 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
It makes little difference now, but for the record, the showing of the Robert Blake film CORKY (see post of Oct 6, 2012) that Turner Classic Movies had on their printed schedule for November 7 was cancelled. So, this film remains unseen nearly 40 years since its original release.
|
|
|
|
|
|
MR RICO has just been released as a dvd on demand!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
Posted: |
Nov 10, 2012 - 4:38 PM
|
|
|
|
By: |
Bob DiMucci
(Member)
|
Does anybody remember the 1965 Yugoslavian film "The Soldier" which was directed by George Breakston? I remember when it was seen in syndication in the mid 70s, but seems to have dropped out of sight.
THE SOLDIER was the English title of the 1966 Yugoslavian film Vojnik. The film is a story of a boy, forced to grow mature before his time and to die too early because of the cruel circumstances of war. The film includes this dedication: “In Yugoslavia during the second world war, over two hundred young boys were killed in combat. This film is dedicated to their memory.” The combat mentioned in the dedication was primarily the National Liberation War of Macedonia. The National Liberation War was a communist-led political and military campaign against the Nazis, part of World War II, carried out by mainly Macedonian Partisans of the People's Liberation Army of Macedonia (part of the Yugoslav Partisan movement) from 11 October 1941 until the end of 1944 when Yugoslavia was re-established.
THE SOLDIER was produced by Avala Film and International Producers Corporation. Avala Film, the oldest post-WWII film studio in Yugoslavia, was founded on 15 July 1946. Located in the former Serbian capital of Belgrade, Avala was the largest film production company in the country. Until 2000, the studio participated in the creation of 400 documentaries, 200 feature films, and 120 co-productions with foreign companies, including the epics THE LONG SHIPS (1964) and GENGHIS KHAN (1965). Over the years, its pictures won more than 200 awards in various festivals. After the breakup of Yugoslavia, the studio was partially privatized. By the mid-1990s, it was producing few films, and its last one - Shadows of Memories - was released in 2000. In 2005, plans to fully privatize it were proposed, but not carried out. In June 2011, the studio was announced to be bankrupt, and in early 2012, the Serbian government announced plans to revitalize Avala Film.
Directing THE SOLDIER was George P. Breakston. The French-American Breakston first entered the entertainment world in 1930, working in radio as a child actor. He made his motion picture debut in IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT (1934) and later appeared in several films in the “Andy Hardy” series. During World War II, he served in the Pacific as a photographer. After the war, he remained in Japan and began a lifetime of world travel and filmmaking. He re-entered the civilian film world by co-writing, producing, directing and starring in URUBU: THE VULTURE PEOPLE, which was filmed on location in Mato Grosso, Brazil. He followed it up with the documentary AFRICAN STAMPEDE, filmed in the Belgian Congo and Kenya where he would later make his home. Returning to Japan, Breakston co-produced and wrote TOKYO FILE 212, a 1951 American film credited as Hollywood's first feature film totally filmed in Japan. He followed it up by filming and directing ORIENTAL EVIL (1951) and GEISHA GIRL (1952) in Japan. Breakston moved to Kenya, filming several safari adventure feature films. Many of these featured John Bentley who starred in a 1959 television series produced by Breakston and filmed in Kenya, “African Patrol.” Breakston joined the horror bandwagon by making THE MANSTER (1959) back in Japan, then made several films in Yugoslavia, the first of which was THE SOLDIER.
THE SOLDIER was written by Robin Estridge and Rados Novakovic. Estridge was a British screenwriter whose most recent screenplays had been for ESCAPE FROM ZAHRAIN (1962) and DRUMS OF AFRICA (1963). Novakovic was a Serbian writer and director who had been working in films since 1945. The film’s score was by Zoran Hristic, a young Serbian composer who only had three features under his belt.
Starring in THE SOLDIER, were Rade Markovic, and as the young boy, 13-year-old Fraser Macintosh, in his first film role. Markovic was born in Belgrade where he studied at the College of Engineering and Philosophical Faculty. He began theater acting in 1946 and was in his first film 2 years later. From 1959 to 1961 he was attached to the Belgrade Drama Theatre. By the time he appeared in THE SOLDIER, he had two dozen films to his credit. Fraser Macintosh was born in Adelaide, Australia, in 1953 and was the son of the broadcaster and TV newsreader Alex Macintosh.
THE SOLDIER was shot in black and white. While the IMDB states that the film was shot in the Serbian language, I've seen a clip in which the two leads seem to clearly be speaking in English.
Few specific release dates for THE SOLDIER have been recorded. The IMDB suggests that it opened in Yugoslavia in 1966 at 103 minutes and in Italy in 1970 in an 87-minute version. Another source adds that it opened in France on 8 March 1972 in an 85-minute version. And several Serbian websites have a 95-minute version of the film available for download. Although English-language prints and advertising were prepared, there is no evidence that the film played theatrically in the U.S., nor has there been any American video release. THE SOLDIER was first registered for copyright in the U.S. in 1990, with a videocassette being provided to the Library of Congress. The copyright was renewed in 1993 by Teleworld, Inc., a motion picture distribution company headquartered in White Plains, NY.
George Breakston would direct only one more film, the Yugoslavian-filmed THE BOY CRIED MURDER (1966), which was scripted by Robin Estridge. Breakston died in 1973 at the age of 53. Robin Estridge would script the horror thriller EYE OF THE DEVIL (1966), but only a few more projects over the next two decades. He died in 2002 at age 82. Rados Novakovic would write only two more films, also directing the final one in 1968. He died in 1979 at age 63. Composer Zoran Hristic would go on to score nearly 80 features and television movies, working until 1999. Rade Markovic was an actor until 2005. During his 60-year-long career, he created over 100 theater roles, took part in 77 national and international film productions, and acted in over 60 dramas and series made by TV Belgrade. Markovic died in 2010 at age 88.
Child actor Fraser Macintosh was also the star of Breakston’s THE BOY CRIED MURDER, which was more or less a remake of the 1949 motion picture THE WINDOW. In that film, he is the witness of a murder and subsequently is terrorized by the murderer. Macintosh’s third film, started but never completed, was to be a remake of Treasure Island with none other than Orson Welles in the role of Long John Silver and Fraser as Jim Hawkins. Filming began and continued for nearly a month, then mysteriously, the project was dropped. Welles then began work on CHIMES AT MIDNIGHT. (Some years later, Welles finally did play Silver in a TREASURE ISLAND (1972) directed by John Hough. But by then Fraser Macintosh was nearly twenty and not able to play the young Jim Hawkins.) Subsequent to the uncompleted Treasure Island, the Disney studio wanted to sign Macintosh up for two or three films, but his mother vetoed the idea in favor of concentrating on his education, and he never acted again. Sadly, Macintosh died in 1988 at the age of 34 from a brain tumor.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: |
Nov 14, 2012 - 1:12 AM
|
|
|
|
By: |
Bob DiMucci
(Member)
|
1973’s L’AMOUR is one of the least known films from the Andy Warhol Factory. The film was co-directed by Warhol himself and Paul Morrissey. Morrissey, who also co-wrote and produced L’AMOUR, was the most frequent director of Warhol-produced films, having previously directed FLESH (1968), TRASH (1970), and HEAT (1972), among others. The story of L’AMOUR followed a rich American in Paris who is representing his father’s deodorant company, and who falls in love with a handsome, French street hustler. Meanwhile, he also gets involved with two female American high school dropouts.
L’AMOUR was the Factory's attempt at a more professional, commercial film. It had a budget, financed by a group of art collectors put together by Fred Hughes, a script (which the investors insisted on before they handed over any money), legal contracts, and a partially professional cast. (Fred Hughes was a member of the Warhol coterie who had worked in Paris for Warhol's old art dealer Iolas in the mid-sixties and had a lot of connections there.)
L’AMOUR starred Michael Sklar, Donna Jordan, French actor Max Delys (a rising star in Italy), and Patti D’Arbanville. All had limited acting experience. Michael Sklar had appeared in Warhol’s TRASH. L’AMOUR was Donna Jordan’s acting debut, while Max Delys had appeared in only one prior film. Patti D’Arbanville had debuted in Warhol’s FLESH.
L’AMOUR’s score was by long-time songwriter Ben Weisman, the only feature film he ever scored. Weisman wrote songs almost exclusively for Elvis Presley, and his songs appeared in 22 of Presley’s films throughout the 1950s and 1960s. It’s unclear whether Weisman had a hand in the one original song that appeared in L’AMOUR, the title song. One source credits the song’s words and music solely to star Michael Sklar, while another credits Weisman as co-writer. In any case, the song was sung on the soundtrack by Cass Elliot. The track was reportedly released by RCA Victor.
L’AMOUR was the first Warhol film to be made abroad. Under the working title “Beauties,” the film was shot in three weeks in September 1970, in Paris, using super 16mm film which was later blown up to 35mm for commercial release. According to a Warhol biography, some of the scenes in L’AMOUR were shot in the Paris apartment of designer Karl Lagerfeld, who also appeared in the film. Jed Johnson, the film's cinematographer, was Andy Warhol's lover at the time. According to Johnson, "Andy really liked Paris. He was more accepted in society there than he was in New York, and he loved that. It was glamorous. An artist was more important to the Europeans, and he was very well liked by everyone." Donna Jordan’s 1940s outfits in the film, accentuated by padded shoulders, wedgies and bright red lipstick, were said to have had an impact in the fashion world when Yves St. Laurent made them his 1971 look.
After completion, however, the film remained unshown for nearly two years. L’AMOUR first screened at the Locarno, Switzerland Film Festival on 11 August 1972. Eventually, the film was picked up for distribution by Altura Films International, which had released Peter Brook’s film of KING LEAR with Paul Scofield in 1971. The R-rated film had its commercial New York opening at the UA Eastside Cinema on 10 May 1973.
In her New York review, Judith Crist termed L’AMOUR “total trivia” and “a tediously dated concoction.” Commenting on the cast, Crist found “Warhol’s grotesques . . . dull, primarily because they are inept performers without a gift for the improvisation essential to the Warhol free-form scheme.” And she declared that Morrissey “has retrogressed to the faddish, the cultish and by-now the shopworn ‘looseness’ of his early works.” Boxoffice magazine, on the other hand, found that L’AMOUR offered “sustained wackiness,” with “each actor . . . perfectly at ease with his role.” “Sklar is hilarious and oddly pathetic.” But most critics agreed with Vincent Canby of the New York Times who declared that “Were there fewer demands for one's attention, L’AMOUR might be worth sitting through for the occasional comic moments.” But ultimately Canby felt that the film was “not funny or important enough to compete with late-night talk shows, a new album by the Carpenters, the Watergate scandal, kung-fu movies, dining at Blimpie's, and a number-one best seller by Jacqueline Susann. We live in a time and place in which first things must come first.”
Due to overall bad reviews, L’AMOUR was scarcely shown outside of New York. It was not shown in Los Angeles at the time of its release, but years later had a one-day screening at the Nuart Theater on 9 June 1978. The film has not been released on any home video format, and the American Film Institute could not locate any copy of the film to view for its cataloging project.
Michael Sklar appeared in two other Warhol films (WOMEN IN REVOLT and SCARECROW IN A GARDEN OF CUCUMBERS) before L’AMOUR was eventually released. These would be his last acting jobs. Sklar died in 1984 at age 39. Donna Jordan would only act in one more film. Max Delys appeared in a number of Italian films, including BREAD AND CHOCOLATE, through the early 1980s. Patti D’Arbanville would go on to have a remarkably successful acting career, which still continues today. She has appeared in such films as RANCHO DELUXE (1975), BIG WEDNESDAY (1978), and TIME AFTER TIME (1979). She also has had many television roles in such shows as “Murder, She Wrote,” Wiseguy,” and a 3-year stint on the soap “Guiding Light.”
Paul Morrissey’s next two films would be Andy Warhol’s 3-D versions of DRACULA and FRANKENSTEIN. He would go on to direct more mainstream films like the Peter Cook and Dudley Moore comedy THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES (1978) and the teenage comedy-drama SPIKE OF BENSONHURST (1988). Ben Wiseman would continue his song writing career, penning tunes that appeared in such films as JERRY MAGUIRE and PUNCH-DRUNK LOVE. He died in 2007 at age 85.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: |
Nov 22, 2012 - 4:04 PM
|
|
|
|
By: |
Bob DiMucci
(Member)
|
THE ROOMMATES was a 1973 crime thriller / sexploitation film released by General Film Corporation. The film was produced by Charles Stroud, who had done a little acting on some “Perry Mason” episodes in the early 1960s, but began his producing career as an associate on 1971’s EVEL KNIEVAL. The film was co-written and directed by Arthur Marks, who had been a producer and/or director on more than a hundred “Perry Mason” episodes. Marks began directing low-budget features in 1970 and had already directed two productions by Charles Stroud: GABRIELLA, GABRIELLA (1972) and BONNIE’S KIDS (1973). Marks also owned General Film Corporation.
Starring in THE ROOMMATES were Pat Woodell, Roberta Collins, and Marki Bey. Pat Woodell was the first "Bobbie Jo Bradley" on “Petticoat Junction.” After leaving the series in 1965, she didn’t do much screen acting until appearing in a string of exploitation films starting with the Roger Corman release of THE BIG DOLL HOUSE (1971). She had also been in the Stroud-Marks film of GABRIELLA, GABRIELLA. Roberta Collins had done a smattering of TV appearances before also being cast in THE BIG DOLL HOUSE, and its follow-up WOMEN IN CAGES. Marki Bey had been in two films, one of which was GABRIELLA, GABRIELLA.
THE ROOMMATES concerned four attractive female roommates who run into a killer while they are celebrating the end of a college term at a luxurious lakefront home. Location scenes for THE ROOMMATES were filmed at Lake Arrowhead, CA. The R-rated film began appearing in various sections of the country in January 1973. Boxoffice magazine called the film’s storyline “one of the strongest . . . for young adult viewing in recent years,” adding that “Marks has directed with his customary professionalism, capturing a mood in delicate shadings.” When the film opened in Los Angeles in May 1973, Frederic Milstein of the Los Angeles Times agreed, noting that “As directed by Arthur Marks, the film is subtle and stylishly suggestive.” Milstein went on to praise the “involving” story and actress Marki Bey “who looks lovely and handles innuendos with finesse.”
THE ROOMMATES has not been released on any home video format. It was broadcast on the USA Network’s “Up All Night” series of late movies in the mid-1990s. (That series is sorely missed by lovers of obscure cinema.) Five years ago it was reported that Dark Sky Films had acquired the rights to the film for video release, but nothing has yet come of that. When the American Film Institute sought a print to view for its cataloging project, none could be found.
The 1974 film THE CENTERFOLD GIRLS, written by Arthur Marks and produced by Charles Stroud, was a sequel to THE ROOMMATES. Stroud would produce two more exploitation films (one was DETROIT 9000) before leaving the business in 1975. Director Marks would truly hit his stride with several hugely entertaining blaxploitation outings: the aforementioned DETROIT 9000 (this particular picture was re-released in theaters in 1998 by Quentin Tarantino), the delightfully breezy Pam Grier vehicle FRIDAY FOSTER, the bang-up Fred Williamson action flick BUCKTOWN, the atmospheric horror winner J.D.’s REVENGE, and the amusingly goofy comedy MONKEY HUSTLE. He also often produced the films he directed. But by the end of the 1970s, he too had left the movie business.
Pat Woodell would appear in one feature and one television episode later in 1973, then leave acting for good. Roberta Collins would appear in more than 20 exploitation films in the 1970s and 1980s, including DEATH RACE 2000 (1975) and DEATH WISH II (1982). She left screen acting at the end of the 1980s and died in 2008 at the age of 63. Marki Bey would appear in two more low-budget features, then do television work until she left acting at the end of the 1970s.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
By: Doc Loch (Member)
So any idea where I can get a copy of Stand Up and Be Counted (1972), a film that claimed to be one of the first to deal with the issue of women's lib and directed by Jackie Cooper, of all people?
By: dan the man (Member)
Good question-huh-STAND UP AND BE COUNTED got a network showing in the 70's then was in syndication in the later 70's but has been very rare if not non- existent on TV [free or cable ] since. It is also not available at this time on YOU TUBE.I also don't see any mention of it on DVD, but it might be on some label. I also can't recall it being on video in years past.
STAND UP AND BE COUNTED (1972) was the first Hollywood film to focus on the Women’s Liberation movement. The comedy follows a skeptical female journalist who is writing an article on how the Movement is affecting the average woman in Middle America. In her research for the article, she encounters various friends, relatives, and other women whose lives are changing because of Women’s Liberation. In the end, she becomes radicalized herself. The film was an M.J. Frankovich Production. Frankovich had been an actor in the 1940s and had produced about a half dozen minor films during the 1950s, but by 1958 had moved into other areas. Returning to producing in the late 1960s, he had a breakout success with 1969’s BOB & CAROL & TED & ALICE. This led to a run of ten productions in the 4-year span between 1969 and 1972, which included such features as MAROONED, CACTUS FLOWER, and THE LOVE MACHINE.
STAND UP AND BE COUNTED marked the feature film directorial debut of 50-year-old actor Jackie Cooper, who had been a child star in the 1930s and had worked steadily ever since. The film’s screenplay was written by Bernard Slade, his first feature. Slade had been writing for television since the late 1950s and had written episodes of “Bewitched” and “The Flying Nun.”
Starring in STAND UP AND BE COUNTED were Jacqueline Bisset, Stella Stevens, and Gary Lockwood. The film also marked the feature film debuts of singer Steve Lawrence and actresses Loretta Swit and Meredith Baxter. Stella Stevens had spent most of the 1960s in television, but had made an impression in such features as THE NUTTY PROFESSOR (1963), THE SILENCERS (1966), and THE BALLAD OF CABLE HOGUE (1970). Gary Lockwood was best known for his appearance in 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY, but had had the title role in the short-lived 1963-64 TV series “The Lieutenant.”
Filming on STAND UP AND BE COUNTED began in early September 1971 and continued through late October. Location scenes were shot in Denver. The film was scored by jazz composer and saxophonist Ernie Wilkens, his only known film score. But the most famous music to come from the film was the song “I Am Woman,” co-written and sung by Helen Reddy. The film also featured a song sung by Sonny and Cher: "All I Ever Need Is You.” One trivia note: In the film’s demonstration scenes, some mock dollar bills are seen. These featured the face of veteran actress Binnie Barnes, who was married to producer M.J. Frankovich.
Columbia Pictures opened the 99-minute, PG-rated STAND UP AND BE COUNTED in New York City on 19 July 1972, and in Los Angeles a week later. Nearly every critic agreed with Newsday’s Martin Levine that while “its heart is in the right place,” the end result was “ a comedy with a somewhat less-than-perfect grasp of its subject.” But after citing Bernard Slade’s script as the major flaw (“as might be expected of the man who created such series as ‘The Flying Nun’ and ‘The Partridge Family’, the result is not a hundred miles from television situation comedy”), Levine nonetheless felt that “women’s lib raises so many provocative questions that, even in this silly film, fascinating possibilities constantly arise.” Similarly ambivalent, the New York Times’ A.H. Weiler, while noting that “as an examination of current revolution STAND UP AND BE COUNTED erratically skips between comedy and serious causes with somewhat less than impressive impact either way,” still found the film “good for some pithy, explicit dialogue and a few gags and giggles.”
The most sympathetic responses to the film came from female critics. Whereas the Village Voice’s Elizabeth Weis was disdainful (as were most critics) of Jackie Cooper’s “schlocky direction,” she commended the movie’s “sympathetic but anti-extremist attitude” towards is subject, judged the picture “sufficiently entertaining and moving to engage the sympathy of most of its intended audience,” and particularly praised the film’s treatment of two of the women’s marriages, which “temporarily escape cliché and become persuasive portrayals of the difficulties of adjusting to marriage once consciousness is raised.” And the San Francisco Chronicle’s Anitra Earle felt that the film was “mildly entertaining and mildly instructive” and wrote that “at best, all the clichés of the movement as well as all the realities with which any woman can identify are included and mulled over to some degree, so the picture may achieve a fairly serious purpose in spite of the drawbacks.”
In all, the consensus was expressed by Gary Arnold of The Washington Post who, after describing a few of the “old yuk-yuks” that appeared in the screenplay, noted that “the weird thing is that they are fairly inoffensive this time, because they’re woven into a script in which women’s problems are handled with some dignity and understanding. It may seem grudging to be so surprised that a film made by men for mass distribution can show compassion for women who are trying to free themselves—but there you are. It is a surprise.”
Because it broached new subject matter, it was perhaps unsurprising that STAND UP AND BE COUNTED was not a big boxoffice success. What is surprising is that the film has dropped out of sight. It has never been released on any home video format, and when the American Film Institute tried to locate a print to view for its cataloging project, none could be found. The copyright is still held by Columbia Pictures, so if materials can be located, perhaps a MOD DVD release by the Sony Choice Collection would be possible.
M.J. Frankovich would produce a few more noted films during the 1970s, such as BUTTERFLIES ARE FREE, and John Wayne’s final film THE SHOOTIST (1976). That was also Frankovich’s final feature production. He retired from filmmaking, and died in 1992 at the age of 82. Jackie Cooper would direct dozens of TV movies and series episodes, but would never direct another feature. He continued his acting career as well, appearing as Perry White in the SUPERMAN quadrilogy. He retired in 1990 and died last year at age 88. Bernard Slade would write the screenplays for such films as SAME TIME, NEXT YEAR (1978) and ROMANTIC COMEDY (1983) before retiring in the late 1980s.
Stella Stevens would have major roles in THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE (1972), NICKELODEON (1975), and THE MANITOU (1978), but would spend most of her career in television. The last one of her of more than 100 TV appearances was in 2006. Gary Lockwood as well would spend most of the next 20 years acting in television, with only a smattering of minor features during that period. Two months after STAND UP AND BE COUNTED premiered, Loretta Swit would begin her 11-season run on “M*A*S*H.” But she still managed the occasional feature role in such films as FREEBIE AND THE BEAN (1974), RACE WITH THE DEVIL (1975), and S.O.B. (1981). Her last screen appearance was in 1998.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: |
Dec 9, 2012 - 10:24 PM
|
|
|
|
By: |
Bob DiMucci
(Member)
|
TWO PEOPLE is a romantic drama, produced and directed by Robert Wise, that was released by Universal in 1973. In the film, an Army deserter decides to return home to face the consequences of his actions, but on the way meets a fashion model with whom he falls in love. The film predates some historical realities. Although within the plot of TWO PEOPLE there are references to an amnesty program for Vietnam War draft violators, it was not until 1974 that President Gerald R. Ford implemented a clemency program that would apply to draft violators, military personnel considered AWOL, and convicted military deserters. That program was generally considered a failure, with exile groups endorsing a boycott of the program. In 1977, President Jimmy Carter established a program for both draft evaders and deserters. Although the program had several restrictions and limitations, it was considered more successful than the Ford program.
In September 1971, Columbia Pictures announced that TWO PEOPLE would be their second release of a Filmakers Group production, the first being HAPPY BIRTHDAY, WANDA JUNE (1971). But the following December, Variety reported that “irreconcilable differences” between producer-director Robert Wise and the studio resulted in the picture being shifted to Universal, which also distributed LIMBO, another Filmakers Group production.
Little need be said about Robert Wise, the famed director of everything from THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL (1951) to WEST SIDE STORY (1961). But after the heights of THE SOUND OF MUSIC (1965), his films varied in success. While THE SAND PEBBLES was a hit, the big budgeted musical STAR! was a flop, and ended his work for 20th Century Fox. Moving to Universal, Wise had a success with THE ANDROMEDA STRAIN (1971). He then embarked upon TWO PEOPLE. The film’s original screenplay was by Richard De Roy, who had been writing almost exclusively for television since 1952. De Roy had scripted episodes of “Checkmate,” “The Flying Nun,” and “The Name of the Game,” among many others. He had co-written a British comedy feature in 1956 (THE BATTLESHIP AND THE BABY), but TWO PEOPLE was De Roy’s first solo feature film writing credit.
For his lovers, Wise chose Peter Fonda and Lindsay Wagner. Fonda had come to the fore in a few Roger Corman films of the late 1960s (principally THE WILD ANGELS), had been a driving force behind EASY RIDER, and had received some good notices with his directorial debut in 1971’s THE HIRED HAND. TWO PEOPLE marked the feature film debut of television actress Lindsay Wagner, who later was perhaps best known as the star of the late 1970s ABC-Television series “The Bionic Woman.” The supporting cast included Estelle Parsons and Alan Fudge.
TWO PEOPLE went before the cameras on 18 February 1972. Filming was done in Marrakesh, Casablanca, Paris, and New York, and concluded in mid-May 1972. The film’s score was by David Shire, and aside from a reported Japanese 45, has never had a release. The R-rated film opened in New York on 18 March 1973, whereupon the critics lambasted the film. While none of her critical colleagues quite agreed with New York’s Judith Crist that TWO PEOPLE “really has it made as the worst movie of the year,” only the Los Angeles Times’ Kevin Thomas was able to muster any enthusiasm for what Roger Ebert called “an awfully awkward journey into banality.” “This glob of protest chic,” wrote Cue’s William Wolf “proves that even serious films about guys who refused to fight in Vietnam can be pure soap opera.” Although nearly every aspect of the film was scorned by the majority of reviewers, it was Richard De Roy’s screenplay that received the lion’s share of derision. The dialogue was variously described as “soapy” (Newsweek’s Arthur Cooper), “insipid” (the San Francisco Chronicle’s Anitra Earle), “eminently forgettable” (the Washington Post’s Tom Zito, and “both so obvious and so self-consciously ‘real’ that the characters don’t seem to be talking to each other, they seem to be taking positions on the issues” (Ebert).
Other critics, like the New York Times’ Roger Greenspun, found TWO PEOPLE to be “equally bad in all departments.” Those other departments included Robert Wise’s direction, which Pauline Kael called “obsolete” and “stifling;” the performance of Peter Fonda, who “speaks infrequently, but seems to hide behind silence rather than use it to amplify character, as for example, Brando does” (Cooper); the screen debut of Lindsay Wagner, who “remains throughout a stranger to conviction (Time’s Jay Cocks); and the supporting performance of Estelle Parsons, who is “not quite the human or comic relief she ought to be, perhaps because her part has been overdrawn” (the Village Voice’s Molly Haskell). And while the aforementioned Kevin Thomas praised the film as “a quite affecting contemporary love story” with a “literate, well-developed script,” the overwhelming majority of critics sided with Kathleen Carroll of the New York Daily News that TWO PEOPLE was a “pallid romance” “that is all empty words and very little feeling.”
TWO PEOPLE has never been issued on home video. When the American Film Institute went looking for a copy to view for its cataloging project, the only print that could be found was incomplete, missing the second reel of the film.
Robert Wise would continue directing through the 1970s, with his last major film being STAR TREK: THE MOTION PICTURE (1979). He died in 2005 at age 91. Writer Richard De Roy would return to television, where he primarily scripted TV movies through the mid-1980s. De Roy died in 2008 at age 77. Peter Fonda’s acting career continued unabated, with major roles in RACE WITH THE DEVIL (1975), FUTUREWORLD (1976), and a late-career Oscar nomination for ULEE’S GOLD (1997). And while most of Fonda’s nearly 100 roles have been in low-budget films, he has worked consistently, and currently has several films in the waiting. Lindsay Wagner had a better role later in 1973 in THE PAPER CHASE, with Timothy Bottoms. She then returned primarily to television work, appearing in the occasional feature such as NIGHTHAWKS (1981) and RICOCHET (1991). The 63-year-old actress is still working today in such series as the SyFy Channel’s “Warehouse 13.”
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: |
Dec 11, 2012 - 1:46 PM
|
|
|
|
By: |
Bob DiMucci
(Member)
|
In the early 1970s, the noted “four-wall” film distributor Sun International Productions ended up distributing two films in the U.S. that had been Oscar-nominated for Best Documentary Feature. The second and better known film was CHARIOTS OF THE GODS. This is the story of the first film, which came to be called INSTINCT FOR SURVIVAL.
Dutchman Bert Haanstra had been interested in filmmaking since boyhood, but got his start as a painter and then newspaper photographer. He didn't direct his first professional film until he was 33, making his second short film, MIRROR of HOLLAND, in 1950 and winning the grand prize for documentaries at Cannes that year. Though Haanstra also dabbled in fiction films, they weren’t as acclaimed or successful as his documentaries. Beginning with short films, he directed his first feature-length film with the 1958 comedy FANFARE. But he always kept coming back to documentaries, even directing some National Geographic specials in the mid-1960s. Between 1950 and 1970, he won over 50 awards for his work. His short documentary GLASS alone won some 20 awards.
In 1969, Haanstra embarked upon a project to produce a documentary that probed the close connection between animals and humans. Taking as his starting point naturalist Charles Darwin’s “survival of the fittest” theory, Haanstra began his film by looking at the way in which nature provided living creatures with a variety of methods to survive their environment. The film then focused on man as an element of major disruption throughout all areas of nature. Examples were provided of man’s interactions with animal life, and comparisons were drawn between man and animal, for example in the use of tools by different species. The film’s conclusion was that all these examples demonstrate that animal behavior is so similar to that of humans that it cannot be simply accidental. While humans have developed their mental abilities to such heights that they have devised methods of extending their environment and even prolonging life, that knowledge has frequently been gained at the loss not only of wild life, but of the planet’s resources. In the end, the filmmaker wondered, can life continue its evolution and development even as humans contribute to their own destruction?
Using both Dutch and American financing, Haanstra spent 3 years assembling the footage needed for his film. In addition to shooting in the Netherlands, the film’s numerous locations included India, Germany, the National Parks of Tanzania, and Antarctica. Haanstra received help and cooperation from the British Antarctic Survey, Rijksmuseum voor Natuurlijke Historic, the National Geographic Society, Dr. H. F. Harlow, Dr. Jane van Lawick-Goodall, Prof. Konrad Lorenz, and Dr. B. Stonehouse.
Bert Haanstra’s, film, narrated by Anton Koolhaas and entitled “Bij de Beesten Af” (“For the Beast”), had its world premiere in the Netherlands on 21 December 1972. The film was ultimately viewed by more than 880,000 people in that country. Even though the film had not yet opened commercially in the United States, it was nominated for a 1972 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature (it lost to MARJOE). On 7 March 1973, Unicorn Productions opened a 103-minute, PG-rated version of the film in Los Angeles under the title APE AND SUPER APE. (Some contemporary sources hyphenate SUPER-APE or have it as SUPERAPE.) The initial release contained English narration spoken by a narrator with a heavy Dutch accent, with some malapropisms. The U.S. co-producers indicated that the soundtrack was temporary, and that the narration was to be re-written and re-recorded by a native English speaker. That was done, and the film’s narration was re-voiced by Stephen Murray, a Briton who was credited as "Voice."
In May 1973, APE AND SUPER APE was acquired for distribution by Sun International Productions for a major U.S. release in the fall. Because it was Sun’s policy to only release G-rated films for its family audiences, Sun decided to re-edit the film prior to releasing it. The revised version of the film utilized extensive sequences from APE AND SUPER APE, with additional sequences added by the film's U.S. co-producer, John Mahon. The now 98-minute film was newly christened INSTINCT FOR SURVIVAL and featured a revised narration spoken by Alexander Scourby. The MPAA changed the film's original PG rating to G after the alterations were made.
In August 1973, Sun International entered the revised film into a Canadian film festival, but was forced to pull the film out of the festival after director Bert Haanstra protested the distributor's alteration of the film, and their re-titling it INSTINCT FOR SURVIVAL. Haanstra insisted that his original version be shown at the festival, but Sun refused, claiming that the "violent elements" in the film might alienate general audiences. Ultimately, the picture INSTINCT FOR SURVIVAL had its general commercial release by Sun in November 1973, opening simultaneously in 44 major market areas. In its review of the film, Boxoffice magazine termed it “an outstanding documentary” that “should be a popular hit. It represents ideal family entertainment.”
But the film was not universally praised, even in its original version. When APE AND SUPER APE opened in Britain in late 1973, John Baxter of the Monthly Film Bulletin said that “It lacks even associational interest for the wildlife enthusiast, and is best written off as an inconclusive, unoriginal and often repellent exercise unworthy of its maker.” In later years, Halliwell’s Film and Video Guide would call APE AND SUPER APE “An alleged documentary” that “seems regrettably to turn into a series of episodes depicting animal savagery in close-up.”
Neither the original APE AND SUPER APE, nor the revised INSTINCT FOR SURVIVAL, has had any home video release in the U.S. The most recent copyright registration indicates that INSTINCT FOR SURVIVAL was last owned by Spelling Entertainment, which is now controlled by Paramount. The original Dutch-language “Bij de Beesten Af” was issued on a PAL DVD in the Netherlands in 2007. Reportedly that DVD runs 137 minutes, but it is unclear whether that represents a new expansion of the original 103-minute American APE AND SUPER APE, or whether the Dutch version always ran that length and had been shortened before first appearing in the U.S.
Bert Haanstra continued making films, primarily documentaries, until 1988. Included among these were two other documentaries about animals: “Nationale parken... noodzaak” (1978) and “Chimps onder elkaar” (1984). He died in 1997 at the age of 81.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: |
Dec 13, 2012 - 11:12 AM
|
|
|
|
By: |
Bob DiMucci
(Member)
|
BAD CHARLESTON CHARLIE is a 1973 comedy that is set in Depression-era Illinois. The film follows two friends who decide to quit the poverty and drudgery of the coal mines and strike out on their own by imitating infamous gangster Al Capone. Hilarity ensues. The film was very loosely based on the exploits of gangster Charlie Birger (1881-1928), a Southern Illinois coal miner turned bootlegger who ran a speakeasy in south Illinois known as the "Shady Rest" and battled the local Ku Klux Klan, which supported Prohibition. Birger was hanged in 1928 for the murder of a small town mayor.
The low-budget film was a project conceived by actor Ross Hagen, who produced, co-wrote, and starred in the picture. Rough 'n' tumble character actor Ross Hagen was born as Leland Lando Lilly on May 21, 1938, in Williams, Arizona. Handsome and rugged, with a highly distinctive deep gravelly voice and a commandingly raw masculine screen presence, Ross was frequently cast as charming and likable tough guys on both sides of the law in a colorful and eclectic array of films and TV shows. Hagen began his acting career in the mid ‘60s doing guest spots on various television programs such as "The Virginian," "The Big Valley," and "The Fugitive." He then crossed over into exploitation theatrical features with leading roles in the biker flicks THE HELLCATS (1968), THE MINI-SKIRT MOB (1968), and FIVE THE HARD WAY (1969). The last film, also known as THE SIDEHACKERS, had been Hagen’s first production.
For BAD CHARLESTON CHARLIE, Hagen also co-developed the story and co-wrote the screenplay with Stan Kamber and director Ivan Nagy. Kamber was an occasional actor who had had bit parts in the late 1950s films THE YOUNG LIONS and WARLOCK. BAD CHARLESTON CHARLIE was his first attempt at writing. Hungarian-born writer and still photographer Ivan Nagy marked his directorial debut with the film PUSHING UP DAISIES (produced by Hagen), which apparently was filmed in 1969. BAD CHARLESTON CHARLIE was his second feature, but it appears to have been the first one released.
In addition to Ross Hagen, the film starred Kelly Thordsen and Hoke Howell. Thordsen, a former LAPD motorcycle officer who became an actor, had been appearing in films and television since the mid-1950s, primarily in westerns such as “Yancy Derringer,” “Colt .45,” and “Shotgun Slade.” He was also in the features SWEET BIRD OF YOUTH (1962) and THE UGLY DACHSHUND (1965). Georgia-born Hoke Howell had been acting in television since the early 1960s. His first credited role in a feature was in Ivan Nagy’s PUSHING UP DAISIES. BAD CHARLESTON CHARLIE was his second credited film role. Character actor John Carradine had a small role in the film, as did an uncredited (except for the film’s poster) Christopher George. George and Hagen had filmed THE DEVIL’S 8 together in 1969. Ross Hagen’s wife, Claire Hagen, had a bit part, and under her maiden name of Claire Polan she also did the film’s wardrobe and makeup. The film was scored by Luchi De Jesus, who had begun his screen composing career at age 44 with television’s “That Girl,” and had his breakout feature scoring assignment with 1972’s Jim Brown blaxploitation film SLAUGHTER.
The film was produced by Triforum, Inc., the Hollywood producing arm of Studio 9 Productions in Illinois. The companies were co-owned by Ross Hagen and Ivan Nagy. BAD CHARLESTON CHARLIE began filming in late December 1970. Location scenes were filmed in Fairmount , Champaign, and Urbana, Illinois, with interiors in Hollywood. Shooting ended in mid-February 1971. That was when the film ran into money problems. In March 1971, more than 25 members of the cast and crew of BAD CHARLESTON CHARLIE filed claims with the State of California Division of Labor Law Enforcement against Triforum, Inc for alleged non-payment of wages. The production encountered further problems when, in May 1972, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filed a complaint against Studio 9 Productions for "violations of the registration and anti-fraud provisions of the Federal securities laws in connection with the offer and sale of Studio 9 Productions common stock and Bad Charleston limited partnership interests." On June 5, 1972, Studio 9 Productions "consented to a finding" (without admitting guilt) that they had violated Federal law and they accepted a final judgment of permanent injunction against future such sales. As a result of these financial and legal problems, the film was forced to sit on the shelf for more than 2 years.
Finally, in 1973, the 91-minute, PG-rated BAD CHARLESTON CHARLIE was picked up for distribution by International Cinema Corporation. The film was scheduled to make its world premiere with a benefit screening on April 13, 1973, but the debut was delayed until May 8, when the film finally debuted at a charity event hosted by actress Angie Dickinson. This premiere took place at the Avco Center Theater (now the "AMC Avco Center 4") in the Westwood neighborhood of Los Angeles. The event raised money for the Oakhill School for Emotionally Handicapped Children and the Reiss-Davis Clinic. The film began playing in the greater Los Angeles area on May 9, 1973, with a national rollout in June 1973.
Reviewing the film in May 1973 on its initial release, Kevin Thomas of the Los Angeles Times wrote, "BAD CHARLESTON CHARLIE is not merely bad but terrible." The filmmakers quoted another part of Thomas' review in their advertising, attempting to spin the negative into a positive: "Spoofery in nonsensical shenanigans are meant to be the order of the day." Modern critics have been no kinder. VideoHound's Golden Movie Retriever gives the film its lowest-possible "Woof!" rating and asks in its review of the film, "Dud of a gangster comedy with terrible acting. A comedy?" The Motion Picture Guide gives the film a zero-star rating, calling it a "rancid period-piece" with a "cast of no-names." TV Guide rates the film at zero-stars citing "incompetent" direction and noting that BAD CHARLESTON CHARLIE "is said to have been [John Carradine's] 401st movie" but that he "should have quit at 400."
BAD CHARLESTON CHARLIE was released on home video on September 16, 1987, by Home Cinema Corporation, in both the VHS and Betamax cassette formats. The current copyright for the film is held by Santa Monica Holdings Corporation. Troma Entertainment holds the video release rights, but the film is currently unavailable on video, and has never been issued on DVD. Selected clips from the film can be seen as part of the Ross Hagen-directed 1985 compilation horror movie REEL HORROR, available on DVD from Peacock Films.
Ross Hagen would continue acting in TV, making appearances in such series as "Kung Fu,", "Cannon," and "The Fall Guy." He also acted in almost twenty pictures for director Fred Olen Ray. His late wife Claire Polan acted in a few movies with Hagen (the couple also briefly ran an acting school). In addition to acting, Hagen directed seven films, which include the action oddity THE GLOVE (1981) and the medical thriller B.O.R.N. He died from cancer at age 72 on May 7, 2011. Director Ivan Nagy became involved in the case of Hollywood Madam Heidi Fleiss when it was revealed he had at one time been her boyfriend. Nagy spent the remainder of the 1970s and 1980s directing TV movies. In the 1990’s, he was relegated to softcore direct-to-video films, the last being in 2001.
Kelly Thordsen only appeared in one more feature film, 1974’s THE PARALLAX VIEW. He finished his career in television and died in 1978 at age 61. Hoke Howell would appear in some noted 1970s films such as THE STONE KILLER (1973) and THE KLANSMAN (1974). He acted continuously until his death in 1997 at the age of 67, having about 120 screen roles to his credit. After scoring the blaxploitation films BLACK BELT JONES (1974) and FRIDAY FOSTER (1975), Luchi De Jesus’ scoring career would run its course by 1976. He died in 1984 at age 61.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: |
Dec 16, 2012 - 1:21 AM
|
|
|
|
By: |
Bob DiMucci
(Member)
|
RAMPART OF DESIRE was a French-Italian co-production that was released by Allied Artists in the U.S. in 1974. It tells the story of an upper-class woman who is considering getting married to a widower, a painter with a 16-year-old daughter. During a visit to his home, she finds herself alone with the daughter, who is very lonely. Before long, they end up in bed with each other.
The screenplay was co-written by Françoise Mallet-Joris, based upon her 1951 novel Le rempart des beguines. Mallet-Joris was a Belgian who received great critical acclaim for her novel, which was published when she was only 20. The book has been published under many English titles, including The Illusionist, Into the Labyrinth, and The Loving and the Daring. Directing, and co-writing the screenplay, was Guy Casaril, whose most well-known film was 1970’s THE NUNS, with Bridgette Bardot and Annie Girardot.
Starring in RAMPART OF DESIRE were Anicee Alvina, Nicole Courcel, Venantino Venantini, and Jean Martin. Anicee Alvina, who played the young daughter, had co-starred (as “Michelle LaTour”) in Lewis Gilbert’s 1971 film FRIENDs, and its 1974 sequel PAUL AND MICHELLE. Nicole Courcel, playing the upper-class woman, had been in such well-known films as SUNDAYS AND CYBELE (1962) and THE NIGHT OF THE GENERALS (1967).
The film was shot during March and April of 1972. It opened in France on 20 September 1972, and in the U.S. in January 1974.
The film played in the U.S. under several different titles, including “Their Gentle Sex” and The Wild Girl. RAMPART OF DESIRE has never had any video release in the U.S.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: |
Dec 17, 2012 - 4:19 PM
|
|
|
|
By: |
Bob DiMucci
(Member)
|
ASH WEDNESDAY is a film in Elizabeth Taylor’s canon that is rarely mentioned, perhaps for good reason. The film is a drama concerning a woman who undergoes plastic surgery to make her look more youthful. She finds that her renewed appearance has profound effects on her romantic life, both with her husband and with other men that she meets. Starring with Elizabeth Taylor were Henry Fonda, Helmut Berger, and Keith Baxter. The film’s credits also announce that ASH WEDNESDAY was “introducing” actress Kathy Van Lypps. As it turned out, the film marked Lypps’ only feature film appearance.
ASH WEDNESDAY was directed by Larry Peerce. Peerce was born in 1930 in Bronx, New York, to the later Metropolitan Opera tenor Jan Peerce and his wife, Alice. Peerce's directorial career stretched from 1964 to 2001, embraced different genres and generated different results. In the 1960s it seemed as if Peerce would become a major filmmaker. His first film, ONE POTATO, TWO POTATO (1964), was a sensitively told story about an interracial marriage, which garnered some festival awards and Academy nominations. While toiling on series TV in the mid-'60s, helming the westerns "Branded" (1965) and "The Wild Wild West" (1965), Peerce made a successful rock-and-roll concert film, THE BIG T.N.T. SHOW (1966), which showcased a lot of talent, including The Ronettes and producer Phil Spector. He next made the interesting THE INCIDENT (1967), a film based on a true story about a pair of teenage toughs terrorizing the riders on a subway car. The film marked the screen debut of both Martin Sheen and Tony Musante and was Beau Bridges' introduction to adult roles. Peerce seemed poised for a breakthrough to the "big time" with his film version of Philip Roth's novel, GOODBYE, COLUMBUS (1969), which was a critical and box-office success. He won a nomination for Best Director-Motion Pictures from the Directors Guild of America for the movie. However, with the change in decades, his talents seemingly floundered. THE SPORTING CLUB (1971) was a flop with critics and audiences, and his ambitious adaptation of John Knowles' coming-of-age novel A SEPARATE PEACE (1972) drifted away without making any impact. Then came ASH WEDNESDAY.
The film was scripted by Jean-Claude Tramont, a Belgian writing his first screenplay. The film marked the last of three films produced by Dominick Dunne, the older brother of screenwriter John Gregory Dunne. (The other two films were THE PANIC IN NEEDLE PARK (1971) and PLAY IT AS IT LAYS (1972)). While industry news items from 1972 indicated that the film would be a Ray Stark (Rastar) production, there is no further indication of Rastar’s involvement. Maurice Jarre scored the film. Although the score was never released, Paramount Records issued a 45rpm recording of the main theme, sung by Robert Goulet. The theme, entitled “Summer Green, Autumn Gold” had lyrics by Paul Francis Webster, and also appeared (sans vocal) on a British LP of movie themes conducted by Roger Webb. The theme was never sung in the film however.
Shooting began on ASH WEDNESDAY on 12 March 1973 and ended in early June. The film was shot on location in the Italian Alps, Cortina, and Rome. Taylor’s husband Richard Burton thought that the film was incredibly vulgar, and he was bothered by the love scenes Helmut Berger shared with Taylor. Richard Burton was sure that Berger and Taylor were having an affair off screen as well, even though Helmut Berger was open about his homosexuality. According to producer Dominick Dunne, the behind-the-scenes drama happening during the making of the film was more interesting than anything going on in front of the cameras. Elizabeth Taylor was chronically late to the set, prompting Paramount Studio head Robert Evans to fly off the handle, and the fights that occurred between Taylor and Burton were explosive enough to frighten the rest of the cast and crew.
The opening credits of ASH WEDNESDAY feature a montage of sepia-toned photographs that chronicle the marriage of "Barbara" (Taylor) and "Mark Sawyer" (Fonda). Many of the photos were actual photographs of Elizabeth Taylor with her various real-life husbands, with a young Henry Fonda’s face superimposed over theirs. The photos blur the 27-year age difference between the stars, making them appear as contemporaries. The first portion of the film features graphic surgical footage that many reviews remarked was likely to upset audiences, and which led to the film's R rating. The New York Times review noted that the surgery, performed by the film's technical advisor, Dr. Rodolphe Troques, demonstrated the removal of subcutaneous tissue. But the sequence was faked, and the removed tissue shown onscreen was actually chicken fat.
Paramount opened the 99-minute film in New York and Los Angeles on 21 November 1973. The critics at the time were indifferent towards the film. In a 2-star review, Roger Ebert called it “a soapy melodrama that isn't much good.” And while declaring that the “movie's story is not really very interesting,” Ebert still felt that “we're intrigued because the star is Taylor. Weak as the role is, she was nevertheless just about the inevitable choice to play it.” But Ebert also declared that “the final confrontation between Taylor and Fonda is stiff and unconvincing.” Similarly, Pauline Kael found that Taylor was “absolutely ravishing, in an unearthly, ageless way,” but blasted the film because “there is no script and no direction.” She also felt that Henry Fonda gave “a sour, dumb performance.” Modern reviewers are even more negative. Leonard Maltin declares the film to be a “Bomb” and says “Sit through this one and you’ll need surgery on your posterior.” Halliwell’s Film and Video Guide says that “The bloodthirsty operation scenes are revolting, yet this joyless saga seems meant as a celebration of the wonders of cosmetic surgery and Sex for the Aged.” And in a 1-star review, the Motion Picture Guide declares ASH WEDNESDAY to be “Another in the long string of mediocre films by Taylor.”
Despite the critical pummeling absorbed by the film, Taylor received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress in a Motion Picture Drama (Marsha Mason won for CINDERELLA LIBERTY). Although the film was broadcast on ABC in 1978, it wasn’t until 20 years later, in 1998, that Paramount finally issued ASH WEDNESDAY on video, in the waning days of VHS. That tape quickly went out of print, and today has high asking prices on the secondary market. However, the film is available on YouTube, and perhaps may someday be issued on DVD by Olive Films.
With the commercial failure of ASH WEDNESDAY, director Larry Peerce turned to made-for-TV movies. He had a success with the adoption drama “The Stranger Who Looks Like Me” (1974), then had two winners at the box office with THE OTHER SIDE OF THE MOUNTAIN (1975) and its sequel. He next directed a popular disaster movie about a psychotic sniper loose in a football stadium, TWO-MINUTE WARNING (1976), one of the bloodiest movies made up to that time, which was both severely edited and expanded with additional material when it ran on TV. Peerce failed when attempting a return to adaptations of memorable novels, with his take on Sylvia Plath's THE BELL JAR (1979). He continued to work in TV movies during the 1980s, but at the end of the decade had a major flop with his big-screen adaptation of Bob Woodward's John Belushi biography WIRED (1989), though it did introduce actor Michael Chiklis. In the 1990s he stuck to TV movies, retiring in 2001 after helming “Second Honeymoon” (2001).
Screenwriter Jean-Claude Tramont would write and direct the 1977 French film FOCAL POINT. He made his American directorial debut with the Barbra Streisand – Gene Hackman film ALL NIGHT LONG (1981). He would direct just one more film, for television, before leaving the business. He died in 1996 at age 62.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
