scene.”
Dean did not need to rely on the script for a stunning performance. He had his own feelings, his own instincts, to draw on instead. Albeit unconventional, this approach worked because it allowed for an honest, authentic performance from Dean. Dean understood his relationship with his on-screen father because of his relationship with his real father. He didn’t need to follow a script verbatim—he needed to channel his own experiences.
It wasn’t just his performances that reflected Dean’s tragic upbringing. His entire persona—the larger-than-life image that remains so iconic decades later—stemmed from the pain of his past.
Dean, in every sense, was a rebel—just like the characters he played on-screen. He didn’t conform to the clean-cut all-American style that was expected of young stars of that era. He arrived late to work and was often moody and uncooperative on set. He spent the money from his films on luxury sports cars, which he drag raced through the streets of Hollywood—as though life itself was something to be toyed with rather than cherished. His pain followed him everywhere: from his free time, to the clothes he wore, to his work. Dean as an actor and character differed imperceptibly from Dean as a person.
On September 30, 1955, Dean crashed his beloved Porsche, putting an end to his life at just 24 years old. He was on his way to a racing track. Dean’s death rattled the world. No one was prepared to say goodbye to the young actor they were just beginning to know and love. His legacy was solidified when Dean was nominated for Best Actor in a Leading Role for “East of Eden,” making Dean the first actor in the history of the Academy Awards to be nominated posthumously. He was nominated again in 1956 for his role in “Giant.” Dean remains the only actor to receive two Academy Award nominations posthumously.
Writer Bill Bast remembered Dean discussing the novella, “The Little Prince,” with him. The book “was as sacred to [Dean] as the Bible is to other people. He believed in that book, I can tell you. It’s a story of this special little guy who comes from another planet and is extraordinarily compelling and has a view of life that is absolutely beautiful and of relationships that is very touching. And then a time comes when he has to go away and he allows this snake to bite him and he goes back to his little planet. Well what do we have here? Whose story is that?”
That’s Jim Stark’s story. It’s Cal Trask’s. It’s James Dean’s.
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https://www.dga.org/Craft/VisualHistory/Interviews/Mark-Rydell.aspx
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Director Mark Rydell (On Golden Pond, James Dean, The Cowboys) shares insights to his long career in entertainment; studying at the Actors Studio and directing on Broadway before moving to helm iconic television series and award-winning feature films.
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https://www.dga.org/Craft/VisualHistory/Interviews/Mark-Rydell
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Born in New York City, Mark Rydell began his long career in entertainment as a regular actor on the soap opera As the World Turns, after training with famed method acting coaches Sanford Meisner and Lee Strasberg. His first directing work came at the Actors Studio for the play Bo Hickey Creek to much acclaim from his teachers. After directing several more plays in New York, Rydell began working on the television series Ben Casey, doing odd jobs on the set and observing the directing team.
In 1963 he was given his first chance to direct an episode of the series and continued in the medium throughout the rest of the decade, directing for such series as Mr. Novak; The Reporter; Slattery’s People; I Spy; The Wild, Wild West; The Long, Hot Summer; The Fugitive; and Gunsmoke. After gaining attention from his television directing, he was hired to helm his first feature, The Fox in 1967 which won the Golden Globe for Best English-Language Foreign Film, as well as a Globe nomination for Rydell.
This was followed by many critically acclaimed films including The Reivers (1969), The Cowboys (1972), Cinderella Liberty (1973), Harry and Walter Go to New York (1976), The Rose (1979), the much lauded On Golden Pond (1981), The River (1984), For the Boys (1991), Intersection (1994), and Even Money (2006). Rydell also continued to have a prolific career in television, directing the pilot of the series Family in 1976, and the movies-for-television McBride and Groom (1993), Crime of the Century (1996), and the eponymous biopic James Dean (2001), with whom he had been friends with during his early years as an actor.
For his directorial efforts Rydell has been nominated for two DGA Awards, for On Golden Pond in 1982, and for James Dean in 2002. He was also nominated for an Academy Award for his direction of On Golden Pond, as well as three Primetime Emmys—two for directing and producing James Dean—and another for his direction of Crime of the Century. An active Guild member, Rydell served on the DGA’s National Board from 1987-91, the Western Directors Council from 1982-84, 1987-92, 1998-2007, and was a member of the 1977 and 1981 Negotiating Committees.
This interview was conducted by Jeremy Kagan over two days at the DGA Building in Los Angeles on August 12, 2003 and January 15, 2004.
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https://www.tcm.com/watchtcm/titles/84889
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Not Available
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Turner Classic Movies presents the greatest classic films of all time from one of the largest film libraries in the world. Find extensive video, photos, articles, forums, and archival content from some of the best movies ever made only at TCM.com.
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/themes/custom/bogart/favicon.ico
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Watch TCM
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https://www.tcm.com/unavailable
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Welcome, DISH customer! Please note that we cannot save your viewing history due to an arrangement with DISH.
Watchlist and resume progress features have been disabled.
ACCEPT
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https://smmirror.com/2016/09/ed-asner-and-mark-rydell-in-brian-connors-plays-in-the-park-2/
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Ed Asner and Mark Rydell in Brian Connors’ “Plays in the Park”:
|
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2016-09-30T07:00:00+00:00
|
Seven time Emmy winning actor Ed Asner and Oscar winning director Mark Rydell will be starring in “Plays In The Park,” written and directed by Santa Monica resident Brian Connors, at Miles Memorial Playhouse Saturday, October 1 and Sunday, October 2.
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SM Mirror
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https://smmirror.com/2016/09/ed-asner-and-mark-rydell-in-brian-connors-plays-in-the-park-2/
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By Sebastian Lopez
Seven time Emmy winning actor Ed Asner and Oscar winning director Mark Rydell will be starring in “Plays In The Park,” written and directed by Santa Monica resident Brian Connors, at Miles Memorial Playhouse Saturday, October 1 and Sunday, October 2.
“Plays In The Park,” a mixture of short plays, Shakespeare and songs, stars Ed Asner, Mark Rydell, David Lockhart, Natasha Blasick and Dahlia Waingort. The event will also feature a live Q&A lead by actor John Heard and a special appearance by gospel singers, the Smith Sistas. Asner, Rydell and Connors have worked together for a number of years all over the country
“It’s terrific to be live with an audience, it’s a wonderful experience to say something that Brian’s written that’s funny and connects with the audience,” Asner told The Mirror.
Asner, Rydell and Connors have had a great time working together.
“Mark Rydell is in the play with me, and it’s the hardest job I’ve ever had,” Asner joked. “It’s a strain on my lineage and my age.”
Rydell jokingly retorted that he had the same thing to share about him as well.
“Ed I miss you all the time, I love working with you and you are a fabulous actor,” Rydell said to break up their banter.
“Plays In the Park,” incorporates Shakespeare, contemporary music, and other talents to create something refreshingly new.
“Expect craziness,” Connors said. “It’s going to be a combination of different kinds of arts.”
This is not the first time the trio has worked together. Connor’s short play, which was turned into a short film, “Good Men” starred Asner and Rydell. This is the first time “Plays in the Park” has made its way to the Miles Memorial Playhouse.
“Do you think you can find your way there Mark?” Asner teasingly asked.
“No someone is going to have to carry me,” Rydell quickly replied.
This event is part of Artistspalooza, a non-profit organization made up of artists, filmmakers and musicians that set up to provide the creative support and resources to help artists develop their careers. It also aims to provide a platform for people of all abilities to create and publish their creative message to the world while at the same time, contributing in a positive way to the community.
“Our mission is to inspire artists to empower the world, and empower our students by the world,” actor David Lockhart said. “No matter what your age is, whether you’re a little kid or in your eighties, we all deserve to be in our authentic, beautiful world and that’s what we’re promoting.”
The show on Saturday, October 1, will begin at 7:00 p.m. and at 3:00 p.m. on Sunday, October 2. There is limited seating.
Tickets can be purchased at the door for $35, or presale tickets can be bought online for $25 at www.eventbrite.com/e/plays-in-the-park-starring-ed-asner-and-mark-rydell-tickets-27372912117.
Miles Memorial Playhouse is located at 1130 Lincoln Blvd., Santa Monica, California 90403.
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Mark Rydell – cracked rear viewer
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2017-12-16T18:34:58-05:00
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Posts about Mark Rydell written by gary loggins
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cracked rear viewer
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https://crackedrearviewer.wordpress.com/tag/mark-rydell/
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THE COWBOYS is not just another ‘John Wayne Movie’ from the latter part of his career. Not by a long shot. Duke had read the script and coveted the part of Wil Andersen, who’s forced to hire a bunch of wet behind the ears adolescents for a 400 mile cattle drive across the rugged Montana territory. Director Mark Rydell wanted George C. Scott for the role, but when John Wayne set his sights on something, he usually got what he wanted. The two men were at polar opposites of the political spectrum, and the Sanford Meisner-trained Rydell and Old Hollywood Wayne were expected to clash. They didn’t; putting their differences aside, they collaborated and cooperated to make one of the best Westerns of the 70’s.
Andersen’s regular hands have all deserted him when gold is discovered nearby, leaving the aging rancher in the lurch. He heads for Boseman to look for recruits and, finding none, takes the advice of his old friend Anse (western vet Slim Pickens) and puts out the call at the local schoolhouse. Ten boys show up, green as grass but willing and eager to learn the ropes. An eleventh, the “mistake of nature” Cimarron, rides in, but after getting into a fight with another boy and pulling a weapon, Andersen refuses to take him along. Some older men, led by “Long Hair” Asa Watts, ask to join the drive, but when Andersen catches him in a lie he sends them packing.
Andersen’s in for another surprise when the cook he hired turns out to be a black man, Jebediah Nightlinger. The boys soon learn life on a cattle drive is no Sunday school picnic, and hardships are plentiful. Slim almost drowns crossing the river, until who rides up to save him but Cimarron. The wild child is then given a spot on the drive by Andersen, but there’s more hardship to come: Long Hair and his rustlers are following the herd, waiting for the right moment to strike…
Wayne’s Wil Andersen is an ornery cuss, tough as leather from his years as a cattleman, yet he shows a surprising tenderness toward the boys. The aging Duke gives yet another fine performance, and does marvelous work with his neophyte costars. Can you imagine being one of them, working with the legendary John Wayne! I would have killed for an opportunity like that! Wayne also works well with Roscoe Lee Browne (Nightlinger); the two have a grudging respect for each other that turns into something resembling friendship. Offscreen, the two actors discovered a mutual love for poetry – bet you didn’t know that about big, macho John Wayne!
Bruce Dern was an actor on the rise when he made THE COWBOYS, and he’s one scary hombre. His character is mean as hell, bullying one of the kids he catches alone, threatening to slit his throat if the boy dares tells Andersen he’s being followed. When he rides into camp and menaces the youngster, Andersen loses his cool, and the two men engage in a brutal brawl. Andersen, trouncing the younger man, turns his back on Watts, who in a rage shoots the older man in the back five times… AND BECOMES THE MOST HATED MAN IN CINEMA HISTORY! Believe me, it was a shock to see Duke get killed on the screen back in 1972, and to this day, there are fans who’ve never forgiven Bruce Dern for murdering John Wayne – after watching that scene, I hated him for years! (But enough time has passed, Bruce – all is forgiven!)
The cowboys themselves are played by Alfred Barker Jr (Fats), Nicholas Beauvy (Dan), Steve Benedict (Steve), Robert Carradine (making his film debut as Slim), Norman Howell (Weedy), Stephen Hudis (Charlie Schwartz), Sean Kelly (Stuttering Bob), A Martinez (Cimarron), Clay O’Brien (Hardy), Sean O’Brien (Jimmy), and Mike Pyeatt (Homer). They’re all good, especially when they stumble upon an encampment of whores led by Colleen Dewhurst, a scene that’s both funny and poignant. After the death of Wil Andersen, the boys decide “we’re gonna finish the job”, and THE COWBOYS becomes a revenge tale, picking off their adversaries one by one until the violent climax where Bruce Dern gets his just desserts!
Director Rydell learned his craft in the world of episodic TV (BEN CASEY, I SPY, GUNSMOKE), and had previously made THE REIVERS with Steve McQueen . Rydell had his own personal vision of what the film should be and Wayne, whose clout was enormous and easily could’ve taken control of the production over, stepped back and just acted as part of the ensemble. For his part, Rydell and cinematographer Robert Surtees paid homage to Wayne’s films with John Ford in the composition of many shots; there’s even the familiar door motif from THE SEARCHERS, and a scene of Andersen at his own children’s gravesite that echoes SHE WORE A YELLOW RIBBON . John Williams , as he did for Rydell’s previous film, contributes a memorably majestic score.
Big John Wayne was nearing the end of the trail when he made THE COWBOYS. Of his six remaining films, only THE SHOOTIST stands out as a quality piece of filmmaking. THE COWBOYS is yet another testament to his acting ability, and a damn good movie. Surrounded by an unfamiliar cast and crew, ailing from the cancer that eventually killed him, Wayne is out of his comfort zone, and gives his all in the role of Wil Andersen. It’s not a “John Wayne Movie”, it’s a movie featuring John Wayne, actor. As it turns out, THE COWBOYS is one of his best 70’s cinematic outings, and a movie I can still watch and enjoy over and over.
Elliott Gould was a hot Hollywood commodity in the early 1970’s. The former Mr. Barbra Streisand broke through in the 1969 sex farce BOB & CAROL & TED & ALICE, earning an Oscar nomination for supporting actor. He was marketed as a counter-culture rebel, quickly appearing in MOVE, GETTING STRAIGHT, LITTLE MURDERS, and Robert Altman’s M*A*S*H. But his flame dimmed just as fast, and his erratic onset behavior and rumored drug abuse caused him to become unemployable. When Altman decided to make the neo-noir THE LONG GOODBYE, he insisted on casting Gould as Philip Marlowe. The film put Gould back on the map, and though critics of the era weren’t crazy about it, THE LONG GOODBYE stands up well as an artifact of its era and a loving homage to Raymond Chandler’s hard-boiled hero.
Philip Marlowe is clearly an anachronism is 70’s LA, with his ever-present cigarette, cheap suit, beat-up ’48 Lincoln, and love for old jazz tunes. He’s a loner with only a cantankerous cat for company. Friend Terry Lennox pays him a visit, asking Marlowe to drive him to Tijuana after a fight with his wife. Marlowe accommodates his buddy, and is greeted upon his return by the cops, who tell him Lennox brutally beat his wife to death. Marlowe’s arrested when he refuses to cooperate, and sits in jail for three days. The cops let him go when it’s discovered Lennox committed suicide in Mexico. Marlowe doesn’t believe the murder rap against his buddy, and smells a rat, but the cops close their case.
The private eye is summoned to ritzy Malibu Colony, coincidently where Lennox lived, by beautiful Eileen Wade. She hires Marlowe to find her husband Roger, a successful author with a heavy drinking problem. He tracks Wade to a rehab facility run by Dr. Verringer, a quirky little quack who only accepts the very rich. Marlowe brings the errant husband home, and when he’s finished the job, he runs into trouble in the form of Marty Augustine, a psycho gangster who claims Lennox robbed him of $350k, and demands Marlowe get the money back.
Chandler’s dense plot gets the Altman treatment, with the director’s trademark overlapping dialogue and long-range tracking shots mixing well with the story. Screenwriter Leigh Brackett was familiar with the turf, having wrote THE BIG SLEEP with Bogie and Bacall twenty-seven years earlier. Ms. Brackett was a prolific science fiction author, but comfortable in the crime genre, too. She also contributed to the screenplays for RIO BRAVO and THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK (or whatever they call it these days). The late Vilmos Zsigmond’s cinematography gives us a sunny, pastel-hued California in stark contrast to the shady goings-on.
The cast is eclectic, to say the least. Roger Wade is played by Sterling Hayden, a long way from his days as a Hollywood leading man. He’s bearded and bat-shit crazy as the dissipated Wade. Maybe he wasn’t acting at all, as it’s been rumored Hayden was drinking and smoking weed throughout the film’s shoot. Nina Van Pallandt (Eileen) was better known as the mistress of Clifford Irving, who perpetrated a literary hoax when he published a book claiming to be the autobiography of billionaire (and former owner of noir factory RKO) Howard Hughes. Mark Rydell (Augustine) was the director of films like THE REIVERS, THE COWBOYS, CINDERELLA LIBERTY, and ON GOLDEN POND. Jim Bouton (Lennox) was a former pitcher for the New York Yankees who made a splash with a tell-all book of his own, BALL FOUR. Henry Gibson (Verringer) was a comedian from TV’s ROWAN & MARTIN’S LAUGH-IN, who became an Altman regular. Others include Warren Berlinger, Rutanya Alda, Jack Riley, David Carradine (in an amusing cameo), and future action star and California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger (in a small role as a hood).
Gould worked again with Altman in CALIFORNIA SPLIT and NASHVILLE. Though he never reclaimed the lofty heights of his early 70’s success, he managed to reintroduce himself to audiences as Ross and Monica’s dad on the sitcom FRIENDS, and later in the OCEAN’S 11 remake and it’s sequels. His Marlowe’s a far cry from Humphrey Bogart, but THE LONG GOODBYE isn’t exactly your traditional film noir. Taking the character and updating him to self-centered 70’s LA may have seemed like blasphemy to Chandlerphiles at the time, but that’s precisely the point. The times they had a-changed, and it’s a much sadder place today without men like Philip Marlowe in it.
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https://wearecult.rocks/the-darryl-poniscan-interview
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The Darryl Ponicsán Interview
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[
"Nick Clement"
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2017-09-01T09:00:52+00:00
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News, reviews and features devoted to all things cult - we ARE cult... and so are you
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en
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We Are Cult
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https://wearecult.rocks/the-darryl-poniscan-interview
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❉ The celebrated author and screenwriter chats with Nick Clement about his extraordinary career and Richard Linklater’s adaptation of Last Flag Flying.
“‘Last Flag Flying’ is unlike any movie out there this year. It is the anti-“wild ride” which seems to be how most movies are promoted. If I want a wild ride I’ll steal a Porsche. My hope is that it will be a deeply emotional experience for the audience and a subject of serious conversation for cinephiles and cultural observers. And that they will number in the millions.”
Darryl Ponicsán is the author of thirteen novels, including “The Last Detail,” “Cinderella Liberty” (as well as its screenplay adaptation), “Tom Mix Died for Your Sins,” and “An Unmarried Man.” He’s also an award-winning screenwriter for both film and television, with credits including “Taps,” “Vision Quest,” “Nuts,” “The Boost,” “School Ties, “The Enemy Within,” and “Random Hearts.” He recently co-adapted his novel “Last Flag Flying,” which serves as a follow-up and spiritual sequel to “The Last Detail,” with filmmaker Richard Linklater (“Boyhood,” “Dazed and Confused”), who also directed. The film stars Bryan Cranston, Steve Carell, and Laurence Fishburne, and will premiere at the 2017 New York Film Festival, with a theatrical release set for November 3rd from Amazon Studios.
Born in Shenandoah, Pennsylvania, Ponicsán taught high school after attending Muhlenberg College and earning an MA at Cornell University. He served in the US Navy from 1962 to 1965, then did social work in the Watts area of Los Angeles and taught high school before the success of his debut novel, “The Last Detail,” allowed him to become a full-time writer. He resides in Palm Springs and Sonoma, California. This interview was conducted via email and over the phone, and was edited by Nick Clement.
It goes without saying how much of an honor it is to speak with you, Darryl. Your work is tremendous, and I grew up watching the films you wrote, whether I realized you wrote all of them or not at the time of their release. I won’t lie and say that I’ve read all of your novels, but the ones I have read I’ve loved. At the end of the day I’m a student of cinema, and I can’t thank you enough for your contributions and this opportunity to chat.
It’s my pleasure.
There are so many things I want to ask you but I guess it would make sense to start from the beginning. When did your earliest creative ambitions arrive, and when was it that you knew you wanted to be a writer?
I grew up in an impoverished coal town where nobody paid much attention to kids if they stayed out of trouble. My fourth grade teacher was old and senile. She might from time to time start a lesson but for the most part she left us to our own devices. Best year of education I ever had. We kids turned to telling each other stories, and I started writing them down. After school I would walk Main Street, dropping in on stores and reading my stories to whoever was behind the counter. I started thinking of myself as a writer by age 18, and by 20 I was submitting short stories to magazines. I could not imagine success until it happened, but for 12 years I could not stop writing either. It was a long apprenticeship.
Do you write from experience, or do you just get inspired by something and run with it?
The book I’m working on now had, as its impetus, two unrelated incidents that occurred years apart. On a job in NYC, I ate a piece of cheesecake that I thought had been poisoned but probably was sabotaged with tabasco sauce by a disgruntled employee. Back in my hotel room I wrote a note naming the coffee shop, in case I died during the night. Years later, my wife bought a house in Sonoma without my seeing it, hoping to open a new chapter in our lives. I linked that to the NYC experience, imagining myself going from NYC to the new house in a town I’d never heard of, a town like any other small American town—or maybe Purgatory if that piece of cheesecake really did kill me.
Are you a “research” kind of guy?
Only a couple of my books required research, one a biographical novel on Tom Mix, the other based on a crime that resulted in one woman and two men being executed on the same day. The others came from personal experience, though certainly my experiences inform everything I write. My time in the Navy certainly helped to shape the content of “The Last Detail” and “Cinderella Liberty.” Did you know that both of those films came out on the same weekend?
Wow, I didn’t make that connection! Both were released at the end of 1973, but I didn’t realize that you were competing with yourself at the box-office!
Yes! For two weeks I was the hottest writer in town. The Los Angeles Times said that it was my weekend at the box-office. I could never have imagined that both of those films would come out on the same weekend, as one took so long to get going, with “The Last Detail.” And “Cinderella Liberty” happened so fast.
We’ll circle back to those breakout films for you in a moment, but I’m curious – which do you prefer – being a novelist or a screenwriter?
Each has its rewards and its pitfalls. I’m fortunate to have a career in both forms. Only a handful of writers have been able to do that and still have the capacity to smile. The future for novelists, however, doesn’t look bright. Still, I believe a writer is called to his process. If I’d had a choice I would have become a songwriter, and who knows, maybe I’m not too late. In 15 minutes you can write a song that will support the next three generations. You can spend eight years on a novel and wind up in the hole.
Have you ever worked as a “script doctor,” and if so, how can you describe that process? I’m not looking for any dirt, or for you to name names or projects necessarily, but I’m fascinated by script doctoring, and your career seems to indicate that this sort of work might have taken place?
I have been known to put a sign on my office door saying: “The Doctor Is In.” I think of a script doctor as coming in after a film has already been given a green light, or is on the brink of it, but the script still isn’t firing on all cylinders. The assumption is you won’t get a credit on the picture if it gets made but if it gets spiked you will be blamed. On “Taps” I went in on a picture that was set to go. Harold Becker was on it and Tim Hutton had already been signed, but no one was all that keen on it. I rewrote it from page one, got a screen credit and was a hero. Kisses from Sherry Lansing. Pretty much the same thing happened with “School Ties.” On another, “Johnny Handsome,” Becker called me to meet with Al Pacino, who was wavering. Al is a wonderful guy and at the end of the process I couldn’t fault him for passing. I was the goat. The picture eventually got made by Walter Hill, with Mickey Rourke, without my credit, for which I am still thankful. On another I was brought in with great urgency – a big budget picture at a major studio with a major movie star, who was still not happy with the script, and which was an original project created by an A-list writing team. The star loved what I did in the first half of the movie. Before the second half was done, however, he dropped out. Once again, I was the goat. Years later I heard it was not the script but the way the director was treating the crew that turned off the movie star.
Can you explain how you got involved with writing the voice over for “Blade Runner”? Given that film’s legendary status and the divisive nature of the voice-over, how did you feel in the moment versus how you feel now?
I saw it alone in a screening room with no prior information, just that they were in trouble with it. I could see some of the problems but they were minor. I didn’t have a clue what it was about, but it blew my mind. After that first screening, as producer Bud Yorkin was walking me to Ridley Scott’s office, I told him the picture would make tons of money and become a classic. I was half right. What Scott wanted was more money to shoot a couple additional scenes, but what he got was me, the poor dude who ended up writing the universally hated voice-over.
Well, as a huge fan of “Blade Runner,” and as someone who has seen every single cut that’s been made available, the voice-over is fantastic, and a big reason why the film feels tethered to the world of noir as much as it does to sci-fi. And I know that there are plenty of viewers who love what you wrote. Back in the day people might have been upset, but over time, especially with film-fandom being what it is, and people having the chance to see all the various edits, I’d like to think that the voice-over sections have some fans.
Oh, trust me, Ridley was a gentleman. He was in a tough spot and he needed something new to be brought in, some sort of fresh element. I was on the shooting range in Ventura when I got that emergency call, and remember that this was pre-cell phones, from Yorkin, a friend with whom I’d worked in the past. I had a lot on my mind. My father had checked himself out of a hospital in Pennsylvania, even though they told him he would die if he didn’t have surgery. He flew out to California and I talked him into having the surgery. Yorkin pleaded with me to come into town. He and his partners had the film in post-production and everybody was confused by it. They were desperate. I went to Los Angeles, was put in a screening room, and was dumbstruck by what I saw. But Ridley was really unhappy, an artist up against a budget. I vaguely recall a problem with the ending. They stuck in a dummy ending in the rough cut from “The Shining” until they could work it out.
What made you think of doing the voice-over?
I thought a noir voice-over made a lot of sense. The tone of the picture almost cried out for it. I worked on it for a week, until my father died during testing. So, sadly, I’ve always had that association. I knew David Peoples and admired his work. I heard he was confused by the voice-over and of course I understood. Then when I met Harrison Ford about ten years after the release, he told me he hated the voice-over and pretty much phoned it in. And at the end of the day, that might have helped it, simply because of his line delivery. It was 35 years before I saw Ridley again, standing next to me at the urinals during the Palm Springs Film Festival. He was cordial.
And will you be seeing “Blade Runner 2049” on opening weekend?
I’ll see “2049” but not on the opening weekend. I try to avoid crowds.
What are some of your favorite novels? Favorite films? Favorite songs?
“The Sun Also Rises,” “The Great Gatsby,” “Catcher in the Rye,” “The Man With the Golden Arm,” “An American Tragedy,” “A Garden of Sand,” and “A Fan’s Notes” are definitely some of my favorite novels. I’m of course a film lover, and titles like “Deliverance,” “Catch 22,” “From Here to Eternity,” “On the Waterfront,” “West Side Story,” “East of Eden,” “Rebel Without a Cause,” “Giant,” “Elmer Gantry,” “They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?,” “High Noon,” “A Face in the Crowd,” “Midnight Cowboy,” “Sweet Smell of Success,” “Edge of the City,” “McCabe and Mrs. Miller,” and “The Misfits” all immediately come to mind. I love DooWop in general, and I’m a big fan of “Maggie Mae,” which I play on the ukulele at least once a day. “American Pie,” “Like a Rolling Stone,” “Telstar,” “Up on the Roof,” “Total Eclipse of the Heart,” and “California Dreaming” are always playing in my mind.
Do you write with music on or a movie playing in the background?
No, I need total silence. When I’m in the studio painting or sculpting I play the oldies and dance around. It’s more fun. A Gemini is never alone.
Is there anything creatively you’d like to try that you haven’t been given the chance to attempt yet?
Assuming you mean films, I’ve been working on a western called “After The Thaw” for 35 years. It’s an ensemble piece that takes place during one day and encompasses racial, gender, violence, gay, legal, political, and business issues, dramatizing how America got this way. It sounds overloaded with issues but they never get in the way of the drama, or are even recognized as issues, until you leave the theater and have a drink. It may be the best work I’ve ever done. I’m thinking its’ time has come. I just need to find the right producer or director or actor or agent or…
Wow. That sounds very exciting. People love to say that the Western is dead, and yet Steven Soderbergh is mounting a new TV series for Netflix, and Taylor Sheridan, the writer behind “Hell or High Water,” “Sicario,” and “Wind River”– he’s about to do a 10 episode series about modern cattle ranching with Kevin Costner. You have Christian Bale’s new western “Hostiles” coming out this fall as well. So as much as people say that the genre is dead, it’s clearly not. Are you a fan of westerns in general?
I’m definitely a big fan, which goes back to my youth. There wasn’t a night when there wasn’t a western running on television. It’s a genre that distills everything to its essence, and the stories within seem to have great staying power. It’s rich ground.
I’m curious as to where your pen-name of Anne Argula comes from. Is there any deeper meaning to it, or were you just having some fun?
Not really. Anne was my mother’s name. Argula vaguely suggests something ethnic. Since the four-book series is narrated by a woman I thought I ought to use a female pseudonym. Anne has retired to an isolated cabin on the Mendocino coast. I thought the initial book would make a good movie—a cop solves his own murder from a previous life—but I wound up doing it as a mystery novel, a genre in which I have no experience. The book was nominated for an Edgar Allen Poe Award, so I was urged to continue the series. It’s done now.
“The Last Detail” and “Cinderella Liberty” feel like thematic cousins in many ways, and both feel very personal. How did these projects originate, and what was it like to experience them both as your own work and the works of others?
My agent sold “The Last Detail” in October of 1969. By December it was sold to Columbia. My agent told me what it sold for, and immediately, my hands started shaking. Uncontrollably shaking. I could instantly pay my mortgage and live independently for a while. It’s a true jolt when this happens, and it’s very hard to fully explain. And I definitely wanted to do the screenplay adaptation for “The Last Detail.” But my agent talked me out of that one, which might’ve been for the best. It took a while for the film to get going, which I think was partly due to the salty language, which the filmmakers wanted to retain, but the studio was a bit reluctant about at first. And so many actors were up for various parts. At first, Steve McQueen was approached for Nicholson’s role, and they looked at John Travolta for Quaid’s role.
Did you ever meet Hal Ashby and Robert Towne?
I never met Ashby until we were on a panel at a festival. I never visited the set, and had no real interaction with Robert Towne for the most part. I had met Towne socially but that was it. They went off and did their thing. I write about all of this in the preface to the new edition of “The Last Detail.”
I’m an admirer of Ashby’s work, and I’ve always gathered that he lived by his own rules and he most certainly helped to define that golden era of filmmaking.
Things got sticky there for a bit when Ashby got busted at the border, because they were shooting the film in Canada, as they had no Navy cooperation and it was cheaper to shoot there. He had brought some pot with him and the border agents weren’t too impressed, but someone at the studio knew someone and he was set free. Different times.
So, were you upset about the changes made to the ending of “The Last Detail” when you saw the film?
I was initially confused, which then lead into anger when I saw the film. It took me a long time to get over it. A couple of years, to be honest. And when the film screened, and I saw it for the first time, I noticed that my credit had been buried at the end! It was like they were trying to hide that I had created the story. Normally, if the project is an adaptation, you get that up front “based on a novel by” credit. I didn’t see it up front, and waited until the end credits started to roll, and then it finally appeared. I was definitely upset, because the studio could have fixed it. Someone had tried to diminish the value of the source material, and the adaptation had been very close to my original novel. I understand that changes need to be made from medium to medium, but the way things went down weren’t proper.
Wow. I’d have been very upset!
The work speaks for itself in both forms. And the film of course is a classic, and it’s gone on to inspire many people in their lives. And I can remember that the Navy didn’t help us out at all, they wanted no part of the project, and of course, enlistments shot through the roof between “The Last Detail” and “Cinderella Liberty.” They might have hated the book but they loved what it did for them. And then you’d hear from guys who had gone into the Navy after they read these books or saw these films, and they’d say to me that their boot camp commanders would lay down the law with “Don’t be coming here expecting ‘The Last Detail’ because this won’t be nearly as much fun!” I get a kick out of this now, of course.
And “Cinderella Liberty”? That happened much quicker? It’s a wonderful movie.
Yes, that happened very fast. I wrote the book, it was sold in manuscript form to 20th Century Fox, I was signed to adapt the screenplay by director Mark Rydell, which took me about nine months to craft. They cast James Caan and Marsha Mason, who nobody really knew at the time and of course she won the Golden Globe and got nominated for an Oscar.
You worked on the 1981 film “Taps,” which broke out a few massive movie stars, and is now seen as something of a classic for the genre. How did you get involved with Harold Becker and the film in general?
The producer Stanley Jaffe contacted my agent about that project. It was a go-picture and the studio and Harold weren’t exactly in love with everything they had but they had Timothy Hutton on board. I did a full re-write, and that’s another movie that happened very fast.
Tom Cruise and Sean Penn were both major up-and-comers at the time. What did you think of the two of them, and what was the consensus on set?
Tom was definitely the most enthusiastic. Most of the guys wanted to sleep at the hotel after they were done shooting, but Becker wanted all the kids to sleep in the dorms with the real students, so that they’d get a true taste of the life. Cruise was more than happy to live the life, and did that while everyone else went to the hotel. He was extremely committed, called me “Sir,” and you could just tell he had this laser-like focus about him as an actor. Nobody in their wildest dreams could have imagined that Cruise would become the movie-star that he became. I was struck by his level of immersion. During the rehearsals process, it became clear that Cruise was stronger than some of the other actors, and Harold actually ended up switching roles, with a bigger part going to Tom. In my brief encounters with him, Cruise was always in character.
What about Penn?
Well, you could tell he was intense, and that he was heavily influenced by De Niro. It was obvious that he had serious talent, but he was a strong personality even back then. He was the total opposite of Cruise. Listen, if you have the charisma, and you have some luck, and you have the talent, it sometimes works out. But Sean was a different animal all together, and he brought his particular set of strengths to the project.
Let’s talk about “Vision Quest.” I love this movie. I think it’s brilliant. And I think that your collaborations with Harold Becker are all very strong. How did the project come to you, and what were your experiences like?
You know, Cruise wanted the lead role in “Vision Quest.” But Becker didn’t think he had the sensitivity, and that Matthew Modine would better project sensitivity to the audience. I don’t think he was wrong, especially at that time.
I never knew that! You can totally see how back then, people might have felt that Modine could project a type of small-town sincerity that Cruise might not have been right for. Cruise does confident and smart-cocky very well. I think Modine is great, and I always think about what his career might have been like had he not had a few pictures that didn’t turn out to be hits with critics or audiences.
Matthew is a wonderful person. He’s very sensitive, maybe too sensitive for the business. He is the Gary Cooper of his generation. He’s a fine actor, and working on “Vision Quest” was a great experience, even if my recollection is that it was not well reviewed and didn’t make any money. But going through a box of stills from the movie I found a rave review from Jack Kroll in Time, and over the years I keep seeing it pop up in odd ways. I’ll see lines quoted: “His own father has to use a live wire on him to keep him from fucking the fireplace.” The fry cook has a little speech that Kroll said was maybe the best ever in praise of the glory of sport. And then there’s that thing with Louden’s hands. Modine is still a friend and I have great affection for him. I started following him on Twitter and was amazed at how many people Tweeted their love for “Vision Quest. “
I’m not surprised. The film definitely has a very strong cult following.
He told me that guys stop him on the street and do that thing about hands. That bit of business and Linda Fiorentino’s response came from years before when my wife and I were watching an interview with Norman Mailer. She was put off by his small hands. I thought she was making some kind of sexual joke, but she said quite seriously, “It’s the hands that hold you.” “Vision Quest” is based on a book by Terry Davis and the sweetness of it charmed me. It was such a departure from the usual high school or sports movie. Even Shute, the heavy, turns out to be an OK guy, throwing Louden off his game. Everybody in it is decent. It was a studio picture with a producer not noted for his sensitivity, so it was a struggle to retain that.
And then you have Madonna’s famous appearance.
There’s a scene in a dive bar with a singer in the background which was Madonna. After the movie was shot but before it was released she became a big thing, the producers wanted to get more of her in the movie, and they didn’t care how. Fortunately we overcame that. I went into the project knowing nothing about wrestling, so I spent some time at Ventura High watching practices and meets. I admired the devotion of those wrestlers, the work they had to put in for a sport few people came to watch and a match lasted all of six minutes. That inspired the speech J.C. Quinn made about drinking alone in his room and watching a soccer match, and he knew what he had. J.C. told me that when he read that speech he was determined to get the role even if he had to do it for nothing.
“Nuts” is a wild little movie, with a very interesting director in Martin Ritt, and underrated performances from Barbra Streisand and Richard Dreyfuss. What was that experience like?
Like pulling teeth! I had worked with Mark Rydell on “Cinderella Liberty,” and he was the first director attached to “Nuts.” Rydell used to be partners with Sydney Pollack who is important to this story. I met with Barbra Streisand and fell in love, though I was expecting to hate her, by reputation. The entire situation on “Nuts” was just that – nuts – and it was unique. I remember having lunch with Pollack at his office on the lot. He made us salads in his little kitchen and I told him I was going to go do “Nuts.” He casually warned me. He said “be careful.” I had no clue what he meant, nor did I press him. But it turns out that Alvin Sargent and I had both been commissioned to write competing drafts of the same script, something that’s a big no-no with the WGA. I’m friends with Alvin, and neither of us had any clue. When we found this out, naturally, we were very upset. And we wanted off the project.
Wow. So what happened? How did you approach Rydell about this?
The studio asked Barbra which of us she wanted. She said she liked us both equally and wouldn’t do the picture unless Alvin and I worked as a team. They made us an offer we couldn’t refuse. Later, Alvin and I decided that it would be best to just walk into Rydell’s office like nothing had ever occurred, as if he didn’t know either of us, and we were starting over fresh. It was an odd situation to be in. Later, Barbra requested that both Alvin and I spend a week alone with her in her Beverly Hills home, without Rydell, who, naturally, was very upset about being excluded. Streisand has a nun-like devotion to whatever she undertakes. Works like a mule. Good sense of humor and feeds you well. I remember having some very intense conversations with her about the prices she’d be charging for her sexual favors in the film, as she played a prostitute. She really got into it. The movie tanked and that’s on her but I don’t fault her for anything. Originally Debra Winger was supposed to play the part, and she would have been great. Warner Bros. decided they would rather have Streisand than Winger because they could sell it internationally before it ever got shot. But people didn’t buy Barbra in the role. The scowling face on the poster didn’t help.
And what of Ritt’s involvement?
When Ritt came on he told Barbra that he thought she was miscast. I think he said it as a challenge but he was right. But damn, what a cast overall! Actors I’ve admired since my youth, people like Eli Wallach, Karl Malden, and Maureen Stapleton. I was nervous to talk to them, except for Eli who became a friend. Ritt was a good guy nearing the end of a great career. During a break on set I was telling him about one of my favorite movies as a teenager, “Edge of the City,” which had starred John Cassavetes and Sidney Poitier, and was the first movie I ever saw that dealt realistically with black and white friendship. The first that portrayed a black man like any other guy, married, hard-working, decent. It had a big impact on me. Ritt said, “I directed it.” I went crazy. I pumped him with questions. He said they did it for $60K in about two weeks and kind of slipped under everybody’s radar. “Nuts” was a disappointment, but a few years later at some panel a woman came up to me, an ex-hooker, and said that the movie kept her from killing herself. Encounters like that can erase disappointments.
How did “The Boost” come about? It’s based on a novel by Ben Stein, correct?
I think it was more a memoir about someone Stein knew in the financial world. He did a script I never read and apparently it was awful, though he made a big stink when I got solo credit, which was never in doubt. The book was called “‘Ludes.” I updated it to coke, which was all the rage around then. It was done on a very low budget. I played a part, gratis. My wife was in the background, also gratis. After “The Boost” was released I got a call from Warren Beatty. He asked me if I was clean now. I told him I never tried cocaine in my life, and hardly ever weed. I grew up in an alcohol culture. During rehearsal, Jimmy Woods was in a panic. He thought Sean Young was not up to it and that she would sink him. He may have been pushing Harold to fire her. Later, of course, he fell in love with her. Until everything went sideways, it didn’t hurt the film, though. I had a producer’s credit but I did not spend much time on the set, so I was surprised to see in the final film that Amanda Blake had a scene. It was supposed to be Kim Stanley. When I was a kid I was crazy about Kim Stanley, a method actor like few others. She came into the office and I was thrilled to meet her. I told Harold to give her the part, she shouldn’t have to audition. He did, but when it came time she was too fragile, emotionally, to pull it off and had to be replaced. Amana Blake was well-known as Miss Kitty from the TV series “Gunsmoke” during the years when you could watch a western every night on TV. I miss those days.
I must have watched “School Ties” 100 times on HBO when I was growing up. I think it’s a quietly brilliant film, and sadly still relevant with its themes of discrimination and intolerance and the need for societal inclusion. How did it come about, and could you ever have expected that so many future mega-stars would have been cast in the film? That script must’ve been HUGE with all the young actors back in the day.
The first script was done by Dick Wolfe but was light on characters. I was brought on by Stanley Jaffe and Sherry Lansing, who had produced “Taps.” Stanley was planning to direct it himself, until he was offered the job of being the head of Paramount. It was a long, hard project. Studio after studio had passed on it because anti-Semitism was no longer a problem. Ironically, most of those studio heads were Jewish. I was the only element on the project that wasn’t Jewish, but I was more in touch with the issue than those who were. During development there was a big scandal at USC over anti-Semitism and that might have given us the push we needed to win the argument that we were relevant.
A strong theme, which runs through most of my movies, is honor and human redemption. A private school is a great place to examine that theme. Stanley handed the project off to Sherry after picking Robert Mandel as the director. The kids knew I’d written “Taps” and saw what happened to Tom Cruise and Sean Penn as a result of that. At rehearsal, I sat down with the cast and told them that more stars would emerge from this table than did from “Taps.” Matt Damon and Ben Affleck certainly have made their marks. Chris O’Donnell, the most likeable of the bunch, has had a nice career. Cole Hauser did OK, but Brendan Fraser turned out to be a disappointment. I really thought he’d be a big star, the new Montgomery Clift. He made the mistake of doing dopey comedies right after “School Ties.” He should have held out for serious drama. Though Penn did “Fast Times at Ridgemont High” and it didn’t hurt him. Of course, that was a smart picture.
I’m an enormous fan of Sydney Pollack, and while some critics were down on “Random Hearts,” I always felt it to be a solid, multi-layered adult drama, the sort of movie that used to get made on the studio level, but doesn’t anymore. What can you say of working with Pollack and the film itself?
Although I knew and liked Pollack and worked with him on another project, I never worked with him on this. I worked with Ivan Reitman and Dustin Hoffman for the better part of a year. Ivan would have been doing his first drama and Dustin would play the lead, a congressman whose wife died with her lover in a plane crash. I’m not sure we ever got it fully correct. Hoffman used to have a reputation for developing a project for long periods of time, just constantly re-writing and re-thinking, and then before you knew it, you’d all be back at square one again. Pollack came on after the rest of us had dropped out on gone on to other things. He cast Harrison Ford and it was re-written so that he’d be a cop.
Yeah, the film only did so-so with critics and audiences, but I’ve always liked it. It’s that type of morally ambiguous drama which truly feels like a “movie-movie.” What was the project you and Pollack worked on that never came to pass?
Pollack and I worked on an adaptation of my novel “Tom Mix Died for Your Sins.” Fox had engineered a book/movie deal for me to write. First, a biography of Mix, and then the screenplay, which would have been something like “Patton.” My son, who was in pre-school at the time, turned out to have a teacher who was Tom Mix’s granddaughter. When I learned this, I flipped out and I said, yeah, I have to tell this story, but I can’t do a traditional biography, because Mix was always making stuff up about his life as he went along. I wrote it as a biographical novel and they went for that angle, but it would have been outrageously expensive to produce. Paul Newman and Robert Redford were offered roles, as they were of course the dynamic duo in those times, the mid-70’s. I remember meeting Redford around the time that “The Great Waldo Pepper” was opening, and thinking that he was the most handsome man that I’d ever seen. I’m a hopeless heterosexual, but Jesus was he good looking!
“Last Flag Flying” is a daring project, in that it’s a follow-up, to a certain degree, to a revered novel and film. How do you manage personal and outside expectations when you’re trying to create something new yet tied to the past?
It really does break new ground. The only film sequels that make sense to me are ones that look into what the characters of the original are doing years later, in the context of a changing culture. Sequels that go to #8 and then to a prequel are done by miners digging out a vein until no one wants to buy the ore anymore. “Last Flag Flying” would not have been written in the absence of Bush’s war(s). “The Last Detail” had as its context the Vietnam quagmire. “Last Flag Flying” had a new quagmire. Both define duty and justice and unexpected friendship. I was urged by a producer friend to do a sequel to the movie. I had no desire to do a screenplay at that time, but he talked me into writing a novel that revisited Billy Bad-Ass, Mule Mulhall, and Larry Meadows. Sony had right of first refusal, then it went to Paramount. They optioned it in the hopes that Nicholson would jump on it. Randy Quaid was over the moon about it. Otis Young was dead but Morgan Freeman said he’d be pleased to do it. We had a list of only three directors. The book went first to one who had worked with Nicholson in the past. He liked it but said he would never commit to a project that required one particular actor. Richard Linklater read the book and would not let that bit stand in the way.
I love the cast that was assembled for “Last Flag Flying,” but of course people will wonder what it might have been like to see Nicholson reprise that role, or a role similar to the one that helped to make him famous.
While Linklater and I were writing the script the producers tried to set up a meeting between Nicholson and Rick, but Nicholson would not meet, which was kind of an insult. We finished the script and got it to him anyway, but he chose to do “The Bucket List” instead and took Morgan Freeman with him. We ended up making “Last Flag Flying” for what the studio would have had to pay Nicholson just to be in the film. So when Jack said no, Paramount exited as our distributor and I thought that was the end of it, but Rick would not let it go. The story was still important, no matter who was in it. We could have recast it but that would defeat the whole concept of a 30+ year gap in the lives of the characters in a film that had become a classic. Rick also thought the timing was not right. We were still too close to the events following 9/11, but if we were patient our time would come. We re-thought the story. To this day each of us believes it was the other’s idea to bring together the same characters but with different names and a different defining event that brought them together the first time and still haunts them so many years later. To explain in brief what we’ve done: The movie is not a sequel. It is an adaptation of a novel that IS a sequel. That alone makes this film a bold move.
What was it like collaborating with Richard Linklater?
It was mostly electronic. We’d send each other our pages, I’d rewrite him and he’d rewrite me. I would call, leave a message, wonder where the hell he was, and in two or three days he’d call back and wouldn’t shut up. I never had a single argument with him, over anything, which was unique in my experience. Amazon, which financed us, stayed out of it. They trusted that we knew more about movies than they did. Kind of like the few years now described as The Golden Decade of Movies. During rehearsals Rick never spoke above a whisper. I had to strain to hear him when he spoke to the actors, mostly about how they felt during the scene. On location, he was the calmest director I’ve ever seen. As a writer I know enough to lie low and not get into the director’s way, but because Cranston improvises a lot I would pick my moment and talk it over with Rick, the good and the bad to sort out of what came out of Bryan’s mouth. Never a problem. Unlike other sets I’ve been on, there was no fear or insecurity or bitching from anyone. Most of his crew has been with him for over twenty years, which says a lot. I’ve never worked with a director I value more than Rick. He’s brought my movie career full-circle and I’m grateful.
In the current cinematic landscape, which feels increasingly infantilized, where everyone at the studios is so concerned with franchises and four-quadrant CGI-superhero films, how do you hope “Last Flag Flying” is received, and do you have any personal hopes or expectations for the film?
It is unlike any movie out there this year. It is the anti-“wild ride” which seems to be how most movies are promoted. If I want a wild ride I’ll steal a Porsche. My hope is that it will be a deeply emotional experience for the audience and a subject of serious conversation for cinephiles and cultural observers. And that they will number in the millions.
Is there anything you want to say about your experiences in the entertainment industry in general? Any lasting impressions or feelings?
I’ve met and worked with so many talented people. My writing arc was the same as my contemporaries’— poetry, short stories, novels. I never had any intention to write screenplays. The first time I ever saw or read a screenplay was the one I was given to fix. After I adapted my own novel—“Cinderella Liberty”—to film I was offered a job to adapt someone else’s novel. Then more offers came my way, and they didn’t slow down until I hit 60. My guiding rule from the beginning was never to write schlock or anything that would embarrass me later in life. An irony occurred in my career that now haunts me from time to time. My first agent was Ned Brown, an old school agent in a one-man office without even a secretary. He was old when I met him, and after 15 years I began to see that everyone he knew in Hollywood was either dead or retired. During the “Nuts” fiasco, when Alvin and I were hired without each other knowing about it, I needed muscle that he didn’t have. I left him for CAA. We were both broken-hearted but I thought it had to be done. He was then about the age I am now. All these years later, I don’t have an agent for the same reason I couldn’t keep Ned as mine. No agent wants to waste time with someone too old to have a future. This in spite of the fact that I have a major movie coming out, as well as two books, with another due in 2018, and two other books in the works. Not to mention a finished screenplay that will blow the doors off. Still, after too many moments of doubt to count, I can finally look back and realize how lucky I am to have a career in movies.
❉ Last Flag Flying will have its world premiere at the New York Film Festival on September 28, 2017, before being released on November 3, 2017, by Amazon Studios and Lionsgate.
❉ Nick Clement is a freelance writer, having contributed to Variety Magazine, Hollywood- Elsewhere, Awards Daily, Back to the Movies, and Taste of Cinema. He’s currently writing a book about the works of filmmaker Tony Scott.
❉ He is also a regular contributor for MovieViral.com, a site dedicated to providing the best news and analysis on viral marketing and ARG campaigns for films and other forms of entertainment.
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When Henry Fonda died in 1982, The New York Times called him “one of the most celebrated and enduring American performers,” an epitaph the actor more than
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Digital Journal
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https://www.digitaljournal.com/entertainment/best-henry-fonda-movies-according-to-data/article
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From “On Golden Pond” to “12 Angry Men,” Stacker compiled a list of the 50 best Henry Fonda movies, using data from IMDb. - Twentieth Century Fox
Madison Troyer
When Henry Fonda died in 1982, The New York Times called him “one of the most celebrated and enduring American performers,” an epitaph the actor more than deserved.
Born in Nebraska in 1905, Fonda began acting at the age of 20, but his big breakthrough didn’t come until 1934 when he won a role in the Broadway show “The Farmer Takes a Wife.” Over the next five decades, he would appear in more than 100 roles on stage and in films. Some of his more memorable performances were in movies like “12 Angry Men,” “The Grapes of Wrath,” and “The Ox-Bow Incident,” though he appeared in projects of all genres, from Westerns to comedies to psychological thrillers, crime dramas, and war movies.
Here, Stacker has compiled a list of Fonda’s 50 best movies. To do so, we tallied all of his feature films and ranked the top 50 by IMDb user rating, with ties broken by votes. Cameos were not included. From lesser-known projects like “The Mad Miss Manton” to Academy Award winners like “On Golden Pond,” read on to see where your favorite projects with Fonda fall on our list.
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Walter Wanger Productions
#50. The Moon’s Our Home (1936)
– Director: William A. Seiter
– IMDb user rating: 6.6
– Metascore: data not available
– Runtime: 80 minutes
In “The Moon’s Our Home,” Anthony Amberton (Fonda) and Cherry Chester (Margaret Sullavan) meet by chance in New York City and get married on a whim. However, their marriage starts to fall apart during their honeymoon when they both discover the other is famous. The film is based on the 1936 Faith Baldwin novel of the same name.
Twentieth Century Fox
#49. Rings on Her Fingers (1942)
– Director: Rouben Mamoulian
– IMDb user rating: 6.6
– Metascore: data not available
– Runtime: 86 minutes
Variety called “Rings on Her Fingers,” a movie about a family of swindlers that mistake Fonda’s character for a wealthy businessman and ideal target, “a vacuous story that gets no assistance on the directing end … a lightweight film that tumbles and stumbles along in boresome fashion to emerge as misfit entertainment.” The outlet’s negative stance on the lighthearted rom-com may have had something to do with how racy it was; the Production Code Administration insisted at least half a dozen elements be changed before the movie earned its stamp of approval.
Twentieth Century Fox
#48. Immortal Sergeant (1943)
– Director: John M. Stahl
– IMDb user rating: 6.6
– Metascore: data not available
– Runtime: 91 minutes
Just before production began on “Immortal Sergeant,” Fonda enrolled in the Navy, making it the last film he’d work on until the end of World War II. Set in the North African desert during the war, the movie follows a soldier (Fonda) as he reminisces on the girl he left behind and worries over his lack of leadership abilities.
United Archives // Getty Images
#47. The Male Animal (1942)
– Director: Elliott Nugent
– IMDb user rating: 6.6
– Metascore: data not available
– Runtime: 101 minutes
In “The Male Animal,” Fonda plays a college professor fighting against censorship and for the affection of his wife, who’s being wooed by a football player. The New York Times raved about the “charming” film, specifically praising the way it played with the “brains over brawn” trope.
The Return of Frank James (1940)
#46. The Return of Frank James (1940)
– Director: Fritz Lang
– IMDb user rating: 6.6
– Metascore: data not available
– Runtime: 92 minutes
The sequel to “Jesse James,” “The Return of Frank James” follows Frank (Fonda) as he attempts to avenge his cowboy brother’s death. The movie is regarded as wildly historically inaccurate, despite the fact that 20th Century Fox had purchased the rights to both brothers’ lives.
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Paramount Pictures
#45. Spawn of the North (1938)
– Director: Henry Hathaway
– IMDb user rating: 6.7
– Metascore: data not available
– Runtime: 110 minutes
One of the most commercially successful films of Fonda’s early career, “Spawn of the North” is an adventure film about two Alaskan fishermen who go from friends to rivals. Its special effects, which won an Academy Award, helped draw in huge audiences, as did its star-studded cast, which included the likes of George Raft, John Barrymore, and Akim Tamiroff.
Vintage Images // Getty Images
#44. Let Us Live (1939)
– Director: John Brahm
– IMDb user rating: 6.7
– Metascore: data not available
– Runtime: 68 minutes
“Let Us Live,” a story about two men convicted and sentenced to death for a crime they didn’t commit, is reportedly based on a real-life case that took place in Massachusetts. According to IMDb, the state was unhappy with the way the movie portrayed its legal system and pressured the studio into trimming down the script, budget, publicity, and runtime, considerably.
RKO Radio Pictures
#43. The Mad Miss Manton (1938)
– Director: Leigh Jason
– IMDb user rating: 6.7
– Metascore: data not available
– Runtime: 80 minutes
In this screwball comedy, a young socialite gets wrapped up in a murder investigation after the body she found mysteriously disappears. Barbara Stanwyck stars as the daffy upper-cruster alongside Fonda, who plays newspaper editor and assistant investigator Peter Ames. Katharine Hepburn reportedly was offered but turned down the lead role of Melsa Manton.
ABC Pictures
#42. Too Late the Hero (1970)
– Director: Robert Aldrich
– IMDb user rating: 6.7
– Metascore: data not available
– Runtime: 145 minutes
Fonda has only a minor role in this 1970 war film. His scenes as Capt. John G. Nolan take place in the first few minutes of the film when he assigns Lt. Sam Lawson (Cliff Robertson) to the British unit that will wind up taking him behind enemy lines in World War II. Along with Roberston, Michael Caine, Ian Bannen, and Harry Andrews also star.
Ponti-De Laurentiis Cinematografica
#41. War and Peace (1956)
– Director: King Vidor
– IMDb user rating: 6.7
– Metascore: data not available
– Runtime: 208 minutes
In this extremely truncated version of Leo Tolstoy’s famous novel, a 50-year-old Fonda plays the 20-year-old character Pierre alongside Audrey Hepburn’s Natasha and Mel Ferrer’s Andrei. The critically acclaimed movie was nominated for several Academy Awards and Golden Globes and reportedly cost between $6–7 million to make, an exorbitant sum for film production at that time.
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Michael Ochs Archives // Getty Images
#40. Midway (1976)
– Director: Jack Smight
– IMDb user rating: 6.7
– Metascore: 48
– Runtime: 132 minutes
A huge summer blockbuster, “Midway” is a dramatized retelling of the real-life Battle of Midway, a turning point in World War II. Starring Fonda alongside Charlton Heston, Glenn Ford, and Robert Mitchum, the movie repurposed many of its battle scenes from previous movies like “Away All Boats,” “30 Seconds Over Tokyo,” and “Tora! Tora! Tora!”
Twentieth Century Fox
#39. The Magnificent Dope (1942)
– Director: Walter Lang
– IMDb user rating: 6.8
– Metascore: data not available
– Runtime: 83 minutes
When a contest run by a self-improvement course identifies Thad Page (Fonda) as the “biggest loser in the country,” the laid-back northerner reluctantly heads to New York to claim his prize. There, he falls in love with a woman named Claire (Lynn Bari) and considers abandoning his lazy lifestyle in an effort to win her heart. One of the film’s working titles during production was “The Magnificent Jerk,” but it was changed after the Hays Office (a common nom de plume for the Production Code Administration) objected.
John Springer Collection // Getty Images
#38. The Trail of the Lonesome Pine (1936)
– Director: Henry Hathaway
– IMDb user rating: 6.8
– Metascore: data not available
– Runtime: 102 minutes
Based on the novel of the same name by John Fox Jr., “The Trail of the Lonesome Pine” was one of Fonda’s earliest films. A sort of Romeo and Juliet story set in the wild West, the movie was the first Technicolor film to be shot on location.
Twentieth Century Fox
#37. Daisy Kenyon (1947)
– Director: Otto Preminger
– IMDb user rating: 6.8
– Metascore: data not available
– Runtime: 99 minutes
Another film based on a novel, “Daisy Kenyon” brought the bestselling story of a woman trapped between her married lover and a charming war veteran to the big screen. Joan Crawford stars as the eponymous Daisy, with Fonda playing the WWII vet Peter Lapham, and Dana Andrews the married commercial executive.
Warner Bros./Seven Arts
#36. Firecreek (1968)
– Director: Vincent McEveety
– IMDb user rating: 6.8
– Metascore: 65
– Runtime: 104 minutes
“Firecreek” marks a rare occurrence of Fonda playing the antagonist in a movie. In the Jimmy Stewart Western, Fonda is the leader of a band of outlaws whose appearance in town forces the apathetic sheriff (Stewart) to finally take some action and rid his town of the depraved criminals.
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Bavaria Atelier
#35. Fedora (1978)
– Director: Billy Wilder
– IMDb user rating: 6.8
– Metascore: data not available
– Runtime: 114 minutes
Shot near the end of his career, Fonda has only a minor role in this Billy Wilder drama. “Fedora” begins with the death of a reclusive film star (Marthe Keller), then follows a film producer (William Holden) as he considers the role he may have played in her untimely demise.
National General Pictures // Getty Images
#34. The Cheyenne Social Club (1970)
– Director: Gene Kelly
– IMDb user rating: 6.8
– Metascore: data not available
– Runtime: 103 minutes
Jimmy Stweart and Fonda team up once again in this comedy Western about two cowboys who work to turn the brothel they inherited into a respectable boarding house. Despite not being a commercial success when it was released, “The Cheyenne Social Club,” which also stars Shirley Jones, has since become something of a cult classic among Western fans.
United Archives // Getty Images
#33. Battle of the Bulge (1965)
– Director: Ken Annakin
– IMDb user rating: 6.8
– Metascore: data not available
– Runtime: 167 minutes
This drama about Nazi Germany’s last attack on the Western Front is so historically inaccurate that President Dwight Eisenhower publicly denounced the film. A conglomeration of instances that took place over a month-long skirmish, the movie ends, as history did, with the Germans in retreat.
Universal Pictures
#32. Sometimes a Great Notion (1971)
– Director: Paul Newman
– IMDb user rating: 6.9
– Metascore: data not available
– Runtime: 114 minutes
Directed by Paul Newman, “Sometimes a Great Notion” follows a family of independent loggers in Oregon as they deal with a union strike in this small-town drama. Fonda plays the Stamper family patriarch, with Newman and Michael Sarrazin as his sons and Lee Remick as his wife. It is based on the Ken Kesey novel of the same name.
United Archives // Getty Images
#31. There Was a Crooked Man… (1970)
– Director: Joseph L. Mankiewicz
– IMDb user rating: 6.9
– Metascore: data not available
– Runtime: 126 minutes
The bulk of the action in “There Was a Crooked Man…” follows a criminal who attempts to convince his fellow inmates to break out of prison with him and share in the gold he has hidden away. Fonda plays the sheriff and warden, a man who treats the prisoners fairly and ultimately absconds with the hidden loot (after all the villains are dead, of course).
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Cosmopolitan Productions
#30. The Story of Alexander Graham Bell (1939)
– Director: Irving Cummings
– IMDb user rating: 7.0
– Metascore: data not available
– Runtime: 98 minutes
A biographical drama about Alexander Graham Bell, this 1939 movie follows the inventor’s trajectory from laughed-at nobody to the 19th century’s most acclaimed scientist. While the events in the film are slightly fictionalized, Bell’s daughter, Mrs. Gilbert Grosvenor, had final approval over the script before production began. Fonda plays Bell’s assistant Thomas Watson (who hears the first words ever spoken over the telephone), with Don Ameche starring as Bell, and Loretta Young as Bell’s wife, Mabel.
Warner Bros.
#29. Spencer’s Mountain (1963)
– Director: Delmer Daves
– IMDb user rating: 7.0
– Metascore: data not available
– Runtime: 118 minutes
Widely regarded as a precursor to the TV series “The Waltons” (both were based on the same semi-autobiographical book by Earl Hammer Jr.), “Spencer’s Mountain” follows a poor family in rural Wyoming who work together to forge a better future for themselves and their children. While the film, which sees Fonda as the patriarch Clay Spencer, was criticized for being too wholesome; it actually wound up feeling downright rough around the edges compared to the ’70s TV show.
Twentieth Century Fox
#28. Jesse James (1939)
– Directors: Henry King, Irving Cummings
– IMDb user rating: 7.0
– Metascore: data not available
– Runtime: 106 minutes
After a railroad representative kills their mother, Frank and Jesse James exact revenge and begin a life as outlaws. Tyrone Power shines as Jesse, with Fonda playing his brother, Frank. The movie bears little similarity to real-life events but was a hit with audiences nonetheless. Fonda came back to the role of Frank in 1940’s “The Return of Frank James.”
Twentieth Century Fox
#27. Drums Along the Mohawk (1939)
– Director: John Ford
– IMDb user rating: 7.0
– Metascore: data not available
– Runtime: 104 minutes
Set during the American Revolution, “Drums Along the Mohawk” stars Fonda and Claudette Colbert as a couple who set out to settle the New York frontier, enduring British and Native American attacks along the way. An early treatment of the script was allegedly written by William Faulkner, and the final version of the film was a huge box office smash. The film also marked acclaimed director John Ford’s first use of Technicolor.
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)
#26. How the West Was Won (1962)
– Directors: John Ford, Henry Hathaway, George Marshall, Richard Thorpe
– IMDb user rating: 7.0
– Metascore: 56
– Runtime: 164 minutes
“How the West Was Won” is a sweeping family saga that covers decades of one family’s history and involvement in western expansion. Nominated for eight Academy Awards (and winner of three), the movie has a massive, all-star cast that includes Fonda, Gregory Peck, Debbie Reynolds, John Wayne, and Spencer Tracy.
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United Archives // Getty Images
#25. Warlock (1959)
– Director: Edward Dmytryk
– IMDb user rating: 7.1
– Metascore: data not available
– Runtime: 121 minutes
Yet another Western, “Warlock” sees Fonda playing a morally ambiguous sheriff named Clay Blaisdell, whose methods of protecting his town are best described as questionable. The New York Times described Fonda’s performance as “excellent—melancholy, laconic, and assured.”
Desilu Productions
#24. Yours, Mine and Ours (1968)
– Director: Melville Shavelson
– IMDb user rating: 7.1
– Metascore: data not available
– Runtime: 111 minutes
In this classic family comedy, Fonda stars alongside Lucille Ball as the patriarch of a chaotically massive blended bunch—he has 10 kids, she has eight, and the pair are welcoming one more together. Believe it or not, the movie, which was produced by Desilu Productions, is based on the real-life story of the Beardsley family, who chronicled their experiences in the book “Who Gets the Drumsticks?”
Twentieth Century Fox
#23. The Boston Strangler (1968)
– Director: Richard Fleischer
– IMDb user rating: 7.1
– Metascore: data not available
– Runtime: 116 minutes
From sweet family picture to grisly crime drama, Fonda also released “The Boston Strangler” in 1968. The movie tells the story of Albert DeSalvo, the real-life Boston Strangler, and the detective (Fonda) who obtained his confession. While the movie itself was a hit, some critics questioned the morality of the film’s content, especially considering it had been made so close to when the real-life murders took place.
Otto Preminger Films
#22. In Harm’s Way (1965)
– Director: Otto Preminger
– IMDb user rating: 7.2
– Metascore: data not available
– Runtime: 165 minutes
Notable for being one of the last WWII epics shot in black and white, “In Harm’s Way” follows a Naval officer through the first year of U.S. involvement in the global conflict. The primary stars in this Academy Award-nominated movie are John Wayne, Kirk Douglas, and Patricia Neal, though Fonda does have a sizable part as the commander in chief of the Pacific Fleet.
Twentieth Century Fox
#21. Tales of Manhattan (1942)
– Director: Julien Duvivier
– IMDb user rating: 7.3
– Metascore: data not available
– Runtime: 118 minutes
In all, 10 writers worked together to craft the five stories that make up the anthology film “Tales of Manhattan.” The various episodes are all connected by a cursed black tailcoat that travels from owner to owner throughout the borough. A number of the day’s biggest names, including Rita Hayworth, Ginger Rogers, and Charles Boyer, star alongside Fonda.
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Eden Productions Inc.
#20. A Big Hand for the Little Lady (1966)
– Director: Fielder Cook
– IMDb user rating: 7.3
– Metascore: data not available
– Runtime: 95 minutes
A traveling cowboy (Fonda) gets wrapped up in a high-stakes poker game, and chaos ensues when his wife (Joanne Woodward) is forced to step in for him after he collapses mid-hand in this comedy Western. Upon release, the film was heralded for making a poker game as interesting and suspenseful as a shootout.
Perlberg-Seaton Productions
#19. The Tin Star (1957)
– Director: Anthony Mann
– IMDb user rating: 7.3
– Metascore: data not available
– Runtime: 93 minutes
Hailed as a classic Western, “The Tin Star” casts Fonda as an experienced bounty hunter who helps a town’s young new sheriff (Anthony Perkins) find his footing. Despite being a low-budget production, the movie was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay.
Walter Wanger Productions
#18. You Only Live Once (1937)
– Director: Fritz Lang
– IMDb user rating: 7.3
– Metascore: data not available
– Runtime: 86 minutes
Considered an early example of film noir, “You Only Live Once” is a dark and graphic crime drama. It tells the story of Eddie Taylor (Fonda), a reformed convict who, finding himself framed for a crime he didn’t commit, goes on the lam with his wife (Sylvia Sidney) and newborn child.
Rafran Cinematografica
#17. My Name Is Nobody (1973)
– Director: Tonino Valerii
– IMDb user rating: 7.3
– Metascore: 68
– Runtime: 116 minutes
In this spaghetti Western, Fonda plays an aging gunslinger who, on the eve of his retirement to Europe, is coerced into fighting the Wild Bunch gang by a mysterious loner named Nobody (Terence Hill). According to IMDb, “My Name Is Nobody” marked Fonda’s final Western movie.
Warner Bros.
#16. Jezebel (1938)
– Director: William Wyler
– IMDb user rating: 7.4
– Metascore: data not available
– Runtime: 104 minutes
One of Fonda’s first big hits, “Jezebel” is about a southern debutante (Bette Davis) whose hard-headed nature causes her to lose her fiancé (Fonda). After he leaves her and appears to have moved on with a new woman, she vows to do whatever it takes to get him back. According to Turner Classic Movies, the production of the movie was complicated by the birth of Fonda’s daughter, Jane, and his subsequent temporary absence from the set.
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Argosy Pictures
#15. Fort Apache (1948)
– Director: John Ford
– IMDb user rating: 7.4
– Metascore: data not available
– Runtime: 128 minutes
A cocky, glory-hungry lieutenant (Fonda) is placed in command of the troops at Fort Apache and loses the lives of many of his soldiers when he fails to heed the advice of the more experienced Capt. Kirby York (John Wayne). “Fort Apache,” which also starred Shirley Temple, was the last movie Fonda would make for seven years, until 1955, as he switched his focus to the theater instead.
Warner Bros.
#14. The Wrong Man (1956)
– Director: Alfred Hitchcock
– IMDb user rating: 7.4
– Metascore: 83
– Runtime: 105 minutes
Based on real-life events, “The Wrong Man” is about a family man and musician who gets mistaken for a criminal and struggles to deal with the fallout. Alfred Hitchcock directs (and makes a brief on-screen cameo), Fonda plays the wrongly accused Manny Ballestero, and frequent Hitchcock collaborator Vera Miles plays his devastated wife, Rose.
Cosmopolitan Productions
#13. Young Mr. Lincoln (1939)
– Director: John Ford
– IMDb user rating: 7.5
– Metascore: 91
– Runtime: 100 minutes
Considered one of the best performances of Fonda’s career, “Young Mr. Lincoln” is a biopic that focuses on the early career of Abraham Lincoln. The movie, which marks the first time Fonda collaborated with John Ford, sees Lincoln as a young lawyer arguing an incendiary murder case and pondering a move into politics.
Millar/Turman Productions
#12. The Best Man (1964)
– Director: Franklin J. Schaffner
– IMDb user rating: 7.6
– Metascore: data not available
– Runtime: 102 minutes
Based on a play by Gore Vidal (who also wrote the screenplay), “The Best Man” is a political drama that looks at the unscrupulous manner in which political candidates vie for endorsements and run their campaigns. Here, Fonda plays former Secretary of State William Russell, who is running against a senator (Cliff Robertson) to be the Democratic presidential candidate. Both men have skeletons in their closets they must overcome if they wish to have a shot at the nation’s highest office.
Orange Productions
#11. Mister Roberts (1955)
– Directors: John Ford, Mervyn LeRoy, Joshua Logan
– IMDb user rating: 7.6
– Metascore: 72
– Runtime: 123 minutes
“Mister Roberts” marked Fonda’s return to film after a seven-year break to focus on his stage career. The Academy Award-winning film sees him reprising the role of Lieutenant Roberts (which he originated on Broadway), a fed-up commander who frequently butts heads with his ship’s overbearing captain.
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IPC Films
#10. On Golden Pond (1981)
– Director: Mark Rydell
– IMDb user rating: 7.6
– Metascore: 68
– Runtime: 109 minutes
“On Golden Pond” is a significant movie in Fonda’s oeuvre for many reasons: It was his final film, as he would die a year later in 1982; it earned him an Academy Award for Best Actor; and it marked the only time he’d work with his daughter, Jane Fonda. Henry played Norman, an old, curmudgeonly man who shares a strained relationship with his daughter (Jane), but agrees to watch her boyfriend’s child for the summer so that the young couple can traipse around Europe. The heartwarming film also stars Katharine Hepburn as Henry’s wife, Ethel.
Otto Preminger Films
#9. Advise & Consent (1962)
– Director: Otto Preminger
– IMDb user rating: 7.7
– Metascore: data not available
– Runtime: 139 minutes
Based on a Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name, “Advise & Consent” is about a dying president who is willing to go to great lengths to get his preferred candidate approved for secretary of state. Fonda plays the secretary of state nominee in question, who, ultimately, commits perjury to get ahead.
Paramount Pictures
#8. The Lady Eve (1941)
– Director: Preston Sturges
– IMDb user rating: 7.7
– Metascore: 96
– Runtime: 94 minutes
Described as “one of the all-time great screwballs,” “The Lady Eve” features Barbara Stanwyck as a card shark who sets out to con a wealthy but nerdy bachelor (Fonda), only to find she’s actually fallen in love with him. In the last two decades, the movie has made it on a number of lists as one of the greatest films of all time.
Twentieth Century Fox
#7. My Darling Clementine (1946)
– Director: John Ford
– IMDb user rating: 7.7
– Metascore: data not available
– Runtime: 97 minutes
Aside from “Young Mr. Lincoln,” “My Darling Clementine” is the only other time Fonda played a real-life historical figure on screen. In this Western, Fonda takes on the role of legendary lawman Wyatt Earp in the lead up to the shootout at the O.K. Corral.
Darryl F. Zanuck Productions
#6. The Longest Day (1962)
– Directors: Ken Annakin, Andrew Marton, Gerd Oswald, Bernhard Wicki, Darryl F. Zanuck
– IMDb user rating: 7.7
– Metascore: 75
– Runtime: 178 minutes
This epic war drama tells the story of the D-Day landings in Normandy through the eyes of men on both sides of the conflict. The film, which comes in at nearly three hours in length, had a massive ensemble cast that, aside from Fonda, includes the likes of John Wayne, Richard Burton, Sean Connery, and Paul Anka. The film took home Oscars for cinematography and special effects.
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Columbia Pictures
#5. Fail Safe (1964)
– Director: Sidney Lumet
– IMDb user rating: 8.0
– Metascore: 75
– Runtime: 112 minutes
A technical mistake sends American planes to bomb Moscow in this Cold War thriller. Here, Fonda plays the president of the United States, who desperately works to abort the order and avoid an all-out nuclear war. The film was released to a mixed critical reception, with Variety opining that “Fail Safe deserves to be seen,” and Newsweek concluding that, aside from Fonda, “Everybody else is hopeless or helpless. There is nothing in the script … to hint to anyone how to behave, how to think, how to be.”
Twentieth Century Fox
#4. The Ox-Bow Incident (1942)
– Director: William A. Wellman
– IMDb user rating: 8.0
– Metascore: data not available
– Runtime: 75 minutes
A truly blood-chilling Western about the detriments of mob justice, “The Ox-Bow Incident” follows two loner cowboys (Fonda and Dana Andrews) caught up in a vengeful posse’s hunt to find the suspected murderers of a local rancher. The movie was nominated for the Best Picture Oscar at the Academy Awards but lost to “Casablanca.”
Twentieth Century Fox
#3. The Grapes of Wrath (1940)
– Director: John Ford
– IMDb user rating: 8.1
– Metascore: 96
– Runtime: 129 minutes
The first film adaptation of John Steinbeck’s great American novel, “The Grapes of Wrath” follows the Joad family as they leave their Dust Bowl-ravaged home behind and strike out to California in hopes of better fortunes. Fonda plays the main character, Tom Joad, and his portrayal earned him an Academy Award nomination.
Rafran Cinematografica
#2. Once Upon a Time in the West (1968)
– Director: Sergio Leone
– IMDb user rating: 8.5
– Metascore: 80
– Runtime: 165 minutes
Running almost three hours in length, this epic spaghetti Western, about a mail-order bride who enlists two mysterious strangers to protect her from a villainous cattleman, packs a lot of story into its runtime. Fonda steps away from his typical good guy role and plays the antagonist, a ruthless killer known only as “Frank.”
Orion-Nova Productions
#1. 12 Angry Men (1957)
– Director: Sidney Lumet
– IMDb user rating: 9.0
– Metascore: 96
– Runtime: 96 minutes
Fonda not only starred in but also produced his best film, “12 Angry Men.” The iconic courtroom drama is about a group of jurors who must decide the fate of a Puerto Rican teenager accused of murdering his father. Fonda plays the lone dissenting juror on whose skepticism the film’s narrative revolves. The actor won a BAFTA Award for his work, and the film also earned a Best Picture Oscar nomination.
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TOP 12 QUOTES BY MARK RYDELL
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Discover Mark Rydell famous and rare quotes. Share Mark Rydell quotations about films and competition. "I long for the days when grosses were..."
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A-Z Quotes
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https://www.azquotes.com/author/40789-Mark_Rydell
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https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/jane-fonda-discovering-losing-discovering-242289/
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Jane Fonda on Discovering, Losing and Re-Discovering Love for Acting (Audio)
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2011-09-30T10:42:55+00:00
|
The 73-year-old star of the new dramedy "Peace, Love, & Misunderstanding" says, "I think I'm better than I ever have been."
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The Hollywood Reporter
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https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/jane-fonda-discovering-losing-discovering-242289/
|
A strong case could be made that Jane Fonda is — with the possible exception of Meryl Streep — America’s greatest living film actress.
She has given standout performances in dozens of memorable movies from across the genres over the past half-century, many of which merit a spot in any pantheon of American cinema, including: Edward Dmytryk‘s Walk on the Wild Side (1962), Elliot Silverstein‘s Cat Ballou (1965), Sydney Pollack‘s They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? (1966), Arthur Penn‘s The Chase (1966), Gene Saks‘s Barefoot in the Park (1967), Roger Vadim‘s Barbarella (1968), Alan J. Pakula‘s Klute (1971), Fred Zinnemann‘s Julia (1977), Hal Ashby‘s Coming Home (1978), James Bridges‘s The China Syndrome (1979), Colin Higgins‘s Nine to Five (1980), Mark Rydell‘s On Golden Pond (1981), and Norman Jewison‘s Agnes of God (1985).
Thanks to her landmark performances in the aforementioned Klute and Coming Home, she is one of only 12 members of the club of two-time best actress Oscar winners. The other 11: Luise Rainer, Bette Davis, Olivia de Havilland, Vivien Leigh, Ingrid Bergman, Elizabeth Taylor, Katharine Hepburn, Glenda Jackson, Sally Field, Jodie Foster, and Hilary Swank.
TORONTO REVIEW: Peace, Love, & Misunderstanding
And today, at the age of 73 — and despite taking a 16-year hiatus from the big screen, spanning Martin Ritt‘s Stanley & Iris (1989) through Robert Luketic‘s Monster-in-Law (2005) — she is the only septuagenarian female who can get a movie made simply because she has agreed to appear in it.
Case-in-point: Bruce Beresford‘s Peace, Love, & Misunderstanding, Fonda’s fourth post-comeback film, which shot in upstate New York in July 2010, premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival earlier this month, and is still seeking U.S. distribution. In it, Fonda plays Grace, a fun-loving, pot-smoking, chicken-raising, pottery-throwing, sexually-active hippie. Oh, and one more thing: the character played by the sex kitten of Barbarella and sexy call girl of Klute is — get this — a grey-haired grandmother! One day, her long-estranged daughter (Catherine Keener), a conservative lawyer, shows up at her home with her own two kids in tow (the girl is played by Elizabeth Olsen of Martha Marcy May Marlene, the boy by Nat Wolff of Nickelodeon’s The Naked Brothers Band), seeking refuge after separating from her husband (Kyle MacLachlan). Over the course of their time together, Grace teaches all three of them to loosen up, helps each to find a bit of romance (Olsen with Gossip Girl‘s Chace Crawford) during their stay, and works to earn her daughter’s forgiveness. (She also has several lines of dialogue — one including the phrase “cock-blocking” — that made this writer literally laugh-out-loud.)
PHOTOS: Toronto Film Festival: 13 Films to Know
When you think about it, Peace, Love, & Misunderstanding is a lot like another film that is also close to Fonda’s heart: On Golden Pond (1981), in which she shared the screen with her legendary father Henry Fonda for the first and only time, and in so doing helped to improve their long-strained relationship. (He won the best actor Oscar for the film and died just months later.) Both films are fundamentally about a parent and child struggling to communicate after many years of distance bet. In the earlier film, Jane played a daughter struggling to communicate with a distant parent; now she’s playing a parent struggling to communicate with a distant daughter. And, as I noted in an early post, Henry was only three years older when Pond was released than his daughter is now — 76 vs. 73. (“When I read your article [pointing out these similarities] it blew me away,” Fonda remarked to me, insisting that she hadn’t previously noticed them.)
STORY: Toronto 2011: The 10 Most Buzzed-About Films That Still Haven’t Found a U.S. Distributor
Fonda was actually scheduled to attend TIFF to promote Peace, Love, & Misunderstanding, but she developed stomach pains and was advised against traveling (she’s fine now), and therefore had to cancel the handful of interviews that she had agreed to grant in conjunction with it. This disappointed journalist pestered her publicist to reschedule his as a phoner, however, and Fonda graciously agreed. When I first rung her, she asked if I’d mind calling her back in just a few more minutes; interestingly, when I did, she explained to me that she had been “coaching a little girl over the phone because she’s about to try out for a Robert Redford movie.” (She herself shared the screen with Redford 45 years ago in The Chase, 44 years ago in Barefoot in the Park, and 32 years ago in The Electric Horseman.)
Once our own conversation got underway, Fonda devoted a generous amount of time and a considerable amount of thought to answering my questions about her past, present, and future…
Jane Fonda ‘Peace, Love & Misunderstanding’ by The Hollywood Reporter
Some highlights…
On getting into acting “The first time I ever acted was when I played a boy in a religious pageant in church… I started studying acting because I got fired as a secretary and I had to move out of my father’s house and earn a living… I became a model to pay for acting class, and started studying with Lee Strasberg.”
On first realizing she was an actor “It was when Lee Strasberg saw me do my first scene and said to me, ‘You know, I see a lot of people coming through here. I just want to tell you something, Jane: you have real talent’ — when he said that to me, I knew what my calling was. I needed someone who was not my parent or an employee to tell me that. And Lee Strasberg did that for me.”
On her breakthrough role “I had an unusual career… I started with a starring role… and I didn’t enjoy it at all. I did not enjoy movie acting I’d say until Klute. Well, no, that’s not true. Barefoot in the Park I had a blast making… I didn’t feel like I found my sea-legs until I did Klute.”
On fame “It’s very different now. There’s a cult of celebrity, you know, partly because of the gossip magazines and the paparazzi. Young people coming up now — everything they do is under scrutiny. I mean, people become celebrities who’ve never done anything! It’s all about celebrity, and that’s really bad — it’s a shame. I don’t think it represents very good values. These are not good role models for our young people. That was not the way it was when I came up. There were no paparazzi. There were no gossip rags. There were movie magazines, but they contained headshots of the star with a very careful bio [laughs], and that was about it. I was lucky. I came in before all this stuff happened.”
On her first realization that she was famous “I guess I knew I was famous when I was opening in a play on Broadway and had two movies playing at the same time.”
On her favorite role “I think the character that I played that I loved the most is a character named Gertie Nevels in The Dollmaker [1984], for which I won an Emmy. It was made for ABC… That’s my favorite character that I ever played — I played a hillbilly — and I was proud of that. Very proud. But [the part of call girl Bree Daniels in] Klute is right up there alongside that.
On the 1960’s “I was never a hippie. I was an activist, but I was never a hippie. I didn’t do the tie-die, pot-smoking, psychedelic — all that stuff. I never did that.
On what led to her 16-year hiatus from Hollywood “Towards the end of my forties, which corresponded to the end of the eighties, I was not a happy camper. I felt very bad about myself; I was in a marraige that was failing; I saw no future for myself — I was miserable, and I found it very, very, very difficult to act under those circumstances. I was shut down, so I said, ‘I’m gonna get out of the business. I’m gonna become a full-time environmental activist. I’ll leave Hollywood.’ I bought a piece of property in New Mexico, and right around that time I met Ted Turner — so I ended up owning New Mexico! [laughs]… Anyway, I wouldn’t have been able to be married to him and work, but I was planning to not work anyway, so it’s not like he got me to quit — but I didn’t need to work when I was married to Ted. When he and I divorced, I began writing my memoirs, which took me five years, and that was one of the most important things I have ever done in my life. When I was about a year from finishing them, I realized I’m a very different person now than I was 15 years ago. I could find joy in acting again — I knew it in my bones. And I had appeared at the Oscars to present an award — I had my hair cut and I looked pretty great — and CAA took me lunch and said, ‘We want to represent you.’ And I said, ‘Well, I’m not sure I’m gonna work again.’ But then the script Monster-in-Law came along, and I realized that this was just perfect.”
On choosing Monster-in-Law (2005) for her comeback film “First of all, I’d never played a character like that. Second of all, because I’d spent 10 years with Ted Turner, I knew that I could play her, because I learned from Ted, being up-close and personal, that being over-the-top can be nice and endearing. [laughs]… My book came out the same time the movie came out — I’m the only person that’s ever had a number one book and a number one movie out at the same time. The critics hated it — “Why would Jane want to come back after 16 years in, kind of, a popcorn movie?” But it was actually a very brilliant move on my part because young people came to see the movie because they wanted to see [Jennifer Lopez], and they discovered me, because I’m the one that had the funnier role. And so, you know, when I walk down the street now, I see young girls coming towards me because they recognize me and they get excited, and I know exactly what they’re gonna say. Forget Klute, forget Coming Home, forget Julia — ‘Monster-in-Law! I’ve seen it 15 times! It’s my all-time favorite movie!’… So I think it was a smart move. And what I realized during that movie is that I have found joy in acting again — I think I’m better than I ever have been — and I look forward to more.”
On what she’s doing next “I’m writing three new books and I have two new DVDs coming out!”
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Mark Rydell (born March 23, 1935 , in New York City) is an American actor, film director and producer. He has directed many Academy Award-nominated films including The Fox (1967), The Reivers (1969), Cinderella Liberty (1973), The Rose (1979), The River (1984) and For the Boys (1991). He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Director for On Golden Pond (1981).
Rydell's initial training was in music. As a youth, he wanted to be a conductor. He began his career as an actor and first became known for his role as Walt Johnson on The Edge of Night and as Jeff Baker on As the World Turns, which he played from 1956 to 1962. When he would not sign a long-term contract to remain on ATWT the producers had his character die in a car crash. He won plaudits for his role of violent Jewish mob kingpin Marty Augustine in Robert Altman's The Long Goodbye (1973). His most recent significant film role was in Woody Allen's Hollywood Ending (2002).
As a director, Rydell's credits include The Reivers (1969), The Cowboys (1972), Cinderella Liberty (1973), The Rose (1979), On Golden Pond (1981), for which he received an Oscar nomination as Best Director, The River (1984), For the Boys (1991), and Intersection (1994). He directed the TV movie The Crime of the Century (1996), which starred Isabella Rossellini and Stephen Rea. In 2006, Rydell directed the movie Even Money.
Rydell was also the director of the TV bio-pic James Dean (2001), which earned actor James Franco a Golden Globe award. Rydell also acted in the movie, playing Jack L. Warner (head of Warner Bros).
In 2009, Rydell, working with actor Martin Landau and screenwriter/playwright Lyle Kessler, produced an education seminar, The Total Picture Seminar. It is a two-day event covering the disciplines of acting, directing, and writing for film. The three have worked together as a team for many decades at The Actors Studio teaching and coaching professional actors, writers, and directors. In 2010, Rydell joined the Advisory Board of Openfilm, an online video sharing site created to help aspiring independent filmmakers.
Description above from the Wikipedia article Mark Rydell, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia
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IMDb
Mark Rydell (born March 23, 1935 , in New York City) is an American actor, film director and producer. He has directed many Academy Award-nominated films including The Fox (1967), The Reivers (1969), Cinderella Liberty (1973), The Rose (1979), The River (1984) and For the Boys (1991). He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Director for On Golden Pond (1981). Rydell's initial training was in music. As a youth, he wanted to be a conductor. He began his career as an actor and first became known for his role as Walt Johnson on The Edge of
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[
"Mark Rydell"
] | null |
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"IMDb"
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Mark Rydell. Actor: Der Tod kennt keine Wiederkehr. Mark Rydell was born on 23 March 1929 in New York City, New York, USA. He is a director and actor, known for Der Tod kennt keine Wiederkehr (1973), Am goldenen See (1981) and Hollywood Ending (2002). He was previously married to Esther Jacobs and Joanne Linville.
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en
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IMDb
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https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0041932/
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I'm a hopeful person; I'm not a cynic. I believe that cynicism is a cancer for an artist. It's a way of insulating yourself from experience. If you're cynical about something, it becomes removed and can't invade you. If you believe that life has to do with an engagement of issues and personalities that make you young and vital, it's hard to be anything but hopeful.
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dbpedia
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https://www.nyfa.edu/film-school-blog/nyfa-screens-james-dean-director-mark-rydell/
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en
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NYFA Screens James Dean with Director Mark Rydell
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2013-09-24T00:00:00+00:00
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Academy-Award Nominated director & actor, Mark Rydell, was a recent New York Film Academy guest speaker at Warner Bros, following a screening of
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en
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NYFA
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https://www.nyfa.edu/film-school-blog/nyfa-screens-james-dean-director-mark-rydell/
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Academy-Award Nominated director & actor, Mark Rydell, was a recent New York Film Academy guest speaker at Warner Bros, following a screening of 2001´s television movie, James Dean. As a Veteran of the US Military, Mark studied with Sandy Meisner on the GI Bill for his first full year, until Meisner gave him a scholarship to continue into the second year. From that point on, Mark has had an incredible career spanning decades, which include directing the films The Cowboys with John Wayne, On Golden Pond with Katherine Hepburn and Henry Fonda, and The Rose with Bette Midler. The NYFA Q&A event was moderated by Filmmaking Chair Mike Civille and NYFA Acting Instructor Cathy Gianonne Russo, who happens to be a friend of Mark’s.
Mark was especially qualified to direct the James Dean television movie, as he was close to him on a personal level. “I knew Jimmy very well, and working with him as an actor was very exciting. Jimmy was very alive…his motor was always running.”
At 84 years of age, Rydell had some thoughts about the business today. “Today it´s disappointing how much misplaced focus there is on monetary success. It´s like the ugly pursuit of the dollar as opposed to the art.” He finds that collaborating and being open-minded is key. Cinematography, for example, is a critical element. And just like acting, it´s important to be, “friendly, constructive, inspiring and to create an atmosphere of creative freedom.” Finally, he stated that, “You have to be open! Whoever it is on the set – even the catering guy – you never know where the next great idea will come from!”
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https://filmtalk.org/2017/10/08/ted-kotcheff-its-interesting-that-hollywood-always-thinks-you-came-alive-when-it-first-took-notice-of-you/
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en
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INTERVIEWS WITH ACTORS AND FILMMAKERSINTERVIEWS WITH ACTORS AND FILMMAKERS
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2017-10-08T00:00:00
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William Theodore Kotcheff (b. 1931) was a guest of honor at the 1983 Brussels Film Festival, and while he was there, he put his time and energy into promoting “First Blood” with Sylvester Stallone in the lead. As you’ll notice, Mr. Kotcheff was a thrill to talk to, a fascinating man who knows his job…
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en
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FILM TALK
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https://filmtalk.org/2017/10/08/ted-kotcheff-its-interesting-that-hollywood-always-thinks-you-came-alive-when-it-first-took-notice-of-you/
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William Theodore Kotcheff (b. 1931) was a guest of honor at the 1983 Brussels Film Festival, and while he was there, he put his time and energy into promoting “First Blood” with Sylvester Stallone in the lead. As you’ll notice, Mr. Kotcheff was a thrill to talk to, a fascinating man who knows his job inside out and has enough knowledge and enthusiasm to convince you of the dedication and sincerity he feels towards directing. Just for the record, this photograph was taken on the set of his 1988 comedy “Switching Channels” with Mr. Kotcheff on the right, and Christopher Reeve, one of the film’s leading actors, in the middle.
Although conducted in a room at the Brussels Sheraton Hotel almost 35 years ago, I feel this conversation with Mr. Kotcheff isn’t really dated, as it may still be valuable when he talks about his craft and looks at it from various angles—with all the credit going to the wonderful storyteller he really is.
And he did direct quite a few interesting films over the years. By the time I met with him, his screen credits included the Western “Billy Two Hats” (1972) starring Gregory Peck, “The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz” (1974) with Richard Dreyfuss, and the comedies “Fun With Dick and Jane” (1977) teaming George Segal with Jane Fonda, and “Who’s Killing the Great Chefs of Europe?” (1978) with George Segal and Jacqueline Bisset.
Several other films followed in the decade to come, and Mr. Kotcheff also worked quite a bit for television. But why not let this accomplished filmmaker speak for himself?!
Mr. Kotcheff, how did it all start for you?
I was born in Canada, and there I started directing for television—at CBC [1955]. I wanted to be a film director, but at that time, there was no film industry in Canada whatsoever. Some of the directors of my generation, like Arthur Hiller and Norman Jewison, decided to go to Los Angeles, but I decided to go to London. One of the reasons was that I had studied English literature at the university, so I had a natural interest in going to England. Since I also wanted to work in the theater, London seemed like a good choice. I’ve lived there for seventeen years, and I’ve made there all of my early films.
How important was your television and stage work for your career as a film director?
I was very fortunate when I started working for television. They were still practicing, and I was able to experiment a lot. I did a variety of plays for television; some were historical plays, then I did tragedies, comedies, satirical comedies. One was able to try one’s hand and to define oneself as a director. I think that’s very difficult when you’re making films. In my first two years as a director, I think I directed twenty plays. I also worked continually with actors—this is where I think my theater experience is valuable because there you totally concentrate on the actors. So I was able to experiment with directorial techniques in relation to acting. When you make a picture, it costs $50,000 a day to shoot, which means there’s just no time to try anything. So as an answer to your question, I think my experience in television and in theater was very valuable.
When you made “First Blood,” did you want to show what a war can do to an individual, or can it be considered as a statement on war in general?
I was especially interested in the long-term effects of war: the unforeseen results of involving yourself in a war; that’s what the film is about. The problem of the returning veterans is certainly there, but that’s really a secondary interest. I always thought it would be interesting to follow this engine of violence one has created, which goes on existing and can damage the people who created this. I think America was severely damaged by the Vietnam War. At first, it was a small war taking place a long way from home, and yet it had disastrous effects, on its society, on its economy. I don’t think America has even fully recovered from the effects of that war.
How do you explain the enormous success of “First Blood”?
I think success is the most difficult thing to explain. It’s much easier to explain failure [laughs]. Perhaps it’s because of the violence, although there’s been a reaction to violence in America. Success has probably a lot to do with timing; if “The Deer Hunter” [1978], for example, came out now, maybe it would be more successful than it was then—who knows, you know. In America, there has been a tremendous change of attitude towards the Vietnam War. The people who worked on the publicity for this film didn’t want any mention of Vietnam in the publicity. They still think Vietnam keeps audiences away. Americans have deep feelings of guilt and shame of the Vietnam War, and they don’t want to hear about it. All previous veterans of World War I and World War II got things like university education for free and were supported while at the university, but not the Vietnam veterans; they got no benefits. In fact, that’s what the story is about. A lot of them didn’t get proper hospitalization, they didn’t get proper psychiatric care. So a lot of those veterans were walking around in a very unbalanced state, and the Vietnam War was still considered a no-no when it comes to films. In the publicity, they described Rambo as an experienced jungle fighter while he was in fact a Vietnam Green Beret. For the sneak preview, we went to Las Vegas to test the film. The audience got those cards with questions to answer; at the bottom, it says ‘any comments.’ A lot of people put in that it was about time that a film dealt with the distasteful and disgraceful way we treated our Vietnam veterans. It seems that it touched that nerve at the right moment. Also, I think that the film has a strong quality that always appeals to Americans, that of the individual striking back at the system. America is a very individualistic nation. That might explain the success of the film too. I don’t know, there’s a very long way to search for the answer to why a film succeeds and why not. I don’t think I have explained it.
You had two films released in one month, “First Blood” and “Split Image.” How did you manage to do that?
Let me tell you, October [1982] was a very nervous month for me [laughs]. The release of “Split Image” was delayed due to business reasons, and the release of “First Blood” was accelerated. I finished “First Blood” on September 25, and it was in 900 movie houses on October 25. It almost came out immediately. Yet it had a kind of positive result: “Split Image” got wonderful reviews and did no business, while “First Blood” got mediocre reviews and did a tremendous amount of business. So I think I got it at both ends [laughs].
Are press reviews important to you?
Well, I don’t read them anymore. I have friends who read them, and they tell me if they’re good or bad. I’m not denying their importance, of course. On a commercial level they can be important for the success of your film, it certainly helps at the box office. Further, films cost a lot of money, and plenty of that has to be gotten back. There are very interesting critics who have something to say, but on the whole, I protect myself. I don’t see any necessity to have myself wounded by bad reviews. Throughout the history of filmmaking, there have been some great examples of films that were totally misevaluated by the critics at the time when they were released. Some of my friends who are directors are sometimes absolutely destroyed. I remember my first set of bad reviews… for one day! I got the most horrifying reviews, and I hid in my bedroom for three days, locked the door until I noticed how insane it was! Well, anyway, I do think it’s a part of the game: one has to accept it, those are the rules. Once you decide to become a director, you expose yourself to criticism.
Film director Mark Rydell told me a few years ago that a great deal of the American film critics are not too fond of movies. Do you agree with that?
That’s true to a certain extend. A lot of the film critics were not made film critics because they love films. Take a football reviewer, for example, who reviews sports events, and somebody asks him, ‘Hey listen, you gotta do the film reviews this week.’ And next thing, they’re the film critic. Pauline Kael was a theater owner; she had her own movie house in San Francisco. She loved films, and she started to write about them. That’s a natural progression. It doesn’t matter if she writes a good or a bad review; she at least shows her interest. But yes, a lot of them are almost backed into it, that is true.
When you were shooting “First Blood,” you were having problems with the stunts, the bad weather, etc. Did the “Twilight Zone” accident have an impact on your film?
Well, I can’t comment on “The Twilight Zone—The Movie” of course, I know nothing about it since I wasn’t there. But I do know that any picture like ours has a lot of difficulties with those dangerous stunts. My heart used to be in my mouth when they were shooting those sequences of the helicopter coming down the canyon. You can’t be too careful, and accidents can happen in the simplest circumstances. There’s no film that’s worth a human being’s life, so I asked them to be extremely careful. Do you remember the comedy “Fun With Dick and Jane” [1977]? During a robbery scene, George Segal is pushed up against a wall by the man who charges him. When we started shooting, the man who charges him put his foot on George’s, so George couldn’t step back and fell to the wall. Into the hospital for a week. When you fall back like that, at a cement wall, an accident can happen before you’d realize it. We rehearsed it several times before; nothing went wrong, and then once more, and it goes all wrong. You can imagine what the risks are when you’re working in dangerous circumstances. We had a wonderful helicopter pilot—the best one in Hollywood—and we used to go through everything before we started shooting. The conditions under which we shot the film were horrendous. We started shooting in November and finished in March in Canada. It was freezing; it was wet because it was raining every day. Of course, it was great for the film, for it made it all look cold, uncomfortable, and misty. For me, it was no doubt the physically most difficult film I ever directed.
You just mentioned “Fun With Dick and Jane.” How did you manage to cast Jane Fonda, because this film was her comeback, wasn’t it?
She hadn’t been in a lot of movies by then because she was involved in the Vietnam War. But I always liked her. To me, she still was a wonderful comedienne, you know. Not many women were good at comedy at that time. Anyway, I just sent her the script; she liked it and agreed to do it. There was some resistance, though. At that time, she was hated in America by a lot of people. One day we were looking for a factory for the aircraft company. When we had found one, we asked if we could use it. That was no problem for them. ‘Who’s in it?’ they asked. ‘George Segal.’ ‘Oh, wonderful! Who else?’ ‘Jane Fonda.’ ‘Jane Fonda?! I’m never gonna let my property be used for a film starring that communist, that traitor!’ [Laughs.] We had our share of problems because she was in the film, but she was worth it. She was wonderful in the film and wonderful to work with. She introduced me recently to somebody as ‘the man who brought me back into films.’
Why do you think she decided to come back with a comedy rather than an engaging film?
The story had a certain social criticism: what happens to a couple when they lose their jobs as a result of the recession. It had some value to her, and besides, she liked comedy. So that’s what attracted her about it. I also think she wanted to revive her career; the Vietnam War was over, she had abandoned her career to devote herself to this. But she thought it was time to return to acting, something she always loved. Also, I think—but I’m not sure—that she needed money to help her husband Tom Hayden with his political career.
You have made many different types of films, different genres. What is crucial to you to accept a script and make a film out of it?
My standard is very simple. When it appeals to me very deeply, and when it’s a subject that’s entertaining and has something beyond, I don’t mind devoting a year and a half of my life to it. That’s what I try to achieve in all of my films. Of course, these are very subjective criteria, but I like to work in the area where the popular overlaps the interesting. People sometimes ask me why I did “First Blood” since it’s way out of line compared to my earlier films. I don’t know; I always liked it from the moment I first read it five years ago. Somehow, it just stuck with me all of the time. Sometimes it’s hard to explain why your initial reaction is so strong.
How do you choose your actors?
I always see the characters without any reality or connection to a real person. That’s how I start reading a script. They’re almost idealized versions. And then you start thinking of who would be right for the part, and also, what are they going to bring? Is it something complementary to the notion you have in your head? Also, that kind of strong quality of each actor is terribly important—in his face, in his behavior, and that will add something to the role. I agonize a lot over casting; I see a lot of actors. I have a very good casting director, Lynn Stalmaster, I’ve worked with him on six films. He asks me how I see the part, and then we talk about it, sort of interchange. To me, that’s one of the most important parts of filmmaking. There’s a great scene in “8 ½” from Federico Fellini: Marcello Mastroianni is casting a film, and he goes into his hotel room. His bed is covered with pictures of actors; he lies back and looks at all these faces, what they represent to him. I always thought that was very true.
Did you ever have any problems with your actors?
Yes, sure. I suppose a man who works in an insurance company has problems with his secretary. People have problems; people are human. I don’t think the film industry has any greater share of it than any other business. The drug problem should require some consideration. It scrambled a lot of brains and also ruined quite a few careers, I think. I’m not going into who, of course. It doesn’t affect people in their work, it affects them in their capability to the best of their abilities. I’m very actor-oriented in my direction. I like directing, and I like directing actors. I always have a very close relationship with all of my performers and I like to establish a position of trust so they are able to give their best. That is the whole point of direction, allowing an actor to work and to function at his best. So I don’t have many emotional problems with actors, I’m rather paternalistic, and I do actually regard my actors as my children [laughs]. I hope that’s not too patronizing. But you have to allow them to be free and children is not a bad image after all, because the actors should be like children at play who are using their fantasy, imagination and they’re pretending all of the time.
In 1965 you made “Life at the Top,” the sequel to “Room at the Top” [1959]. How do you feel about sequels?
When you make a sequel, it makes you feel like you’re cashing in on someone else’s success. I would never do a sequel anymore; there’s some talk of doing a sequel to “First Blood,” for example, I wouldn’t even do a sequel to my own film. “Life at the Top” was one my earliest films, I was a very young director, and I thought it would be an interesting subject. Also, Jack Clayton, who directed the first film, was a very good friend of mine. Once I committed myself to do this sequel, I decided it should be something different, to make it a film in its own right, not living off the other film. It had to have its own integrity and had to be seen by itself, without any reference to the first film. Don’t forget it’s also quite impossible to imitate someone else’s film.
How do you look back to “The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz” [1974]? It was one of the first Canadian box-office successes and it was important for Richard Dreyfuss’ career.
“Duddy Kravitz” is one of my favorite films, for many reasons. First of all, the man who wrote the novel and the screenplay is Mordecai Richler. He’s my oldest friend. When he wrote the novel, he and I shared an apartment in London. He was an aspiring novelist, and I was an aspiring director. When he was writing the novel, we would often drink and talk. I would tell him stories about my childhood, and some of them were put in the novel. So there’s something of me in it. When he finished writing it, I was the first person to read the manuscript. I thought it was the finest Canadian novel ever written. I said then that one day I would go back to Canada and make a film out of it. We all laughed—we were in our twenties at the time. About fifteen years later, we made the film. For me, it was a very personal accomplishment. Since it was the novel of my best friend, I had a deep compulsion to do it very well; after all this time, I didn’t want to fail either my friend nor myself. It was also my first film back in my own country. “Duddy Kravitz” was very pleasing from another point of view too. I had been living as a foreigner in England; I had made “Life at the Top,” for example, in an English setting. Because you’re an outsider, you never get it right. To ideally direct a film, you need to know every sight and smell of the area; you have to feel totally at home. When I got back to Canada, I found out that this theory was right. Nobody could tell me that this world of Duddy Kravitz I was creating wasn’t right because I knew it inside out. I knew the people, how they talked, how they looked, how they dressed, how they behaved, I knew the colors of that world. It gave me a tremendous liberating feeling.
You’ve made several very interesting films so far, but do you think the audience knows who Ted Kotcheff is?
I don’t think so, and it doesn’t bother me very much. The most important thing is to work, to be able to make films. I get the most pleasure of just going out and shoot a film early in the morning with the camera crew. You start your daily fantasy. Public reputation critical reaction, all the other things that surround the world of filmmaking, come secondary to me. When you’re known very well, it helps you to make another film, to get the money, to get them cast.
Did you ever had problems to get a film financed?
Yes, I think that’s always a problem. You’re never on safe ground. A lot of directors have difficulties getting a reasonable budget to make a film like they want it. I’ve often tried to make films that weren’t very commercial—“Duddy Kravitz,” for example, wasn’t a commercial film on the surface, although it did make a lot of money. I had great trouble getting the money for that film. It’s always very expensive to make a film. A low-budget film in America costs now four million dollars; the average cost for a film is eight million. You have to be very persuasive to get that kind of money raised. So anything that helps you—critical reputation, wide-spread knowledge of yourself or whatever, is very important.
Did “Billy Two Hats” [1974] with Gregory Peck start your American career?
I was still living in England when it was made by an English film company, but there were Americans in it and it was set in America. I would say that my American career began with “Duddy Kravitz.” You know what’s interesting; Hollywood always thinks you came alive when it first took notice of you. They thought “Duddy Kravitz” was my first film. I had made “Billy Two Hats” in Israel; they said I could choose the best landscapes, so I looked all over Europe—for financial reasons, we could not make it in America. Spain had been overexposed for this kind of film, Yugoslavia wasn’t quite right, but in Israel, I found what I wanted: very similar territory like New Mexico or Arizona, which is where the story was set. It was fresh since nobody had really made any pictures there before.
Would you consider yourself a film buff?
Yes, I always loved movies, though I’m not an expert as some critics are. I grew up with movies. There was no television in the thirties when I was young. My parents used to go three times a week to the movies—Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. They had double features in those days, my mother and father didn’t have any money for babysitters, so they took me with them. I grew up seeing six pictures a week [laughs]. I’ve seen most of the pictures made in the thirties and forties. When I turn the television set on and see a movie, I usually know how it’s going to end. I’ve seen it when I was seven or eight years old, you see. So I guess I’m a film buff in that sense. I was always fond of the Ernst Lubitsch and Billy Wilder comedies. They had a big effect on me, I like that kind of social satirical comedy. When I was at the university, I saw all of the foreign films for the first time, I remember Akira Kurosawa’s “Rashômon” [1950] and “Seven Samourai” [1954], and the first films directed by Federico Fellini, like “I vitelloni” [1953]. I still remember when “Citizen Kane” [1941] first came out; these films all opened the possibilities of what cinema could do. And then there was “À bout de souffle” [1960] of course which came much later. I’m not a totally uncritical admirer of Jean-Luc Godard, but I did think it was an amazing film. They all expanded the horizon of cinema.
What do you do when you’re not making films, because there are often long time gaps in between?
I find it very difficult to commit myself to a film. I’m very careful about what I choose to do. When you make a film, it takes at least a year and a half from conception to scripting, shooting and editing, and all the rest of it. That’s a year and a half out of your life, so I’m very careful. If you feel you care very much about the film you’re gonna do, then all problems become bearable. If you don’t, then all problems seem like mountains. I don’t function very well as a director unless I care about it deeply. That’s why I have these long gaps before I find something that’s worth putting a year and a half of my time and energy into it. In between, I have some time for my hobbies. I was brought up as a musician, my parents wanted me to become a concert violinist, and I started playing the violin when I was four years old; I still do it. I also gave concerts, but the last twenty years I didn’t have the time for that kind of thing anymore. The violin is a very demanding instrument; you have at least got to practice two, three hours a day. I only play it for my pleasure now, a friend of mine is a pianist, and we play Brahms, Bach, and Beethoven. I also like to read.
Do you live in Los Angeles?
Yes, I have a house there, but I find Los Angeles very difficult after living in a city like London. Los Angeles is basically suburban, and although it’s a huge city, it’s not a metropolis. I have a small apartment in New York, so I’m slowly moving to New York now. I like big cities and the pleasure they provide: opera, theater, good restaurants, things like that. You know, I once saw Orson Welles on TV when he made a picture in Hollywood, “The Other Side of the Wind,” about the relationship between an old director and a young director, played by John Huston and Peter Bogdanovich. God, I wonder what happened to that film… anyway, it never came out. So when he came back to Los Angeles, they interviewed him for television. There was this young reporter, asking him, ‘Mr. Welles, how thrilling it is to have you back in Hollywood. You’ve been away now for more than thirty years. How does it feel to be back?’ Orson Welles had this big cigar and said [speaks very slowly], ‘I can’t tell you how thrilled I am to be back in the filmmaking capital of the world. There’s no place more congenial to the making of film than Hollywood. There’s only one thing, when I get through shooting, I’d like to spend the evening in London.’ [Laughs.] That’s the way I feel about New York.
One more question, do you know what has become of Mexican actress Rosenda Monteros, your leading lady in “Tiara Tahiti” [1962]?
Well, I have no idea. I had seen her in “Nazarín” [1959], a Luis Buñuel film; I thought she was great, and that’s why I cast her. She disappeared from then on, I’ve never seen her or heard from her again. Recently I met Ivan Foxwell, the producer of that film, and had asked him if he knew where she is now. It’s very strange; she was very beautiful, a very good actress, she made only a few films and then—gone.
Brussels (Belgium),
January 12, 1983
A few years after this interview, Mr. Kotcheff directed Kathleen Turner, Burt Reynolds and Christopher Reeve in “Switching Channels” (1987), a remake of Lewis Milestone’s “The Front Page” (1930) and “His Girl Friday” (1940), directed by Howard Hawks.
FILMS
TIARA TAHITI (1962) DIR Ted Kotcheff PROD Ivan Foxwell SCR Geoffrey Cotterell, Ivan Foxwell (novel by Geoffrey Cotterell) CAM Otto Heller ED Antony Gibbs MUS Philip Green CAST James Mason, John Mills, Claude Dauphin, Herbert Lom, Rosenda Monteros, Jacques Marin, Libby Morris, Madge Ryan, Roy Kinnear
LIFE AT THE TOP (1965) DIR Ted Kotcheff PROD James Woolf SCR Mordecai Richler (novel by John Braine) CAM Oswald Morris ED Derek York MUS Richard Addinsell CAST Laurence Harvey, Jean Simmons, Honor Blackman, Michael Craig, Donald Wolfit, Robert Morley, Margaret Johnston, Edward Fox
TWO GENTLEMEN SHARING (1969) DIR Ted Kotcheff PROD Barry J. Kulick SCR Evan Jones (novel by David Stuart Leslie) CAM Billy Williams ED Derek York MUS Stanley Meyers CAST Robin Philips, Judy Geeson, Ester Anderson, Hal Frederick, Norman Rossington, Rachel Kempson, Ram John Holder, Hilary Heath
WAKE IN FRIGHT (1971) DIR Ted Kotcheff PROD George Willoughby SCR Evan Jones (novel ‘Wake in Fright’ by Kenneth Cook) CAM Brian West ED Anthony Buckley MUS John Scott CAST Donald Pleasence, Gary Bond, Chips Rafferty, Sylvia Kay, Jack Thompson, Peter Whittle, Al Thomas, John Meillon
BILLY TWO HATS (1974) DIR Ted Kotcheff PROD Norman Jewison SCR Alan Sharp CAM Brian West ED Thom Noble MUS John Scott CAST Gregory Peck, Desi Arnaz Jr., Jack Warden, David Huddleston, Sian Barbara Allen, John Pearce, Dawn Little Sky, Vince St. Cyr
THE APPRENTICESHIP OF DUDDY KRAVITZ (1974) DIR Ted Kotcheff PROD John Kemeny SCR Mordecai Richler, Lionel Chetwynd (novel by Mordecai Richler) CAM Brian West ED Thom Noble CAST Richard Dreyfuss, Micheline Lanctôt, Jack Warden, Randy Quaid, Joseph Wiseman, Denholm Elliott, Henry Ramer
FUN WITH DICK AND JANE (1977) DIR Ted Kotcheff PROD Peter Bart, Max Palevsky SCR Mordecai Richler, David Giler, Jerry Belson (story by Gerald Gaiser) CAM Fred J. Koenekamp ED Danford B. Greene MUS Ernest Gold CAST George Segal, Jane Fonda, Ed McMahon, Dick Gautier, Allan Miller, Hank Garcia, John Dehner, Walter Brooke, Sean Frye, Anne Ramsey, Jay Leno
WHO IS KILLING THE GREAT CHEFS OF EUROPE? (1978) DIR Ted Kotcheff PROD William Aldrich SCR Peter Stone (novel ‘Someone Is Killing the Great Chefs of Europe’ by Nan Lyons, Ivan Lyons) CAM John Alcott ED Thom Noble MUS Henry Mancini CAST George Segal, Jacqueline Bisset, Robert Morley, Jean-Pierre Cassel, Philippe Noiret, Jean Rochefort, Luigi Proietti, Joss Ackland
NORTH DALLAS FORTY (1979) DIR Ted Kotcheff PROD Frank Yablans SCR Ted Kotcheff, Frank Yablans, Peter Gent (novel by Peter Gent) CAM Paul Lohmann ED Jay Kamen MUS John Scott CAST Nick Nolte, Charles Durning, Mac Davis, Dayle Haddon, Bo Svenson, John Matuszak, Steve Forrest, G.D. Spradlin, Dabney Coleman
SPLIT IMAGE (1982) DIR – PROD Ted Kotcheff SCR Scott Spencer, Robert Kaufman, Robert Mark Kamen (story by Scott Spencer) CAM Robert C. Jessup ED Jay Kamen MUS Bill Conti CAST Michael O’Keefe, Karen Allen, Peter Fonda, James Woods, Elizabeth Ashley, Brian Dennehy, Ronnie Scribner, Pamela Ludwig
FIRST BLOOD (1982) DIR Ted Kotcheff PROD Buzz Feitshans SCR Sylvester Stallone, William Sackheim, Michael Kozoll (novel by David Morrell) CAM Andrew Laszlo ED Joan E. Chapman MUS Jerry Goldsmith CAST Sylvester Stallone, Brian Dennehy, Richard Crenna, Bill McKinney, Jack Starrett, Michael Talbot, Chris Mulkey, David Caruso, Bruce Greenwood
UNCOMMON VALOR (1983) DIR Ted Kotcheff PROD John Milius, Buzz Feitshans EXEC PROD Ted Kotcheff SCR Joe Gayton CAM Stephen H. Burum ED Mark Melnick MUS James Horner CAST Gene Hackman, Robert Stack, Fred Ward, Reb Brown, Randall ‘Tex’ Cobb, Patrick Swayze, Gail Strickland, Harold Sylvester
JOSHUA THEN AND NOW (1985) DIR Ted Kotcheff PROD Robert Lantos, Stephen J. Roth SCR Mordecai Richler (also novel) CAM François Protat ED Ron Wisman MUS Philippe Sarde CAST James Woods, Gabrielle Lazure, Alan Arkin, Michael Sarrazin, Linda Sorenson, Alan Scarfe, Ken Campbell, Kate Trotter
SWITCHING CHANNELS (1988) DIR Ted Kotcheff PROD Martin Ransohoff SCR Jonathan Reynolds (play by Ben Hecht, Charles MacArthur) CAM François Protat ED Thom Noble MUS Michel Legrand CAST Kathleen Turner, Burt Reynolds, Christopher Reeve, Ned Beatty, Henry Gibson, George Newbern, Al Waxman
WINTER PEOPLE (1989) DIR Ted Kotcheff PROD Robert H. Solo SCR Carol Sobieski (novel by John Ehle) CAM François Protat ED Thom Noble MUS John Scott CAST Kurt Russell, Kelly McGillis, Lloyd Bridges, Mitchell Ryan, Jeffrey Meek, Don Michael Paul, Lanny Flaherty, Eileen Ryan
WEEEKEND AT BERNIE’S (1989) DIR Ted Kotcheff PROD Victor Drai, Bruce McNall SCR Robert Klane CAM François Protat ED Joan E. Chapman MUS Andy Summers CAST Andrew McCarthy, Jonathan Silverman, Catherine Mary Stewart, Terry Kiser, Don Calfa, Catherine Parks, Eloise DeJoria, Gregory Salata, Ted Kotcheff (Jack Parker)
FOLKS! (1992) DIR Ted Kotcheff PROD Victor Drai, Malcolm R. Harding SCR Robert Klane CAM Larry Pizer ED Joan E. Chapman MUS Michael Colombier CAST Tom Selleck, Don Ameche, Anne Jackson, Christine Ebersole, Wendy Crewson, Michael Murphy, Robert Pastorelli
THE SHOOTER (1995) DIR Ted Kotcheff PROD Silvio Muraglia, Paul Pompian SCR Yves André Martin, Billy Ray, Meg Thayer (story by Yves André Martin) CAM Fernando Argüelles ED Ralph Brunjes MUS Stefano Mainetti CAST Dolph Lundgren, Maruschka Detmers, Assumpta Serna, Gavan O’Herlihy, John Ashton, Simón Andreu, Alexandra Kotcheff, Thomas Kotcheff
SHATTERED GLASS (2003) DIR Billy Ray PROD Adam Merims, Craig Baumgarten, Tove Christensen, Gayle Hirsch SCR Billy Ray (article by Buzz Bissinger) CAM Mandy Walker ED Jeffrey Ford MUS Mychael Danna CAST Hayden Chrtstensen, Peter Sarsgaard, Chloë Sevigny, Steve Zahn, Rosario Dawson, Melanie Mynskey, Mark Blum, Ted Kotcheff (Marty Peretz)
BARNEY’S VERSION (2010) DIR Richard J. Lewis PROD Robert Lantos SCR Michael Konyves (novel by Mordecai Richler) CAM Guy Dufaux ED Susan Shipton MUS Pasquale Catalano CAST Paul Giamatti, Rosamund Pike, Minnie Driver, Rachelle Speedman, Dustin Hoffman, Jake Hoffman, Ted Kotcheff (Train Conductor), David Cronenberg, Bruce Greenwood, Richard J. Lewis
TV MOVIES
I’LL HAVE YOU TO REMEMBER (1961) DIR Ted Kotcheff TELEPLAY Clive Exton CAST Ruth Dunning, Stephen Murray
THE DESPERATE HOURS (1967) DIR Ted Kotcheff PROD Daniel Melnick TELEPLAY Clive Exton (play by Joseph Hayes) CAST George Segal, Yvette Mimieux, Teresa Wright, Michael Conrad, Arthur Hill, Mart Hulswit, Graham Jarvis
AT THE DROP OF ANOTHER HAT (1967) DIR Ted Kotcheff CAST Michael Flanders, Donald Swann
OF MICE AND MEN (1968) DIR Ted Kotcheff EXEC PROD David Susskind SCR John Hopkins (novella ‘Of Mice and Men’ [1937] by John Steinbeck) CAST George Segal, Nicol Williamson, Will Geer, Don Gordon, Moses Gunn, Joey Heatherton, Donald Moffat, John Randolph, Dana Elcar
RX FOR THE DEFENSE (1973) DIR Ted Kotcheff PROD Robert Berger TELEPLAY (created by Ernest Kinoy) CAST Tim O’Connor, Mancy Malone, Ronny Cox, Fritz Weaver, Kathryn Walker, Milton Seizer, Charles Durning
WHAT ARE FAMILIES FOR? (1993) DIR Ted Kotcheff CAM Paul Benison CAST Paul Ash, Louis Del Grande, Chris Turner
LOVE ON THE RUN (1994) DIR Ted Kotcheff, Julia Lee PROD N. John Smith TELEPLAY Jim Cruickshank, James Orr CAM Ron Orieux ED Geoffrey Rowland MUS Ken Harrison CAST Anthony Addabbo, Len Cariou, Blu Mankuma, Nada Despotovich, Noelle Beck, Robert Wisden, Byron Lucas
FAMILY OF COPS (1995) DIR Ted Kotcheff PROD Peter Bray TELEPLAY Joel Blasberg CAM François Protat ED Ron Wisman MUS Peter Manning Robinson CAST Charles Bronson, Angela Featherstone, Sebastian Spence, Kate Trotter, John Vernon, Simon MacCorkindale, Lesley-Anne Down, Daniel Baldwin
A HUSBAND, A WIFE AND A LOVER (1996) DIR Ted Kotcheff PROD Margot Winchester, Patricia Clifford TELEPLAY Daniel Freudenberger CAM Michael Storey ED James Lahti MUS Jonathan Goldsmith CAST Judith Light, Jay Thomas, Linda Sorensen, Robin Dunne, Rachel Wilson, William Russ, Gerry Mendicino
BORROWED HEARTS (1997) DIR Ted Kotcheff PROD Mary Kahn TELEPLAY Earl W. Wallace, Pamela Wallace CAM Michael Storey ED Ralph Brunjes MUS John Welsman CAST Roma Downey, Eric McCormack, Hector Elizondo, Shawn Thompson, Janet Bailey, Kevin Hicks, Barbara Gordon
THE RETURN OF ALEX KELLY (1999) DIR Ted Kotcheff PROD Jan Peter Meyboom TELEPLAY Joe Cacaci, Graham Flashner (story by Joe Cacaci) CAM François Protat ED Jeff Warren MUS Tony Kosinec, Asher Ettinger CAST Matthew Settle, Cassidy Rae, Barry Flatman, Wanda Cannon, Jeff Topping, Ron White, Joel Keller, Allan Royal
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https://celluloidtunes.no/the-cowboys-john-williams/
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en
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The Cowboys (John Williams)
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"Sigbjørn Vindenes Egge",
"Thor Joachim Haga",
"Nils Jacob Holt Hanssen"
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2018-08-23T16:23:50+00:00
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Mark Rydell's western The Cowboys (1972) was a John Wayne vehicle late in the actor's career. Uneven in message and execution, legendary film critic Roger
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Celluloid Tunes
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https://celluloidtunes.no/the-cowboys-john-williams/
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Mark Rydell‘s western The Cowboys (1972) was a John Wayne vehicle late in the actor’s career. Uneven in message and execution, legendary film critic Roger Ebert mused the following on the film’s ending: “It takes a lot of heroic music to paper over [it]”. Of course, that’s just what John Williams delivered.
In 1972, 40-year-old John Williams had four movies in the theatre. While Robert Altman’s Images might have been the most artistically ambitious and Irwin Allen’s The Poseidon Adventure the biggest commercial hit, The Cowboys showcased a composer who had already spent years exploring the musical stylings of the western genre.
Although thematically oriented and epic in sound, it only received a promotional LP release at the time. This was rectified in 1994 by Varese Sarabande’s premiere CD release. In 2018, Varese revisited the score for a complete release, remastered by Williams’ confidant Mike Matessino from better music elements.
In this first “conversation review” on Celluloid Tunes, Thor Joachim Haga, Nils Jacob Holt Hanssen and Sigbjørn Vindenes Egge discuss the recent expanded release of the score to The Cowboys.
*
Thor Joachim: OK, first things first — have any of you seen the film? I had owned the soundtrack for about 10 years when I saw the movie for the first time in 2009. While it’s a pretty decent western, I do have some ethical issues with a few scenes. It’s expected that a John Wayne vehicle is right wing-oriented, perhaps, but some of the character portrayals and story elements didn’t sit right with me. Surprising for a Mark Rydell film; he’s usually more adept at capturing nuances of the American spirit in films like Cinderella Liberty (1973) and The River (1984) (also scored by John Williams, incidentally). So I think it’s crucial to separate between an evaluation of the film as a western piece on one hand — with its impressive production details and music, for example — and then the messages it tries to convey on the other.
Nils Jacob: I haven’t seen the film, though I do know its basic storyline, including the often debated, morally ambiguous and controversial elements – which, as I understand it, have to do with the depiction of the coming-of-age of the young boys in the film, and how that doesn’t always look pretty. Producer Mike Matessino’s liner notes for the new release supply some great background information for both the film and the score, by the way.
Sigbjørn: I’ve also yet to see the film, so I’m approaching the album from a purely musical perspective. What’s interesting to me is that the assignment gave us Williams’ first original score to a theatrical feature with strong elements of his trademark grand sound. It also contributed to a young director asking Williams to score his first theatrical feature, and the same director later recommended the composer for a film by one of his pals. I’m of course referring to Steven Spielberg’s The Sugarland Express (1974) and George Lucas’ Star Wars (1977).
TJ: Yeah, The Cowboys and even more specifically The Reivers (1969) were both on Spielberg’s radar when he decided to meet with Williams. I think the first score that consistently showed us the ‘classical’ Williams that we know today, is Heidi (1968), but The Cowboys is unquestionably his best, most lavish and outrovert western score, in my opinion, compared to The Rare Breed (1966), The Plainsman (1966), The Man Who Loved Cat Dancing (1973) and The Missouri Breaks (1976), for example. Or even TV stuff like Wagon Train (1958-1964).
NJ: Williams delivered three very different scores in 1972 – the avant-garde Images is almost in a category of its own, and while The Poseidon Adventure stands beside The Cowboys as one of his biggest movies up to that point, that score had as much in common with his 60s TV scores (Lost in Space, Time Tunnel etc.) as it had with his later, bigger blockbuster scores. So yeah, The Cowboys was definitely his biggest and most expansive work at that point.
TJ: When seeing the film, it’s remarkable how loudly mixed it is – whether the rambunctious, in-your-face Americana for the open vistas and herd sequences or the grit for the suspense and shoot-out scenes.
S: Scores were indeed more often allowed to shine in older films. Alas, the current trend seems to be that the score should not take away attention from the film, which often leads to overly simplistic and bland results. According to Varese, the old release was incorrectly mixed from the three track master tapes. The new mix does bring out instruments that I don’t hear on the old album – just listen to the low brass hit in the overture when the theme really ignites, after 15 seconds of suspenseful build-up.
TJ: Yes, it’s true that certain issues of the old Varese pressing had a wrong mix (reverse channels, with brass and strings switching places). I actually have that album myself, and if memory serves I got it in a trade with Nils almost 20 years ago…correct me if I misremember, Nils! I’ve never had any issues with it, though. Despite being an error, I thought it was a neat ‘oddity’ that didn’t really detract from the listening experience at all. But after listening to the new, expanded release, there’s no doubt that the sound quality has been drastically improved. For such a dry and close-miked recording, it seems amazingly “spacey” — packing the same punches it did while watching the film.
NJ: You’re right, Thor – lots of years ago, we did a CD exchange that included the original Varese Cowboys CD! I actually also have the original LP release of The Cowboys – although “original LP” is a bit of a misnomer, as it wasn’t an official release. To quote Matessino’s liner notes – “we’ll diplomatically call it a ‘promo’”! And on a personal note: that LP was one of the first albums I ordered via mail – this was 1986, so that’s snail mail we’re talking about here – just after I had become aware that there were actually record shops that sold – gasp! – only soundtracks!
I agree that comparing the old and new releases reveals a definite improvement in sound quality. It’s marvellously open and rich, while the old one sounds a bit compressed. The only thing I could wish for would be a bit more punch in the bass. I guess you can’t get everything from a recording that is more than 45 years old – and I’m not complaining!
S: Especially the strings in the lower registry would have benefited from a stronger presence, but it’s just about good enough not to be an annoyance. Otherwise I’m quite happy with the sound, but it falls short of being state of the art for its time (unlike La-La Land’s new release of Close Encounters of the Third Kind). Although the score was recorded in the early 70s, it doesn’t sound as good as the best orchestral recordings from a decade earlier. However, that’s probably not a fair comparison considering the film studios’ notoriously sloppy score archiving.
NJ: I have to admit it’s been a long time since I last listened to this score, and one of the first things that struck me now is that I had forgotten how thematically rich it is. There are four main themes (and several subordinate ones): Two quick and upbeat ones – the “training” and “cowboys” themes (again using Matessino’s appellations) – and the more quiet “paternal” and “trail” themes. While they are all quite different, the themes are cut from the same tonal and harmonic cloth, so to speak, which enables Williams to switch very quickly from one to the other, while making it sound completely effortless and natural.
TJ: Yes, it’s quite rich as a singular piece, although ironically also comes off as a bit repetitive at times. Perhaps because of the ubiquity of the main theme, and its many appearances and variations. This is obviously where the new expanded release falters, in my opinion — as many in the film music community know, I generally dislike C&C (complete & chronological) soundtrack presentations, and this is no exception. The structure is whimsical and repetitive, and there’s quite a lot of “filler” material that I could easily be without.
I mean, you obviously need other things beyond the overt themes to have a representative selection, but tracks like «Longhair Trails» just seem to meander to me. I think the selection of such cues on the original 1994 soundtrack, like «Into the Trap», weren’t only better ‘suspense setpieces’, but also better placed in the overall listening experience. On the other hand, there are a few highlight tracks among the softer material on the expanded release, like «The Hands Quit», «Will and Ann» or «Learning the Ropes (The Vivaldi Concerto in D)» that perhaps could be inserted into the original soundtrack programme without losing too much of the listening flow.
NJ: Expansions… sometimes they work, sometimes they don’t. I always receive Williams expansions with open arms, because he rarely writes downright bad cues. And I have to say The Cowboys falls mostly in the “works” category for me. To my ears, the more somber material is a nice contrast to both the extrovert themes and the more lyrical ones. Granted, the latter part of the album does drag on somewhat and gets a bit unfocused, with the frequent use of the Long Hair theme (more like a motif, really), which isn’t that interesting, along with other dark and dissonant sequences. So yeah, trimming the main programme (excluding the bonus cues) from 60 down to around 50 minutes, would make the album work better overall.
That being said, there are exciting sequences with attention-grabbing orchestrations in the last half also – you mentioned «Into the Trap», Thor, and I love the frenetic, harmonized woodwind runs and the (Leonard) Bernstein-like off-kilter rhythms in that cue, as well as «The Battle», especially with the string ostinato churning away under the main theme. And given that this is arguably his first large-scale, “adventurous” symphonic score, it’s not surprising that we get some hints of what is to come later – I can hear foreshadowings of Close Encounters in both «Charlie’s Demise» and «Drums of Manhood and the Execution», for instance, as well as hints of Jaws elsewhere.
S: You have both touched upon my biggest problem with the score – the Long Hair motif, which dominates the mentioned «Long Hair Trails» and really permeates the whole score. With its distant and reverberant harmonica, the motif gives a claustrophobic expression. Williams clearly took inspiration from the harmonica theme from Morricone’s score to Once Upon a Time in the West (1968), but without achieving the same memorability. The result is a motif that easily outstays its welcome and it frankly becomes quite grating during the album’s 73 minute duration.
On the positive side, the expanded edition does include Williams’ arrangement of Vivaldi’s lute concerto in D (RV catalogue No. 93, written in the 1730s). What we get is an excerpt of the slow movement, Largo. It starts in its original version with string accompaniment and about halfway through, Williams jumps in, adding wind instruments. Too bad he didn’t do the whole movement. The concerto is in fact used partially as source music in a scene where a boy plays it on the guitar. This is a funny nigh-impossibility, as Vivaldi’s music fell into obscurity after the Baroque era and was virtually unknown until his scores were rediscovered in dusty libraries in the early 20th century.
NJ: The Vivaldi piece actually doesn’t seem too out of place in the middle of the album – it fits in quite nicely with Williams’ score, strangely enough. And the first time I listened to it, before knowing of its use in the movie, I thought, “Hey, this sounds like something cowboys could have played by the campfire!” Turns out that wasn’t too far from the mark!
TJ: Speaking of non-Williams material, the original soundtrack also had the «Alternate Main Title» which everyone assumed was an original Williams piece until it was revealed to be Harry Sukman’s adapted theme for the shortlived The Cowboys TV series spinoff. Another reason to keep the original soundtrack, because this track is not included on the expanded release.
On a more general note — the interesting thing to me is how the score is a hybrid between Williams’ two “Americana modes” — the more open, coplandesque variant that is evident in the main theme, but then also the grittier, dirtier, folksier variant that we’ve heard in scores like The Reivers, Conrack (1974), Rosewood (1997) and others.
S: One of the highlights of the old album was its three “main titles” with their wealth of catchy themes: the overture, the main title, and the alternate main title. On the new release we’ve understandably lost the alternate, but are compensated with «Entr’Acte», «End Cast» and «Exit Music». Following the serene «End Title», which ended the old album in an alternate form erroneously named «Summer’s Over», we have the upbeat march-like «End Cast», which quickly disappoints with its long, repetitive fade-out. To me, the decision to end the old album with «End Title» was a strange one. It sounds like a play-up to a grand finale… which never comes. The new release remedies this by ending on a high note with the infectious but short «Exit Music». It’s also interesting to finally hear the correct «Summer’s Over» cue, with its calm guitar and horn.
The Overture, Entr’Acte, and Exit Music were featured only in the roadshow version of the film. The latter two tracks consists mainly of existing music; the first one-and-a-half minute of «Entr’Acte» is lifted directly from the overture recording, while «Exit Music» is edited together from sections of «The Kids and Crazy Alice» and the overture.
TJ: That’s a good rundown of the differences and variations, Sigbjørn. I’m personally more interested in how it all comes together as a singular piece. For me, the only value of the expanded release is the drastically improved sound quality. If there was a way to use the tracks on the expanded release to duplicate the original soundtrack programme, I surely would, but I’m not sure it’s doable. Perhaps even add an extra calm track or two to break up the many main theme variations here and there. In a concept setting, it’s a piece that on the one hand celebrates the American pioneer spirit and youthful vigor, and on the other plays to the dark undercurrents of the moral dilemmas. So it’s about approximating that on album, and making it representative without overstaying its welcome.
NJ: Yes, we certainly get plenty of presentations and variations of Williams’ themes throughout the score. And as mentioned, although they are abundant, they gel very well with each other, creating great unity in the score – overexposure or not. Except perhaps the Long Hair Theme – which doesn’t seem to get any love around here! My favorite is definitely the “paternal” theme, and I think I know why: It’s basically an early, tentative version of what came into full bloom six years later as the “Smallville” theme from Superman: The Movie (1978) – which is one of my absolute favorite Williams themes of all time.
In general, I prefer the score’s more quiet, pastoral themes – the “paternal” and “trail” themes, as well as the theme for Wil and Ann, which is lovely but unfortunately doesn’t get a lot of exposure. But I’m also fond of the “training” theme, with its toe-tapping, infectious energy. All in all, this means that the first half of the album, with its alternating lyrical and lively Americana, is the main attraction for me. Still, there are some wonderfully orchestrated moments in the darker and more action-oriented tracks in the last half as well.
S: The similarity with the beautiful Smallville theme is indeed striking, Nils. The score sure has its moments spread out throughout its duration, but to me, it’s not the most coherent listening experience, while it also gets a tad too repetitive. But there’s plenty of good material to create one’s own playlist of personal highlights, which is one of the benefits of such expansions. Williams did that himself when he distilled the score into a rousing nine minute long concert overture in 1978, possibly to compensate for the lack of an album release at the time. To me, that sums up the score nicely and makes a soundtrack album less essential. The concert overture is basically an extension of the Main Title, with elements from the Overture. The ten seconds of light pop arrangement found in the Main Title was wisely rearranged into a classical idiom, while the Long Hair motif was thankfully omitted! The end result is what I consider one of Williams’ finest concert arrangements, but when it comes to the complete score I’m not that impressed.
NJ: It’s not among my top 10 Williams scores, or albums. But, as usual with Williams, there’s still lots to enjoy! 3.5 stars from me. Thanks for the discussion – it’s been fun!
S: It indeed has! And just for fun, Nils, I want to point out to the readers that this is the same rating that you gave The Last Jedi. To me, the score to The Cowboys doesn’t warrant more than 3 stars.
TJ: Seems like we’re more or less in alignment, rating-wise. I’m on 3.5 stars. This is one of those ‘middle’ scores in Williams’ career — not among the most obscure, and also not among the most famous. But I maintain that it’s his best western score; so rich in orchestrations and themes that it’s a solid recommendation for anyone wanting to explore his filmography beyond the obvious classics — and still within the style he’s so known for. The expanded release does it no favours in terms of musical presentation, but makes up for some of it by improved sound. Anyways, thanks for the discussion, guys. Let’s do this again!
*
The deluxe edition of The Cowboys is currently not available in streaming format, but can be purchased at the Varese Sarabande site.
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Mark Rydell Biography
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Read all about Mark Rydell with TV Guide's exclusive biography including their list of awards, celeb facts and more at TV Guide.
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https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/mark-rydell/bio/3000100175/
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Intersection movie review & film summary (1994)
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Maybe my problem was that somehow I got it stuck in my head that "Intersection" was a Thriller. If I'd known it was a Weeper, I wouldn't have wept, but at least I wouldn't have been waiting for an hour for someone to pull out an ice pick.
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https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/intersection-1994
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Maybe my problem was that somehow I got it stuck in my head that "Intersection" was a Thriller. If I'd known it was a Weeper, I wouldn't have wept, but at least I wouldn't have been waiting for an hour for someone to pull out an ice pick.
The movie is a belated reminder of one of the unmourned genres of earlier years, the Shaggy Lover Story, in which a doomed romance is told against a backdrop of impending heartbreak. The twist at the end is supposed to send you out of the theater blowing your nose, but the people around me seemed more concerned with clearing their sinuses.
"Intersection" stars Richard Gere as an architect who is torn between two women: his wife, who is cold but uninteresting, and his lover, who is warm but uninteresting. Gere is not interesting either.
The only thing these characters have to talk about are the problems manufactured for them by the screenplay. No other conversations on any other subject amount to more than filler between crises.
Gere and his estranged wife Sally (Sharon Stone) are partners in an architectural firm. Their marriage, seen in laborious flashbacks, is a "business partnership," he complains, in which she runs the business and he has the ideas. He meets a journalist named Olivia (Lolita Davidovich), falls in love, moves out on his wife and daughter, and begins to talk about the new house he will build for himself and Olivia.
But . . . should he? Is he still attracted to Sally? He doesn't seem to know. Does he feel guilt about leaving his daughter? Sometimes. Does Olivia understand him? Yes. But, darn it all, things are so complicated! Martin Landau, his associate at work, tells him: "You have a wife and child in one place, a lover in another place . . . that's just plain messy. Keep everything under one roof. That's a basic rule of architecture." I am sure people talk like this somewhere. I don't want to go there.
I also don't want to give away the ending of the movie. That means I can't give away the beginning, either, because the whole movie is one long flashback within which are contained shorter flashbacks, all setting the stage for near-death visions. As nearly as I can tell, only about five minutes of the movie is supposed to take place in the present.
All of these observations pale by comparison to the film's central problem, which is that director Mark Rydell and writers David Rayfiel and Marshall Brickman have not given us characters of the slightest interest. Stone plays the wife like a woman with a migraine, Davidovich plays the lover like a good sport, and Gere plays the man in the middle as if life would be a lot easier if he hadn't ever met either woman.
All three people share a strange characteristic common to many Hollywood films: All of their behavior is linked directly to the plot. Unlike the people in European films, they have no lives, no ideas, no questions, no quirks, no real jobs, aside from the plot.
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Name for movie genre?
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2010-03-08T16:23:31+00:00
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is there a film genre name where a bunch of of different characters have separate plotlines that end up tying them together somehow even if they never meet all together?
20 bucks - This multi-character comedy follows t…
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Quarter To Three Forums
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https://forum.quartertothree.com/t/name-for-movie-genre/58037
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is there a film genre name where a bunch of of different characters have separate plotlines that end up tying them together somehow even if they never meet all together?
20 bucks - This multi-character comedy follows the path of a single twenty-dollar bill in a city neighborhood, focusing on various holders and their intertwining stories, including two convenience store robbers, an estranged father and daughter, and a young newlywed couple.
even money - Forest Whitaker, Kim Basinger, Danny Devito, Kelsey Grammer and Ray Liotta star in director Mark Rydell’s ensemble addiction drama detailing the manner in which gambling and drugs affect a variety of people’s lives during the weeks leading up to a championship college basketball game.
bug - In the charming independent movie Bug, a small boy squashing an insect sets in motion a series of events, large and small, that include a lost restaurant reservation, a drunken fender-bender, disruption of basic cable television service, and more than one relationship falling apart. One person’s disaster becomes another’s boon, and vice versa–because a man loses his job, a young girl becomes the lead ballerina in the school play, which in turn causes the death of a pet pig. Featuring Brian Cox (Manhunter, L.I.E.), Jamie Kennedy (Scream, Malibu’s Most Wanted), Sarah Poulson (Down with Love), and John Carroll Lynch (Fargo, Bubble Boy), Bug takes a comic look at the interconnectedness of life. The movie occasionally tries too hard for emotional resonance, but its best comic touches–like some vengeful fortune cookie messages written by a jilted boyfriend–give Bug a wry wit worth checking out. --Bret Fetzer
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https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/mark_rydell
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Mark Rydell
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Explore the filmography of Mark Rydell on Rotten Tomatoes! Discover ratings, reviews, and more. Click for details!
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Rotten Tomatoes
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https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/mark_rydell
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A former jazz pianist who appeared on Broadway and TV before beginning his directing career with series such as "Ben Casey," "I Spy" and "Gunsmoke," Rydell earned critical acclaim for his debut feature, "The Fox" (1968). He also won plaudits for his helming of "Cinderella Liberty" (1973) and "The Rose" (1979). "On Golden Pond" (1981), a typical film, in that it displayed its director's fondness for sentiment and nostalgia, earned him an Oscar nomination as Best Director. Rydell has subsequently made films only occasionally, some ("The River" 1984) doing fairly well with critics, while others ("Intersection" 1994 and the somewhat overly maligned "For the Boys" 1991) did less well with critics and public alike.
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https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2002-may-20-et-glover20-story.html
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Hollywood’s Paternalism Is a Direct Hit on Fairness
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"KRISTIN GLOVER and JENNIFER WARR",
"KRISTIN GLOVER",
"JENNIFER WARR"
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2002-05-20T00:00:00
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We were dismayed to see the quote "Directing is a very paternal occupation" boldly highlighted as a subhead in the story about Mark Rydell ("Mark Rydell: On Acting, Directing and Woody," by Susan King, May 1).
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We were dismayed to see the quote “Directing is a very paternal occupation” boldly highlighted as a subhead in the story about Mark Rydell (“Mark Rydell: On Acting, Directing and Woody,” by Susan King, May 1).
The comment itself was shocking for many reasons, not the least of which is that Rydell is a consummate director and a terribly kind, generous and thoughtful person. Women who have worked with him have only the deepest respect for him. It is the kind of remark that was perhaps “casual” yet is revealing “jargon” that sadly affirms what most people in Hollywood believe: that “directing is a man’s job.”
Rydell made the statement in the context of discussing his merits as a leader, noting the similarities between being a director and a father. But why didn’t the word “parental” leap to mind in describing the director’s occupation, thus including both paternal and maternal nurturing instincts?
The appearance of this quote was particularly disturbing in light of the front-page article that had run in The Times the day before (“A Hollywood League of Their Own,” by Rachel Abramowitz, April 30), which explained in some detail that even though “women run the top guilds, female actors and directors still struggle.” No fooling. And let us add to that list: female writers and craftspeople, including cinematographers, art directors, editors, etc.
The April 30 article reported that “female film directors are working less and less,” which is not news to us. The latest statistics from the Directors Guild of America reflect the ongoing problem: During the year ending April 2002, only 6.2% of features were directed by women, and of the 40 top prime-time shows in 2000-01, 11% were helmed by women.
Even though many women express similar sentiment as Callie Khouri did in that article--”We should be past it”--the fact is that many of those in power in Hollywood (mostly men) like to believe the fairy tale that we are “past it,” that the “female issue” was solved long ago. Because many of them believe their own wishful thinking, little effort has been made over the last few years to bring equality to hiring practices--thus, the current stalemate.
A blatant example of such “wishing away” happened several years ago when the International Photographers Guild (now the International Cinematographers Guild) Women’s Caucus was summarily dissolved by the guild leadership. The reason given was that “you [women] don’t have those problems [of being discriminated against] anymore.” Tell that to the many female camera operators and directors of photography who still struggle for recognition and employment while most jobs are automatically awarded to the guys.
All the examples of “film directors who seem to enjoy acting as much as directing” cited in the May 1 article--as in an earlier Calendar article about hot young directors (“The New New Wave,” by Patrick Goldstein, Dec. 12, 2001)--were male. There have been and are extremely successful female actor-directors--to name a few: Ida Lupino, Penny Marshall, Diane Keaton, Elaine May, Betty Thomas, Anjelica Huston. But this kind of “reporting” reflects what most published books and articles on “great directors” imply: that there are no female directors worth including.
Until we at least begin to include on those lists female directors who have succeeded (Jane Campion, Lina Wertmuller, Agniezska Holland, Martha Coolidge, Penelope Spheeris, Mira Nair, Mimi Leder, Lynne Littman, Agnes Varda, Barbara Kopple, Joan Micklin-Silver, Claudia Weill, Kathryn Bigelow, Clare Peploe, Kimberly Pierce, for example), mainstream film history will remain an exclusionary and chauvinist lie that perpetuates the deluded idea that “directing is a very paternal occupation.”
What hooey. And it is a shame that The Times highlighted that quote, giving it much more attention, we suspect, than Rydell ever meant to give it.
Perhaps the bigger loss is the one-sided vision of the world--seen only through “paternal” eyes. Just as we do not want a handful of powerful corporations to tell us what to buy and what to think, we do not want only “the chosen” sex to tell us how to “see” the world. We believe that the audience not only deserves better, but is also hungering for more.
*
Kristin Glover is a camerawoman, writer and documentary-maker. Jennifer Warren is an actress and director.
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||
6000
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dbpedia
|
3
| 13
|
https://www.bfi.org.uk/features/where-begin-with-robert-altman
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en
|
Where to begin with Robert Altman
|
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2016-11-18T12:50:02+00:00
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A beginner’s path through the freewheeling New Hollywood classics of Robert Altman
|
en
|
BFI
|
https://www.bfi.org.uk/features/where-begin-with-robert-altman
|
Why this might not seem so easy
Despite being one of the most important American directors of the modern era, the late, great Robert Altman (1925-2006) is surprisingly often omitted from discussions that happily namecheck such figures as Spielberg, Scorsese, Eastwood, Lynch, Mann, the Coens, Soderbergh, Tarantino and Paul Thomas Anderson. (The last, by the way, has frequently testified to Altman’s influence on his work.)
That oversight may be due partly to the fact that Altman is no longer with us to make new films (he was already 45 when he had his first big hit with MASH in 1970). But it may also be due to the fact that he was rather harder to pigeonhole than most of the aforementioned directors. His output was notoriously uneven, yet it included a remarkably high number of great movies. He never specialised in any particular genre or dramaturgical mode, being equally adept in comedy and serious social commentary (which he frequently combined). He made several films with dozens of substantial speaking parts but also made one with a single actor.
Though he was never full-on arty or experimental à la Lynch, he also – at least after Countdown (1968), his impressive second feature, which was made after years spent working in industrial documentary and television series like Whirlybirds and Bonanza – never directed a film that felt remotely conventional. As soon as he followed MASH with Brewster McCloud (1970), an eccentric updating of the Icarus myth to Houston, Texas, it became clear that he was that rare thing in the American film world: a natural-born outsider, a true one-off.
What made Altman so distinctive – and so different from most other American filmmakers of the period – was his approach to narrative style. On those comparatively rare occasions when his work could be categorised by genre, he either ignored or worked against conventions: McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971), for example, has at least as much in common with his woefully underrated live-action musical version of the Popeye cartoon series as it does with the hallowed traditions of the classic western.
Indeed, not only are his movies devoid of the usual Hollywood clichés, but they also steer clear of “heroic” characters (much of his work focuses on loners and losers) and familiar elements of cinematic storytelling. On first viewing, an Altman film may feel virtually plotless, so keen was he to give a vivid impression of the ongoing untidiness of reality. Often, he simply charted the seemingly chaotic dynamics of a gathering of people over a period of time, with few if any “big” dramatic events.
With his pioneering use of multitrack recording of overlapping dialogue, and by shooting in ’Scope, often deploying long takes and a zoom lens, he created densely informative audiovisual tapestries that invite the viewer to pick out phrases, actions, gestures and glances that might provide a clue to what exactly is significant in the loose, subtly nuanced “narrative” offered up for interpretation.
First encounters with Altman’s deceptively disorderly style can be a little bewildering; once the initial shock subsides, however, the experience can be exhilarating, since his impressionistic approach to creating meaning results both in a brilliantly expressive use of cinematic form and in an unusually evocative reflection of life itself.
The best place to start – The Long Goodbye
Perhaps the most consistently fruitful and audience-friendly period of Altman’s career was the early 70s, when he made a string of films – mostly but not exclusively critiques, in part, of traditional Hollywood genres – that expressed Altman’s sceptical view of the American dream. McCabe & Mrs. Miller and Buffalo Bill and the Indians (1976) reflected ruefully on the macho myths of the west, while Thieves like Us (1974) depicted depression-era rural gangsters in a far less romantic (but no less sympathetic) light than Bonnie and Clyde (1967).
Perhaps best of all is Altman’s version of Raymond Chandler’s The Long Goodbye (1973), in which private eye Marlowe (Elliott Gould) comes across as a shambling, somewhat bemused anachronism, his sense of justice and honour as out of sync as his suit and tie with the ruthless ambition and self-serving deceit that underlie the hippy trappings of early 70s, upper-crust LA.
With its witty, allusive script, its supremely fluent ’Scope camerawork by Vilmos Zsigmond, a dazzlingly inventive musical soundtrack courtesy of Altman, John Williams and Johnny Mercer, and an audaciously assembled cast that places non-movie-stars like Nina Van Pallandt, Henry Gibson and Mark Rydell alongside Gould and an extraordinary Sterling Hayden, it is a masterpiece, as memorably imaginative, original and resonant a response to the classic detective movie as Roman Polanski’s Chinatown proved to be the following year.
What to watch next
With one of these gems under your belt, you’re probably ready for Nashville (1975), Altman’s stunning chronicle of a country music festival, featuring a couple of dozen main characters whose paths keep crossing over three days. A magnificent naturalistic fresco of American culture in its bicentennial year, it may feel freewheeling and documentary-like, but its meticulous, enormously complex structure ensures we always know what is going on and why.
The same is true of the even “bigger”, three-hour Short Cuts (a seamless mash-up from nine different Raymond Carver stories that Altman made in 1993 during a triumphant comeback period) and of 2001’s Gosford Park (the precursor to TV’s Downton Abbey).
Then you might try one of his more intimate works: 3 Women (1977) boasts an unforgettable performance by Shelley Duvall as an absolutely plausible, fundamentally well-meaning but air-headed woman, the likes of whom you’ve probably never seen on screen. Or there’s The Player (1992), which tells us all we need to know about Altman’s feelings about the Hollywood system; typically, as with Nashville he was more interested in the milieu and its inhabitants than in the element of crime that intrudes into the storyline at one point.
Where not to start
Please don’t introduce yourself to Altman with O.C. and Stiggs (1987), The Gingerbread Man (1998), Prêt-à-Porter (1994) or Health (1980), all of which are frankly disappointing. Nor make your initial encounter through one of the theatre-to-film adaptations he made during the 80s; though all are entertaining and demonstrate his inventive expertise with sightlines – and Secret Honor (1984), a one-man movie with Philip Baker Hall astonishing as Richard Nixon, is some kind of minimalist masterpiece – they just don’t fully display Altman’s innate brilliance as a filmmaker.
It’s probably best not to begin, either, with California Split (1974) or The Company (2003), because both, in their very successful attempts to explore and understand the very different worlds of gamblers and ballet dancers, virtually dispense with “plot” altogether. Better probably to work up to these and other gems, and then you’ll be ready for the marvellous riches of the aforementioned Popeye (1980), Tanner ’88 (an innovative, semi-improvised 1988 TV series about political campaigning) and the utterly delightful A Prairie Home Companion (2006): perhaps the greatest, and certainly the funniest, cinematic swansong of all time.
|
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dbpedia
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1
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https://travsd.wordpress.com/2023/03/23/the-movies-of-mark-rydell/
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en
|
The Movies of Mark Rydell
|
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2023-03-23T00:00:00
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This post arises because we recently re-watched Robert Altman's The Long Goodbye (1973) for about the sixth time (in conjunction with re-reading Chandler's book) and got curious about the excellent, funny and scary actor who plays the hoodlum Marty Augustine. The actor is so good, and yet (I realized) I didn't recall him from anything…
|
en
|
(Travalanche)
|
https://travsd.wordpress.com/2023/03/23/the-movies-of-mark-rydell/
|
This post arises because we recently re-watched Robert Altman’s The Long Goodbye (1973) for about the sixth time (in conjunction with re-reading Chandler’s book) and got curious about the excellent, funny and scary actor who plays the hoodlum Marty Augustine. The actor is so good, and yet (I realized) I didn’t recall him from anything else. It’s because he is mostly a director, and while he is not hugely prolific, he has an excellent track record with critically acclaimed films you likely know well. The gentleman is Mark Rydell (Mortimer Rydell, b. 1929)
Rydell specialized in character driven works, often period pieces, based on novels and plays, the kinds of movie that were much in vogue in the 1970s. And several of them have a show biz angle, which is our particular jam. His first effort, in 1967, was an adaptation of D.H. Lawrence’s The Fox, starring Sandy Dennis, Keir Dullea (soon of 2001: A Space Odyssey), and Anne Heywood, wife of the film’s producer Raymond Stross. The plot concerns a love triangle set on a farm, with the major innovation being a lesbian relationship between the women (a depiction made possible by the recent elimination of the Hollywood production code). This racy aspect, combined with the film’s tasteful craftsmanship, resulted in a minor hit. This was followed up by an adaptation of William Faulkner’s The Reivers (1969) starring Steve McQueen, the hottest Hollywood actor of the time. Then came the John Wayne western The Cowboys (1972), one of my favorite movies as a kid, which I wrote about here. Cinderella Liberty (1973) was a Navy themed drama with James Caan and Marsha Mason, written by Darryl Ponicsan, whose The Last Detail also came out that year. This is a pretty good run already!
Rydell’s next film should be of special interest to those interested in vaudeville. Set in the 1890’s, Harry and Walter Go to New York (1976) stars James Caan and Elliott Gould as a pair of vaudeville performers who get pinched for stealing the personal belongings of audience members. In stir they meet safecracker Michael Caine (as Adam Worth, an actual historical character) who proposes a job for them. Diane Keaton plays their accomplice, a crusading newspaperwoman, who wants stolen loot to feed poor children (foreshadowing her character in Reds). This kind of thing seems calculated for success, right? It’s in the ’70s nostalgia subgenre we wrote about here. It has stuff in common with both the Redford-Newman team-ups: Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (which also has robberies and a female accomplice who’s the love interest for each of the partners), as well as the Long Con joyride The Sting. It also reminds me of Michael Critchton’s The Great Train Robbery, released two years later. Unfortunately a film like this requires a light comic touch, and Rydell was, well, a Method guy, so he reportedly removed some of the funner elements from the script in order to justify it dramatically. It was an expensive movie to make, and it didn’t fare well at the box office.
Fortunately, Rydell then rebounded in a huge way, with two critically acclaimed hits, back to back: The Rose (1979), starring Bette Midler in a fictionalized telling of Janis Joplin’s life; and the film adaptation of On Golden Pond (1981), the historic Katharine Hepburn–Henry Fonda–Jane Fonda team-up. Unfortunately, this was followed by another big budget miscalculation The River (1984) with Sissy Spacek and Mel Gibson. It was intended to shine a light on the farm crisis that was making the news at the time, which also spawned the Farm Aid concert, and the films Country (with Sam Shepard and Jessica Lange) and Places in the Heart (with Sally Field). Gibson was miscast, and the film ended up seeming the also-ran in this sweepstakes, earning back only 2/3 of its budget.
Rydell turned back to acting for a time, appearing in the stand-up comedy yarn Punch Line (1988) with Sally Field and Tom Hanks, and taking the plum (and well cast) role of Meyer Lansky in Sydney Pollack’s Havana (1990) starring Robert Redford. He then returned to the director two of his previous stars James Caan and Bette Midler in For the Boys (1991) a tale of a romance two major entertainers (perhaps loosely inspired by Bob Hope and Martha Raye) as they tour with the USO during World War Two and the Korean War. I remember this one receiving lots of publicity at the time, but somehow it didn’t click with the public and took a bath at the box office.
In 1994 Rydell directed Intersection, a remake of Les choses de la vie (1970) starring Richard Gere, Sharon Stone, and Lolita Davidovich. This was followed by the HBO film Crime of the Century (1996), about the Lindbergh baby kidnapping, and the 2001 bio-pic James Dean, starring James Franco as the ill-fated star. In 2002 he had a supporting part in Woody Allen’s Hollywood Ending as agent Al Hack. In 2006 he directed his last major project, Even Money, a gambling drama not unlike The Gambler with James Caan or Altman’s California Split. The all-star cast included Kim Basinger, Danny DeVito, Forest Whitaker, Ray Liotta, Kelsey Grammer, and Tim Roth. As long ago as that was, Rydell was pushing 80 by that point!
Trained at Neighborhood Playhouse, Rydell broke into the business as an actor on soap operas. After leaving As the World Turns in 1962 he directed an episode of The Virginian, which led to jobs directing for Gunsmoke, The Wild Wild West, I Spy, and other shows before The Fox came along.
|
|||||
6000
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dbpedia
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2
| 49
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https://arkansas-catholic.org/2023/07/21/catholic-seminarians-accompany-patients-at-hospital/
|
en
|
Catholic seminarians accompany patients at hospital
|
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"Special to Arkansas Catholic"
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2023-07-21T00:00:00
|
Mark Rydell, a seminarian for the Diocese of Green Bay, Wis., talks with administrative assistant Christi Strayhorn June 13 at Baptist Health Medical Center in Little Rock. Rydell is one of six Catholic seminarians from around the country attending Clinical Pastoral Education this summer at the Little Rock hospital. (Courtesy Baptist Health) Duwan Booker, a seminarian for the Diocese of Little Rock, works on his schedule before visiting patients July 13. The 11-week Clinical Pastoral Education program at Baptist Health Medical Center in Little Rock covers training required for all seminarians. (Courtesy Baptist Health) During their shift at Baptist Health
|
en
|
Arkansas Catholic
|
https://arkansas-catholic.org/2023/07/21/catholic-seminarians-accompany-patients-at-hospital/
|
>Father Jeff Hebert, diocesan vocations director, oversees the program.
“As a part of the seminary process, it's actually part of the masters of divinity degree,” Father Hebert said. “In order to get the degree from the seminary, this is one of the credits that they need. But there are only certain hospitals that have an accredited CPE training program. In Little Rock, St. Vincent, our Catholic hospital, doesn't have one. UAMS has a chaplaincy and CPE program and so does Baptist.
“Seminarians have to minister at a hospital for CPE only in a hospital that has one of these accredited institutions that officially trains chaplains. We were sending guys to UAMS, and UAMS is not a religious institution, even though it does have chaplaincies. At some point, my predecessor, Msgr. Scott Friend, made a shift to Baptist just because it was a more explicitly religious hospital.”
Dr. Michael Rogers, Baptist Health’s system director of pastoral care and a certified Association for Clinical Pastoral Education educator, has been in pastoral ministry for 25 years. He helps guide the seminarians throughout the summer.
“I'm a journeyperson with them,” Rogers said. “I'm also teaching the best practices on how to meet families where they are, but the goal is to try to train them to be better pastors and better caregivers because they're going to have parishioners who are going through suffering. A lot of times, you have students that understand theology from a cognitive place, but it's transformational when they’re able to understand real experience and walk with people in their suffering and pain.”
Duwan Booker, a seminarian for the Diocese of Little Rock and member of St. Joseph Church in Conway, is one of two diocesan seminarians currently in CPE training. Joel Brackett of Rogers is also taking his CPE.
“When I began, I was very excited at the prospect of doing hospital ministry,” Booker said. “I’ve gained a lot of insight into hospital ministry just through the sheer need the patients have and the amount of patients that have needs and just how much of a difference a five, 10-, 15-minute visit can have on someone's whole outlook as far as their recovery process is concerned. So it's been very enlightening and life-giving.”
Baptist Health Medical Center doesn’t only host Arkansas seminarians. This summer, Baptist Health is offering CPE to six seminarians who have come from as far away as San Bernardino, Calif., and Green Bay, Wis.
With a limited number of CPE locations throughout the country, hospitals occasionally fill up in the towns the seminarians are from. More often, though, Diocese of Little Rock seminarians meet seminarians from other parts of the country and talk about the CPE program at Baptist Health, leading the out-of-state seminarians to do their CPE training in Little Rock with their friends. They live at the diocese’s House of Formation in Little Rock.
One such seminarian is Luis De La Cruz from the Archdiocese of San Antonio. Despite all the hardships he has witnessed, De La Cruz said he has also seen beauty in the work of a chaplain.
“Being able to accompany someone during these times and just being with people in such remote, vulnerable moments is powerful,” De La Cruz said. “Just being present with them. It’s something that I didn't really take in before I started that I’m starting to realize more and more.”
Father Hebert has witnessed the power CPE has to touch the hearts of the seminarians.
“It’s a pivotal year,” he said. “A lot of us go through life, and we all have our ups and downs. Everyone has challenges, but when you are seeing human suffering day in and day out, it really gets you connected with the cross. And so it has a really deep impact on the guys.
“They're certainly more mature when it comes to embracing compassionate accompaniment with people. There's always a change in their maturity. When you see the difficulties that people go through, it makes you more compassionate, more sensitive and really more patient with everybody.”
Booker said he has experienced these effects of hospital ministry during his time this summer.
“I was expecting to invigorate or give life to the patients or to minister to the patients here at the hospital,” Booker said. “But I've found that instead of me ministering to them, in many ways, they've ministered to me, and they've built up my faith and encouraged me to continue to trust the Lord. Just the sheer strength of their faith is very inspiring to me.”
CPE also touched De La Cruz’s life in a personal way.
“I’ve learned the importance of balance in my own life, of making sure that I take care of myself so that I can take the care of the needs of others,” De La Cruz said. “And then I also learned about complete surrender to God in any situation because I have no control. At the end of the day, if I surrender to him, God brings it all to the good.”
|
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6000
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dbpedia
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0
| 50
|
https://trailersfromhell.com/cinderella-liberty/
|
en
|
Cinderella Liberty
|
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[
""
] | null |
[
"Glenn Erickson"
] |
2018-07-24T20:11:13+00:00
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A real peach of a ’70s New Hollywood picture, Mark Rydell and Darryl Ponicsan’s story of a sailor on extended leave is sentimental neorealism — a tough street story, but with the pessimism removed. Poolroom hustler Marsha Mason and sailor-adrift James Caan are a beautiful couple in the making — although the whole world seems...
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Trailers From Hell
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https://trailersfromhell.com/cinderella-liberty/
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A real peach of a ’70s New Hollywood picture, Mark Rydell and Darryl Ponicsan’s story of a sailor on extended leave is sentimental neorealism — a tough street story, but with the pessimism removed. Poolroom hustler Marsha Mason and sailor-adrift James Caan are a beautiful couple in the making — although the whole world seems against them.
Cinderella Liberty
Blu-ray
Twilight Time
1973 / Color / 2:35 anamorphic widescreen / 117 min. / Street Date July 17, 2018 / Available from the Twilight Time Movies Store / 29.95
Starring: James Caan, Marsha Mason, Kirk Calloway, Eli Wallach, Burt Young, Allyn Ann McLerie, Dabney Coleman, Sally Kirkland, Bruno Kirby.
Cinematography: Vilmos Zsigmond
Film Editor: Patrick Kennedy
Production Design: Leon Ericksen
Original Music: John Williams
Written by Darryl Ponicsan from his novel
Produced and Directed by Mark Rydell
Mark Rydell’s satisfying tough-love romance is yet more evidence why the early 1970s is still considered one of the most creative times in Hollywood. The actor- turned director channels the look of Robert Altman to tell what is essentially a hopeful, sentimental story. Basically the tale of a link-up between a sailor and a pool hall tramp, Cinderella Liberty overcomes traditional problems with such material. The ‘R’ rating for once allows such characters to talk as they might, although our nice-guy hero has a firm rule against profanity. Darryl Ponicsan’s story acknowledges the desperation of sailors to find female companionship, especially when on ‘Cinderella Liberty,’ as is called a shore pass that expires at midnight. Also breaking with Hollywood tradition, the film allows Marsha Mason’s hooker to be credibly profane and self destructive, and yet still be worthy of our concern. The movie has its share of emotional compromises but by the last act we’re only hoping that things turn out well for our deserving main characters.
The stage is quickly set for an intimate realist drama. Set ashore for minor surgery, Navy Boatswain John Baggs Jr. (James Caan) is stuck in the port of Seattle. After missing his boat, he is told that his records have been lost. Deprived of pay and left in reassignment limbo, he gravitates toward Maggie Paul (Marsha Mason), an alcoholic pool hustler and occasional prostitute. Maggie’s eleven year-old son Doug (Kirk Calloway) is well on his way to becoming a juvenile menace. Baggs knows the Navy will discourage him from making a serious commitment to this pathetic family, and when Baggs tries to get Maggie to seriously consider a relationship, she threatens to go back to the bottle and take other lovers. But Baggs won’t give up that easily.
It’s difficult to argue with perfect casting; James Caan and Marsha Mason have terrific chemistry. John Baggs and Maggie Paul’s romance must endure an uphill struggle, as neither the Navy nor common sense holds out much hope for their future together. Maggie and her son Doug would simply be homeless if it were not for her skill at separating sailors from their money. John Baggs beats her at her own tricks in a pool game, winning her favors. A more sentimental film would let Baggs prove his nobility by declining to collect on his bet but Cinderella Liberty wisely acknowledges that sex is the easy part. When it’s over, Baggs realizes that he wants a different kind of relationship. Maggie has plenty of reasons to be suspicious yet Baggs repeatedly proves himself sincere and honest. John manages to find a way into Doug’s good graces, despite meeting the boy over a hostile switchblade.
Cinderella Liberty looks at Baggs and Maggie’s entire social situation. Without official records John Baggs Jr. is in a bureaucratic vacuum. He has no choice but to stand endless watches as a shore patrolman (with the talkative, amusing Bruno Kirby) and do without pay for weeks. The Navy finally makes an effort to find the missing papers because an irate officer (Dabney Coleman) wants to get Baggs on a ship and out of port, away from ideas of getting married.
Things are even worse for Maggie. A social worker (wonderful Allyn McLerie) yanks Maggie’s welfare and food stamps, claiming that Baggs is ‘assuming the role of provider.’ After Baggs tells her the full story the social worker reverses her position and tries to help, but the damage has already been done. Even under normal conditions Maggie has difficulty finding ways to feel good about herself. She can’t take having her hopes raised, only to see them dashed yet one more time.
A sidebar plot deals with Baggs’ growing disillusion with the Navy. He runs into Lynn Forshay (Eli Wallach), a career sailor drummed out for mistreating an important man’s son. Forshay has taken a job as a strip club tout and would do anything to get back with the fleet. The conclusion ties up this part of the story rather neatly, while leaving us unsure whether Baggs will be able to keep his newly formed family intact. Tangent: I call this character fix the Brigadoon Solution, a musical where it should have been used.
Star James Caan was fresh from his celebrated role in The Godfather. Mark Rydell had to make a fuss to get Fox to accept young Marsha Mason as Maggie. It’s probable that her debut feature Blume in Love hadn’t even opened when she got this part. Ms. Mason is just sensational, projecting the bravado of a proud woman near the edge of collapse. Mason starts with a difficult acting feat, acting the good sport while losing a humiliating bet. How many actresses could portray losing such a bet, and laugh it off this good-naturedly? Ms. Mason is vivacious, genuinely funny and surely the most arresting star discovery of the year. Instead of using acting tricks to reveal Maggie’s vulnerable side, Mason simply has the woman endure her problems until she can’t take any more. Then she falls apart, all at once. Caan’s Baggs can’t pick up the pieces every time.
Several heart-wrenching events in the last act turn the light romance into a straight drama. It’s still more hopeful than Darryl Ponicsan’s less forgiving drama of the underside of Navy life, The Last Detail. Cinderella Liberty allows us to leave feeling good about its characters, even though their future is uncertain.
The production has a realistic feel for the Navy life. This isn’t exactly a recruiting film, as the young sailors are mostly assigned to hard menial labor. John Biggs has been in for a long time, but must serve boring watches. The U.S. Navy refused to cooperate with the producers because a major plot point depicts desertion of duty without consequences. To stand in for an American craft, Fox rented a small ship from the Canadian Navy. The rest of the show seems 100% authentic.
The other cliché deftly overturned is the ‘sailor befriends kid’ development. In one scene John takes Kirk Calloway’s Doug to a western movie; we worry that someone will accuse John of being a child molester. Doug eventually gravitates to John because the sailor is more reliable than his own mother.
Correspondent ‘B’ long ago made me aware that in Cinderella Liberty director Rydell seemingly seriously emulated the style of Robert Altman. ‘B’ theorized that Rydell decided to act in The Long Goodbye to learn what he could of the director’s modus operandi. Liberty is stylistically a departure from Rydell’s previous films. The presence of cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond and designer Leon Ericksen and the different feel of the score by John Williams suggests that the director liked what he learned from Altman.
The Twilight Time Blu-ray of Cinderella Liberty is a handsome encoding of this relaxing, life-affirming picture filmed in the less attractive portside environs of Seattle. The closest we get to a travelogue is a view of the Space Needle and a snow-capped mountain, both in the distance. The HD image plus improved scanning techniques make this Blu-ray look smoother than the earlier DVD; considering the quality of average release print lab work in the early 1970s, it likely looks a lot better on disc than it did when new.
This is cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond at his best. Flashing the film stock and using filters to soften the image, Zsigmond films at low light levels for the pool hall sequences, getting excellent results. Half-in shadow and lit by colored bar lights, Marsha Mason indeed looks like someone seen across a smoky room, barely a hairdo with a smile attached. Zsigmond makes achieving an artistic effect look easy. It’s as far from the old studio look as one can get.
John Williams’ jazzy soundtrack is a fine accompaniment, that perhaps suggests the good times Maggie remembers from New Orleans, where ‘one can feel the music vibrating in window panes.’ William’s music, with songs lyrics by Paul Williams, is present on a TT Isolated track.
Director-producer Rydell offers an enthusiastic commentary; he has every right to be proud of his picture. A character listed as ‘Gutteral Mischief’ is played by an actor credited as Marty Augustine. As that’s Rydell’s character name in the Robert Altman movie The Long Goodbye, we can be forgiven for assuming that it’s really Rydell in a cameo. An added bonus is an on-location featurette with behind-the-scenes footage.
Julie Kirgo’s liner notes attack the ‘hooker with a heart of gold’ notion. At one point, Dabney Coleman’s officer describes ‘women like Maggie’ in a string of disparaging obscenities. John later asks Maggie if she’s anything like that description, and her answer is, “Second generation.” The charm of Cinderella Liberty is that it asks us to ponder an important question: are people like Maggie Paul simply ‘broken,’ and doomed to disappoint themselves and others? Or can they be redeemed with a little love and faith?
Written with input from correspondent ‘B.’
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
Cinderella Liberty
Blu-ray rates:
Movie: Excellent
Video: Excellent
Sound: Excellent
Supplements: Isolated Music Track, Audio Commentary with Director Mark Rydell; On Location with Mark Rydell, Director of Cinderella Liberty, Theatrical Trailer, TV Spot, Julie Kirgo liner notes.
Deaf and Hearing Impaired Friendly? YES; Subtitles: English (feature only)
Packaging: One Blu-ray in Keep case
Reviewed: July 21, 2018
(5782cind)
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Glenn Erickson answers most reader mail: cinesavant@gmail.com
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Oscars Breakdown: Best Director
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Mel Gibson
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Mel Colm-Cille Gerard Gibson AO (born January 3, 1956) is an American actor and filmmaker (screenwriter, producer and director). He is most well known as an action hero, for roles such as Martin Riggs in the Lethal Weapon buddy cop film series and Max Rockatansky in the first three films in...
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https://nicktheultimaswordwielder.fandom.com/wiki/Mel_Gibson
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Mel Colm-Cille Gerard Gibson AO (born January 3, 1956) is an American actor and filmmaker (screenwriter, producer and director). He is most well known as an action hero, for roles such as Martin Riggs in the Lethal Weapon buddy cop film series and Max Rockatansky in the first three films in the Mad Max post-apocalyptic action series.
He was born in Peekskill, New York, and moved with his parents to Sydney when he was 12 years old. He studied acting at the Australian National Institute of Dramatic Art. During the 1980s, Gibson founded Icon Entertainment, a production company which independent film director Atom Egoyan has called, "an alternative to the studio system."[3] Director Peter Weir cast Gibson as one of the leads in the critically acclaimed World War I drama Gallipoli (1981), which earned Gibson a Best Actor Award from the Australian Film Institute.[4] The film also helped to earn Gibson the reputation of a serious, versatile actor.
In 1995, Gibson produced, directed, and starred in the epic historical drama film Braveheart, for which he won theGolden Globe and Academy Award for Best Director, along with the Academy Award for Best Picture. In 2004, he directed and produced the financially successful, but controversial, biblical drama film The Passion of the Christ. Gibson received further critical notice for his directorial work of the 2006 action-adventure film Apocalypto, which is set inMesoamerica during the early 16th century.
Contents[]
[show]
Early life[]
Gibson was born in Peekskill, New York, the sixth of eleven children, and the second son of Hutton Gibson, a writer, and Irish-born Anne Patricia (née Reilly, died 1990).[5][6] His paternal grandmother was opera contralto Eva Mylott (1875–1920), who was born in Australia, to Irish parents,[7] while his paternal grandfather, John Hutton Gibson, was a millionaire tobacco businessman from the American South.[8][9] One of Gibson's younger brothers, Donal, is also an actor. Gibson's first name is derived from Saint Mel, fifth-century Irish saint, and founder of Gibson's mother's nativediocese, Ardagh, while his second name, Colm-Cille,[10] is also shared by an Irish saint[11] and is the name of the parish in County Longford where Gibson's mother was born and raised. Because of his mother, Gibson retains dual Irish and American citizenship.[12]
His father was awarded US$145,000 in a work-related-injury lawsuit against New York Central Railroad on February 14, 1968; and soon afterwards relocated his family to West Pymble, Sydney.[13] Mel Gibson was 12 years old at the time. The move to his grandmother's native Australia was both for economic reasons and his father's expectation that the Australian Defence Forces would reject his eldest son for the draft during the Vietnam War.[2]
Gibson was educated by members of the Congregation of Christian Brothers at St Leo's Catholic College in Wahroonga, New South Wales, during his high school years.[14][15]
Career[]
Overview[]
Gibson gained very favorable notices from film critics when he first entered the cinematic scene, as well as comparisons to several classic movie stars. In 1982,Vincent Canby wrote that "Mr. Gibson recalls the young Steve McQueen... I can't define "star quality," but whatever it is, Mr. Gibson has it."[16] Gibson has also been likened to "a combination Clark Gable and Humphrey Bogart."[17] Gibson's roles in the Mad Max series of films, Peter Weir's Gallipoli, and the Lethal Weapon series of films earned him the label of "action hero".[18] Later, Gibson expanded into a variety of acting projects including human dramas such as Hamlet, and comedic roles such as those in Maverick and What Women Want. He expanded beyond acting into directing and producing, with: The Man Without a Face, in 1993; Braveheart, in 1995; The Passion of the Christ, in 2004; and Apocalypto, in 2006. Jess Cagle of Time compared Gibson with Cary Grant, Sean Connery, and Robert Redford.[18]Connery once suggested Gibson should play the next James Bond to Connery's M. Gibson turned down the role, reportedly because he feared being typecast.[19]
Stage[]
Gibson studied at the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) in Sydney. The students at NIDA were classically trained in the British-theater tradition rather than in preparation for screen acting.[20] As students, Gibson and actress Judy Davis played the leads in Romeo and Juliet, and Gibson played the role of Queen Titania in an experimental production of A Midsummer Night's Dream.[21] After graduation in 1977,[22] Gibson immediately began work on the filming of Mad Max, but continued to work as a stage actor, and joined the State Theatre Company of South Australia in Adelaide. Gibson's theatrical credits include the character Estragon (oppositeGeoffrey Rush) in Waiting for Godot, and the role of Biff Loman in a 1982 production of Death of a Salesman in Sydney. Gibson's most recent theatrical performance, opposite Sissy Spacek, was the 1993 production of Love Letters by A. R. Gurney, in Telluride, Colorado.[23]
Australian television and cinema[]
While a student at NIDA, Gibson made his film debut in the 1977 film Summer City, for which he was paid $400.[24]
Gibson then played the title character in the film Mad Max (1979). He was paid $15,000 for this role.[24] Shortly after making the film he did a season with the South Australian Theatre Company. During this period he shared a $30 a week apartment in Adelaide with his future wife Robyn. After Mad Max, Gibson also played a mentally slow youth in the film Tim.[25]
During this period Gibson also appeared in Australian television series guest roles. He appeared in serial The Sullivans as naval lieutenant Ray Henderson,[26] inpolice procedural Cop Shop,[25] and in the pilot episode of prison serial Punishment which was produced in 1980, screened 1981.[27][28]
Gibson joined the cast of the World War II action film Attack Force Z, which was not released until 1982 when Gibson had become a bigger star. Director Peter Weircast Gibson as one of the leads in the critically acclaimed World War I drama Gallipoli, which earned Gibson another Best Actor Award from the Australian Film Institute.[4] The film Gallipoli also helped to earn Gibson the reputation of a serious, versatile actor and gained him the Hollywood agent Ed Limato. The sequel Mad Max 2 was his first hit in America (released as The Road Warrior). In 1982 Gibson again attracted critical acclaim in Peter Weir's romantic thriller The Year of Living Dangerously. Following a year hiatus from film acting after the birth of his twin sons, Gibson took on the role of Fletcher Christian in The Bounty in 1984. Gibson earned his first million dollar salary for playing Max Rockatansky for the third time, in Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome in 1985.[29]
Hollywood[]
Mel Gibson in 1990 at anAir America premiere.
Early Hollywood years[]
Mel Gibson's first American film was Mark Rydell's 1984 drama The River, in which he and Sissy Spacek played struggling Tennesseefarmers. Gibson then starred in the Gothic romance Mrs. Soffel for Australian director Gillian Armstrong. He and Matthew Modineplayed condemned convict brothers opposite Diane Keaton as the warden's wife who visits them to read the Bible. In 1985, after working on four films in a row, Gibson took almost two years off at his Australian cattle station.[30] He returned to play the role ofMartin Riggs in Lethal Weapon, a film which helped to cement his status as a Hollywood "leading man".[31] Gibson's next film wasRobert Towne's Tequila Sunrise, followed by Lethal Weapon 2, in 1989. Gibson next starred in three films back-to-back: Bird on a Wire, Air America, and Hamlet; all were released in 1990.
1990s[]
During the 1990s, Gibson alternated between commercial and personal projects. His films in the first half of the decade were Forever Young, Lethal Weapon 3, Maverick, and Braveheart. He then starred in Ransom, Conspiracy Theory, Lethal Weapon 4, andPayback. Gibson also served as the speaking and singing voice of John Smith in Disney's Pocahontas.
After 2000[]
In 2000, Gibson acted in three films that each grossed over $100 million: The Patriot, Chicken Run, and What Women Want.[18] In 2002, Gibson appeared in theVietnam War drama We Were Soldiers and M. Night Shyamalan's Signs, which became the highest-grossing film of Gibson's acting career.[32] While promotingSigns, Gibson said that he no longer wanted to be a movie star and would only act in film again if the script were truly extraordinary. In 2010, Gibson appeared inEdge of Darkness, which marked his first starring role since 2002[33] and was an adaptation of the BBC miniseries, Edge of Darkness.[34] In 2010, following an outburst at his ex-girlfriend that was made public, Gibson was dropped from the talent agency of William Morris Endeavor.[35]
Gibson most recently played two villains: Voz in Machete Kills in 2013, opposite Danny Trejo, and Conrad Stonebanks in The Expendables 3 opposite Sylvester Stallone in 2014.
Producer[]
Main article: Icon Productions
After his success in Hollywood with the Lethal Weapon series, Gibson began to move into producing and directing. With partner Bruce Davey, Gibson formed Icon Productions in 1989 in order to make Hamlet.[36] In addition to producing or co-producing many of Gibson's own star vehicles, Icon has turned out many other small films, ranging from Immortal Beloved to An Ideal Husband. Gibson has taken supporting roles in some of these films, such as The Million Dollar Hotel and The Singing Detective. Gibson has also produced a number of projects for television, including a biopic on The Three Stooges and the 2008 PBS documentary Carrier. Icon has grown from being just a production company to also be an international distribution company and film exhibitor in Australia and New Zealand.[37]
In June 2010, Gibson was in Brownsville, Texas, filming scenes for the movie, How I Spent My Summer Vacation, about a career criminal put in a tough prison in Mexico.[38] In October 2010, it was reported[by whom?] that Gibson would have a small role in The Hangover: Part II,[39] but he was removed from the film after the cast and crew objected to his involvement.[40]
Director[]
Mel Gibson has credited his directors, particularly George Miller, Peter Weir, and Richard Donner, with teaching him the craft of filmmaking and influencing him as a director. According to Robert Downey, Jr., studio executives encouraged Gibson in 1989 to try directing, an idea he rebuffed at the time.[41] Gibson made his directorial debut in 1993 with The Man Without a Face, followed two years later by Braveheart, which earned Gibson the Academy Award for Best Director. Gibson had long planned to direct a remake of Fahrenheit 451, but in 1999 the project was indefinitely postponed because of scheduling conflicts.[42] Gibson was scheduled to direct Robert Downey, Jr. in a Los Angeles stage production of Hamlet in January 2001, but Downey's drug relapse ended the project.[43] In 2002, while promotingWe Were Soldiers and Signs to the press, Gibson mentioned that he was planning to pare back on acting and return to directing.[44] In September 2002, Gibson announced that he would direct a film called The Passion in Aramaic and Latin with no subtitles because he hoped to "transcend language barriers with filmic storytelling."[45] In 2004, he released the controversial film The Passion of the Christ, with subtitles, which he co-wrote, co-produced, and directed. The film went on to become the highest grossing rated R film of all time with $370,782,930 in U.S. box office sales.[46] Gibson directed a few episodes of Complete Savages for the ABCnetwork. In 2006, he directed the action-adventure film Apocalypto, his second film to feature sparse dialogue in a non-English language.
Film work[]
Main article: Mel Gibson filmography
Gibson's acting career began in 1976, with a role on the Australian television series The Sullivans. In his career, Gibson has appeared in 43 films, including the Mad Max and Lethal Weapon film series. In addition to acting, Gibson has also directed four films, including Braveheart and The Passion of the Christ; produced 11 films; and written two films. Films either starring or directed by Mel Gibson have earned over US$2.5 billion, in the United States alone.[47][48] Gibson's filmography includes television series, feature films, television films, and animated films.
Mad Max series[]
Main article: Mad Max (franchise)
Gibson got his breakthrough role as the leather-clad post-apocalyptic survivor in George Miller's Mad Max. The independently financed blockbuster helped to make him an international star. In the United States, the actors' Australian accents were dubbed with American accents.[49] The original film spawned two sequels: Mad Max 2 (known in North America as The Road Warrior), and Mad Max 3 (known in North America as Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome). A fourth movie, Mad Max: Fury Road (2015), was made with Tom Hardy in the title role.[50]
Gallipoli[]
Main article: Gallipoli (1981 film)
The 1981 Peter Weir film, Gallipoli is about a group of young men from rural Western Australia who enlist in the Australian Imperial Force during World War I. They are sent to invade the Ottoman Empire, where they take part in the 1915 Gallipoli Campaign. During the course of the movie, the young men slowly lose their innocence about the war. The climax of the movie centers around the catastrophic AIF offensive known as the Battle of the Nek.
Peter Weir cast Gibson in the role of Frank Dunne, an Irish-Australian drifter with an intense cynicism about fighting for the British Empire. Newcomer Mark Lee was recruited to play the idealistic Archy Hamilton after participating in a photo session for the director. Gibson later recalled:
Gibson later said that Gallipoli is, "Not really a war movie. That's just the backdrop. It's really the story of two young men."
The critically acclaimed film helped to further launch Gibson's career.[52][53] He won the award for Best Actor in a Leading Role from the Australian Film Institute.[4]
The Year of Living Dangerously[]
Main article: The Year of Living Dangerously (film)
Gibson played a naïve but ambitious journalist opposite Sigourney Weaver and Linda Hunt in Peter Weir's atmospheric 1982 film The Year of Living Dangerously, based on the novel of the same name by Christopher Koch. The movie was both a critical and commercial success, and the upcoming Australian actor was heavily marketed by MGM studio. In his review of the film, Vincent Canby of The New York Times wrote, "If this film doesn't make an international star of Mr. Gibson, then nothing will. He possesses both the necessary talent and the screen presence."[54] According to John Hiscock of The Daily Telegraph, the film did, indeed, establish Gibson as an international talent.[55]
Gibson was initially reluctant to accept the role of Guy Hamilton. "I didn't necessarily see my role as a great challenge. My character was, like the film suggests, a puppet. And I went with that. It wasn't some star thing, even though they advertised it that way."[56] Gibson saw some similarities between himself and the character of Guy. "He's not a silver-tongued devil. He's kind of immature and he has some rough edges and I guess you could say the same for me."[17] Gibson has cited this screen performance as his personal favorite.[when?]
The Bounty[]
Main article: The Bounty
Gibson followed the footsteps of Errol Flynn, Clark Gable, and Marlon Brando by starring as Fletcher Christian in a cinematic retelling of the Mutiny on the Bounty. The resulting 1984 film The Bounty is considered to be the most historically accurate version. However, Gibson has expressed a belief that the film's revisionism did not go far enough. He has stated that his character should have been portrayed as the film's antagonist. He has further praised Anthony Hopkins's performance as Lieutenant William Bligh as the best aspect of the film.[56]
Lethal Weapon series[]
Main article: Lethal Weapon (film series)
Gibson moved into more mainstream commercial filmmaking with the popular buddy cop Lethal Weapon series, which began with the 1987 original. In the films he played LAPD Detective Martin Riggs, a recently widowed Vietnam veteran with a death wish and a penchant for violence and gunplay. In the films, he is partnered with a reserved family man named Roger Murtaugh (Danny Glover). Following the success of Lethal Weapon, director Richard Donner and principal cast revisited the characters in three sequels, Lethal Weapon 2 (1989), Lethal Weapon 3 (1993), and Lethal Weapon 4 (1998). With its fourth installment, the Lethal Weaponseries embodied "the quintessence of the buddy cop pic".[57]
Hamlet[]
Main article: Hamlet (1990 film)
Gibson made the unusual transition from action to classical drama, playing William Shakespeare's Danish prince in Franco Zeffirelli's Hamlet. Gibson was cast alongside experienced Shakespearean actors Ian Holm, Alan Bates, and Paul Scofield. He compared working with Scofield to being "thrown into the ring with Mike Tyson".[58] Scofield said of Gibson "Not the sort of actor you'd think would make an ideal Hamlet, but he had enormous integrity and intelligence."[59]
Braveheart[]
Main article: Braveheart
In 1995, Mel Gibson directed, produced, and starred in Braveheart, a biographical film of Sir William Wallace, a Scottish nationalist who was executed in 1305 for "high treason" against King Edward I of England. Gibson received two Academy Awards, Best Director and Best Picture, for his second directorial effort. In winning the Academy Award for Best Director, Gibson became only the sixth actor-turned-filmmaker to do so.[60] Braveheart influenced the Scottish nationalist movement and helped to revive the film genre of the historical epic; the Battle of Stirling Bridge sequence is considered by critics to be one of the all-time-best-directed battle scenes.[61]
The film's depiction of the Prince of Wales as an effeminate homosexual caused the film to be attacked by the Gay Alliance. The Gay Alliance was especially enraged by a scene in which King Edward I murders his son's male lover by throwing him out of a castle window.
Gibson, who had previously been reported making several homophobic statements,[62] now replied, "The fact that King Edward throws this character out a window has nothing to do with him being gay ... He's terrible to his son, to everybody."[63]
Gibson asserted that the reason that king Edward I kills his son's lover is because the king is a "psychopath".[64] Gibson also expressed bewilderment that some filmgoers laughed at this murder:
The Passion of the Christ[]
Main article: The Passion of the Christ
Gibson directed, produced, co-wrote, and funded the 2004 film The Passion of the Christ, which chronicled the passion and death of Jesus (Jim Caviezel). The film was shot exclusively in Aramaic, Latin, and Hebrew. Although Gibson originally intended to release the film without subtitles; he eventually relented for theatrical exhibition. The film sparked divergent reviews, ranging from high praise to criticism of the violence.
The Anti-Defamation League accused Gibson of anti-semitism over the film's unflattering depiction of Caiaphas and the Sanhedrin.
In The Nation, reviewer Katha Pollitt said, "Gibson has violated just about every precept of the (United States Conference of Catholic Bishops) conference's own 1988 'Criteria' for the portrayal of Jews in dramatizations of the Passion (no bloodthirsty Jews, no rabble, no use of Scripture that reinforces negative stereotypes of Jews, etc.) ... The priests have big noses and gnarly faces, lumpish bodies, yellow teeth; Herod Antipas and his court are a bizarre collection of oily-haired, epiceneperverts. The 'good Jews' look like Italian movie stars (Italian sex symbol Monica Bellucci is Mary Magdalene); Mary, who would have been around 50 and appeared 70, could pass for a ripe 35."[66]
Among those to defend Gibson were Orthodox Jewish Rabbi Daniel Lapin and radio personality Michael Medved. Referring to ADL National Director Abraham Foxman, Rabbi Lapin said that by calling The Passion of the Christ anti-Semitic, "what he is saying is that the only way (for Christians) to escape the wrath of Foxman is to repudiate (their own) faith."
In an interview with the Globe and Mail, Gibson stated, "If anyone has distorted Gospel passages to rationalize cruelty towards Jews or anyone, it's in defiance of repeated Papal condemnation. The Papacy has condemned racism in any form... Jesus died for the sins of all times, and I'll be the first on the line for culpability".[67]
Eventually, the continued media attacks began to anger Gibson. After his father's Holocaust denial was sharply criticized in print by The New York Times writer Frank Rich,[68] Gibson retorted, "I want to kill him. I want his intestines on a stick.... I want to kill his dog."[69][70]
Gibson's Traditionalist Catholic upbringing was also the target of criticism. In a 2006 interview with Diane Sawyer, Gibson stated that he feels that his "human rights were violated" by the often vitriolic attacks on his person, his family, and his religious beliefs which were sparked by The Passion.[71]
The movie grossed US$611,899,420 worldwide and $370,782,930 in the US alone,[72] surpassing any motion picture starring Gibson.[73] In US box offices, it became the eighth (at the time) highest-grossing film in history[74] and the highest-grossing rated R film of all time.[75] The film was nominated for three Academy Awards[76]and won the People's Choice Award for Favorite Dramatic Motion Picture.[77]
Apocalypto[]
Main article: Apocalypto
Gibson received further critical acclaim for his directing of the 2006 action-adventure film Apocalypto.[78] Gibson's fourth directorial effort is set in Mesoamericaduring the early 16th century against the turbulent end times of a Maya civilization. The sparse dialogue is spoken in the Yucatec Maya language by a cast of Native American descent.[79][80]
Gibson himself has stated that the film is an attempt at making a deliberate point about great civilizations and what causes them to decline and disintegrate. Gibson said, "People think that modern man is so enlightened, but we're susceptible to the same forces – and we are also capable of the same heroism and transcendence."[81][82] This theme is further explored by a quote from Will Durant, which is superimposed at the very beginning of the film: "A great civilization is not conquered from without until it has destroyed itself from within."
The Beaver[]
Gibson starred in The Beaver, a film directed by former Maverick co-star Jodie Foster.[83] The Beaver premiered at The South by Southwest Festival in Austin, TX on March 16, 2011. The opening weekend in 22 theaters was considered a flop: it made $104,000 which comes to a per-theater average of $4,745.[84] The film's distributor, Summit Entertainment, had originally planned for a wide release of The Beaver for the weekend of 20 May, but after the initial box-office returns for the film, the company changed course and decided instead to give the film a "limited art-house run".[85] Michael Cieply of The New York Times observed on June 5, 2011, that the film had cleared just about $1 million, making it a certified "flop".[86] Director Jodie Foster opined that the film did not do well with American audiences because it was a dramedy, and "very often Americans are not comfortable with [that]".[87]
Before its release, much of the coverage focussed on the unavoidable association between the protagonist's issues and Mel Gibson's own well-publicized personal and legal problems (see below), including a conviction of battery of his ex-girlfriend in March.[88] Wrote Time Magazine: "The Beaver is a somber, sad domestic drama featuring an alcoholic in acute crisis. Sound familiar, almost like a documentary? It’s hard to separate Gibson’s true-life story from what’s happening onscreen."[89] While critics were impressed by the actor's performance, audiences seemed to stay away due to the "ick factor" of seeing Gibson on screen.[90]
Prospective films[]
As of 2013, Gibson's cancelled projects included a film about the writing of the Oxford English Dictionary (OED),[91] and a Richard Donner-helmed film with the working title Sam and George.[92]
Asked in 2007 if he planned to return to acting and specifically to action roles, Gibson said: "I think I'm too old for that, but you never know. I just like telling stories. Entertainment is valid and I guess I'll probably do it again before it's over. You know, do something that people won't get mad with me for."[93]
He has also expressed an intention to direct a movie set during the Viking Age, starring Leonardo DiCaprio. Like The Passion of the Christ and Apocalypto, he wants this speculative film to feature dialogue in period languages.[94] However, DiCaprio ultimately opted out of the project.[95] In a 2012 interview, Gibson announced that the project, which he has titled Berserker, was still moving forward.[96]
In 2011, it was announced that Gibson had commissioned a screenplay from Joe Eszterhas about the Maccabees. The film is to be distributed by Warner Brothers Pictures. The announcement generated significant controversy.[97] In April 2012, Eszterhas wrote a letter to Gibson accusing him of sabotaging their movie about the Maccabees because he "hates Jews", and citing a series of private incidents during which he allegedly heard Gibson express extremely racist views. Although written as a private letter, it was subsequently published on a film industry website.[98] In response, Gibson stated that he still intends to make the movie, but will not base it upon Eszterhas' script, which he called substandard.[99] Eszterhas then claimed his son had secretly recorded a number of Gibson's alleged "hateful rants".[100]
In a 2012 interview, Gibson explained that the Maccabees film was still in preparation. He explained that he was drawn to the Biblical account of the uprising due to its similarity to the American Old West genre.[96]
Personal life[]
Family[]
Gibson met Robyn Denise Moore in the late 1970s, soon after filming Mad Max, when they were both tenants at a house in Adelaide. At the time, Robyn was a dental nurse and Mel was an unknown actor working for the South Australian Theatre Company.[101] On June 7, 1980, Mel and Robyn Gibson were married in a Roman Catholic church in Forestville, New South Wales.[102] They have one daughter, and six sons: Hannah (b. 1980), Edward (b. 1982), Christian (b. 1982), William (b. 1985), Louis (b. 1988), Milo (b. 1990), Thomas (b. 1999); and three grandchildren as of 2011.[103][104]
After 26 years of marriage, Mel and Robyn Gibson separated on July 29, 2006.[105][106] In a 2011 interview, Gibson stated that the separation began the day following his arrest for drunk driving in Malibu.[107] Robyn Gibson filed for divorce on April 13, 2009, citing irreconcilable differences. In a joint statement, the Gibsons declared, "Throughout our marriage and separation we have always strived to maintain the privacy and integrity of our family and will continue to do so."[10] The divorce filing followed the March 2009 release of photographs appearing to show him on a beach embracing Russian pianist Oksana Grigorieva.[108][109] Gibson's divorce was finalized on December 23, 2011, and the settlement with his ex-wife was said to be the highest in Hollywood history at over $400 million.[110]
On April 28, 2009, Gibson made a red carpet appearance with Grigorieva. Grigorieva, who had previously had a son with actor Timothy Dalton,[111] gave birth to Gibson's daughter Lucia on 30 October 2009.[112][113][114] In April 2010, it was made public that Gibson and Grigorieva had split.[115] On June 21, 2010, Grigorieva filed a restraining order against Gibson to keep him away from her and their child. The restraining order was modified the next day regarding Gibson's contact with their child.[116] Gibson obtained a restraining order against Grigorieva on June 25, 2010.[116][117] In response to claims by Grigorieva that an incident of domestic violence occurred in January 2010, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department launched a domestic violence investigation in July 2010.[118][119]
On July 9, 2010, some audio recordings alleged to be of Gibson were posted on the internet.[120] The same day Gibson was dropped by his agency, William Morris Endeavor.[120] Civil rights activists alleged that Gibson had shown patterns of racism, sexism and anti-Semitism and called for a boycott of Gibson's movies.[121]
Gibson's estranged wife, Robyn Gibson, filed a court statement declaring that she never experienced any abuse from Gibson,[122] while forensic experts have questioned the validity of some of the tapes.[123] In March 2011, Mel Gibson agreed to plead no contest to a misdemeanor battery charge.[124]
In April 2011, Gibson finally broke his silence about the incident in question. In an interview with Deadline.com, Gibson expressed gratitude to longtime friendsWhoopi Goldberg and Jodie Foster, both of whom had spoken publicly in his defense. About the recordings, Gibson said,
In the same interview, Gibson stated,
In August 2011, Gibson settled with Grigorieva and she was awarded $750,000, joint legal custody and a house in Sherman Oaks, California until their three-year-old daughter Lucia turns 18. In 2013, Grigorieva sued her attorneys accusing them of advising her to sign a bad agreement, including one with Gibson that holds her taking legal action against him would compromise her financial settlement.[126]
Investments[]
Gibson is a property investor, with multiple properties in Malibu, California, several locations in Costa Rica, a private island in Fiji and properties in Australia.[127][128]In December 2004, Gibson sold his 300-acre (1.2 km2) Australian farm in the Kiewa Valley for $6 million.[129] Also in December 2004, Gibson purchased Mago Islandin Fiji from Tokyu Corporation of Japan for $15 million. Descendants of the original native inhabitants of Mago, who were displaced in the 1860s, have protested the purchase. Gibson stated it was his intention to retain the pristine environment of the undeveloped island.[130] In early 2005, he sold his 45,000-acre (180 km2)Montana ranch to a neighbour.[131] In April 2007 he purchased a 400-acre (1.6 km2) ranch in Costa Rica for $26 million, and in July 2007 he sold his 76-acre (31 ha) Tudor estate in Connecticut (which he purchased in 1994 for $9 million) for $40 million to an unnamed buyer.[132] Also that month, he sold a Malibu property for $30 million that he had purchased for $24 million two years before.[133] In 2008, he purchased the Malibu home of David Duchovny and Téa Leoni.[134]
Prankster[]
Gibson has a reputation for practical jokes, puns, Stooge-inspired physical comedy, and doing outrageous things to shock people.[citation needed] As a director he sometimes breaks the tension on set by having his actors perform serious scenes wearing a red clown nose.[135] Helena Bonham Carter, who appeared alongside him in Hamlet, said of him, "He has a very basic sense of humor. It's a bit lavatorial and not very sophisticated."[136] During the filming of Hamlet, Gibson would relieve pressure on the set by mooning the cast and crew, directly following a serious scene.[137] Gibson inserted a single frame of himself smoking a cigarette into the 2005 teaser trailer of Apocalypto.[138]
Philanthropy[]
Gibson at the Christmas party for charity Mending Kids International in 2007. His former wife Robyn was president of the charity.
Gibson and his former wife have contributed a substantial amount of money to various charities, one of which is Healing the Children. According to Cris Embleton, one of the founders, the Gibsons gave millions to provide lifesaving medical treatment to needy children worldwide.[139][140] They also supported the restoration of Renaissance artwork[141] and gave millions of dollars to NIDA.[142]
Gibson donated $500,000 to the El Mirador Basin Project to protect the last tract of virgin rain forest in Central America and to fund archeological excavations in the "cradle of Mayan civilization."[143] In July 2007, Gibson again visited Central America to make arrangements for donations to the indigenous population. Gibson met with Costa Rican President Óscar Arias to discuss how to "channel the funds."[144] During the same month, Gibson pledged to give financial assistance to a Malaysian company named Green Rubber Global for a tire recycling factory located in Gallup, New Mexico.[145] While on a business trip to Singapore in September 2007, Gibson donated to a local charity for children with chronic and terminal illnesses.[146] Gibson is also a supporter of Angels at Risk, a nonprofit organization focusing on education about drug and alcohol abuse among teens.[147]
In a 2011 interview, Gibson said of his philanthropic works, "It gives you perspective. It's one of my faults, you tend to focus on yourself a lot. Which is not always the healthiest thing for your psyche or anything else. If you take a little time out to think about other people, it's good. It's uplifting."[148]
Religious and political views[]
Faith[]
Gibson was raised a Sedevacantist traditionalist Catholic.[2] When asked about the Catholic doctrine of "Extra Ecclesiam nulla salus", Gibson replied, "There is no salvation for those outside the Church ... I believe it. Put it this way. My wife is a saint. She's a much better person than I am. Honestly. She's... Episcopalian, Church of England. She prays, she believes in God, she knows Jesus, she believes in that stuff. And it's just not fair if she doesn't make it, she's better than I am. But that is a pronouncement from the chair. I go with it."[69][149] When he was asked whether John 14:6 is an intolerant position, he said that "through the merits of Jesus' sacrifice... even people who don't know Jesus are able to be saved, but through him."[150] Acquaintance Father William Fulco has said that Gibson denies neither the Pope nor Vatican II.[151] Gibson told Diane Sawyer that he believes non-Catholics and non-Christians can go to heaven.[71][152]
Politics[]
Gibson has been described as "ultraconservative".[153]
Gibson complimented filmmaker Michael Moore and his documentary Fahrenheit 9/11 when he and Moore were recognized at the 2005 People's Choice Awards.[154]Gibson's Icon Productions originally agreed to finance Moore's film, but later sold the rights to Miramax Films. Moore said that his agent Ari Emanuel claimed that "top Republicans" called Mel Gibson to tell him, "don't expect to get more invitations to the White House".[155] Icon's spokesman dismissed this story, saying "We never run from a controversy. You'd have to be out of your mind to think that of the company that just put out The Passion of the Christ."[156]
In a July 1995 interview with Playboy magazine, Gibson said President Bill Clinton was a "low-level opportunist" and someone was "telling him what to do". He said that the Rhodes Scholarship was established for young men and women who want to strive for a "new world order" and this was a campaign for Marxism.[157] Gibson later backed away from such conspiracy theories saying, "It was like: 'Hey, tell us a conspiracy'... so I laid out this thing, and suddenly, it was like I was talking the gospel truth, espousing all this political shit like I believed in it."[158] In the same 1995 Playboy interview, Gibson argued against ordaining women to the priesthood.[157][159][160]
In 2004, he publicly spoke out against taxpayer-funded embryonic stem-cell research that involves the cloning and destruction of human embryos.[161] In March 2005, he condemned the outcome of the Terri Schiavo case, referring to Schiavo's death as "state-sanctioned murder".[162]
Gibson questioned the Iraq War in March 2004.[163] In 2006, Gibson said that the "fearmongering" depicted in his film Apocalypto "reminds me a little of President Bush and his guys."[153]
In a 2011 interview, Gibson stated:
Alcohol abuse and legal issues[]
Gibson has said that he started drinking at the age of 13.[164] In a 2002 interview about his time at NIDA, Gibson said, "I had really good highs but some very low lows. I found out recently I'm manic depressive."[165]
Gibson was banned from driving in Ontario for three months in 1984, after rear-ending a car in Toronto while under the influence of alcohol.[166] He retreated to his Australian farm for over a year to recover, but he continued to struggle with drinking. Despite this problem, Gibson gained a reputation in Hollywood for professionalism and punctuality such that Lethal Weapon 2 director Richard Donner was shocked when Gibson confided that he was drinking five pints of beer for breakfast.[71] Reflecting in 2003 and 2004, Gibson said that despair in his mid-30s led him to contemplate suicide, and he meditated on Christ's Passion to heal his wounds.[71][149][167] He took more time off acting in 1991 and sought professional help.[168] That year, Gibson's attorneys were unsuccessful at blocking the Sunday Mirror from publishing what Gibson shared at AA meetings.[169][clarification needed] In 1992, Gibson provided financial support to Hollywood's Recovery Center, saying, "Alcoholism is something that runs in my family. It's something that's close to me. People do come back from it, and it's a miracle."[170]
On July 28, 2006, Gibson was arrested for driving under the influence (DUI) while speeding in his vehicle with an open container of alcohol, which is illegal in much of the United States. According to a 2011 article in Vanity Fair, Gibson first told the arresting officer, "My life is over. I'm fucked. Robyn's going to leave me."[171]According to the arrest report, Gibson exploded into an angry tirade when the arresting officer would not allow him to drive home. Gibson climaxed with the words, "Fucking Jews... the Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world. Are you a Jew?"[172][173]
After the arrest report was leaked on TMZ.com, Gibson issued two apologies through his publicist,[174] and—in a televised interview with Diane Sawyer—he affirmed the accuracy of the quotations.[175] He further apologized for his "despicable" behavior, saying that the comments were "blurted out in a moment of insanity",[176] and asked to meet with Jewish leaders to help him "discern the appropriate path for healing."[177] After Gibson's arrest, his publicist said he had entered a recovery program to battle alcoholism.
On August 17, 2006, Gibson pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor drunken-driving charge and was sentenced to three years probation.[176] He was ordered to attend self-help meetings five times a week for four and a half months and three times a week for the remainder of the first year of his probation. He was also ordered to attend a First Offenders Program, was fined $1,300, and his license was restricted for 90 days.[176]
At a May 2007 progress hearing, Gibson was praised for his compliance with the terms of his probation and his extensive participation in a self-help program beyond what was required.[178]
In October 2011, Robert Downey, Jr., who has a history of overcoming legal problems and drug addiction, was honored at the 25th American Cinematheque Awards. Downey chose Gibson to present him with his award for his life's work. After Gibson's introduction, Downey did not discuss himself but instead explained he had chosen Gibson since he had helped Downey through his hardships. Downey then told the audience: "I humbly ask that you join me, unless you are completely without sin, and in which case you picked the wrong fucking industry, in forgiving my friend of his trespasses and offering him the same clean slate that you have me and allowing him to continue his great and ongoing contribution to our collective art without shame." After the speech, the two friends hugged onstage to applause.[179]
Controversies[]
See also: Braveheart § Portrayal of Longshanks and Prince Edward and The Passion of the Christ § Allegations of antisemitism
The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) accused Gibson of homophobia after a December 1991 interview in the Spanish newspaper El País in which he made derogatory comments about homosexuals.[62][160] Gibson later defended his comments[62] and rejected calls to apologize even as he faced fresh accusations of homophobia in the wake of his film Braveheart.[157] However, Gibson joined GLAAD in hosting 10 lesbian and gay filmmakers for an on-location seminar on the set of the movie Conspiracy Theory in January 1997.[180] In 1999 when asked about the comments to El País, Gibson said, "I shouldn't have said it, but I was tickling a bit of vodka during that interview, and the quote came back to bite me on the ass."[158]
In July 2010, Gibson had been recorded during a phone call with Oksana Grigorieva suggesting that if she got "raped by a pack of niggers," she would be to blame.[181][182][183][184] Gibson was barred from coming near Grigorieva or her daughter due to a domestic violence-related restraining order.[181] The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department launched a domestic violence investigation against Gibson,[119] later dropped when Gibson pled no contest to a misdemeanor battery charge.[124]
Theatre credits[]
Year Title Venue Notes 1976 Le Chateau d'Hydro-Therapie Magnetique Jane Street Theatre, Sydney With Steve Bisley 1977 Mother and Son NIDA Theatre, Sydney With Steve Bisley and Judy Davis 1977 The Hostage NIDA Theatre, Sydney With Steve Bisley 1977 Once in a Lifetime NIDA Theatre, Sydney With Steve Bisley and Judy Davis 1978 Oedipus the King Adelaide Festival of the Arts With Colin Friels 1978 Cedoona Adelaide Festival of the Arts With Colin Friels and Judy Davis 1978 The Les Darcy Show Adelaide Festival of the Arts With Colin Friels and Judy Davis 1979 Romeo and Juliet Perth & Sydney With Angela Punch-McGregor 1979 Waiting for Godot With Geoffrey Rush 1979 On Our Selection Sydney Directed by George Whaley 1981 No Names, No Pack Drill Sydney With Noni Hazelhurst 1982 Death of a Salesman Sydney Directed by George Ogilvie 1993 Love Letters by A. R. Gurney Telluride, Colorado With Sissy Spacek
Awards and honors[]
In 1985, Gibson was named the "Sexiest Man Alive" by People, the first person to be named so.[185] Gibson quietly declined the Chevalier des Arts et Lettres from the French government in 1995 as a protest against France's resumption of nuclear testing in the Southwest Pacific.[186] On July 25, 1997, Gibson was named an honorary Officer of the Order of Australia (AO), in recognition of his "service to the Australian film industry". The award was honorary because substantive awards are made only to Australian citizens.[187][188]
Australian Film Institute Award: Best Actor in a Lead Role, for Tim (1979)[189] and Gallipoli (1981)[190]
Academy Award: Best Picture, for Braveheart (1995)[60]
Academy Award: Best Director, for Braveheart (1995)[60]
People's Choice Awards: Favorite Motion Picture Actor (1991,[191] 1997,[192] 2001,[193] 2003,[194] 2004)[195]
People's Choice Awards: Favorite Motion Picture Star in a Comedy (2001)[193]
ShoWest Award: Male Star of the Year (1993)[196]
ShoWest Award: Director of the Year (1996)[197]
American Cinematheque Gala Tribute: American Cinematheque Award (1995)[198]
Hasty Pudding Theatricals: Man of the Year (1997)[199]
Australian Film Institute: Global Achievement Award (2002)[200]
Honorary Doctorate Recipient and Undergraduate Commencement Speaker, Loyola Marymount University (2003)[201]
World's most powerful celebrity by U.S. business magazine Forbes (2004)[202]
The Hollywood Reporter Innovator of the Year (2004)[203]
Honorary fellowship in Performing Arts by Limkokwing University (2007)[204]
Outstanding Contribution to World Cinema Award at the Irish Film and Television Awards (2008)[205]
Nominations
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Rydell
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American actor, director (b. 1929)
Mark Rydell (born Mortimer H. Rydell; March 23, 1929)[1][2][3] is an American film director, producer, and actor. He has directed several Academy Award-nominated films including The Fox (1967), The Reivers (1969), Cinderella Liberty (1973), The Rose (1979), and The River (1984). He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Director for On Golden Pond (1981).
Actor
[edit]
Rydell initially trained in music.[4] As a youth, he wanted to be a conductor. He said he left music because of the proliferation of drugs among the musicians: "Heroin was the drug of choice," he said. "Knowing that I have an addict's personality in that a little is good but a lot is better, I knew I was in danger. So I went back to college and went to the Neighborhood Playhouse."[5] He studied acting at The Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre in New York City. His first significant roles were as Walt Johnson on The Edge of Night, and as Jeff Baker on As the World Turns, which he played from December 12, 1956, to 1962. The role of Jeff was a particularly popular role with the audience.[6] During the series run he directed Roots off-Broadway in 1961.
In 1962, Rydell declined to sign another long-term contract at ATWT, and producers had his character die in a car crash.[7][8] He later won plaudits for his role of violent Jewish mob kingpin Marty Augustine in Robert Altman's The Long Goodbye (1973). His most recent significant film role was in Woody Allen's Hollywood Ending (2002).
TV director
[edit]
Rydell moved into directing television and soon became very successful. He did episodes of Mr. Novak; Ben Casey; The Reporter; Slattery's People; I Spy; The Wild Wild West; The Long, Hot Summer; and Gunsmoke.[5] He said later: "I come from the school of sitting around the table for two weeks examining every detail of the material, working out relationships with the actors, so they know what they are doing, bringing them to locations, so they can get comfortable."[5]
Feature films
[edit]
Rydell's first feature as director was The Fox (1967) which was a box-office hit, in part due to its then-rare lesbian content. He signed a multi picture contract with the film's producer Raymond Stross, but disliked working with him. Rydell said he ended up paying out four times his fee for the picture to get out of the contract. Nonetheless, he credits Stross for starting his film career.[9] He directed Steve McQueen in The Reivers (1969). Rydell and friend Sydney Pollack, who had known each other since they were both actors, formed a company, Sanford Productions, and signed a six picture contract with the Mirisch Brothers.[10] They planned to make Good Luck, Miss Wyckoff, which was eventually made in 1979 by other filmmakers.[11][12]
Rydell directed John Wayne in The Cowboys (1972). He made a romantic comedy, Cinderella Liberty (1973), with James Caan and Marsha Mason. Around this time he said he did not want to make genre movies: "I want to create my own genre."[13] He was reunited with Caan on Harry and Walter Go to New York (1976) which was a box-office flop, and directed the pilot episode of Family (1976).[14]
Rydell directed The Rose (1979), starring Bette Midler, which was a huge hit.[15] So too was On Golden Pond (1981), starring Henry Fonda and Katharine Hepburn, for which Rydell received an Oscar nomination as Best Director. "I'm this week's heat," he joked at the time.[16] He was going to make a film based on the play Nuts but instead did The River (1984), with Mel Gibson and Sissy Spacek.[17] It was not a commercial success. Neither was Rydell's next film, For the Boys (1991), with Caan and Midler.
Rydell made the television movie McBride and Groom (1993) and the feature Intersection (1994). He directed the television movies Crime of the Century (1996), which starred Isabella Rossellini and Stephen Rea, and James Dean (2001), which earned actor James Franco a Golden Globe award. Rydell also acted in the movie, playing Jack L. Warner (head of Warner Bros). He was credited as executive producer on An Unfinished Life (2005).
In 2006, Rydell directed the movie Even Money. His last credit to date was an episode of Masters of Science Fiction, "A Clean Escape".[18]
Three years later – working with actor Martin Landau and screenwriter/playwright Lyle Kessler – he produced an education seminar, The Total Picture Seminar. The two-day event covers the disciplines of acting, directing, and writing for film. The three have worked together as a team for many decades at The Actors Studio teaching and coaching professional actors, writers, and directors. In 2010, Rydell joined the Advisory Board of Openfilm, an online video sharing site created to help aspiring independent filmmakers.
He executive produced the documentary A Coup in Camelot (2015).
Personal life
[edit]
Mortimer H. Rydell was born on March 23, 1929,[1][2] to a Jewish family in New York City.
Rydell married actress Joanne Linville in 1962. The couple had two children, Amy and Christopher, both actors. Rydell and Linville divorced in 1973. Rydell had another son, Alexander, from his second marriage to documentary producer Esther Rydell. That union ended in divorce in 2007.[citation needed]
Filmography
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As director
[edit]
Film
[edit]
The Fox (1967)
The Reivers (1969)
The Cowboys (1972)
Cinderella Liberty (1973)
Harry and Walter Go to New York (1976)
The Rose (1979)
On Golden Pond (1981)
The River (1984)
For the Boys (1991)
Intersection (1994)
Even Money (2006)
Television
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The Phil Silvers Show (episode of TV series) (1955)
Mr. Novak (episode of TV series) (1964)
Ben Casey (episodes of TV series) (1963–64)
The Reporter (episode on TV series) (1964)
Slattery's People (episode of TV series) (1965)
I Spy (episodes of TV series) (1965)
The Wild Wild West (episode of TV series) (1966)
The Long, Hot Summer (episodes of TV series) (1965–66)
The Fugitive (episode of TV series) (1966)
Gunsmoke (episodes of TV series) (1964–66)
Family (episode of TV series) (1976)
McBride and Groom (failed pilot) (1993)
Crime of the Century (TV movie) (1996)
James Dean (TV movie) (2001)
Masters of Science Fiction (episode "A Clean Escape" of TV series) (2007)
As actor
[edit]
Crime in the Streets (1956) as Lou Macklin
The Long Goodbye (1973) as Marty Augustine
Punchline (1988) as Romeo
Havana (1990) as Meyer Lansky
A Man Is Mostly Water (2000) as Distributor
Hollywood Ending (2002) as Al
Senior Entourage (2020) as Mark
References
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FRANKENSTEIN (film) – Creative Team Eric B. Sirota (Book, Music and Lyrics) Eric B. Sirota is a composer/playwright, having written 5 full-length musicals. He studied musical composition at Brown University. He is also a highly published research scientist with a … Continue reading →
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FRANKENSTEIN (film) – Creative Team
Eric B. Sirota (Book, Music and Lyrics)
Eric B. Sirota is a composer/playwright, having written 5 full-length musicals. He studied musical composition at Brown University. He is also a highly published research scientist with a PhD in Physics. His musical, Frankenstein, played Off-Broadway at St. Luke’s Theatre for 3 years, following earlier development at NYMF. His musical Your Name On My Lips, an original love story, had two productions at the award-winning venue Theater for the New City, where Sirota was a resident playwright. Go, My Child had staged readings at the Actor’s Temple Theatre in NYC. In 2019, he was the recipient of the Denis Diderot grant to attend the Chateau Orquevaux residency where he wrote A Good Day (Music, memory, an old flame, and Alzheimer’s) which is currently in development. As composer (with librettist Vin Morreale Jr.), he wrote A Day at the White House, which was recently recorded as a radio podcast. Other major works include The Flemington Oratorio and a dramatic musical setting of Unetane Tokef. Eric is married to the artist Cara London, and were featured in the New York Times. (https://EricSirota.com)
John Lant (Executive Producer)
John is a 40-year veteran in the entertainment industry and has been involved in over 700 television, film, music tours, and theatrical productions as a creative producer / director, consultant, and showrunner. An award-winning producer, director, writer, lighting and set designer, John has mounted productions at Cal Arts, Ricardo Montalban, Powerhouse, Long Beach Playhouse, Glendale Center, Hollywood Playhouse, LATC, Ivy Substation, the Jewel Box Theatres and Write Act Repertory in LA. His work and productions garnered Drama-Logue, Diamond, ADA, NAACP Awards, LA Weekly and Backstage Picks of the Week, Garland, Valley Theatre (LA) nominations and receiving the California Service Award from the State Legislature for his Community Outreach and Service to the Arts in 2000, 2001, 2008 and 2009. He has produced 17 Off-Broadway Plays and is currently the Producing Artistic Director of Write Act Repertory and is a TRU Board, APAP Presenter, and Associate SDC Member. He currently lives in New York, worked at Carnegie Hall for 13 years pre-COVID, and out of producing offices here and in LA.
Tamra Pica (Executive Producer)
Tamra’s theater and television work spans 35 years with credits ranging from prop designer to producer of plays, musicals, dance, and ice shows. She’s produced over 15 Off-Broadway productions including the long-running Frankenstein, Swing, and Lili Marlene and LA premieres most recently: Path to Catherine. Alongside theater, Tamra’s production, casting, and development television work can be seen for companies such as Disney, Sony, Cartoon Network, NBC Studios, TBS, CBS, MTV, ABC and FOX. TV/Film Producing credits include America’s Prince: The JFK Junior Story, Venice the Series, and she casts projects for theater, film and television in both New York and Los Angeles.
Joe LoBianco (Director)
Joe is an award winning film Director and Director of Photography for feature and short films. As a director of film and music Joe started his career working for commercial clients such as the NY Jets, Bloomingdales and IBM. Joe’s photography has also been featured throughout the world and has circulated to millions. Joe directed the full length feature film 3 Doors From Paradise now in worldwide distribution, the short films Quality Control and multiple award winning Dinner For Two. TV shows include The Toronto ArtHouse Film Festival Awards, the MMA show ChokeHold. He is also the director of photography for the children’s show Funikijam and Art Garfunkel music videos and promos as well as Off-Broadway plays such as Ximer.. Joe was also the editor on the multiple award winning documentary Keeping Christmas.
Kent Jeong Eun Kim (Musical Director)Kent is a composer, musical director and pianist based in New York City. Originally from South Korea, she studied classical piano performance at Hansei University, and completed her Masters of Fine Arts in Musical Theatre Composition at the Tisch School of the Arts at NYU in 2017. Career highlights include a collaboration with Alan Ferber’s Big Band in 2016, a reading of her full-length musical Out With a Bang, in 2017, playing in Icon with Broadway legend Donna McKechnie, and ongoing pianist and musical director work at St. Luke’s Theatre (Frankenstein, It Came From Beyond, Geek, Wicked City Blues).
Maarten Cornelis (Lighting Designer)
Maarten is a Belgian born American Light Designer and Actor. He is a recent transplant from Los Angeles and is happy to be working in NYC (the capital of all theatre). He has been in the entertainment industry professionally since the age of fourteen. During the span of the last 20 years, Maarten has worn multiple hats. His interest in the technical world of entertainment spiked after studying at The Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute in Los Angeles. He led their theater group, producing and directing their shows and holding the role as the institute’s Technical Director. Over the years, Maarten has been designing the lights for many live events, working with/for Francis Ford Coppola, Stephen Rivkin, Lloyd J. Schwartz, Martin Landau, Mark Rydell, Dino De Laurentiis, Ennio Morricone, and many more. He is happy to be back at St. Luke’s Theatre and to be working with this talented group of people. Please check www.maartencornelis.com for more info.
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TOP 12 QUOTES BY MARK RYDELL
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Discover Mark Rydell famous and rare quotes. Share Mark Rydell quotations about films and competition. "I long for the days when grosses were..."
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A-Z Quotes
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https://www.azquotes.com/author/40789-Mark_Rydell
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https://variety.com/2002/film/markets-festivals/rydell-locks-up-gig-to-direct-rko-room-1117869536/
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en
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Rydell locks up gig to direct RKO ‘Room’
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2002-07-11T06:00:00+00:00
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Mark Rydell will direct thriller "The Locked Room" for RKO, based on the third novella in Paul Auster's "The New York Trilogy."
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en
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Variety
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https://variety.com/2002/film/markets-festivals/rydell-locks-up-gig-to-direct-rko-room-1117869536/
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Mark Rydell will direct thriller “The Locked Room” for RKO, based on the third novella in Paul Auster’s “The New York Trilogy.”
“The Locked Room” follows a young writer who, on the death of his best friend, takes over his friend’s life, wife and career, throwing his own life into a maelstrom.
RKO chairman-CEO Ted Hartley acquired the rights to the novella and will produce the picture. Screenplay was adapted by Lem Dobbs (“The Limey”) and Chloe King (“B. Monkey”).
Rydell recently directed the critically acclaimed “James Dean” for TNT, for which he received a Directors Guild nomination. He also co-starred as Jack Warner in that film.
Repped by Innovative Artists, Rydell’s feature directing credits include “On Golden Pond,” “The Reivers” and “The Rose.”
RKO recently completed principal photography on “Shade” and is scheduled to produce “Age of Consent” and “The Set Up” later this year.
The company also is developing “Richest Girl in the World” at 20th Century Fox, “Suspicion” for Dimension, “Monkey’s Paw” at DreamWorks and “Every Girl Should Be Married” at Paramount.
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https://classictvhistory.wordpress.com/tag/television-directors/
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The Classic TV History Blog
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Posts about Television Directors written by Stephen Bowie
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en
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https://s1.wp.com/i/favicon.ico
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The Classic TV History Blog
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https://classictvhistory.wordpress.com/tag/television-directors/
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“Why not directing? There’s no big mystery about it. It’s – well, it’s just having a point of view and – and a certain amount of selection and taste.”
– Vince Edwards
Last month, I wrote about the problems of writing about television direction. With the auteur concept in film criticism, the collaborative nature of the medium becomes a dangerous trap: how do we determine, through research or comparison, which decisions were made by the director rather than by the writer, the cinematographer, the actors, or the editor? Television multiplies that problem by sheer volume – most directors racked up a hundred or more TV episodes during their career – as well as access – logistically, how many of those hundred or more shows can be located and screened in quick succession? Compounding the daunting element of scale is the assumption that television is not a director’s medium. More than in feature filmmaking, the director’s role is proscribed, with producers, stars, and editors routinely making decisions that would typically fall to the director in cinema. The process of discerning a television director’s personal style is a kind of reverse engineering. It’s not enough to study Director X’s episodes of many different series. One also needs to look at other directors’ episodes of the same series, as a means of identifying which touches are unique to Mr. X and which might be part of a given show’s overall “house style.” And, perhaps, familiarize oneself with the unquantifiable work of many actors: how are they different under Mr. X’s direction than under someone else’s?
The fraternity of fanatics who have seen enough television to be qualified to undertake such studies is small. I’m one of them, but even I find the prospect intimidating. In the back of my mind, I have a list of a dozen or so episodic directors active between the fifties and the seventies who consistently delivered first-rate work. But it would take a pretty big research grant to fund the hundreds of hours necessary to write authoritatively about even one of those bodies of work.
*
Which brings us to Vincent Edwards, the star of Ben Casey, and also an occasional director of television segments. Edwards might seem an unexpected choice to serve as our guinea pig here, but there are certain factors that make him well-suited to our purpose. First, his videography is manageable: he helmed only about twenty-two hours of television across nearly thirty years. Second, he was famous, which means that we have access to more biographical information than we would expect to find for a rank-and-file television director. Third, the case of the television-star-turned-director is a fairly specific phenomenon that recurs across the history of successful TV series, and we may be able to benefit from certain generalizations about how it happens, and what the results tend to be.
The other factor that makes Edwards interesting is that he’s something of an extreme case. Edwards came to mind when I was reading reviews of a Mad Men episode directed by John Slattery (who, like his co-star Jon Hamm, has become one of the series’ regular directors). One mentioned Slattery’s “lovely lyrical images,” another his “usual visual flair.” The seven episodes of Ben Casey that Edwards directed are also precociously cinematic. In fact, Edwards’s kid-in-a-candy-shop infatuation with the camera and its possibilities is so manifestly in evidence that his work on Ben Casey has attained a tiny cult following among the handful of aficionados who pay attention to such things. (The post seems to have been swallowed by the internet, but Edwards-as-director came in for a round of both admiration and scorn a few years back in one of the discursive discussions on auteurist extraordinaire Dave Kehr’s blog.)
*
“I just went up [to the producers of Ben Casey] and said, ‘I wanta direct a show.’ They said, ‘OK, we’ll find a script.’”
– Vince Edwards
The script that Edwards pulled was a heavy female melodrama called “Dispel the Black Cyclone That Shakes the Throne.” The patient of the week was one Clarissa Rose Genet (Mary Astor), a reclusive opera star whose comeback has been thwarted by blindness (because blind people have never become successful recording artists) and also by the controlling impulses of a live-in manager (Eileen Heckart) who prefers that her solo client remain as helpless as possible. Although Clarissa’s heterosexuality is carefully established by the introduction of an old flame (James Dunn), it’s implied that the hysterical, unsympathetic manager, Polly Jenks (Eileen Heckart), is motivated in part by an obsessive same-sex attraction. Can Dr. Casey untangle all these unhealthy attachments and convince Clarissa to have the surgery she requires?
“It needed – uh, fluidity,” said Edwards of this rather lugubrious outing. “Fluidity” translated into a range of showy, often unmotivated camera movements. Fittingly for someone with a megastar’s ego, Edwards began his directing career on a crane: “Cyclone”’s cold open commences with a crane down into Clarissa’s cavernous foyer, and then a two-minute long-take in which Polly and a doctor (Wilton Graff) outline some of the basic facts of the plot. Edwards tries to enliven several routine dialogue scenes by sending the camera on a slow, circling prowl around the actors. There’s a distracting fast pull-back on Astor during a scene in which she makes a pivotal shift in loyalty, from Polly to her estranged, alcoholic daughter (Luana Anders), and an equally flashy zoom in on Heckart at the moment when Polly learns she has been fired.
Amid the expected overzealousness of a freshman director, though, there are good instincts. Edwards creates a number of stark, forceful close-ups on his actors:
“Where does the shadow go when the sun has set?” is the last line of the episode – Polly’s, as she contemplates an empty life after her break with the healed Clarissa. Edwards creates a literal correlative for this line, a dramatic final image in which the camera pulls back, isolating Heckart in a shadowy hospital corridor amid a row of bright spotlights extending into the background. No actual hospital anywhere in the world, it’s safe to say, has ever employed a lighting scheme of this sort.
Edwards’s second episode, “For a Just Man Falleth Seven Times,” concerns dying businessman Thomas Hardin (Lew Ayres), who experiences a burst of strength and euphoria during his final hours. Once buttoned-down, now impulsive, he goes forth into the seedy side of town and proposes marriage to a coded prostitute (Lee Grant). Edwards tries out more ambitious compositions in the red light district sequences: a handheld camera following Ayres as he walks through the scuzzy streets, a god’s-eye point of view to establish a waterfront dive. The circling pans from “Cyclone” recur, and Edwards sets up several compositions that can be called signature shots. The most evident is a positioning of actors at right angles in different planes, which creates a dramatic depth of field and also allows Edwards to eschew the standard shot-reverse shot grammar of the television conversation. Here it is in “For a Just Man”:
And an earlier instance in “Cyclone”:
Amid the show’s rudimentary sets, Edwards sought out striking places to put the camera. In “For a Just Man” he positions Grant and Sharon Farrell (playing Ayres’s daughter) behind the fence that surrounds the upper-floor terrace (an indoor set) where patients are often seen recuperating.
An identical shot recurs in Edwards’s next episode, “Every Other Minute It’s the End of the World”:
The ninety-degree positioning of actors reappears in “Every Other Minute,” too:
“Every Other Minute” is a convoluted story about a teenaged girl (Patricia Hyland) who’s going blind as a result of diabetic retinopathy; the twist is that her father (Francis Lederer) is a survivor of Nazi medical experimentation and thus vehemently opposes the experimental procedure that Dr. Casey proposes to save Hyland’s eyesight. The script never recovers from that cringeworthy (in)convenience, not even after a wild second-act curveball. Edwards, rather like Dr. Casey, is hell-bent on experimentation, most of which does not spring organically from the material. There’s an attention-grabbing move in a scene between Casey and the German refugee, in which the camera suddenly whirls around a hospital wall and places the two actors in silhouette, behind the window. The dialogue at that moment is routine; nothing in it compels such an extreme shift in emphasis. (Casey even turns off an overhead lamp for no reason, except to make the lighting more dramatic.)
Edwards also sets up some odd shots in a scene where a frantic Hyland go-go dances herself into a coma. At one point, Edwards creates an impossible image, intercutting overhead shots of the dancers with low-angle shots taken from a hole in the floor (which is, of course, not evident in the wider shot). A moment later, Hyland appears to be positioned upright against a wall, even though her character is supposed to be lying on the floor. These shots are disorienting, but without evident purpose.
Hyland, of whose brief acting career Ben Casey was one of the high points, recently spoke favorably of Vince Edwards as “a lovely, generous director” who instilled “a warm sense of trust in her.” Fifty years earlier, Eileen Heckart offered a similar endorsement of Edwards’s first time behind the camera: “I didn’t think much of the script, but he was brilliant. He’d done all his homework.”
All of Edwards’s first three directorial turns feature not just strong performances but, notably, strong performances by women. In “Cyclone,” the two leads deliver work that’s well within their range – Astor world-weary and formidable, Heckart sharp and shrewish – but there’s also a fine, fragile performance by Luana Anders (below) as the neglected, wistful daughter. In “For a Just Man,” solid, enjoyable work by Lew Ayres is upstaged by the two younger women in Hardin’s life: open-faced Sharon Farrell, playing Cordelia to Hardin’s lear, and Lee Grant as the waterfront wife, bitter but secretly vulnerable. (Farrell was dating Edwards at the time; Grant took a similar approach to a similar character two years later on Peyton Place, and won an Emmy for it.)
It’s commonly assumed that actors who become directors will function best as actors’ directors, and Edwards seems to succeeded in that regard. “People who are actors often know how to deal with actors really well. They don’t treat them like a light fixture,” said Hyland. “There’s just a little more rapport.” But another, less intuitive scenario is that actors will take performance as something already mastered, and become more consumed initially with mise-en-scene, because it’s the aspect of the job that’s new to them. This was true of Vic Morrow, the Combat star who started directing for his series a year after Edwards, and of Sydney Pollack and Mark Rydell, two young character actors who initiated a permanent transition into directing on Ben Casey – and of Edwards as well.
Compared to what came before, Edwards’s next three episodes – “Eulogy in Four Flats,” a quasi-comedy about an old con man who fakes illness so that his neighbors will take care of him; “Three L’il Lambs,” an unsold backdoor spinoff about three newly-minted residents of varying skill and commitment; and “Run For Your Lives, Dr. Galanos Practices Here,” a silly, cliched yarn about the generational conflict between an aging Latin American revolutionary and his assimilationist doctor son – were comparatively restrained. The signature shots are still in evidence – for instance, the god’s-eye point of view in “Eulogy”:
And the ninety-degree positioning of actors in “Three Li’l Lambs”:
But the eye-catching set-ups are less evident. In fact, only this restricted composition in “Three Li’l Lambs,” which emphasizes one character’s anxiety about his professional performance and echoes the earlier behind-the-fence set-ups, stands out. (It’s also another long take that allows a two-person conversation to play out without cuts.)
A laziness begins to creep in: “Eulogy” contains a twenty-three second shot of Edwards descending a flight of stairs, a shot duration which (along with some of the endless dancing scenes in “Every Other Minute”) suggests that Edwards’s episodes may have come in short. “Galanos,” in particular, is almost entirely conventional in its lighting and composition. And the performances are uneven: Norman Alden is quite moving in the scene shown above, in which his character expresses uncertainty about the choice of medicine as a career, but he conspicuously overplays an earlier scene in which the character botches a diagnosis. Was Edwards passing out of his experimental phase and trying out a more conventional style? Or was he simply getting bored? Did it matter that none of his second three episodes included female roles as prominent as those in the first three?
If there were only six Edwards-directed Ben Casey segments, they would form a predictable arc from novice’s enthusiasm into easily-distracted TV star’s boredom. But there’s a seventh, an episode called “If You Play Your Cards Right, You Too Can Be a Loser,” which is as overstuffed as its title and as gloriously, wonderfully, touchingly self-indulgent any television episode ever has been. Into it, Edwards crams every crash zoom, Dutch angle, ostentatious dissolve, extreme overhead angle, and action-framed-by-a-random-object-in-the-foreground composition that he can muster. (A very small selection of them appears below.) It is his “Wagon Wheel Joe” moment.
What to make of “If You Play Your Cards Right”? Some of Edwards’s excess is justified by the delirium that is periodically experienced by the central character, a glue-sniffing wife-beater (!) played by Davy Jones (only months before he turned into a Monkee). Much of it, though, seems to be an expression of disinterest or contempt toward the material, which is difficult to fault. The script is tawdry and unsubtle, and Jones’s fatal miscasting sinks what ever chances it had; there isn’t even a bit of throwaway exposition to reconcile his British accent with the American ones in which the actors (John McLiam and Louise Latham) cast as his parents speak. In its final season Ben Casey morphed into a serial, and one could argue (perhaps feebly) that the splintering of episodes like “If You Play Your Cards Right” into three or four discrete subplots invites a disorienting mise-en-scene. And there’s one other X factor, the replacement of the long-time cinematographer Ted Voigtlander with his former camera operator, William T. Cline. But Cline’s imagery in the fifth season is generally no more adventurous than the gifted Voigtlander’s had been, and other directors’ episodes in that year are far more sedate. Plus, there is evidence of a clash between Cline and Edwards. (In his memoirs, producer John Meredyth Lucas claimed that Edwards packed on the pounds in between seasons, then scapegoated Cline for making him look fat after the need to slim down was pointed out.) When Edwards went off the directorial rails, it was his own doing.
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The initial assumption one makes about TV stars who begin directing their own shows is that they do so purely as an expression of ego. (“Isn’t directing a TV show that you’re acting in an exercise in vanity?” is how The Atlantic put it, rudely, to Slattery last year.) Perhaps. The actors who launched abortive directing careers off their long-running hits often tend to be the same stars who used their clout to seize control of those shows and push out the original creative teams – for instance, Richard Boone on Have Gun Will Travel and Alan Alda on M*A*S*H. Edwards falls into this category to the extent that, after Ben Casey became a hit, the show’s set ran according to his whims. Although there’s no evidence that Edwards controlled the hiring of producers, or influenced story content, as Boone and Alda did, there was little question of anyone saying no when he expressed the desire to direct.
But it’s important to consider the context behind Edwards’s career move. Ben Casey’s initial producer, Matthew Rapf, was committed booster for young talent and the series was a training ground for aspiring directors from the beginning. Sydney Pollack did his first important television work on Ben Casey, and then paid that forward by inviting his friend Mark Rydell out from New York for an on-staff apprenticeship as a director-in-training. Pollack and Rydell in turn became mentors of sorts to Edwards as he prepared to direct. Crucially, in the years just before Ben Casey, Edwards had the good fortune to work as an actor for some of the most promising filmmakers in Hollywood. He’d garnered some acclaim for leading roles in two existential, quasi-independent films noir (Murder by Contract, 1958; City of Fear, 1959) directed by Irving Lerner, who (presumably at Edwards’s behest) became a regular director on Ben Casey. Edwards appeared in The Night Holds Terror (1958) with John Cassavetes, who remained a friend and cast him in a memorable cameo (as a dumb lug who beats up a whole jazz combo in a long pool-hall confrontation) in the second feature he directed, Too Late Blues. And Edwards was in The Killing (1956), and always spoke proudly of having working with Stanley Kubrick. A smart observer – and Edwards, whatever his other flaws, was anything but dumb – couldn’t help but absorb some of the creativity and enthusiasm of these men.
Edwards shot home movies and other films with a personal eight-millimeter camera, and became an avid shutterbug; according to his second wife, the actress Linda Foster, Edwards’s still photographs displayed an excellent eye for composition. (Notwithstanding that a sneering TV Guide article suggested that Edwards mostly enjoyed photographing the pretty nurses on the set of Ben Casey.) Foster and others suggested that Edwards’s interest in directing was not an indulgence but, in fact, a remedy for some of his diva behavior on the Ben Casey set. The more cerebral task of directing diverted his attention from the excesses of stardom and other personal problems and refocused it on the work. “Vince was volatile but when it came directing he quieted right down and got to work. And he worked hard at it,” said actress Kathy Kersh, who was briefly married to Edwards during Ben Casey and appears in “Three Li’l Lambs.”
Asked if Edwards was a cinephile, Foster said no, but noted that his filmgoing was highly focused. “He’d say we’ve got to go this or we’ve got to go see that. It was quite specific. He was never a ‘let’s go to the movies’ type of person. The only movie I remember he liked [in the seventies], he was crazy about Stallone and Rocky.” Earlier, in a 1966 interview, the actor cited at least one influence that suggested he’d been paying attention to new developments in the cinema: Richard Lester’s peppy mod comedy The Knack … And How to Get It, which opened in Los Angeles in July 1965. Given the chronology, The Knack almost certainly explains the left turn in Edwards’s style between “Dr. Galanos” and “If You Play Your Cards Right.” In that interview, Edwards complained about “old-school” (his words) directors who “are so determined to keep the picture in frame that everything becomes ‘static’” (the reporter’s paraphrase, apart from the last word). Lester seems to have liberated Edwards as a visual stylist.
Unfortunately, at the same time, ABC liberated the actor in a different way: they cancelled his show at the end of the 1966 TV season.
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“[Directing] brings a different sort of adulation. Kazan isn’t mobbed by teen-agers.”
– Vince Edwards
However much Edwards might have enjoyed his work on the back end of the camera, becoming the next Elia Kazan wasn’t on his mind when Ben Casey went off the air in 1966. His priorities, according to a 1965 TV Guide interview, were marriage, kids, and a movie career. Edwards left Ben Casey with a three-picture deal at Columbia and a successful nightclub act that he’d originated during his summer vacations.
Edwards also had a crippling addiction to gambling – specifically, horse racing – one that had been amply covered in the press and that earned him a reputation around town for epic unprofessionalism. He regularly bolted from the set during the middle of the day to go to the racetrack, and even though he’d made millions off of Ben Casey, he was always putting the touch on friends and co-workers for a loan. His lazy attitude towards acting didn’t help, either. While rival TV doctor Richard Chamberlain, also a wooden unknown when Dr. Kildare made him a star, studied the craft and grew into an acclaimed performer, Edwards clung to the snarl and the somewhat smarmy charm that landed him the Ben Casey role. His one-expression-fits-all acting was fodder for nightclubs’ and columnists’ wit. After the three films he top-lined flopped, Edwards had nowhere to go but back to television. If you play the ponies wrong, you too can be a loser.
In 1971, Edwards starred as a psychiatrist in Matt Lincoln, a clear attempt to recreate the magic of Ben Casey; it failed after one abbreviated season. In the meantime Edwards had married (twice) and fathered three kids; with movie and now even TV stardom eluding him, he’d tried all of those goals he enumerated in 1965. Directing worked its way back to the top of the list. One of the last Matt Lincoln episodes was his first directing credit in five years, and his deal with Universal (which produced the series) extended to the closest thing to an auteur effort in Edwards’s videography. Maneater (1973), starring Ben Gazzara and Sheree North, was the first project that Edwards directed without also acting in. He originated the telefilm himself. The story idea about tigers on the loose came from a crony and former stand-in, George Fraser, who had been an animal trainer, and Edwards wrote the teleplay with another member of his entourage, an occasional Ben Casey writer named Marcus Demian. (Horror master Jimmy Sangster did a credited rewrite.) Cecil Smith, TV critic for The Los Angeles Times, wrote that Edwards “builds a fine sense of tension” in his direction, but Maneater earned little attention and mixed reviews.
According to Foster, Edwards expressed a preference for directing over acting more than once, and “tried to develop a couple of things,” but Maneater became the only film or television project that he would originate. During the seventies, Edwards’s always precarious personal life took a nose-dive. He’d been to several psychiatrists to try to control his gambling, but always ended up ditching the sessions and heading to the track. Foster divorced him after nearly a decade of marriage, because of the gambling, and in 1976 he filed for bankruptcy.
It’s likely that most of Edwards’s directing credits after Maneater were undertaken primarily out of financial necessity. He enjoyed a parallel career going back and forth between acting and directing, but most of the directing gigs came from producer friends; Edwards never established himself as a sought-after director. Nearly all of his episodic directing during the seventies and eighties traces back to either David Gerber, Aaron Spelling (a pal since the sixties who called Edwards his “itty-bitty buddy,” and with whom Edwards shared a business manager), or Glen A. Larson (at whose Hawaii estate Edwards married his third wife in 1980).
Most of those shows, with the exception of Gerber’s Police Story, can be charitably called junk, and Edwards was no longer the biggest wheel on the set but, now, just another down-on-his-luck journeyman director. Ten years after the impossible object that is “If You Play Your Cards Right, You Too Can Be a Loser,” do we find anything of the old exuberant Vince Edwards, cineaste, in the likes of Larson’s pablum? Surprisingly, yes – if only a glimmer.
It’s harder to analyze performance in the likes of BJ and the Bear and The Fall Guy than in Ben Casey. Most of the shows Edwards directed in the seventies emphasize action and spectacle over character-driven drama. Of the seven Edwards-directed segments I was able to view, the most accomplished performance came from a young actress: Anne Lockhart (below), playing the guilt-ridden girlfriend of a villain in a two-part Hardy Boys.
Lockhart also turns up in Edwards’s Battlestar: Galactica two-parter, “The Living Legend” (which inspired perhaps the high point of Ronald D. Moore’s remake of that series, making it, in hindsight, the most significant of Edwards’s later directing efforts), giving a less polished performance but still a striking, sexy one. Lloyd Bridges, the primary guest star in “The Living Legend,” does all the things you’ve seen Bridges do a hundred times before, but Edwards assists him with a shadowy entrance that foreshadows the direction his character will turn:
Edwards’s other excursion into the Battlestar empire was a single episode of Galactica 1980, “The Super Scouts Part 1.” In one shot Edwards revives the familiar right-angle positioning of actors that he used repeatedly in Ben Casey:
“Super Scouts” also brings back another favorite Casey tic, the slow circling pan, which is why this child actor ends up addressing Lorne Greene over his shoulder in their scenes together:
Greene and the boy have scenes together on the same set in the second half of this two-parter, which was directed not by Edwards but by Sigmund Neufeld, Jr. While the gauzy fog filter is used there, too, the camera remains static in Neufeld’s scenes. Thus Galactica serves as a rare petri dish in which elements of house style (the filter) can be distinguished from choices made by individual directors (the camera movement).
There are new techniques, not evident during Ben Casey, that Edwards favors in the seventies shows. Here’s a close-up of Lorne Greene from “The Living Legend” in which the actor is positioned toward one side of the frame while others bustle out-of-focus in the background in the other half of the image:
A nearly identical set-up occurs at least three times in Edwards’s episode of BJ and the Bear, “Silent Night, Unholy Night.” Edwards also displays a facility for staging action in real locations, something that Ben Casey – which very rarely left the soundstage – afforded little opportunity to do. Scenes shot in a bank and a department store in “The Super Scouts Part 1” and on the USC campus in Edwards’s episode of David Cassidy – Man Undercover capture more of the flavor of those locations than one typically observes in television location shoots. The “Super Scouts” sequence in which Barry Van Dyke “accidentally” robs a bank builds a unexpected amount of tension as it progresses. As a standalone sequence, it’s more effective than the banal story into which it’s integrated.
Edwards’s rebirth as a TV director fizzled out in the early eighties. There was one outlier, an In the Heat of the Night episode in 1990, and then nothing. According to Linda Foster, he never defeated his addiction to gambling. “He never was going to be a serious filmmaker, because he was too interested in the sixth race at Santa Anita,” said Mark Rydell, who noticed Edwards’s divided focus even as he began preparing for his first turn as a director. “He was a little bit like a rabbit running around rabbit holes. I don’t think he had the patience and discipline to see things through half the time. And he’d get frustrated and take himself off to the racetrack,” said Foster.
“The ultimate satisfaction in film is the director’s. I love it,” said Edwards in 1973, in what may have been his final recorded statement on the subject. “But it’s two months’ work for two weeks’ pay. As an actor, you come in to do an 11-day TV movie, take the money and run. You can’t do that as a director. At least I can’t. I have to be involved every step of the way through post-production up until it’s on the air.”
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Sources (in addition to linked text above): Dwight Whitney, “Anybody Know What Kind of Mood Vince-Baby Is in Today?” TV Guide, April 4, 1964; Whitney, “Vince Baby Plays It Cool,” TV Guide, February 18, 1967; Cecil Smith, “Will Ben Casey Make a Comeback?” Los Angeles Times, December 6, 1973; Kathy Kersh interview in Tom Lisanti and Louis Paul, Film Fatales: Women in Espionage Films and Television, 1962-1973 (McFarland, 2002); John Meredyth Lucas, Eighty Odd Years in Hollywood: Memoir of a Career in Film and Television (McFarland, 2004); and July 2013 telephone interviews with Patricia Hyland Tackett, Mark Rydell, and Linda Foster Winter.
Best remembered for his existential chase movie Vanishing Point (1971), Richard C. Sarafian remains one of the neglected figures of the New Hollywood era. Before he moved wholly into feature filmmaking in the late sixties, Sarafian spent eight years on the A-list of episodic television directors, starting with a brief stint at Warner Bros. A veteran of industrial filmmaking in the Midwest, Sarafian was thirty when he went to Los Angeles and directed his first television episode. He rotated through almost all of the Westerns and private eye shows that were the studio’s mainstay, but concentrated on Lawman, a half-hour horse opera starring John Russell and Peter Brown that still has a small cult following today. During his third year at Warners, The Gallant Men joined the studio’s roster; Sarafian directed nine of the twenty-six episodes. In a telephone interview last month, Sarafian shared his memories of working on the short-lived World War II drama.
How did you land on The Gallant Men?
I got a contract after having directed one episode of a Western called Bronco. They appreciated the fact that I was a first-time director and did well, and signed me to a seven-year contract. So I was a contract director at Warner Bros. at the time, and I did maybe sixty or seventy Westerns. Somewhere in the mix was The Gallant Men.
The pilot was directed by Robert Altman. I’m his brother-in-law, but that had nothing to do with it. I was just a good director. I mean, I considered myself a pretty hot TV director, and the network, ABC, really liked my work. And while I was doing Gallant Men, Robert Altman jumped onto Combat. Basically, I was in competition – it was unwritten, between Robert Altman and myself.
Who do you remember among the cast of The Gallant Men?
Richard Slattery was one. He was a hard-drinking Irishman. Bill Reynolds, he in every way I think fit the character in his personal life as well as in his role within the series. Robert McQueeney had the texture of someone that would fit that role. I can remember his face a little bit, in that he had acne.
What about Eddie Fontaine?
Eddie Fontaine fit the character, and he could sing. After work there was a place nearby where he would go and sing. He had a pretty good voice. But he was definitely “street,” and Italian, and had natural charm.
And Robert Ridgely?
Yeah …. He was a sycophant. He had his nose so far up Robert Altman’s ass that it was bleeding. So, naturally, after he did the pilot with Bob Altman, he remained loyal to him. None of that really meant anything to me, nor was I aware of – I knew that they maintained a relationship, and it wasn’t until [years later when] my sons were at a party where he was trying to undermine me to Bob, and because my children were there, Bob took offense at that and didn’t want to hear it and came and spent most of the time with my kids. Ridgely was a toady.
Did you have trouble working with him during the production of The Gallant Men though?
I never had trouble with anybody. Nobody ever gave me a hard time. I was too strong a director to be countermanded. I had earned the respect of all of them, because I credit myself as – I liked actors, and later on I acted myself, and I probably should have done it earlier on. But I was sensitive to their fears, their insecurities.
The Office of Army Information sent someone from the Pentagon to be an advisor, and I told my cast, I says, “Tell this guy that I was a Medal of Honor winner, that I killed thirty-four North Koreans with an entrenching tool after I lost my bayonet.” We were going to meet him in a local joint where we all gathered after a shoot. So he came down and I was introduced and he stood up erect and saluted me. Anyhow, he would put his hand over the lens if he didn’t think that the moment I was shooting was in the army rule book. Well, I stopped that very quickly. How dare he, you know, censor my work! That’s something you don’t do during a shoot. If you have the power, you might do it later, but not when I’m working.
Richard X. Slattery in “Signals For an End Run.”
Essentially you alternated episodes on The Gallant Men with another director, Charles Rondeau. What can you tell me about him?
He was a colorful, very competent director. He loved cars. I would see him with a new one every two or three months. Once I was sitting with him at a local bar where we went after work, and he said to me, “What is ‘debriss’?” I said, “What do you mean?” He said “Every time I read a script, it says, “The streets are covered with debriss.” I said, “Charlie. Debris! It means trash and broken buildings.”
Anyhow, Charlie was fun to be around, and actors felt comfortable with him. Charlie was a good director. He knew where to put the camera, and when to say cut. You had to know when you got it – when it was done, and you were able to yell out, “All right, let’s move the camera. That’s it. Print it.” He and I alternated, and competed in a way. I mean, we had no way of choosing the scripts. They were just handed to us.
In what way did the two of you compete?
I always wanted my shows to be the best, in terms of style and performance. But the cast carried it through. It was an interesting ensemble of people. One of the major contributors creatively was Bill D’Angelo. I think he helped orchestrated the quality of the scripts. He, and his superior was somebody by the name of Richard Bluel.
Bluel was the producer of The Gallant Men.
Bluel was the producer, but the real producer in terms of casting, and who had his thumb on the quality of the shows, was Bill D’Angelo.
That’s interesting, because William P. D’Angelo (later of Batman) wasn’t credited at all, except with a story credit on one episode.
He may have written some of them, but why he wasn’t credited was just the way things go. I don’t think he ever cared. But he was there, working with Richard Bluel, as his sort of sidekick and confidante and creative ally.
Were they good producers?
They were fun to be around. I liked anybody who liked me! That was the main qualification: if they liked me, they appreciated me, and they didn’t lean on me too hard, and I had gained their trust, that’s all I cared about.
There was always the pressure of not only making a good show, but bringing it in within the parameters of the amount of time and money. I remember asking Charlie Greenwell, the head of production at that time, “Charlie, if we took out all the special effects, if we took out all the extras, if we distilled the show down to its barest minimum, how much would it cost?” Because they complained that the budgets were too high.
He said, “$92,000 per episode.”
I said, “Well, strip it. Strip it of all the whipped cream.” Strip it of all the special effects, the construction, and whatever else goes into creating an episode. The basic cost would be $92,000. You couldn’t bring it in for any less than that. [Variety reported the show’s budget as $114,000 per episode – incidentally, $6,000 more than Combat, which arguably looked like the more expensive show.]
So I enjoyed the series, the cast, the production people, Hugh Benson, who worked as the associate with William Orr, who was the head of television production. Bill D’Angelo, I think, was my main ally and fan, and really appreciated my work. I was able to work on the show with the security of knowing that I was appreciated. I could pretty much resculpt the scripts if I felt there was the opportunity for further improvement.
Do you remember your directors of photography, Jack Marquette and Carl Guthrie?
Carl Guthrie sat in a chair and was able to instruct his electricians by hand motions. Never got up out of his chair. Never took out a meter. He was an old-timer.
How would you describe your visual style, early on, when you were doing the Warner Bros. shows?
Well … adding pace. I learned early on that I was a pretty good editor. When I was an embryo director, I was sitting in a bar, and there was a guy sitting next to me who had drank too much. His name was Bill Lyon. We got to talking. I told him I was a director and he said, “Oh, shit.” He said, “Let me give you a bit of advice, kid. When you cover a scene, move the camera. Move it a little bit. Change the angle.” That was, of course, good advice. And he said, “Second, let me tell you. Every time you make a cut, there’s got to be twelve reasons for making a cut. Either in terms of story, or nuance, or motion. But there should be more than just one reason, not just arbitrarily make the cut.” And this was advice given to me by an Academy Award winning editor [for From Here to Eternity and Picnic].
And one of my closest friends was Floyd Crosby. Floyd, early on in his career [shot] films for Murnau and was a cinematographer on a film called Tabu, and had worked also with Flaherty, the documentarian. He was the cinematographer on High Noon. I was able to get him to come to Kansas City and he guided me through my first effort in directing a movie that I wrote [Terror at Black Falls]. Floyd was my mentor and became like a father figure to me, guiding me if I had questions. The one main [piece of] advice, and the one thing that he hated was for me to shoot into the sun and flare the lens. Later on that seemed to be okay, and was a technique that some directors [used].
But everything had its own needs. What I liked to do was rehearse and then allow the actors to have a lot of leeway, and not have them worry about hitting their marks. I never restricted the actors to meeting chalk marks. So I gave my actors a lot of freedom, and I also was pretty adept at improvisation.
Did you have that luxury to rehearse even on the early Warner Bros. shows?
Yeah, pretty much, but not to the extent that I did later. Within every moment there’s an improvisational opportunity that comes up. I think back on Gallant Men when I didn’t take the advice of Richard Slattery, who had a thing that he wanted to do, and I said no. This was a moment where they were in some sort of tight situation with the Germans, and he ended up with the hat of one of the German officers, and as they marched away for the final moment, he says, “Can I throw the hat away?” And I said no. And to this day, I regret the fact that I didn’t allow him to do that, to let him throw the hat away and while it was still kind of shaking or wobbling on the dirt road, with the troops moving off into the distance, that the final moment was on the German hat. I mean, maybe it doesn’t sound like much, but it was a touch that I think would have been a much better denouement.
I remember the show and how much hard work I devoted to it to give it reality. I remember trying to get a child to cry, that Eddie Fontaine was holding in his arms, and telling the child not to cry, but to laugh. That was able to produce tears, because it unlocked him. That’s how I got lucky, in terms of finding the key to getting the emotion out of the child.
Eddie Fontaine and guest star Anna Bruno-Lena in “Retreat to Concord.”
Where was the show filmed?
It was all shot on the backlot. Some of them were shot in Thousand Oaks. We did some battle sequences there, where we needed more terrain. But as far as the “debriss,” all the debriss was on the backlot. There was one formation of rocks, part of it was called the B-52 rocks, and we were able to – we had a pretty good art director, I think his name was William Campbell – and he was able to create the illusion of being somewhere in the streets or in the trenches during that moment in history.
Were you able to get into the editing room?
There was nothing that could stop me! One of the editors that I remember was Stefan Arnsten. He had lost one leg in the Second World War. But I didn’t have the time, really, to spend as much time as I would [have liked with the editors]. You pretty much finished the show and jumped right on to another. You would look at the first cut, give some suggestions, and that’s it. But so much of the editing is driven by the way you shoot a scene and how it’s covered. It’s not like I gave the editor a lot of choices. You pretty much were locked in to my style.
Did you like The Gallant Men? Was it a good show?
Pretty much. Did I like it? Of course. I don’t see how I can say I didn’t like it. I thought that the show was pretty well-crafted, based on bringing reality to that period in time, in terms of the sets, the locations, and the details that we were able to bring to each episode. But in my early career, early on, I was scared to death most of the time. Not to the extreme that I just described, but scared that I could not deliver both quantitatively and qualitatively the show that I had envisioned. And bring life to the words.
So who won that rivalry with Altman?
I had to respect his style of shooting, and his cast. Vic Morrow was a friend of mine. Altman brought his gift to Combat, and I couldn’t compete with that. Altman knew how to shoot. Altman could should them himself – he could get behind that camera, and he could get into the editing room, and he had a free style of shooting. He was able to get the respect, the attention of all of his cast. So he did a hell of a good job. It was just two different types of shows. I think that Altman’s shows were better, more realistic, with a better cast.
And when The Gallant Men was cancelled after just one season, were you unhappy?
What I was unhappy [about] was that the whole studio was cancelled! It wasn’t just my show. It was The Roaring 20s, it was the Westerns. I had my ham hand in all of them. Jack Webb came in, and he was the broom. It was his job to cancel those shows. ABC was very unhappy with what Warner Bros. was doing. They had about eight to ten shows on the air but ABC didn’t like the quality, I guess, as a result of which the licensing fee for all of these shows was cancelled, and Jack Webb came in and took over. I was the last director to be fired. I was the last person under contract. I never had any physical contact with Jack Webb – never one word. Was I sad? Yeah, because it was work. Listen, I had three kids, then five, and I had to bring home the bacon. That was my home for so many years. It was my genesis. But as soon as I was let go, I went on to do Ben Casey and Kildare and Slattery’s People and some of the other episodic shows. I was in demand. Mainly because the networks felt, I think, from [what I heard], that my contribution as a director was a touch more than the others’, in terms of style and quality.
Another Sarafian composition from “Signals For an End Run,” with guest star Mala Powers at left.
Let us begin with the inevitable New York Times correction, since the “paper of record” rarely manages to get the early television facts right in its obituaries. I hate to pick on the Times, since it followed up its coverage of the gifted screenwriter-director Frank Pierson’s unexpected death last week with a nice round-up of tributes from his colleagues. But William Yardley’s original obit refers to Have Gun – Will Travel as a “1962 television series,” a date that is incorrect in any sense: the classic western debuted in 1957, and Pierson worked on it from 1959 through early 1962, departing late in its fifth season. (The Times’s error has been predictably amplified elsewhere, as in this piece which claims that Pierson entered television in 1962, as Have Gun’s “story editor” – perhaps an accurate description, but never his actual title.)
We’ll come back to Have Gun, but first let’s examine another tidbit from the Times obit, which claims that Pierson (at the time, and already in his mid-thirties, a reporter for Time and Life magazines; here’s a sample, from 1953) sold his first teleplay to the Alcoa Theater/Goodyear Playhouse in 1958. That’s probably accurate, although the finished episode – a Pierson credit you won’t find anywhere on the interwebs, until now – did not air until November 23, 1959. “Point of Impact,” starring Peter Lawford and concerning an Air Force plane crash that kills American civilians, and judged as “labored” by Daily Variety, had over the course of a year passed through the hands of two other writers, Martin M. Goldsmith and Richard DeRoy, leaving Pierson with only a story credit. (The episode was directed by Arthur Hiller, who like Pierson would one day serve as the president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.) By the time the Alcoa aired, Pierson was on staff at Have Gun and his first effort for that series, a rewrite of “Shot by Request,” had slid onto the air on October 10, beating out the Alcoa as his official television debut by six weeks.
Alcoa/Goodyear is an important show, perhaps the only filmed, Los Angeles-based anthology that came close to emulating its gritty, live-telecast New York counterparts. It remains unheralded, probably because it’s so hard to see: I have an incomplete set, telecast decades ago on A&E and butchered to about 21 minutes per. Pierson’s episode is one of the few that’s missing, so I cannot assess its quality. From 1958 until 1960, Alcoa/Goodyear was executive produced by William Sackheim, an important shepherd of new talent who gathered an impressive roster of young writers (Stirling Silliphant, Howard Rodman, Adrian Spies, Leonard Freeman) and directors (Robert Ellis Miller, Walter Grauman, Elliot Silverstein). Many of those names would crisscross with Pierson’s again during his early television years.
Have Gun – Will Travel was one of the first television shows to be wholly hijacked by its star. It was already an offbeat western, its hero a black-clad dandy as well as a scary tough-guy, and Richard Boone, beneath his rugged looks, aspired to serious art. He ran an acting workshop on the side and cast most of his protégés in the show. Have Gun’s success lent Boone the clout to influence its story material in directions that a network usually would not approve, toward comedy and bitter existentialism and allegory. Pierson, hired as an associate producer, found himself elevated to the producer’s chair within a few months when the show’s creator, Sam Rolfe, ended his tenure on Have Gun in a fistfight with Boone. Boone and Pierson were a good match, at least at first; Boone liked to encourage new talent, and Pierson shared his literary pretensions.
“I was reading a lot of French philosophers at the time and heavy into French cinema as well,” Pierson said in Martin Grams, Jr. and Les Rayburn’s The Have Gun – Will Travel Companion. “I felt there was a sardonic attitude that I tended to bring to the show . . . . We were always trying to do new things [and] the danger was that the audience who was tuning in every night was expecting to have a Have Gun – Will Travel experience. The danger was we were taking them outside that experience.” Pierson cultivated his own set of young writers (including Jack Curtis, Robert E. Thompson, and Rodman, who would cross paths with Pierson a number of times, falling out with him bitterly over a rewrite of the 1971 telefilm The Neon Ceiling). He also penned some good episodes himself, including “The Campaign of Billy Banjo” (which brought politics to the Old West) and “Out at the Old Ballpark” (which brought, yes, baseball to the Old West).
Eventually the egos clashed – what Boone and his producer had there, you might say, was a failure to communicate – and Pierson exited Have Gun amicably, moving over to Screen Gems to produce an unusual show for the man who discovered him, Bill Sackheim. Empire was a modern western, an Edna Ferber-esque family melodrama and a proto-Dallas, shot in vivid color and on location in Santa Fe. Pierson and his associate producer, Anthony Wilson (another Alcoa veteran), alternated episodes with the team of Hal Hudson (late of Zane Grey Theater) and Andy White (soon to produce The Loner for Rod Serling). Empire had the ingredients of a meaty, meaningful epic, but the network botched it, eliminating the female characters (played by Anne Seymour and Terry Moore) and adding two-fisted ranchhand Charles Bronson to vie for screen time with the original leads, Richard Egan and Ryan O’Neal.
Still, Pierson did some of his best early work on Empire, becoming a triple-threat (producer, writer, director) for the first time on “The Four Thumbs Story,” an elegy for a Native American war veteran (Ray Danton) whose propensity for violence makes him unfit for human companionship. The forward-looking episode, an adaptation of a chapter from William Eastlake’s Go in Beauty (Sydney Pollack, who worked for Pierson on Have Gun, would film the Eastlake novel Castle Keep), anticipates the interest Hollywood would take in Native American affairs a half-decade later, and in particular Abraham Polonsky’s comeback film Tell Them Willie Boy Is Here.
Empire – still undervalued, and like Alcoa/Goodyear a casualty of anemic distribution, last glimpsed on the Family Channel almost thirty years ago – morphed into a shortened form, retitled Redigo, and died after half a season, evidently without Pierson’s involvement. Pierson then aligned with Naked City and Route 66, writing two scripts for the former (“The S.S. American Dream” was nominated for a WGA Award) and one for the latter. A generational saga, not altogether coherent (especially the ending) and wildly miscast (Pat Hingle and William Shatner as father-and-son Maine lobstermen, named Thayer and Menemsha!), “Build Your Houses With Their Backs to the Sea” begins with the line: “If it’s not too late, Papa, I want to apologize for my behavior during childhood, adolescence, and early manhood.” Watching it today, one can only marvel that something so opaque could find its way onto network television.
Alvin Sargent, the Oscar-winning screenwriter of Julia and Ordinary People, also worked on Empire, Route 66, and Naked City during this time. Sargent told me yesterday that
we both worked for Billy Sackheim and Bert Leonard and we both admired and enjoyed them. I was only beginning a career and had the good fortune to have an agent who got me jobs with these shows. These men were my teachers, taking time to work with me in a way that felt as if I was in the hands and hearts of people who believed I could always make a script better. Small offices, small meetings. The scripts written fast, and quickly on a screen. A writer could see their work a number of times a year. I could learn from that. I could make an adjustment in my mind about dialogue and behavior that could be written better. Something of a screen test for a writer.
Frank Pierson’s screen test didn’t last long. In 1965 he rewrote the parody western Cat Ballou, which won Lee Marvin an Academy Award, and moved on to a series of important features, including Cool Hand Luke and Dog Day Afternoon (for which Pierson won his own Oscar). Pierson also directed three films – The Looking Glass War, A Star Is Born, and King of the Gypsies – all of which are confident, complex, and underrated.
In between, he continued to dabble in television, notably creating and producing Nichols, the James Garner flop that retains a bit of a cult following. Although this, too, was a comic western, it was less an extension of Cat Ballou (or Maverick) than an attempt to bring the much darker, bolder genre revisionism of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid or even The Wild Bunch to television. Like The Wild Bunch, Pierson’s brilliant, devilishly funny pilot was set at the very end of the West, where the reluctant lawman (Garner, of course) rides a motorcycle and flirts with a local girl (Margot Kidder) who appears very, very stoned, and everyone seems dangerously confused and surly about the rapid social and technological changes surrounding them. Unfortunately – and just as Pierson’s erstwhile friend Howard Rodman would do a few years later in his melancholy deconstruction of the private eye genre, Harry O – Pierson wrote in such a distinctive voice that nobody else could emulate it, and Nichols devolved into an uneasy and somewhat cartoonish updating of Garner’s old schtick from Maverick.
As many of his obituarists have noted, Pierson outwitted a relentlessly ageist industry and remained productive right up to the end, directing some terrific made-for-television movies (especially 2001’s Conspiracy) and recently spending two non-consecutive years on the staff of Mad Men, with a season of The Good Wife in between. The danger with Mad Men, of course, is that Pierson might have been installed as a gray-bearded eminence, an oracle whom the youngsters could ask “what was it really like back then”; but Matthew Weiner seems to have genuinely valued him as a peer. “Signal 30,” the episode that Pierson co-wrote this year, was seen as perhaps the season’s high point. I wonder whether anyone has noticed that the accomplishment of writing episodic television over a fifty-year span – and not just any episodic television, but some of the most acclaimed dramatic series of 1962 and of 2012 – is likely a unique and unrepeatable record.
One hundred years and eleven days ago, the RMS Titanic sank in the North Atlantic, taking 1,514 lives with it. This month, to commemorate (or compound) the disaster, Twentieth Century-Fox has re-released James Cameron’s bloated epic Titanic in fake 3D. The Criterion Collection has gotten into the act by debuting Roy Ward Baker’s A Night to Remember (1958), an earlier, more stately film about the famous sinking, on Blu-ray, with a bounty of new extras.
A Night to Remember was based on a best-selling non-fiction account of the Titanic’s demise by Walter Lord – a book that was also staged, with great fanfare, as a live television drama in 1956, some two years before the Baker film was released. Given its recent habit of licensing live television segments as supplements for its discs (including The Fugitive Kind and 12 Angry Men), one might have expected Criterion to acquire the Kraft Television Theatre version of “A Night to Remember,” too. For whatever reason, they didn’t – but you can watch it on Youtube.
Semi-forgotten today, Kraft’s “A Night to Remember” was remarked upon at the time as one of the (ahem) high-water marks of live television. Dramatically taut, the production was also newsworthy for its deliberate pushing of the physical and technical boundaries of the medium. “A Night to Remember” cost $125,000, slightly more than three times the budget of an average Kraft. One hundred and seven men and women in period costume filled the mock Titanic, and seventy-two of them had speaking parts. There were thirty-one sets, some built at skewed angles to simulate the increasing cant of the sinking vessel, others (seen only for a moment in the final broadcast) in a tank that could be filled with water up to the actors’ waists.
The sets were so vast that the production was moved from NBC’s Studio 8H, to both 8H and 8G, and finally out to the network’s largest available space in exotic Brooklyn. Six cameras, instead of the usual three or four, captured the action. We know these stats because NBC trumpeted them in the press, in a successful campaign to position “A Night to Remember” as one of the year’s most important television events. James Cameron was not the first storyteller tempted to see in the Titanic the makings of a superproduction.
Following an on-camera introduction by Claude Rains, an effectively stentorian and British choice to narrate the show, the first dialogue in “A Night to Remember” is spoken by the familiar actor Marcel Hillaire, here playing a French waiter in the Titanic’s exclusive restaurant with all the hauteur he can muster. Although it also places barbed emphasis upon the cascading incompetence of officers and crew that delayed rescue – we’re teleported over to the nearby SS Californian, where a radio operator misses the distress call because he can’t be bothered to turn a crank – television’s “A Night to Remember” finds its theme in the suddenly lethal class distinctions that informed the outcomes available to the Titanic’s passengers. Hubris and privilege are the boogeymen in “A Night to Remember,” not the iceberg that (thanks to the limitations of the medium) we barely see.
The show’s director and co-writer, George Roy Hill, a Minneapolis-born Yalie who styled himself as a cantankerous Irishman, empathizes with the proletariat in steerage and sneers at the rich twits in first class in a way that resounds in the era of the one-percenter – even though the third-class passengers are sketched more roughly and enjoy less screen time than the swells on the upper decks. Mrs. Astor slices open a life vest to see what it’s made of – cork; “Why, how clever!” – and another young lady expresses delight because she’s never seen an iceberg. Hill practically seems to be opining: good, natural selection is finally catching up with these fools. Perhaps the most effective moment in “A Night to Remember” is the one in which J. Bruce Ismay, the head of the White Star Line, steps into a lifeboat even as he knows that women and children remain on the sinking ship. The glare of utter contempt that the crewman who lowers the raft fixes upon Ismay is unforgettable, and Hill does not even need a close-up to emphasize it.
“A Night to Remember” is a compendium of vignettes like those. It follows certain characters from start to finish, like the Caldicott-and-Charters pairing of Gracie and Smith (Larry Gates and Woodrow Parfrey, cast effectively against type), who meet their fates with stiff-upper-lip reserve. Other famous passengers, like Isidore Straus (Edgar Stehli), whose wife opts to stay on the ship rather than leave him behind, are glimpsed for only seconds. If the 1958 feature finally picks a central character out of Walter Lord’s panoply – Second Officer Lightoller, a minor character here, becomes in Dave Kehr’s words the film’s “hero . . . an upright representative of the emerging middle class and managerial caste” – the shorter television staging resists fixing on any single figure as a spine; although it does hover occasionally around Thomas Andrews (Patrick Macnee, then unknown), the thirty-nine year-old “shipbuilding genius” who had a hand in designing the Titanic, and whose main function here is to deliver, sheepishly, the technical explanation as to why the ship will surely sink. (Macnee and Andrews were both Scots, so the actor attempted a brogue in rehearsals, delivering his key line as “The ship must go doon.” Hill’s reaction: “Less of the Irish, please.”) [Author’s note, 5/23/12: Much of the last sentence, which was sourced from Patrick Macnee’s 1989 autobiography Blind in One Ear, is erroneous. See the comments section for more information.
Rains, whose dulcet and unmistakably British tones supply snippets of Titanic lore in a voiceover so dense that it is almost an audio book, becomes the vital structuring element of this decentralized narrative. “A Night to Remember” is a docudrama, but one of a specific sort that emphasized the panoramic impact of a particular historical incident. Studio One’s “The Night America Trembled” (about the historic “War of the Worlds” radio broadcast), The Seven Lively Arts’s searing “The Blast in Centralia No. 5,” and Playhouse 90’s “Seven Against the Wall” (on the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre) all took the same basic approach. Already in its death throes, live television made a mini-genre out of this kind of pocket historical epic, the size of which attracted press attention and fostered, perhaps, the poignant illusion that the medium could compete on Hollywood’s own terms with the industry that was about to bulldoze it.
If directors like Sidney Lumet or Paul Bogart, a consummate lover of actors who died this month, were content to work with material that was essentially stage-worthy and intimate, there was another class of live television director that tried to tug the primitive medium toward the art of the cinema. Franklin Schaffner and John Frankenheimer led this pack, with George Roy Hill following close behind; all three achieved a destiny as epic-scaled filmmakers that is difficult, on the surface, to reconcile with their origins in television. (At least until one recalls that Hill wasn’t the only member of this daredevil trio to seek out the foolhardy challenge of filling a television studio with a large quantity of water: Schaffner nearly electrocuted the cast while sinking a submarine in Studio One’s “Dry Run,” and Frankenheimer built a huge water tank to simulate the flooding of the Mississippi River in Playhouse 90’s “Old Man.”) Inevitably, all three men were determined careerists – an ambition to work on a huge canvas seems inextricable from a large ego – and “A Night to Remember” plays as a very self-conscious calling card on the part of a young director eager to be noticed.
One of the least contestable auteurist entries in live television, “A Night to Remember” was not only directed but also co-written – with John Whedon, later a sitcom writer and also the grandfather of Joss Whedon – by Hill; and while Kraft at that time had a producer, Stanley Quinn, he was an ad agency lifer with few creative bona fides apart from Kraft. Quinn also took no screen credit on “A Night to Remember,” leaving many published accounts to list Hill as the producer, perhaps not wholly inaccurately. Hill may also have exerted influence through a key personal relationship. When last we encountered George Roy Hill, he was seducing the underage star of one of his early features. During that time, and possibly as early as 1956, Hill was also having an extramarital affair with Marion Dougherty, who was the uncredited casting director of Kraft and therefore, without question, a key creative component in a live show boasting a telephone book-sized cast list.
A control-room director’s dream, “A Night to Remember” supposedly featured over one hundred cues (that is, cuts) in its first act alone. The personality that Hill imposes upon it is an omniscient one: an unseen hand – whether it be that of God, George Roy Hill, or Claude Rains, clutching Lord’s book and in a sense standing in for the author – directing our attention, rapidly, forcefully, toward a succession of brief moments on the surface of a vast event. Andrew Horton, the chief chronicler of Hill’s career, finds “A Night to Remember” interesting mainly for the way in which it anticipates the complex editing schemes of later films like Slaughterhouse-Five. Indeed, the director’s cutting is masterful. Early on, Hill introduces the characters in steerage with a fade from a violinist, entertaining the haughty diners in first class, to a bagpiper, leading an exuberant dance below decks. Near the end, when an immigrant family that has fought its way up from steerage to the top deck arrives just in time to watch the last lifeboat being lowered, Hill drops out the cacophonous sound, scoring the moment of dreadful realization with a second of total silence. Hill superimposes the dangling boat cable over the family’s stunned faces. “A Night to Remember” is subtle at times, blunt at others – but amid the chaos of disaster, the tonal shifts make sense.
“A Night to Remember” enjoyed a rapturous reception. Every major critic, even the tough two titans, Jack Gould (of the New York Times) and John Crosby (of the Herald Tribune), approved. NBC took out a full-page ad in the Times to tout its a repeat of the kinescope on May 2, a rerun that, because of reuse payments due to the gargantuan cast, cost the network more than putting on a new play would have.
(“A Night to Remember” was not restaged live, as some sources claim. And, incidentally, if you look in the wrong places you’ll also find Hill deprived of his co-writing credit, or read that Hill won Emmys for writing and directing the show. Although he was nominated for both, and “A Night to Remember” for best dramatic program, the only Emmy win was for its live camerawork).
The live television dramas that tend to hold up best are the small, claustrophobic character pieces – the storied “kitchen sink” opuses. Adaptations of books and plays, or shows that give off a whiff of the “tradition of quality,” are the most likely to seem stodgy and ancient. But, despite its unconcealed self-importance, “A Night to Remember” works both as a drama and, more vitally, as an action piece. It moves at a terrific pace and builds real suspense along the way. Only the ending seems somewhat crude. Hill wisely uses as little stock footage as possible (like the 1958 film, this version borrowed its Titanic exteriors from a 1943 German film that built some impressive miniatures), but that decision renders the climax necessarily brief. Hill tries for a pair of shock effects, neither of which really comes off – at least to the extent that we can observe today.
The show ends in the main stateroom, empty except for a steward and the shell-shocked designer Andrews. As the stewart flees, the entire set tips forward, toward the camera, and the sea sweeps away the steward and rushes toward the viewer – an effect achieved, none too convincingly, by shooting through a fishtank that was rapidly filled with frothy water. Just before that, allegedly, we see Andrews crushed (or decapitated, according to one account from the set) by a gigantic chandelier that falls from the stateroom ceiling. Hill staged the effect through a multi-camera sleight-of-hand, by cutting quickly from a close-up of Patrick Macnee to a long shot, from another angle, in which Andrews is represented by a dummy. Contemporary reviews record some shocked reactions to this graphic image. But, in the surviving kinescope, the effect is lost. The Andrews dummy is barely visible at the left edge of the frame, and one would never notice his “death” unless, as I did, one goes back for a second look with the knowledge of what’s supposed to be there. On a first viewing of the extant “A Night to Remember,” the final image of Andrews is now a stunned, guilt-ridden close-up of Macnee’s face. Not a bad ending at all – but also a sobering reminder of how the poor positioning of a kinescope camera can rewrite television history.
Walter Doniger, one of the most exciting of the early episodic television directors, died on November 24 at the age of 94. He had suffered from Parkinson’s disease for a number of years.
A natural behind the camera, Doniger (pronounced with a hard “g”) favored long takes, composition in depth, and a relentlessly mobile camera. Though he was reluctant to acknowledge his sources and insisted that his style grew organically out of the material he was given, Doniger’s best work drew from the films of William Wyler, Orson Welles, Akira Kurosawa, and particularly Max Ophuls. The Doniger look paralleled, on film, the live and videotaped work that John Frankenheimer was doing at the same time, in Climax and Playhouse 90, on the stages of the CBS Television City.
Originally a screenwriter (of Rope of Sand, Tokyo Joe, and Along the Great Divide), Doniger, like most writers who become directors, grew frustrated with how his words were interpreted on screen. Television gave him the chance to direct (and gradually phased out his writing career, although he penned a terrific 1962 Dick Powell Show called “Squadron”). One fairly early outing was “The Jail at Junction Flats,” the 1958 second-season premiere of Maverick and an episode famous for its contrarian non-ending. Ed Robertson, author of the fine companion book Maverick: Legend of the West, described Doniger last week as “an early advocate of ‘forced perspective,’ the innovative style made famous by Sidney Furie in The Ipcress File,” and added that
Doniger’s use of close-ups, particularly in the sequences where Garner and Zimbalist tie each other up, also made “Junction Flats” one of the most visually interesting episodes of Maverick. As series writer Marion Hargrove noted in my book (which, by the way, will be re-released soon), “Doniger was a good director, although I remember that Garner and Zimbalist kidded him about using a lot of close-ups. One day, Jim showed up for work wearing just about enough makeup for an Academy Aperture: extreme close-up of his face, from his eyebrows to his lower lip.”
But maybe Garner really wasn’t kidding. “The Jail at Junction Flats” was to be Doniger’s only Maverick. Combative and uncompromising, Doniger alienated many of the producers and stars with whom he worked. He directed significant runs of Cheyenne and Bat Masterson, but his resume is dotted with an unusually large number of major shows for which he directed a single episode: Highway Patrol, Checkmate, The Detectives, Mr. Novak, Judd For the Defense, The Virginian, Night Gallery, The Bold Ones, Barnaby Jones, Movin’ On, McCloud.
Then came Peyton Place, the 1964 megahit prime-time serial. Doniger directed the series’ second pilot, after an initial hour (directed with Irvin Kershner, and with some significant differences in the cast) was rejected by ABC. The series ran twice a week, and Doniger split the directing duties with a far less flashy director named Ted Post. In his episodes, Doniger crafted a consistent aesthetic based around deep-focus compositions and lengthy dolly shots. This technique required the actors and camera crew, accustomed to the bite-sized, shot-reverse shot approach that was common in television, to master longer sections of script at a time and to hit their marks with absolute precision.
Doniger drove everyone crazy on Peyton Place. Producer Everett Chambers briefly fired him after an on-set blow-up between Doniger and actress Gena Rowlands, and Chambers’s predecessor, Richard DeRoy, sniffed that Doniger “would give me fourteen pages of notes on a half-hour script and I’d . . . put it in my drawer and forget it.” But Doniger knew that he had a protector in executive producer Paul Monash, and he used that impunity to get away with some of the most daring shots ever executed on television. “I could try anything because I knew they wouldn’t fire me,” Doniger told me in a 2004 interview.
In one episode, for instance, Doniger staged a three-and-a-half-minute party scene, with dialogue divided among almost the entire principal cast, in an unbroken shot that had the camera circling through the Peyton mansion set several times. In another, Doniger placed the camera in a fixed position on a crane overlooking the town square. After the crane had descended, the operator removed the camera from its mount, stepped off the crane, and followed an actor onto a bus that drove off the backlot. (Doniger’s cinematographer on Peyton Place, Robert B. Hauser, was also a genius, who had helped to establish the newsreel-influenced, handheld-camera aesthetic of Combat.)
In a show that maintained a dangerously disproportionate talk-to-action ratio, Doniger’s imagery created a formal density, a cinematic quality, that distinguished Peyton Place from the corps of superficially similar daytime soap operas. Taken as a whole, Doniger’s episodes of Peyton Place comprise a suite of some of the most elegant compositions and camera movements ever executed on television. Below I have assembled a small gallery of “Doniger shots” – a term that he used proudly in our interview, although I can’t remember whether it was Walter or I who introduced it – but of course they can illustrate only Doniger’s eye for framing and lighting. To see his camera in motion, you’ll have to track down the thing itself.
(Only the first sixty-five episodes of Peyton Place, one of the four or five great masterpieces of sixties television, have been released on video; tragically, Shout Factory appears to have abandoned the series due to poor sales.)
In 1968, after directing about 175 half-hours (not sixty-four, as the Internet Movie Database and his Variety obit would have it), Doniger left Peyton Place of his own accord to accept a contract with Universal. Typed as a serial drama specialist, he directed the pilot for Bracken’s World and ended up as a producer on The Survivors, a glitz-encrusted, Harold Robbins-derived disaster that anticipated the eighties boom of glamorous nighttime soaps. After that it was back into episodic television, including some good shows (Owen Marshall; Lucas Tanner; Movin’ On; Ellery Queen) and back to fighting with producers and stars; Doniger gave Robert Conrad, of Baa Baa Black Sheep, particular credit for inspiring his semi-retirement.
Although he never found another canvas like Peyton Place, Doniger continued in this late period to develop his distinctive look. In their book Rod Serling’s Night Gallery: An After-Hours Tour, Scott Skelton and Jim Benson called Doniger’s camera moves “complex and sinuous,” and documented his sole effort for that series, the Serling-scripted “Clean Kills and Other Trophies,” in some detail:
Notes assistant director Les Berke, “Normally when you would do a four-page scene, you do your rehearsal, then you do a partial or full master shot, and then you go in and get all your coverage shots. But with Walter, he would go in and shoot three-, four-, five-page masters and the reverses were built into the master in such a way that all you had to do was go around on one person usually, pick up their close-ups for the entire scene and walk away from it. He was brilliant. Walter Doniger made many a camera operator want to commit suicide.”
“This was very hard on the crews,” admits Doniger, “but you have to learn to take risks in my business or you become a hack. When you do those shots, you have to have an excellent camera operator, an excellent crab dolly man, an excellent focus puller, and all three of them have to work together at the right instant or it doesn’t work. I thought that I could ‘flow’ the camera so that the audience wouldn’t be distracted by a lot of cutting.”
And yet Serling disapproved. Skelton and Benson wrote that the author “stated later he would have preferred a blunter, more visceral visual interpretation to match the violent undercurrents in his script.” Translation, perhaps: don’t use your camera to distract from my words. Night Gallery was another one-and-done for Doniger.
Although he wrote and produced the grade-Z action flick Stone Cold in 1991, and tried to get other scripts off the ground well into his long illness, Doniger’s last work as a director was the 1983 made-for-television movie Kentucky Woman. This Norma Rae-ish film, which starred Cheryl Ladd as a woman forced by poverty to work as a coal miner, was Doniger’s personal favorite, perhaps because, as its producer and writer, he had more control over it than anything else he directed.
Like Sutton Roley, a cult figure whose exuberant camera pyrotechnics are slightly better known among TV aficionados, Doniger should have been a major film director. (He did direct a few minor but interesting B-movies early on: Unwed Mother, House of Women, and Safe at Home.) Bad luck, the industry stigma of working in episodic television, and his own willfulness sabotaged his career. If it ever becomes easier to assemble recordings of all the world’s television episodes and cross-index them by writer and director, then scholars may rediscover Doniger. Until then, you can take my word for it that he was a small-screen equivalent of Joseph H. Lewis or even Sam Fuller, a director who placed an unmistakable visual stamp on nearly every piece of film he touched.
Dorothy Malone and Mia Farrow (episode 192, March 10, 1966).
Ryan O’Neal and Barbara Parkins (episode 342, June 5, 1967). In James Rosin’s book Peyton Place: The Television Series, Parkins said that Doniger “would encourage me at times to speak more with my eyes than with my words. He’d allow me that moment of silence where the look would sometimes express much more than the dialog [sic].”
Leigh Taylor-Young (episode 334, May 8, 1967).
Doniger’s fetish for framing action within objects in the extreme foreground usually added meaning; here, Betty (Barbara Parkins) is a prisoner in the wine goblet of her emotional blackmailer, the wealthy town patriarch Martin Peyton (George Macready, barely visible on the right) (episode 334, May 8, 1967).
Tom Donovan, one of the last of the major live dramatic anthology directors, died on October 27 at the age of 89.
Donovan directed at least two fondly remembered classics from the early television drama. One of them, “The Night America Trembled,” was a Studio One that told the story behind Orson Welles’s infamous 1938 War of the Worlds radio broadcast. Golden-voiced Alexander Scourby played Welles, and the huge cast included unknowns such as Ed Asner (as “third reporter”), Warren Beatty (“first card player”), Warren Oates (“second card player”), and John Astin (not even credited, as another reporter).
“Night,” which has appeared on various DVD releases of dubious legitimacy, feels a bit creaky today – there’s no heart amid all the bustle. But “Button, Button,” a famous episode of Way Out, remains vivid in the memories of many who saw its original broadcast, and it still works brilliantly today. A prelude to Sidney Lumet’s Fail-Safe, “Button, Button” takes place entirely in an underground military bunker, where a nervous officer (Tim O’Connor) must decide whether to launch a retaliatory nuclear strike after all outside communications abruptly cease. In keeping with Way Out’s supernatural theme, there is a character named Sergeant Gee (Warren Finnerty), a new recruit who knows far too much about the men in the bunker and who offers every argument in favor of pressing the button. Is Gee just a warmongering hillbilly, or is he perhaps an agent of something much more sinister? The ambiguity remains at the conclusion. Every element of Donovan’s direction maximizes the viewer’s nuke-paranoid anxiety, not only the claustrophobic staging but also the clever contrast in acting styles between the solid, reassuring O’Connor and the wild-eyed, wheedling Finnerty.
Beginning his career as a stage manager and bit player on Broadway in the late forties, Donovan transitioned into television with a meager staff job at CBS. “I was offered $20 a day, on call, with no guarantee of days to be worked,” Donovan said in an interview for the Directors Guild of America. “Joe Papp, a fellow stage manager at the time, described the four steps of promotion at CBS: stage manager, assistant director, director, and out.” Essentially, Donovan matriculated as predicted, remaining at CBS for nine years and spending much of that time as an associate director.
Though he may have directed for Danger and other CBS programs as early as 1954, Donovan’s first significant work as a director came on the prestigious anthology Studio One during its final two years (1956-1958) on the air. Donovan was also in the directing rotation on The United States Steel Hour during its vestigial years (1960-1963), during which time that series came to enjoy the distinction of being the last prime-time show to be broadcast live on a regular basis. (It, too, had gone to tape by the end.) In the meantime Donovan helmed a few series episodes – for Hawk and N.Y.P.D. – but was in greater demand as a director of live and videotaped dramatic specials.
Among those specials were: a musical version of “The Bells of St. Mary’s” (1959), with Claudette Colbert; a remake of “Ninotchka” (1960); a take on “The Three Musketeers” that starred Maximilian Schell and Vincent Price; a production of Hemingway’s “The Killers” (1960) in which boxer Ingemar Johanssen was recruited to play Swede (“his movements were unnatural and indicated that . . . Donovan had overcoached him,” wrote one reviewer); “The Man Who Knew Tomorrow” (1960), a fantasy for U.S. Steel with Cliff Robertson as a writer whose characters come to life; “The Dispossessed” (1961), a liberal drama in which the black actor Juano Hernandez played Native American leader Chief Standing Bear; “The Law and Lee Harvey Oswald” (1963), a panel discussion about the Kennedy assassination; the football-themed “A Punt, a Pass, and a Prayer” (1968), one of the first contemporary, original dramas done on The Hallmark Hall of Fame; and “The Choice” (1969), a David Susskind-produced drama for Prudential’s On Stage about the moral implications of the then-new technology of heart transplantation.
“I had a few turkeys, but most of the stuff I was pretty proud of,” Donovan recalled.
If the list above does not speak for itself, here is another one, which may imply that Donovan enjoyed a reputation as an actor’s director. These are some of the performers he worked with in one-off television productions, all of them armed with enough clout to choose their material and their directors: Edward R. Murrow (in “The Night the World Trembled”); Jackie Gleason (in Donovan’s only Playhouse 90, a 1958 adaptation of William Saroyan’s “The Time of Your Life”) and Art Carney (in two taped dramas from the mid-sixties); Helen Hayes and Patty Duke (in a 1958 Christmas episode of U.S. Steel); Edward G. Robinson, in “The Devil and Daniel Webster” (1960); Henny Youngman (in a 1961 U.S. Steel); Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne, headlining the final U.S. Steel in 1963; and Richard Burton (in Donovan’s lone feature, Lovespell). That’s not to mention the many young actors Donovan helped to bring along, including Gene Hackman (in at least two U.S. Steel Hours, the earliest in 1959), Richard Harris (in 1958’s “The Hasty Heart”), and Jill Clayburgh (in “The Choice”).
Like David Pressman, who died in August and whose career somewhat parallels his, Donovan faced a choice in the mid-sixties: either move to Los Angeles or move into soap operas, which were virtually the only dramatic programming originating out of New York. Donovan chose the latter. He became, in 1964, the original director of the long-running Another World, and also originated Our Private World, a short-lived prime-time spin-off of As the World Turns that tried to cash in on the Peyton Place craze. Eventually producing as well, Donovan spent nearly four decades in soaps, during which time he passed through Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing, Hidden Faces, A World Apart, Where the Heart Is, Ryan’s Hope, and General Hospital.
*
Robert Collins, who died on October 21 at the age of 81, was an Emmy-nominated writer, director, and producer. He was perhaps best known as the creator of Police Woman.
Police Woman was a more commercial spin-off of Police Story, the acclaimed anthology of cop tales that became one of the most unanticipated outliers of quality television in the seventies. Collins was one of that show’s first and most valued writers. “He just can’t miss. Every Collins script is off-beat, right-on, and sparkling,” wrote Police Story creator Joseph Wambaugh in a memo to the producers. The most famous of those sparklers was probably “Wyatt Earp Syndrome,” a well-researched look at a peculiar psychological phenomenon whereby beat cops, in their fourth or fifth year on patrol, grow restless and begin to take chances and initiate confrontations. The only compromise in Collins’s script was the title: the actual term among police was the John Wayne Syndrome, but legal squeamishness compelled a silly change.
Collins was past thirty-five when he came to prominence as a writer (television may have been a second career). Immediately in demand after debuting on The Invaders, Collins moved on to The Name of the Game, Dan August, Cannon, Mod Squad, Sarge, and The Sixth Sense. Prior to Police Story, he did his best work on a pair of medical dramas. For The Bold Ones, Collins wrote “A Nation of Human Pincushions,” which wondered whether acupuncturists were healers or quacks, and “A Standard of Manhood,” a moving story of male impotence. Collins also wrote two of my favorite Marcus Welbys: “Fun and Games and Michael Ambrose,” about a diabetic teenager and his seemingly uncaring father (John McMartin), and “Another Buckle For Wesley Hill,” which guest starred the great, underrated Glenn Corbett as a physically active man who must accept that illness will curtail his independence.
I’m pretty sure that “Another Buckle,” in late 1970, marked Collins’s directorial debut. While he continued to work as both a writer and director for hire, Collins was able to direct his own material on Welby, The Sixth Sense, Police Story, Medical Story, and possibly other shows. The roving hyphenate – that is, a freelancer who is able to both write and direct for a series without also being its producer – was and remains rare in episodic television, which isolates direction from story more decisively than filmmaking does. Douglas Heyes (Maverick; The Bold Ones) and Montgomery Pittman (77 Sunset Strip; The Twilight Zone) are the only two writer-directors I can think of who managed this trick for a large stretch of their careers, and being in their company is a feat I perhaps admire more than some of Collins’s more obvious accomplishments.
Via his telefilm scripts, Collins also co-created the trucker drama Movin’ On and developed the short-lived Serpico for television (David Birney was no Al Pacino), but as with Police Woman both were handed off to others once they went into production. His Police Story plaudits launched Collins into the realm of made-for-television movies, where all the brightest TV talents went in the seventies, and he focused on biopics and current events stories: J. Edgar Hoover, The Life and Assassination of the Kingfish, The Hijacking of the Achille Lauro. “Gideon’s Trumpet,” a Hallmark Hall of Fame about a famous Supreme Court case and one of Henry Fonda’s final starring roles, was Collins’s best-known longform. He also directed two undistinguished theatrical features, 1979’s Walk Proud and then Savage Harvest two years later.
*
The glory days of the trade paper obituary, in which an issue of the weekly Variety might fill two or three full pages with lengthy death notices, are long gone. These days, if the family remembers to send over a press release, it might get uploaded to the trades’ websites – usually with any spelling and factual errors intact. For Robert Collins, The Hollywood Reporter added a few details to a paid death notice that ran in the Los Angeles Times. For Tom Donovan, Variety padded a DGA press release, which properly enumerated Donovan’s Guild service but neglected his creative work, with a few details gleaned from the on-line sources. (Note how tentatively the obit recounts his credits: “episodes of” Danger and General Hospital and Another World on this or that date, because the Internet Movie Database cherry-picks these credits, and the reporter can’t be bothered to do the research that would fill in the gaps and emphasize the most important work.) And once upon a time, Donovan and Collins would surely have merited mention in the New York Times and the Los Angeles Times, respectively. But both of those publications have become increasingly indifferent to entertainment industry deaths. The assumption, I guess, is that it’s up to the unpaid citizen journalists to cover this beat now – but I’m not sure that’s happening in practice.
Although Tom Donovan recorded an oral history for the Directors Guild of America, he was missed by some of the other major outlets who do that kind of work, including the Archive of American Television and (regrettably) myself. As far as I know, no major interview has been published with Robert Collins, who may be in part the victim of a very common name; as of this writing the Internet Movie Database, for instance, has his date of birth and middle initial wrong, although at least most of the credits it attributes to Collins are actually his. But it doesn’t help that the seventies remain something of a historical ghetto for television, at least apart from the Norman Lear and MTM sitcoms. No one that I know of is doing substantial work on the best dramatic series of that decade – almost all of which were short-lived and underrated – and although the golden age of the made-for-television movie has a devoted cult following, all but a few of the films themselves remain maddeningly out of circulation, an rights-tangled marketing nightmare that no DVD label (save the Warner Archive) has attempted. I’m just discovering them myself, and not in time.
Sources include Ann Farmer’s Spring 2008 DGA Quarterly profile of Donovan, and The Encyclopedia of Television Directors, Volume 1 (Scarecrow, 2009) by Jerry Roberts. The Wambaugh quote is from Tom Stempel’s Storytellers to the Nation: A History of American Television (Syracuse UP, 1992).
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Posts about Movies written by Robert Trussell
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Stage & Scream in Kansas City
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Forrest Attaway had nobody but himself to blame.
One day the actor found himself on a remote country road somewhere out in Kansas, where filmmakers Mitch Brian and Todd Norris were shooting him from various angles and distances to put together a 60-second trailer promoting the Metropolitan Ensemble Theatre production of “The Rainmaker.”
“There was not a QuikTrip or anything within 30 miles of this place,” Attaway said.
In the play Attaway plays a character named Starbuck, a confidence man who blows into a drought-stricken rural community selling his services as someone who can bring rain.
“Originally my idea was Starbuck’s just standing out in the field and the camera pans in and moves in on one eye and you see a lightning bolt in his eye,” Attaway said.
Brian and Norris didn’t have the equipment to do it in one shot the way Attaway envisioned it. But they accomplished the same thing in a series of cuts that go from an extreme long shot of Attaway coming down a dirt road to an extreme close-up of his eye where, indeed, a lightning bolt flashes.
It wasn’t a particularly hot day, but they were able to shoot Attaway from far enough away that heat waves can be seen rising from the dirt. And in the editing process they turned the lush greenery on the roadsides parched and brown.
“They made it a better idea,” Attaway said. “I love those cats.”
The slick trailer for “The Rainmaker,” shot in muted colors, is one of several Brian and Norris have made over the last year or two for local theater companies. Their first effort was a short promotional film for the Living Room’s 2012 production of “Bucket of Blood,” a play Brian wrote based on the 1959 Roger Corman cult film, in which interviews with artists involved were intercut with scenes from the public-domain film.
Since then they’ve shot trailers for “Burn This,” “Fool for Love” and “Sex, Drugs, Rock & Roll” at the Living Room; “The Rainmaker,” their first for the MET; and “The Mountaintop” and “Venus in Fur” for the Unicorn. Their latest is a promo for “Gruesome Playground Injuries,” which opens at the Fishtank Peformance Studio this weekend.
Visit a theater company’s website and you find videos, but often they fall into two categories: yakking talking heads and performance footage shot from a stationary camera. Brian and Norris are offering a third option: Deftly edited little movies meant to stimulate the viewer’s curiosity.
“We’ve all seen those bad local TV commercials with bad lighting,” Brian said. “And it never makes me want to see the play.”
Norris put it this way: “What’s more fun as a filmmaker? To shoot a rehearsal? Or make a minimovie?”
Not so long ago, filmmakers in Kansas City did their thing, and theater folk did theirs. There wasn’t much overlap between the two communities. But that’s changing. When Attaway directed “Fool for Love” for the Living Room earlier this year, he cast one experienced stage actor — Robert Elliott — but for the other roles turned to performers who had mainly worked in film — Amy Kelly, Jason Miller and Curtis Smith.
“I like the more real, gritty kind of film acting,” Attaway said. He added that the trailers Brian and Norris are shooting might be one way to achieve what every theater company wants: Finding a younger audience.
“Anything we can do to bring that younger audience in has to have that familiar feel to it,” he sad. “We were all raised on television and movies.”
Brian, who had supported himself as a screenwriter for years, had never considered writing a play until sitting through rehearsals and performances of the Coterie Theatre’s second production of “Night of the Living Dead,” in which his daughter played a zombie.
“After watching ‘Night of the Living Dead’ for 10 performances, I realized I knew how I could do this,” he said.
Jeff Church, the Coterie’s artistic director, approached him about writing a “Living Dead” sequel. The result was a 2009 production of “Maul of the Dead,” a comedic gorefest directed by Ron Megee, which began with zombies chasing security officers into the lobby of the Off Center Theatre before the audience had been seated.
“For me it was great,” Brian said. “I didn’t want any blackouts. I wanted to write sustained action, which you don’t get to do when you’re writing a movie.”
Subsequently, Brian wrote “Sorority House of the Dead,” an homage to 1980s slasher movies, which was staged by Megee at the Living Room. Then came “Bucket of Blood,” also performed at the Living Room. Now he’s firmly in the Living Room orbit. All three plays have been published and have been produced elsewhere, including two productions in Australia.
The cross-pollination between art disciplines in Kansas City is at an all-time high, Brian said.
“There’s a lot of creative synergy right now,” he said. “There’s a lot more crossover. There’s just a creative vibe going on in Kansas City.”
Norris said shooting the trailers has introduced him to a community of artists he hadn’t known.
“Mitch is much more familiar with the theater scene than I am,” Norris said. “I am very new to this so one of the fun things for me doing these promos is meeting all these terrific actors. So for me it’s like networking.”
Shooting the trailers has fundamentally changed the way Norris thinks about actors and playwrights.
“It went from a zero to a thousand for me,” Norris said. “I was one of those guys who had never seen good theater. My perception of theater was: ‘This is kind of lame, sort of stupid.’ But when I started seeing good theater at the Living Room and other places, I was like, ‘Oh, now I get it.’ I’m kind of a born-again theatergoer right now.”
When Attaway approached Karen Paisley, the MET’s artistic director, and pitched the idea for shooting a “Rainmaker” trailer, she didn’t hesitate.
“I said, let’s go for it,” Paisley said. “It’s interesting when you’re working with a modern audience. We can’t make theater be a medium that it isn’t, but helping people access something in their imagination in a mode of communication that is acceptable to them is not a bad idea. I love the whole look of it.”
Cynthia Levin, the artistic director of the Unicorn, said she first saw some of Brian and Norris’ work at a fundraiser for the Living Room. She invited them to shoot a promo for “The Mountaintop,” the final show of the previous season, which resulted in a moody black-and-white piece showing actors Walter Coppage and Chioma Anyanwu performing short clips of dialogue.
Levin said she was pleased with their work and wanted them back.
“The quality is fantastic,” she said. “They’re filmmakers. They do really great work, and I just knew I wanted them to do something for ‘Venus in Fur’ to open the season.”
Brian and Norris first worked together when Brian directed “Stay Clean,” a short film based on a James Ellroy story. Norris was the director of photography. They’ve worked independently and in partnership with others, but the work they do together falls under the umbrella of their company, Jetpack Pictures.
Where can they be seen? There’s no central forum for that. Some of Brian and Norris’s work can be seen on the Unicorn and Living Room websites. Videos cannot be embedded on the MET’s website at the moment. But the minimovies get shared widely on Facebook and Jetpack Pictures has its own Vimeo channel.
Brian said he and Norris hope to expand their client list and make trailers for other theater companies in town.
“No one has been disappointed yet,” he said. “A lot of it is getting people to trust you. We’ve both been making films since we were kids. So we have got a combined 70 years of filmmaking experience. It sounds awful but it’s true. We live and breathe this stuff.”
The other day I rang up George Hamilton.
He was out in L.A., catching some rays poolside. And my first thought was: Well, where else would he be?
“Couldn’t be a better day,” the actor/producer said. “I love to be in the sun, sitting around the pool.”
Hamilton, thought of less as an accomplished actor than a charming personality, is on the road with the national tour of “La Cage aux Folles,” the award-winning musical that opens next week at Starlight Theatre. Hamilton plays Georges, the owner of a nightclub where his partner, Albin (played by Christopher Sieber), performs in drag as the club singer Zaza.
When Georges’ son brings his fiancée and her conservative parents to visit, Georges and Albin have to conceal the nature of their relationship. Laughter ensues.
Hamilton, 73, plays the “straight man,” as it were, but says his real job is to charm the audience.
Hamilton has been performing steadily since the late 1950s, when he was a contract player at MGM. In that era he appeared in a number of high-profile films — “Light in the Piazza” with Olivia de Havilland, “Home From the Hill” with Robert Mitchum, “All the Fine Young Cannibals” with Robert Wagner and Natalie Wood — and he has maintained an active career since.
He played Hank Williams in “Your Cheatin’ Heart” and eventually began developing and producing his own films, including a biopic about daredevil Evel Knievel and the comedies “Love at First Bite” and “Zorro the Gay Blade.”
He was part of the cast of the prime-time soap “Dynasty” and even appeared on “Dancing With the Stars.”
In 2008 he published a memoir in which he described his unconventional upbringing — his father was a bandleader, his mother an actress — and his relationships with a cavalcade of actresses and other famous women, including Lynda Bird Johnson when her father was president.
The book also revealed that he and his stepmother had an affair when he was 12, although he hardly considered himself a victim.
But in our conversation, Hamilton revealed a businesslike attitude when it comes to his chosen art form. He’s not a man who tries to impress you. But he does have some great stories to tell.
Q. Tell us about life on the road.
A. I’ve grown to like the show. It’s a very difficult thing to do for me. It’s a steep learning curve. I love to do things that are a little out of my reach, sometimes out of my grasp. But I always like the challenge. And so it’s gotten easier for me. If the audience doesn’t feel you’re pleased to be there, why should they?
I like the people I’m working with. I like the part. I like the atmosphere. The challenge is always still there because there’s so many … things that go on in a live performance that you have to develop a whole new set of techniques than you would in film. And I like that a lot. I’ve had a lot of things happen that have given me a chance to dig down and try things I hadn’t tried before.
Q. How long had it been since you performed on stage?
A. Four or five years. I was on Broadway with “Chicago.” But then I was hurt and had to have an operation on my knee, and then I came back and did it again.
Broadway is a different animal than touring, and touring is a different animal than dinner theaters and plays. There’s a circuit of summer things that a lot of actors do, and I used to do without telling anybody because it’s the only way to learn timing. So I made it my business from the time I was under contract to the studio to make them think I was in the south of France living the life of a playboy, but the truth was I was often billed above the roast beef out in the sticks. So it’s been fun for me to do it. Touring for me is pretty hard. It’s much harder than Broadway. You have eight shows a week, five of which are Friday through Sunday. And you then have to go to the next city and get ready for your next performance. And you have press and travel all in the same time. So there’s no time off. You learn a whole different set of survival techniques.
It’s not very glamourous, the life on the road.
Q. A couple of years ago a local theater company produced the musical “Light in the Piazza.” Coincidentally, Turner Classics showed the (1962) film about the same time, so my wife and I watched it. We agreed you were convincing as a young Italian guy and there you were playing Rossano Brazzi’s son. What was that like?
A. You can be in the business for a lifetime and still not have captured what you’re about on film or have a performance you can point at and say, “This is really good or great.” Because this business is about their vision of you and not what yours is. It’s very hard to break molds and stereotypes, especially when you’re under contract to a big studio as I was.
That movie came at a time when contract players were thought of as chattel. So being under contract to a studio was not a really a help. It was more of a hindrance. New actors were coming on the lot and they were independent. … (The studio) knew they had you in a pinch, but they didn’t respect that very much.
So I knew that I had to do things that were not expected.
They used to have what they called the script cage, where they mimeographed all these scripts at night that would go out to producers. So I spent a lot of time after hours … and I’d read every script the studio had. And I found “Light in the Piazza.” I loved the idea of it. I thought it was a very sensitive movie and one that would be hard to pull off.
So I started working on the accent, and I went to Rossano Brazzi and said to him, “I want to play your son.” Rossano was a very nice man, typically Italian, and was henpecked by his wife quite a lot. But I spent time with him, and I would watch every mannerism he had and how he would speak.
I went to the head of the studio, who didn’t want to know about it at all, and he said they had a fellow by the name of Tomas Milian, who was a young actor, and he was going to play the role. And I said, “He’s not Italian.” And he said, “It doesn’t matter, he’s got an accent.” I said, “It does matter. Don’t you understand the difference between an Italian accent and a South American accent?”
So I said, “Why don’t you let me do the (screen) test?” They were surprised that they had the guy right under their nose who could play the role.
I had a lot of other things I wanted to do. But even if you did that they didn’t believe you could play another character. And characters were what I wanted to play.
There was a character named Hank Williams. He was a very sensitive country and western musician … and he was really a wonderful writer. So I went down to Nashville. It was a small picture. It wasn’t thought of as anything except the exploitation (of the songs).
And I actually worked on it and could do the songs to the point where they almost let me do the album. But I had to convince them. And that was the hard thing. They really wanted to put me in the playboy roles and leave it that. So I had to buy my way out of my contract with MGM.
And then finally when I got to produce my own movies, I would hire me. You know, I’d say, “OK, I’m going to play Dracula and do ‘Love at First Bite’ and put myself into it.” So I raised the money, had the script written and played the role — and made $78 million dollars for them. … Then I had the ability to go on and produce another movie, which was “Zorro the Gay Blade,” and I again hired myself for that role.
It’s much easier to produce a film than it is to convince the producer of another film to hire you. I found that out the hard way. And there were periods when I was basically dead in Hollywood.
Q. If we could go back to “Your Cheatin’ Heart” for a moment, didn’t Hank Williams Jr. actually record the songs for the soundtrack?
A. The studio was very uncertain about the music track because Audrey Williams (Hank’s widow) wanted a lot of money and wanted certain controls. I went down to Nashville and spent about a month with her and convinced her that I was the right actor for the role.
The studio didn’t see that at all. They thought I was a sophisticated playboy. I had to explain to them I was born in Memphis, Tenn., and went to military school in Mississippi. I knew all about country music.
Finally I began rehearsing the songs. Because anyway you figured it I had to sing ’em to lip-sync them. And I got them nailed to the point where I could finger the guitar and sing the songs. … They were willing to let me do the recordings for the movie, but finally they made a deal with Audrey that Hank Jr. would do them. So I was lip-syncing to Hank Jr.’s interpretations of his father’s songs.
Q. You also produced and starred in a film on the life of Evel Knievel. How did that come about?
A. I was doing a TV series at Universal, and it required some stunts. And there was a young producer on the lot and I kept having lunch with him, saying, “God, I’ve got to get a stunt man who can do this stunt for me.” And he said, “Well, get Evel Knievel.”
And I said, “I don’t know what you’re talking about. Who’s Evel Knievel?” And he told me about this guy and my first thought about him was he was kind of outrageous, kind of ridiculous. But I had the studio hunt him down. I had a stunt that had to be done, and he said he could do it.
He didn’t show up when he said when he was going to show up … and then one day, we were a week away from shooting the stunt and they called me from the gate and said there was a man out there with a huge semi-truck and some backup cars named Evel Knievel wanting to meet with me. … And I said, well, have him come to the commissary and meet me for lunch. And they said, “He can’t walk.”
They carried him into the commissary and put him down in the booth with me. And I said, “Mr. Knievel, I think there’s been a big mistake here. I would love for you to do the stunt, but I can see you can’t do it, and it would be ridiculous to pursue this.”
And he said, “No, no, no, no, you’ve got it all wrong. When is the stunt?” And I said it’s in a week. He said, “I’ll be ready.” I said, “You’ll be ready to do a stunt in a week?” He showed me this 11-pound piece of metal that was going into his … left leg.
He said, “I’m going in tomorrow morning, they’re gonna put that in there and they’ll snap this thing into the hip, and I’ll be out of there in three or four days and be ready to go.”
And I just sat there looking at him thinking, “This man is totally out of his mind.” And the more I started realizing that he was out of his mind, the more I found him interesting.
I said, “Look, you don’t have to do this stunt, but I’d like to talk to you about other things.” And he said, “Well, let’s get the stunt out of the way. I wanna know if your money’s good.”
So he called me on the day of the stunt. He called me from a hospital, and he said, “I’m ready to do the stunt for you. Which gate should I go to?” And he’s talking and suddenly I hear this kaplunk and … I thought the phone went dead. And then a nurse picks it up and said, “Mr. Knievel just passed out. He shouldn’t have been out of bed.” I just couldn’t believe what I was hearing.
So I went out there and he was lying in bed and he said, “Oh, I had a little problem there. They gave me too much medicine. I could have come and done it. I told them not to give me any pain medication but they gave it to me. It’s their fault.”
So I kept trying to talk to him and find out his psychology and what he was about. And I thought this is what America is about. It’s about making our mark on the north wall of the Grand Canyon. It’s a little bit crazy here, what we’re doing.
I found him very interesting. He was a sociopathic guy. And he was a very potentially dangerous human being. … Evel put a shotgun to my head one night when I brought the script to him.
And I said, “What is this about?” He said, “I want you to read the script to me.” I said, “I don’t need a gun stuck to my head to do it.” He said, “You do in my case because if this is gonna be a bad movie it’s gonna be ended right now.” I read that script probably better than anything I read in my life.
Q. What’s next for you after this tour?
A. It’s always a good question because you don’t know. I never plan my life, and I’m surrounded with people who do and they’re always a year or two years ahead. There’s been an offer for a TV series, weekly, based on “Love at First Bite.”
There’s a one-man show that I would take on the road. … I kind of don’t know what I really want to do yet. I think after this the first thing I’ll do is settle in for a long winter’s nap.
Q. Well, thank you for this time.
A. I didn’t talk too much about “La Cage” (laughs).
Q. I did read a quote from your co-star, Christopher Sieber, who said you don’t have a diva bone in your body.
A. (Laughs.) That’s nice. I like to believe that I am a very dedicated and totally professional actor, and I don’t have any room in my life for ego. You can’t expect to be as proficient as people who have been in this play for a long time, who are singers and dancers and dedicated to Broadway.
But what you can bring to it is a certain showmanship and a sense of providing the audience with a kind of permission to enjoy themselves because you’re enjoying yourself. That’s a hard thing to do. You can’t fake that one. You just have to enjoy it, and if you do it’s infectious. My gift, if there is such, is to be delighted to be there.
Read more arts and entertainment new from the Kansas City Star at kansascity.com.
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http://edition.cnn.com/2001/SHOWBIZ/TV/08/03/dean.rydell/
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en
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Remembering James Dean, with respect
|
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By Jamie Allen
CNN
(CNN) -- Mark Rydell, the Oscar-nominated director of the upcoming TNT production "James Dean," remembers well the days when he used to hang out with Dean in New York.
It was the early 1950s, and they were both up-and-coming actors finding work in theater and television.
One Sunday afternoon, they were walking down Madison Avenue, chatting.
"He was talking to me about bull-fighting, which was one of his passions," recalls Rydell. "And suddenly he whipped off his jacket, leapt into Madison Avenue and did a pass to a bus that must have been traveling 40 miles per hour. It almost flicked his shirt. And he laughed uproariously.
"I remember thinking at that moment that he was not long for this world. Anybody who could do that had such a reckless personality that sooner or later it was going to catch up with him," Rydell said.
MORE STORIES
James Franco: Channeling 'James Dean'
Of course, Rydell was right. After blazing to stardom in Hollywood, starring in three films -- "East of Eden" (1955), "Rebel Without A Cause" (1955), and "Giant" (1956) -- Dean died at 24 when he crashed his Porsche Spyder near Paso Robles, California, in 1955. His brief but brilliant movie career lasted less than two years.
Since then, Dean's legend has been well documented in countless biographies and several portraits on film and television.
But for Rydell, telling his friend's story has been a longtime dream.
"I've always felt badly that Jimmy wasn't treated with the kind of respect that I thought he deserved," said Rydell. "Having known him and known how committed and determined he was as an artist and how tortured he was as a human being, and knowing the agonies of his childhood, I felt that this was a good chance to make an honorable psychological portrait of him."
'Franco is astonishing'
"James Dean," airing Sunday night on TNT (a cable network owned by CNN.com parent company AOL Time Warner), takes a different approach to telling the familiar tale. With a script by Israel Horovitz, Dean's mercurial performances are addressed in a provocative manner, but they're not lamented upon.
It's the James Dean behind the scenes -- the one whose mother died when he was young, the one who never found respect from his estranged father -- that drives this narrative.
Dean is portrayed as a lonely, anguished soul who possesses a unique ability to filter these troubles into his art.
James Franco, who starred in NBC's acclaimed, canceled "Freaks and Geeks," plays Dean. While actors like Johnny Depp and Leonardo DiCaprio were suggested for the role, Franco seems a perfect fit. Salon TV critic Joyce Millman, for one, raved over his performance in a Thursday review.
"Franco is astonishing ...," Millman wrote. "Every inflection, every move, is right."
Rydell says Franco spent months preparing for the role, and during production he completely cut himself off from his parents and girlfriend in order to experience the isolation that Dean felt.
"So he was really a tortured fellow," Rydell said of Franco. "He felt very lonely during that period. But he felt that it helped him. And it did."
'Reality is not art'
Rydell has a reputation for bringing out the best in his actors. During his career as a director, his films have earned Oscar nods for the likes of Bette Midler ("The Rose," 1979), Henry Fonda and Katharine Hepburn (who both won Oscars for Rydell's "On Golden Pond," 1981), and Sissy Spacek ("The River," 1984).
Rydell puts Franco in this esteemed company.
"I consider his performance to be a miracle," said Rydell. "I think he's one of the most talented people I've ever met. You know, he's 22 years old. ... He just transformed himself. At times it seemed eerie. It was like cloning or channeling James Dean. There were moments where I thought, 'My God, this is really bizarre.' "
While Rydell had the vessel to portray Dean, he says he wrestled with how to present the actor's story in dramatic form. At the end of the movie, a brief note lets the viewers know that some of what they watched was an "educated guess" rather than iron fact.
"The picture is not a documentary," said Rydell. "It's a drama that has to be crafted. Reality is not art. You have to make choices when you're trying to make something work. And the choices we make I think are accurate. There aren't any lies in it. There are assumptions made that are critical and necessary."
The power of James Dean
Rydell says he "loved every single moment" of the production.
"This was really a privilege to revisit a time in my life that I shared with James Dean," he said.
And he's proud of this work, capturing an all-too-brief moment in Hollywood history when Dean burned brightly.
"It's enough to say he was in the movie business for 16 months and here we are, talking about him 46 years later," said Rydell. "That's a testimonial to the impact that he had, the power of his personality and his talent, which is indisputable."
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dbpedia
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https://www.today.com/life/inspiration/trivia-questions-rcna39101
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en
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270 Best Trivia Questions With Answers 2024
|
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"Sarah Lemire"
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2022-07-21T20:52:16+00:00
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Take home the trophy on trivia night with these fun trivia questions and random facts for kids and adults on movies, music, books, sports, history and more.
|
en
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TODAY.com
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https://www.today.com/life/inspiration/trivia-questions-rcna39101
|
Think you know everything there is to know about anything? Are you the designated phone-a-friend on your trivia team? If you're a self-proclaimed “Jeopardy” whiz, then these trivia questions are just your speed.
We're here to test your knowledge on everything from music and movies to history, sports, books and geography with this comprehensive collection of trivia questions and answers.
To give your smarts a run for their money, we've gathered a list of both easy and challenging questions to pose to friends, family, kids, adults and pretty much anyone else who loves a bit of competitive Q&A.
Whether you're hoping to sweep the competition over cocktails at the next bar trivia night or are fascinated by pop culture trivia, you're guaranteed to be entertained with this list of questions and answers that covers just about every topic you can think of.
For example, which three zodiac signs are considered water signs? The answer: Cancer, Pisces and Scorpio.
How about this one: What is the first Taylor Swift song to ever chart on the Billboard Hot 100? It's “Tim McGraw.”
Maybe you're more of a sports fan. If so, then name the Canadian hockey player considered to the best of all time. Or which NBA team plays its home games at Madison Square Garden?
We'd give you those answers, too, but what's the fun in that?
Instead, read on to learn all kinds of interesting facts on a variety of subjects like animals, science and more. When you're through, not only will you have earned a spot among the trivia elite, but you'll be even smarter than when you started.
Best general trivia questions
Leonardo da Vinci's “Mona Lisa” hangs in what museum? Answer: The Louvre Museum in Paris
How many states does the Appalachian Trail cross? Answer: 14
What is the name of John Travolta's character in the 1977 film “Saturday Night Fever”? Answer: Tony Manero
What do you call a group of flamingos? Answer: A flamboyance
Relative to the internet, what does “URL” stand for? Answer: Uniform resource locator
What occasion corresponds with the longest day of the year? Answer: The summer solstice
What is the distance from earth to the sun? Answer: 93 million miles (or 150 million kilometers)
What sport was featured on the first curved U.S. coin in 2014? Answer: Baseball
Which country is the largest in the world? Answer: Russia
M&M’S Fruit Chews would eventually become what popular candy? Answer: Starburst
According to Guinness World Records, what's the best-selling book of all time? Answer: The Bible
What U.S. state is home to Acadia National Park? Answer: Maine
What is the only food that can never go bad? Answer: Honey
What was the first animal to ever be cloned? Answer: A sheep
What is the name of the pet dinosaur on the TV cartoon “The Flintstones”? Answer: Dino
What identity document is required to travel to different countries around the world? Answer: A passport
Who is considered the “Father of Relativity?” Answer: Albert Einstein
Edie Falco and James Gandolfini star in what series about the life of a New Jersey mob boss? Answer: “The Sopranos”
Nearly all fossils are preserved in what type of rock? Answer: Sedimentary
What guitarist notably performed on the Michael Jackson song “Beat It”? Answer: Eddie Van Halen
What is August’s birthstone? Answer: Peridot
What is Prince Harry’s official first name? Answer: Henry
What is the fifth sign of the zodiac? Answer: Leo
Which branch of the U.S. armed forces used the slogan, “It’s not just a job, it’s an adventure”? Answer: The Navy
By U.S. law, exit signs must be one of what two colors? Answer: Green or red
What is an eight-sided shape called? Answer: Octagon
When was Earth Day first celebrated? Answer: 1970
How many points does the Star of David have? Answer: Six
Who is Barbie’s little sister? Answer: Skipper
In the United Kingdom, what is the day after Christmas known as? Answer: Boxing Day
Which three zodiac signs are water signs? Answer: Cancer, Pisces and Scorpio
Which month of the year is National Ice Cream Month? Answer: July
Entertainment trivia questions
Actor Steve Carell plays what memorable character in the popular TV series “The Office”? Answer: Michael Scott
The 1988 movie “Mystic Pizza” launched the career of what 'Pretty Woman?' Answer: Julia Roberts
Whitney Houston went to the top of the music charts in 1992 with which Dolly Parton song? Answer: “I Will Always Love You”
Brianne Howey and Antonia Gentry star as a mother and daughter in what popular Netflix series? Answer: “Ginny & Georgia”
Cillian Murphy plays a 1900s mob boss in Birmingham, England in which streaming series? Answer: “Peaky Blinders”
Anna, Elsa Kristoff and Olaf are all characters in what animated movie? Answer: “Frozen”
What was Taylor Swift's first song to chart on the Billboard Hot 100? Answer: “Tim McGraw”
What 1997 movie features Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones as undercover secret agents who police extraterrestrials? Answer: “Men in Black”
In what TV series did actor Tom Hanks co star with Peter Scolari in the early 1980s? Answer: “Bosom Buddies”
What actor plays Ken in the 2023 blockbuster movie “Barbie?” Answer: Ryan Gosling
What name is singer-actor Stefani Germanotta better known by? Answer: Lady Gaga
What 1927 film effectively ended the silent movie era by introducing synchronized talking and singing? Answer: “The Jazz Singer”
Before embarking on a solo career, Beyoncé was part of what R&B group? Answer: Destiny's Child
What actor played Alex Keaton on the '80s TV show “Family Ties?”Answer: Michael J. Fox
The Rockettes dance troupe most famously perform at what New York City venue? Answer: Radio City Music Hall
What was the very first video ever played on MTV? Answer: “Video Killed the Radio Star” by The Buggles
What Andrew Lloyd Webber Broadway show features the characters Mistoffelees and Old Deuteronomy? Answer: “Cats”
Richard Hatch is the very first winner of which reality TV show? Answer: “Survivor”
What is the name of Elvis Presley's Memphis home? Answer: Graceland
What notable astronomer penned the 1980 best-selling book “Cosmos?” Answer: Carl Sagan
Michael Flatley danced his way to fame in what Irish-inspired show? Answer: “Riverdance”
What 1994 Quentin Tarantino movie stars John Travolta and Samuel L. Jackson as hitmen? Answer: “Pulp Fiction”
What actor-comedian found fame on the TV show “Mork and Mindy?” Answer: Robin Williams
Michael Jackson teamed up with what notable guitar player for the 1982 song “Beat It?” Answer: Eddie Van Halen
Jess Day, Nick Miller, Winston Bishop and Schmidt are all characters on what TV show? Answer: “New Girl”
What year did the comedy sketch TV show, “Saturday Night Live,” debut? Answer: 1975
Funny trivia questions
The unicorn is the national animal of which country? Answer: Scotland
What actor played Big Giant Head on the TV show "Third Rock From the Sun"? Answer: William Shatner
“There's a snake in my boot!” is famously spoken by Woody, a cowboy doll, in which 1995 animated movie? Answer: “Toy Story”
Which soft drink once contained cocaine as one of its original ingredients? Answer: Coca-Cola
What breed of cat doesn't have fur? Answer: Sphynx
In a quest to replace rubber, James Wright accidentally invented what common toy? Answer: Silly Putty
A majority of adults have how many permanent teeth? Answer: 32
Which U.S. president is estimated to have the highest IQ? Answer: John Quincy Adams
What fish is capable of generating an electrical charge up to 600 volts? Answer: The electric eel
According to Instacart, what the most disliked food in America? Answer: Anchovies
Now known as “Meta,” Facebook was originally named what? Answer: TheFacebook
What country uses approximately four billion miles of toilet paper each year? Answer: China
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, which state has the shortest one-way commute to work? Answer: South Dakota
The line, “Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries” is from what 1975 movie? Answer: “Monty Python and the Holy Grail”
On average, which grows faster: Fingernails or toenails? Answer: Fingernails
How many noses does a slug have? Answer: Four
What candy was originally known as “chicken feed”? Answer: Candy corn
Which popular condiment was once sold as a medicinal cure for diarrhea? Answer: Ketchup
Name either of the two U.S. states that makes it illegal to get married on a dare. Answer: Delaware and Colorado
Celebrity trivia questions
Johnny Depp notably modeled Jack Sparrow, his memorable character from “Pirates of the Caribbean,” after which rock guitarist? Answer: Keith Richards
Psalm, Saint, and Chicago are the names of what? Answer: Kim Kardashian's children
The TV talk show “People Are Talking” helped launch the meteoric career of which renowned celebrity? Answer: Oprah Winfrey
Actor Jim Carrey first made a name for himself on what Keenen Ivory Wayans sketch comedy show? Answer: “In Living Color”
Which “Titanic” actor appeared on the children's TV show “Romper Room?” Answer: Leonardo DiCaprio
What Oscar-winning actor was a cast member on the '70s show “The Electric Company?” Answer: Morgan Freeman
Who penned the 2018 autobiography “Becoming”? Answer: Michelle Obama
Bill Gates co-founded Microsoft with which of his childhood friends? Answer: Paul Allen
“Holiday” was the first Billboard Hot 100 single for what singer? Answer: Madonna
What Hong Kong-born actor and stuntman starred alongside Chris Tucker in the 1998 movie “Rush Hour”? Answer: Jackie Chan
Books and literature trivia questions
The women in Amy Tan’s “Joy Luck Club” meet to play what game? Answer: Mahjong
“The Da Vinci Code” opens with a murder in which famous museum? Answer: The Louvre
Which author penned the apocalyptic novel “The Stand”? Answer: Stephen King
Which book about a band of rabbits became a bestseller in 1972? Answer: “Watership Down”
What was the original title of Ray Bradbury’s “Fahrenheit 451”? Answer: “The Fireman”
The classic 1877 novel “Black Beauty” is about what kind of animal? Answer: Horse
Who was the first author to use a “typemachine” or typewriter in writing a manuscript? Answer: Mark Twain
What 1988 book by Salman Rushdie is considered blasphemous by many Muslim countries? Answer: “The Satanic Verses”
Which writer holds the Guinness World Record for the most translated works? Answer: Agatha Christie
What book holds the record for the fastest selling book in history? Answer: “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows”
Who wrote “To Kill a Mockingbird”? Answer: Harper Lee
What 1949 science fiction book by author George Orwell describes a dystopian world in the future? Answer: “1984”
What's the name of the pig in the book “Charlotte's Web”? Answer: Wilbur
“Call me Ishmael” is the first line from what classic novel? Answer: “Moby Dick”
What Charles Dickens novel begins with the sentence, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times”? Answer: “A Tale of Two Cities”
What is the name of the vampire in the 1976 Anne Rice novel “Interview With a Vampire”? Answer: Louis de Pointe du Lac
What popular young adult book series sends “tributes” to participate in a televised competition in which they fight to the death? Answer: “The Hunger Games”
In the book “Pride and Prejudice,” who is Elizabeth Bennet in love with? Answer: Mr. Darcy
Who wrote “Flowers in the Attic”? Answer: V.C. Andrews
Jacob Black is a character in what Stephenie Meyer book series? Answer: “Twilight”
What Nicholas Sparks book about a young socialite and her long-time crush was made into a 2004 movie? Answer: “The Notebook”
In one of the most popular Dr. Seuss books, what won't Sam-I-Am eat? Answer: Green eggs and ham
History trivia questions
On July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong became the first person in history to do what? Answer: Walk on the moon
What U.S. woman was appointed as the first woman Speaker of the House? Answer: Nancy Pelosi
Which American financier was convicted of running the largest Ponzi scheme in U.S. history? Answer: Bernie Madoff
What year did World War I begin? Answer: 1914
What is the name of the first permanent English settlement in North America? Answer: Jamestown
How old was Queen Elizabeth II when she was crowned the Queen of England? Answer: 27
What was the first message sent by morse code? Answer: “What hath God wrought?”
What president was a licensed bartender? Answer: Abraham Lincoln
Who was the first president to visit all 50 states? Answer: Richard Nixon
What year was Kodak founded? Answer: 1892
What inspired the creation of Google images? Answer: Jennifer Lopez’s dress at the 2000 Grammys
What year was the first Barbie doll released? Answer: 1959
How long was the first Thanksgiving? Answer: Three days
Which U.S. President was a law professor? Answer: Bill Clinton
Who was the youngest U.S. president? Answer: Theodore Roosevelt
When was the first iPod released? Answer: 2001
Geography trivia questions
Where is the coldest place on Earth? Answer: Eastern Antarctic Plateau
Which Italian town is the setting for Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet? Answer: Verona
What was America’s first national park? Answer: Yellowstone National Park
Where do U.S. vice presidents live? Answer: on the grounds of the U.S. Naval Observatory
Which three states share a border with California? Answer: Arizona, Nevada and Oregon
What was the first state? Answer: Delaware
What state is known as the “Badger State”? Answer: Wisconsin
What state has the longest freshwater shoreline? Answer: Michigan
What U.S. state grows coffee beans? Answer: Hawaii
What is the northernmost point in the United States? Answer: Point Barrow, Alaska
What is Texas’ state flower? Answer: The Bluebonnet
How many floors does the Eiffel Tower have? Answer: Three
What is the currency of Poland? Answer: Złoty
How tall is the Empire State Building (without the spire and antenna)? Answer: 1,250 feet
Which country produces the most tea? Answer: China
Who did the U.S. buy Florida from? Answer: Spain
Which country gives students the longest summer holiday? Answer: Italy
What are California’s state colors? Answer: Blue and Gold
What is United Kingdom’s national Anthem? Answer: “God Save the King”
Science trivia questions
What produces the majority of the breathable air on earth? Answer: The oceans
Which travels faster: Sound or light? Answer: Light
What mineral can you add to water to make things float easier? Answer: Salt
Roughly how many miles per hour does the earth spin? Answer: 1000 mph
How many elements are currently on the periodic table? Answer: 118
Which blood type is a universal donor? Answer: O Negative
How many moons does Neptune have? Answer: 14
Which globally-dreaded disease did the World Health Organization declared eradicated in 1980? Answer: Smallpox
Who was the first American woman in space? Answer: Sally Ride
How many pounds are in a ton? Answer: 2,000
What is the largest bone in the human body? Answer: Femur
How many planets make up the solar system? Answer: Eight
How many colors are in a rainbow? Answer: Seven
Which astronomer is called out in “Bohemian Rhapsody”? Answer: Galileo
What is the fear of flowers called? Answer: Anthophobia
Music trivia questions
What actor and comedian appeared in the video for the Paul Simon song “You Can Call Me Al”? Answer: Chevy Chase
What singer was called the “Empress of the Blues”? Answer: Bessie Smith
Who wrote “The Star-Spangled Banner”? Answer: Francis Scott Key
What musician was awarded the first gold record? Answer: Perry Como
Which country artist threw javelin while attending Oklahoma State University? Answer: Garth Brooks
What song did Paul McCartney pen for John Lennon’s son, Julian? Answer: “Hey Jude”
What are the first names of the five brothers that made up the Jackson 5? Answer: Jermaine, Marlon, Jackie, Tito and Michael
Which 1950’s crooner sang the hit song “Beyond the Sea”? Answer: Bobby Darin
How many Billboard #1 hits did Elvis have? Answer: 18
What’s the best-selling Christmas single of all time? Answer: “White Christmas” by Bing Crosby
Which singer’s real name is Robyn Fenty? Answer: Rihanna
What year did MTV launch? Answer: 1981
Who was the first “American Idol” winner? Answer: Kelly Clarkson
When was Mariah Carey’s “All I Want For Christmas Is You” released? Answer: October 1994
What is Taylor Swift’s lucky number? Answer: 13
Who was the first woman ever inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame? Answer: Aretha Franklin
Movie trivia questions
What movie is “You had me at hello” from? Answer: “Jerry Maguire”
What Minnesota town was actor Winona Ryder born in? Answer: Winona
What year was the first “Batman” comic book published? Answer: 1939
Actor Nicolas Cage is the nephew of what famous director? Answer: Francis Ford Coppola
What country does “The Jungle Book” take place in? Answer: India
Who is the youngest Oscar winner of all time? Answer: Tatum O’Neal
What was the name of the high school in “Grease”? Answer: Rydell High
In “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone,” what keeps the three-headed dog asleep? Answer: Music
What year was the original “Jurassic Park” released in theatres? Answer: 1993
What’s the name of Ginny’s Pygmy Puff in the “Harry Potter” series? Answer: Arnold
What is the name of Hagrid’s half-brother in “Harry Potter?” Answer: Grawp
What is the Grinch’s dog’s name? Answer: Max
How many Oscars does Jane Fonda have? Answer: Two
How many Academy Awards did “Titanic” win? Answer: 11
What is the name of Boba Fett’s ship in “Star Wars”? Answer: Slave 1
Which Disney princess has a Scottish accent? Answer: Merida
How many staircases are located in Hogwarts? Answer: 142
What is Jack Skellington’s dog’s name? Answer: Zero
In what movie does Robert De Niro say, “You talkin’ to me?” Answer: “Taxi Driver”
Who was the first Disney princess? Answer: Snow White
What year was “Jaws” released? Answer: 1975
In “Star Wars,” who built C-3P0? Answer: Anakin Skywalker
“The Princess and the Frog” is set in which American city? Answer: New Orleans
What is Hermione’s Patronus? Answer: Otter
Who wrote “A Little Princess”? Answer: Frances Hodgson Burnett
Which shoe did Cinderella leave behind at the ball? Answer: Left
How many ghosts show up in “A Christmas Carol”? Answer: Four
Who is the villain in “Peter Pan”? Answer: Captain Hook
Which city is “101 Dalmatians” set in? Answer: London
What is the school’s mascot in “High School Musical”? Answer: Wild Cats
TV trivia questions
What popular ‘90s TV series did actor Calista Flockhart star in? Answer: “Ally McBeal”
Who won first season of “America’s Next Top Model”? Answer: Adrianne Curry-Rhode
Which of the six main characters on the TV show “Friends” never got married? Answer: Joey
What TV series included the phrase “Go where no man has gone before” in its title sequence? Answer: “Star Trek”
What “Sex and the City” star didn’t return for the series reboot “And Just Like That...”? Answer: Kim Cattrall
What TV series launched Bruce Willis’ career? Answer: “Moonlighting”
What is the name of Sabrina’s cat in “Sabrina the Teenage Witch”? Answer: Salem
What is the name of the mall in the third season of “Stranger Things”? Answer: Starcourt Mall
What comic series is the CW’s “Riverdale” based on? Answer: “Archie” comics
How many people tuned into the last episode of “Friends”? Answer: 52.5 million
How many seasons did “The Oprah Winfrey Show” run? Answer: 25
Who voiced Ms. Frizzle on the children’s television series “Magic School Bus”? Answer: Lily Tomlin
Who wrote “The Little Mermaid”? Answer: Hans Christian Andersen
Animal trivia questions
What species of fish is Nemo? Answer: Clown Fish
How many legs does a lobster have? Answer: 10
What is Florida’s state bird? Answer: The Northern Mockingbird
What color is a giraffe’s tongue? Answer: Black or Dark Purple
What animal’s nickname is “sea cow”? Answer: Manatee
What percentage of the Earth’s wildlife is found in the ocean? Answer: 94%
What animal has the biggest eyes? Answer: Giant Squid
How many reindeer does Santa have? Answer: Eight
What is California’s state animal? Answer: California grizzly bear
What are baby rabbits called? Answer: Kits
What animal breathes through its butt? Answer: Turtle
Where are cricket’s ears located? Answer: On their legs
Sports and leisure trivia questions
Where was the first Olympics held? Answer: Panathenaic Stadium, Greece
Who was the highest-paid athlete in 2022? Answer: Lionel Messi
Which NBA team plays its home games at Madison Square Garden? Answer: New York Knicks
When was the first Indy 500 held? Answer: 1911
Which Canadian hockey player is considered to be the greatest of all time? Answer: Wayne Gretzky
Where did the 2000 Summer Olympics take place? Answer: Sydney, Australia
Which number does every Major League Baseball player wear on April 15? Answer: 42
What is the maximum number of points someone can achieve on Pac-Man? Answer: 3,333,360 points
How Did Leica, the German camera company, get its name? Answer: Founder Ernst Leitz used the first three letters of his last name combined with the first two letters from “camera.”
Which player from the Dallas Mavericks is an investor in Big Blanket Co., the maker of 10-by-10 foot blankets? Answer: Boban Marjanovic
What type of race is the Tour de France? Answer: Bicycle race
What is the diameter of the average basketball hoop? Answer: 18 inches
How often are the Summer Games held? Answer: Every four years
What are the Cleveland Browns’ team colors? Answer: Brown and orange
In football, how many points does a touchdown have? Answer: Six
Who painted “Girl with a Pearl Earring”? Answer: Johannes Vermeer
Who was the first couple to win “The Amazing Race”? Answer: Rob Frisbee and Brennan Swain
Food trivia questions
When was Diet Coke introduced in the United States? Answer: August 9, 1982
What fast food chain once used the slogan "Think outside the bun"? Answer: Taco Bell
What is a single strand of spaghetti called? Answer: Spaghetto
What year did Dunkin’ Donuts become Dunkin'? Answer: 2018
How many slices of pizza does America eat per second? Answer: 350-400 slices of pizza per second
Where were Doritos invented? Answer: Casa de Fritos at Disneyland
How many pounds of curly fries does Arby’s sell in a year? Answer: 100 million pounds
What is the name of the world's hottest chili pepper? Answer: Carolina Reaper
What is Starbucks’ logo? Answer: A Siren
Where is the world’s largest Starbucks? Answer: Chicago
How many folds are in a chef's hat? Answer: 100
Technology trivia questions
What is the meaning of "fn" on your computer keyboard? Answer: Function
What is the long-standing nickname for IBM? Answer: “Big Blue”
Who owns Venmo? Answer: PayPal
What was Mac's first web browser? Answer: Samba
What year was eBay founded? Answer: 1995
What is the best-selling video game franchise? Answer: Mario
Who sent the world's first text message? Answer: Neil Papworth
What does Yahoo stand for? Answer: Yet Another Hierarchically Officious Oracle
What inspired the name for the iPod? Answer: the EVA Pod (ePod) in “2001: A Space Odyssey”
Who owns the Patent to Google’s original search algorithm? Answer: Stanford University
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The 25 oldest living film directors
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2024-02-07T12:30:00+00:00
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Find out who among the world’s feature film directors holds the current record for longevity... as far as we know.
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en
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BFI
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https://www.bfi.org.uk/lists/25-oldest-living-film-directors
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Eight years have passed since we first ran a list of the world’s oldest living feature-film directors. Sadly, none of that line-up has survived, with Iranian New Wave figurehead Ebrahim Golestan being the last to depart, at the age of 100 in August 2023. B-movie maestro Bert I. Gordon also got to reach his century, as did writer-producer Norman Lear, who was somehow excluded, despite directing the 1971 comedy Cold Turkey.
Thirteen of those listed on this new edition were born in the silent era before The Jazz Singer premiered on 6 October 1927, while all but three were born before the first Academy Awards presentation on 16 May 1929. Strictly speaking, second place in our new list should be Edgar Morin (8 July 1921), the sociologist who co-directed Chronicle of a Summer (1961) with filmmaker and anthropologist Jean Rouch. This pioneering work of cinéma vérité (a term coined by Morin) was ranked sixth in a 2019 Sight and Sound poll of the best documentaries of all time. But, as this collaboration was a one-off assignment behind the camera, it doesn’t quite qualify Morin for the 2024 edition.
Even though the qualification criteria requires solo direction of a full-length feature, a case could also be made for a pioneer like Madeline Anderson. Her precise birthdate is unclear (although she appears close to her centenary), but she followed her 24-minute debut, Integration Report 1 (1960), with I Am Somebody (1969), which became the first documentary short directed by a Black woman to be broadcast on American television.
Also sadly absent are Kim Soo-yong, the South Korean director of over 100 features between 1958 and 2000, who was on the provisional list before dying on 3 December 2023; Norman Jewison, who died on 22 January at the age of 97; and Robert M. Young, who was among our very oldest directors before his sad passing at the age of 99 on 6 February 2024.
Editor’s note: As last time, every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of this list. If there are older living directors of feature films out there, please let us know. After first posting this update on Facebook, our knowledgeable readers alerted us to several missing filmmakers, who have now been added to the list below.
25. Larry Peerce
Born: 19 April 1930
Much was expected of Peerce after Barbara Barrie won best actress at Cannes for the director’s debut, One Potato, Two Potato (1964). Following the modish Philip Roth adaptation Goodbye, Columbus (1969), he guided Elizabeth Taylor (Ash Wednesday, 1973) and wife Marilyn Hassett (The Other Side of the Mountain, 1975) to Golden Globe nominations (Hassett won). He also generated plenty of suspense in The Incident (1967) and Two-Minute Warning (1976).
24. Frederick Wiseman
Born: 1 January 1930
Noted for documentary studies of institutions (Titicut Follies, 1967), issues (Welfare, 1975) and communities (Belfast, Maine, 1999) that seek to expose social and economic injustice, Wiseman dislikes the term ‘direct cinema’. As he makes conscious choices while shooting and editing in order to create drama and present his subjects in a fair light, he prefers to call his distinctive films ‘reality fictions’.
23. Kazuo Ikehiro
Born: 25 October 1929
Having started directing in 1960, Ikehiro forged an effective partnership with Raizo Ichikawa, following the cult wandering gambler saga Seven Miles to Nakayama (1962) with three pivotal entries in Daiei’s Sleepy Eyes of Death series (1963 to 1969), which cast Ichikawa as the Son of the Black Mass. Making bold use of colour, angle and symbolism, Ikehiro also made three contributions to the Trail of Blood and Zatoichi chanbara series.
22. Mark Rydell
Born: 23 March 1929
Debuting with the D.H. Lawrence adaptation The Fox (1967), Rydell directed Steve McQueen in The Reivers (1969) and John Wayne in The Cowboys (1972). He also made three pictures with James Caan, including Cinderella Liberty (1973) and For the Boys (1991), which reunited Rydell with Bette Midler following The Rose (1979). His Oscar nomination came for On Golden Pond (1981).
21. Alejandro Jodorowsky
Born: 17 February 1929
Undaunted by his debut Fando y Lis (1968) being banned in Mexico after a festival riot, Jodorowsky attained cult status with the surrealist provocations El topo (1970) and The Holy Mountain (1973). Despite failing to make a 14-hour version of Dune in the mid-1970s, he continued to work and launched a proposed autobiographical quintet with The Dance of Reality (2013) and Endless Poetry (2016).
20. Chung Chang-wha
Born: 1 November 1928
Feted for the patriotic wartime epic Horizon (1960), Chung made diverse South Korean pictures like A Bonanza (1961), Sunset on the Sarbin River (1965) and A Swordsman in the Twilight (1967) before decamping to Hong Kong. A prolific spell with Shaw brothers and Golden Harvest yielded King Boxer (1972), the first martial arts film to top the US box-office chart. Some 40 further features followed in his homeland.
19. Susumu Hani
Born: 10 October 1928
A key figure of the Japanese New Wave, Hani was renowned for such docu-humanist studies of youth as Children Who Draw (1955), Bad Boys (1961) and Nanami: The Inferno of First Love (1968). He focused on the status of women in A Full Life (1962) and She and He (1963) and worked in Kenya (The Song of Bwana Toshi, 1965) and Peru (Bride of the Andes, 1966) before quitting cinema to make small-screen natural history programmes.
18. Serge Bourguignon
Born: 3 September 1928
A Cannes winner with the short Le Sourire (1960), Bourguignon took the Oscar for best foreign film with his debut feature, Sundays and Cybèle (1962). He never repeated such feats, however, despite Brigitte Bardot headlining Two Weeks in September (1967). Max von Sydow fronted The Reward (1965) and The Fascination (1985), which both co-starred Yvette Mimieux, who also teamed with Albert Finney in The Picasso Summer (1969).
17. James Ivory
Born: 7 June 1928
Along with German-born screenwriter Ruth Prawer Jhabvala and Indian producer Ismail Merchant, American director James Ivory helped save the British film industry with a string of literary adaptations that captured the essence of a certain kind of Englishness. Nominated for A Room with a View (1985), Howards End (1992) and The Remains of the Day (1993), the 89 year-old Ivory became the oldest Oscar winner after co-scripting Luca Guadagnino’s Call Me by Your Name (2017).
16. Joseph McGrath
Born: 28 March 1928
This Glasgow School of Art graduate directed some of the earliest pop videos, for The Beatles in 1965. Comedy was McGrath’s métier, however, notably teaming with Peter Sellers on Casino Royale (1967), The Magic Christian (1969) and The Great McGonagall (1975). Following The Bliss of Mrs Blossom (1968) and Digby: The Biggest Dog in the World (1973), his collaborators included John Cleese, Leonard Rossiter, and Morecambe and Wise.
15. Michael Roemer
Born: 1 January 1928
A Berlin-born Kindertransport evacuee, Roemer made what is purportedly the first US student film, A Touch of the Times (1949), while at Harvard. Having made newsreels and educational films, he won two prizes at Venice for his feature debut, Nothing but a Man (1964). However, his reluctance to conform to commercial convention meant The Plot Against Harry (1971) and Vengeance Is Mine (1984) were shelved for many years.
14. Marcel Ophuls
Born: 1 November 1927
The son of director Max Ophüls hoped to make features along the lines of his debut, Banana Peel (1963). But he found his métier in multi-voiced archive documentary, with Munich (1967) and the Oscar-winning Hotel Terminus: The Life and Times of Klaus Barbie (1988) bookending a rigorous Second World War quartet that also contained The Sorrow and the Pity (1969) and The Memory of Justice (1976).
13. Toshio Masuda
Born: 5 October 1927
Action specialist Masuda directed 52 films for Nikkatsu in the decade following his 1958 debut, almost half of which starred Yujiro Ishihara, including Rusty Knife (1958) and Red Handkerchief (1964). He also made several features with Tetsuya Watari, notably Gangster VIP (1968), before being invited to take over the Pearl Harbor epic Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970) from Akira Kurosawa. He later moved into anime with Space Battleship Yamato (1977).
12. Jerry Schatzberg
Born: 26 June 1927
Following two portraits of troubled women, Puzzle of a Downfall Child (1970) and The Panic in Needle Park (1971), Schatzberg hit the road with Scarecrow (1973) and Sweet Revenge (1976). The former co-starred Gene Hackman, who also headlined Misunderstood (1984). Favouring literate scripts like Alan Alda’s The Seduction of Joe Tynan (1979) and Harold Pinter’s Reunion (1989), Schatzberg directed Morgan Freeman to an Oscar nomination in Street Smart (1987).
11. Allen Baron
Born: 14 April 1927
Baron landed a studio contract after directing himself in the indie noir Blast of Silence (1961). He would make over 250 TV episodes for shows like Charlie’s Angels and The Love Boat, but he also got to direct occasional features, including the delinquency saga Pie in the Sky (1964), the draft-dodging drama Outside In (1972), and Foxfire Light (1983), an Ozarks romance starring Leslie Nielsen and Tippi Hedren.
10. Pere Portabella
Born: 11 February 1927
Noted for having coaxed Luis Buñuel back to Spain to make Viridiana (1961), the Catalan Portabella fashioned an alternative cinema that used associative logic to combine political critique and conceptual art. Christopher Lee graced the fragmentary documentary duo of Vampir-Cuadecuc (1971) and Umbracle (1972), while conventional linearity was at a premium in features like Nocturno 29 (1969), Warsaw Bridge (1990) and The Silence Before Bach (2007).
9. Alvin Rakoff
Born: 6 February 1927
A Canadian trained at the BBC, Rakoff gave Sean Connery his first lead in Requiem for a Heavyweight (1957) before winning Emmys for Call Me Daddy (1967) and Voyage Round My Father (1982). His eclectic features ranged from crime (World in My Pocket, 1961), drama (The Comedy Man, 1964) and comedy (Hoffman, 1970) to disaster (City on Fire, 1979), adventure (King Solomon’s Treasure, 1979) and horror (Death Ship, 1980).
8. Margot Benacerraf
Born: 14 August 1926
In 1951, Benacerraf quit the French film school IDHEC to direct Reverón, a poetic profile of painter Armando Reverón. However, almost a decade elapsed before she made her sole feature, Araya (1959). Focusing on the salt miners of the arid north-west of her Venezuelan homeland, this landmark documentary shared the Fipresci Prize at Cannes with Alain Resnais’ Hiroshima mon amour. Subsequently, she devoted her energies to the Cinemateca Nacional, which she founded in 1966.
7. Mel Brooks
Born: 28 June 1926
EGOT winner Brooks broke into television with Sid Caesar in the 1950s. After creating spy parody show Get Smart (1965 to 1970), he moved into features with The Producers (1967), which won the Oscar for best original screenplay. A run of inspired parodies followed, with Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein (both 1974), Silent Movie (1976) and High Anxiety (1977) being superior to later lampoons of historical epics, sci-fi, Robin Hood and Dracula.
6. Roger Corman
Born: 5 April 1926
Producer, distributor and director, Corman is one of the most significant figures in New Hollywood history. Along with more than 300 producing credits (many for New World Pictures), he has directed over 50 features. Excelling at exploitation, his cult classics outside the celebrated eight-strong Edgar Allan Poe cycle (1960 to 1964) include A Bucket of Blood (1959), The Little Shop of Horrors (1960), The Wild Angels (1966) and The Trip (1967).
5. Lee Grant
Born: 31 October 1925
Although her birthdate is disputed, Lee Grant’s talent is not. On stage since 1931, she won best actress at Cannes for Detective Story (1951) and overcame HUAC blacklisting to win an Academy Award for Shampoo (1975). She began directing with Tell Me a Riddle (1980), winning the best documentary Oscar for Down and Out in America, before becoming the first female DGA winner for Nobody’s Child (both 1986).
4. Jean-Charles Tacchella
Born: 23 September 1925
A critic for L’Écran français and a co-founder of the Objectif 49 cine-club that helped shape nouvelle vague sensibilities, Tacchella returned to his roots in Travelling avant (1987). He also had success with Blue Country (1977), Escalier C (1985) and Seven Sundays (1994). But he remains best known for his second feature, Cousin cousine (1975), which earned Oscar nominations for best foreign film and original screenplay.
3. George Morrison
Born: 3 November 1922
Undeterred by having a 1942 version of Dracula destroyed in the London Blitz, Morrison made information films while scouring archives for the 300,000 feet of footage edited into Mise Éire (1959), a history of Irish nationalism that was the first feature in the native language. Also scored by Seán Ó Riada, a civil war record, Saoirse? (1961), proved more divisive, But Morrison kept filming while writing books, completing Dublin Day in 2007.
2. Manos Zacharias
Born: 9 July 1922
Having directed the documentary short The Truth About the Children of Greece (1948) while head of the film section of the EAM-ELAS resistance movement during the Greek civil war, Zacharias trained at IDHEC in Paris and VGIK in Moscow. At Mosfilm, he made seven features denouncing oppression and conflict, including The Night Passenger (1962), I’m a Soldier, Mother (1966) and Punisher (1968).
1. Francis Rigaud
Born: 22 March 1920
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Mark Rydell
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Mark Rydell (born March 23, 1935 , in New York City) is an American actor, film director and producer. He has directed many Academy Award-nominated films including The Fox (1967), The Reivers (1969), Cinderella Liberty (1973), The Rose (1979), The River (1984) and For the Boys (1991). He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Director for On Golden Pond (1981).
Rydell's initial training was in music. As a youth, he wanted to be a conductor. He began his career as an actor and first became known for his role as Walt Johnson on The Edge of Night and as Jeff Baker on As the World Turns, which he played from 1956 to 1962. When he would not sign a long-term contract to remain on ATWT the producers had his character die in a car crash. He won plaudits for his role of violent Jewish mob kingpin Marty Augustine in Robert Altman's The Long Goodbye (1973). His most recent significant film role was in Woody Allen's Hollywood Ending (2002).
As a director, Rydell's credits include The Reivers (1969), The Cowboys (1972), Cinderella Liberty (1973), The Rose (1979), On Golden Pond (1981), for which he received an Oscar nomination as Best Director, The River (1984), For the Boys (1991), and Intersection (1994). He directed the TV movie The Crime of the Century (1996), which starred Isabella Rossellini and Stephen Rea. In 2006, Rydell directed the movie Even Money.
Rydell was also the director of the TV bio-pic James Dean (2001), which earned actor James Franco a Golden Globe award. Rydell also acted in the movie, playing Jack L. Warner (head of Warner Bros).
In 2009, Rydell, working with actor Martin Landau and screenwriter/playwright Lyle Kessler, produced an education seminar, The Total Picture Seminar. It is a two-day event covering the disciplines of acting, directing, and writing for film. The three have worked together as a team for many decades at The Actors Studio teaching and coaching professional actors, writers, and directors. In 2010, Rydell joined the Advisory Board of Openfilm, an online video sharing site created to help aspiring independent filmmakers.
Description above from the Wikipedia article Mark Rydell, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia
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The Movie Database
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https://www.themoviedb.org/person/21958-mark-rydell
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Mark Rydell (born March 23, 1935 , in New York City) is an American actor, film director and producer. He has directed many Academy Award-nominated films including The Fox (1967), The Reivers (1969), Cinderella Liberty (1973), The Rose (1979), The River (1984) and For the Boys (1991). He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Director for On Golden Pond (1981).
Rydell's initial training was in music. As a youth, he wanted to be a conductor. He began his career as an actor and first became known for his role as Walt Johnson on The Edge of Night and as Jeff Baker on As the World Turns, which he played from 1956 to 1962. When he would not sign a long-term contract to remain on ATWT the producers had his character die in a car crash. He won plaudits for his role of violent Jewish mob kingpin Marty Augustine in Robert Altman's The Long Goodbye (1973). His most recent significant film role was in Woody Allen's Hollywood Ending (2002).
As a director, Rydell's credits include The Reivers (1969), The Cowboys (1972), Cinderella Liberty (1973), The Rose (1979), On Golden Pond (1981), for which he received an Oscar nomination as Best Director, The River (1984), For the Boys (1991), and Intersection (1994). He directed the TV movie The Crime of the Century (1996), which starred Isabella Rossellini and Stephen Rea. In 2006, Rydell directed the movie Even Money.
Rydell was also the director of the TV bio-pic James Dean (2001), which earned actor James Franco a Golden Globe award. Rydell also acted in the movie, playing Jack L. Warner (head of Warner Bros).
In 2009, Rydell, working with actor Martin Landau and screenwriter/playwright Lyle Kessler, produced an education seminar, The Total Picture Seminar. It is a two-day event covering the disciplines of acting, directing, and writing for film. The three have worked together as a team for many decades at The Actors Studio teaching and coaching professional actors, writers, and directors. In 2010, Rydell joined the Advisory Board of Openfilm, an online video sharing site created to help aspiring independent filmmakers.
Description above from the Wikipedia article Mark Rydell, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia
Mark Rydell (born March 23, 1935 , in New York City) is an American actor, film director and producer. He has directed many Academy Award-nominated films including The Fox (1967), The Reivers (1969), Cinderella Liberty (1973), The Rose (1979), The River (1984) and For the Boys (1991). He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Director for On Golden Pond (1981).
Rydell's initial training was in music. As a youth, he wanted to be a conductor. He began his career as an actor and first became known for his role as Walt Johnson on The Edge of Night and as Jeff Baker on As the World Turns, which he played from 1956 to 1962. When he would not sign a long-term contract to remain on ATWT the producers had his character die in a car crash. He won plaudits for his role of violent Jewish mob kingpin Marty Augustine in Robert Altman's The Long Goodbye (1973). His most recent significant film role was in Woody Allen's Hollywood Ending (2002).
As a director, Rydell's credits include The Reivers (1969), The Cowboys (1972), Cinderella Liberty (1973), The Rose (1979), On Golden Pond (1981), for which he received an Oscar nomination as Best Director, The River (1984), For the Boys (1991), and Intersection (1994). He directed the TV movie The Crime of the Century (1996), which starred Isabella Rossellini and Stephen Rea. In 2006, Rydell directed the movie Even Money.
Rydell was also the director of the TV bio-pic James Dean (2001), which earned actor James Franco a Golden Globe award. Rydell also acted in the movie, playing Jack L. Warner (head of Warner Bros).
In 2009, Rydell, working with actor Martin Landau and screenwriter/playwright Lyle Kessler, produced an education seminar, The Total Picture Seminar. It is a two-day event covering the disciplines of acting, directing, and writing for film. The three have worked together as a team for many decades at The Actors Studio teaching and coaching professional actors, writers, and directors. In 2010, Rydell joined the Advisory Board of Openfilm, an online video sharing site created to help aspiring independent filmmakers.
Description above from the Wikipedia article Mark Rydell, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia
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Beginning on the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Jesus Christ (Corpus Christi), June 2, 2024, the diocesan practice of receiving Holy Communion from the Cup will be encouraged during specific liturgical celebrations throughout the year.
This video is intended to assist pastors and pastoral leaders introduce this reality to parishioners diocese wide. This video can be viewed here or downloaded at https://vimeo.com/950613179. The full Pastoral Instruction is available for download here below and pastors, pastoral leaders and parishioners are encouraged to read it and prayerfully reflect on it.
DOWNLOAD A PDF COPY OF THE PASTORAL INSTRUCTION
On Saturday, May 25th, 2024, Fr. Juan-Carlos Altamirano Herrera & Fr. Mark Rydell were ordained to the priesthood at St. Francis Xavier Cathedral. The video presented here is also available for social sharing on Facebook or download at https://vimeo.com/950421208. If you would like to view full-length video from the livestream of this liturgy visit https://vimeo.com/930414941.
DOWNLOAD A PDF COPY OF THE WORSHIP AID
Our Catholic faith calls us to be engaged citizens. One way we can do this is by exercising our right to vote. How should we as Catholics approach key issues? How do we assess candidates? Check out our resource and landing page to help faithful citizens form their consciences and contribute to civil dialogue as they navigate the political landscape.
Click here to learn more!
The U.S. General Election is on November 5, 2024.
pdf CLICK HERE ( 110 KB ) to download the letter from Bishop Ricken dated February 1st, 2023 on the topic of Synodality.
For more information about the Synod and Synodality with NEW RESOURCES posted for October 2023, visit https://www.gbdioc.org/synod or click the following link to download a PDF copy of the latest Synod update as published in the December 2nd, 2022 edition of The Compass : pdf Synod 2022 Compass Insert ( 2.12 MB ) .
During this intensive experience, attendees will receive the vision, formation, and practical knowledge in how to carry out the process of spiritual multiplication. Thanks to the generosity of the Bishop’s Appeal, this retreat is free of charge for staff, volunteers, and parishioners within the Diocese of Green Bay.
LEARN MORE & AND REGISTER TODAY
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