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Posted: |
Jun 14, 2019 - 12:13 PM
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By: |
Bob DiMucci
(Member)
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British director John Schlesinger became interested in making a film adaptation of James Leo Herlihy’s novel, MIDNIGHT COWBOY, soon after it was published in August 1965. Schlesinger first read the novel while he was working on DARLING and suggested it as a future project to his producer at the time, Joseph Janni. But Janni wasn't comfortable with the idea of filming in the U.S. (he wanted to change the setting to London), so Schlesinger pitched the project to United Artists’ (UA) president, David V. Picker, in October 1965. Although a reader in the UA story department had already rejected the book on the basis that the action went “steadily downhill,” Picker and his executive team read the novel themselves and agreed to finance the production. In April 1966, the studio committed to backing a budget of roughly $1 million, in exchange for forty percent of the profits, with Schlesinger and his producer, Jerome Hellman, set to receive the other sixty percent. Filming was slated to take place entirely in New York City.
Jack Gelber was initially hired to adapt the screenplay. Schlesinger stated that two early drafts (presumably by Gelber) were thrown out, and Waldo Salt was brought in to write a new version of the script from scratch. Salt reportedly wrote the first fifty pages before collaborating with Schlesinger, and unnamed others, on the remainder. The final screenplay incorporated “an intensive method of rehearsing and writing the dialog” that entailed improvisational exercises between co-stars Jon Voight and Dustin Hoffman. In the film, a naive hustler, “Joe Buck” (Voight), travels from Texas to New York City to seek personal fortune, finding a new friend, “‘Ratso’ Rizzo” (Hoffman), in the process. Sylvia Miles played “Cass,” a rich, coarse, middle-aged blonde who is picked up by Joe. The film’s script contains the first recorded use of the word "scuzzy", as a description of Ratso Rizzo. At its root, "scuzzy" is apparently a combination of "scummy" and "fuzzy".
While the picture was in development, Schlesinger honored a previous commitment to make FAR FROM THE MADDING CROWD (1967) with producer Janni for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM). The film was not a box-office success, and Schlesinger claimed that MGM’s head of publicity subsequently warned him against making the risky MIDNIGHT COWBOY in lieu of something more commercial. Schlesinger received similar pressure from his talent agent, who wanted him to direct THE APRIL FOOLS (1969) with Jack Lemmon. UA also became wary of the project as budget figures rose to $2 million. Several meetings were held among studio executives to determine whether or not to drop it from their slate. However, UA stayed with the project, even as the final budget reached $3 million. Despite being over budget and over schedule, Schlesinger was reportedly afforded complete artistic control and an extended cutting period of six months.
Principal photography began 6 May 1968 in New York City. Four weeks of shooting were scheduled to take place in the city, including interiors staged at Filmways Studios in Harlem. Regarding the apartment used in the film, John Schlesinger recalled "the designer re-created the flat in which Ratso and Joe Buck stayed from one that we had seen while we were location hunting. The building was an old tenement that was about to be torn down, so we took the doors from one of the rooms, along with some discarded furnishings, and put them right onto the studio set." Production moved to Miami Beach, FL, the week of 29 July 1968. Following the filming of dream sequences there, cast and crew traveled to Texas, where shooting was underway as of late August 1968. Final scenes were being shot in New York City as of mid-September 1968.
The film’s controversial subject matter of male prostitution, and the depiction of homosexual sex, led UA to briefly consider releasing the picture through its subsidiary, Lopert Pictures, which had been used to release the similarly controversial KISS ME, STUPID (1964). Further adding to its reputation as a risqué film, MIDNIGHT COWBOY was rated [X] (banning viewers under the age of seventeen) by the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA). The MPAA had initially offered an [R] rating, but UA had opted for the [X] in an effort to present the film to the public in a responsible manner. MIDNIGHT COWBOY was only the third X-rated film, to that time, that was not condemned by the National Catholic Office for Motion Pictures, which deemed the movie “morally unobjectionable for adults,” and called it “strong and striking, at times masterful” and “a celebration of man’s dignity.”
Director John Schlesinger admitted that there were some things that he would have changed, such as the overlong party sequence. But, for the most part, he felt he succeeded in making a film that was compassionate rather than bleak, one that truly captured "the mixture of desperation and humor which I found all along Forty-Second Street."
The picture became a touchstone in the growing argument over the need for distinction between artistic and exploitative X-rated films, especially in light of recent advertising bans. Daily newspapers in San Diego, Reno, Phoenix, Indianapolis, and Oklahoma City were no longer running advertisements for [X] films. Movie critic Charles Champlin described MIDNIGHT COWBOY as a “work of art,” and the fact that it might be negatively affected by such bans as “perfectly symbolic of the uncomfortable and unsatisfactory state of affairs these advertising prohibitions create.” Meanwhile, on the other side of the argument, Texas Senator Ralph Hall cited the film as one of the pictures that had prompted his recent “dirty movie” tax proposal, which suggested charging an extra fifteen cents for tickets to M-rated movies, twenty-five cents for R-rated fare, and an additional fifty cents for X-rated films. Hoping his tax – if passed – might prompt a shift toward more conservative filmmaking, Hall was quoted as saying, “The movie people I have talked to are as disgusted by the fact that these movies are what the public wants to see as we are.”
When MIDNIGHT COWBOY did not receive any awards at the 1969 Berlin Film Festival, United Artists was so upset that they refused to send any more of the films they handled to that program for the next ten years.
On 25 May 1969, the X-rated MIDNIGHT COWBOY opened exclusively at the Coronet Theater in New York City. Daily Variety touted the picture’s first week gross of $61,503 as “the biggest week’s gross for any film in the history of New York’s East Side!” Reviews were largely positive, and the picture went on to become one of the top-performing movies of 1969, earning $11 million in film rentals that year. Variety deemed it the only “’non-family’ effort” to gross more than $10 million. The film’s final grosses exceeded $58 million.
Sylvia Miles in MIDNIGHT COWBOY
MIDNIGHT COWBOY marked the first X-rated picture to be nominated for an Academy Award. Its seven nominations included Best Picture, Actor (Dustin Hoffman and Jon Voight), Actress in a Supporting Role (Sylvia Miles), Directing, Film Editing, and Writing (Screenplay—based on material from another medium). Sylvia Miles was the only Supporting Role Oscar nominee that year who was from a Best Picture-nominated film.
The nominations posed a dilemma for ABC, which was set to air the Oscar telecast, since the company had “a policy against unspooling X-rated product.” Regardless, MIDNIGHT COWBOY won Best Picture, Directing, and Writing (Screenplay—based on material from another medium). Sylvia Miles lost the Supporting Actress Oscar to Goldie Hawn for CACTUS FLOWER.
Other accolades for the film included the Directors Guild of America Award for Best Director, the New York Film Critics prize for Best Actor (Voight), and the Motion Picture Herald’s exhibitors’ poll selection for New Personality of 1969 (Voight).
Harry Nilsson won a Grammy Award for Best Male Vocal Performance for his song on the film’s soundtrack, “Everybody’s Talkin’.” According to Music Producer Phil Ramone, Nilsson's song was originally used as a placeholder in the early edits of the film while waiting for his composition, "I Guess the Lord Must Be In New York City" to be ready for slotting in to the final cuts. However, Schlesinger and Hellman got so used to hearing the filler song, they ultimately stuck with it. Both songs have similar rhythms and melody lines. Bob Dylan wrote the song "Lay, Lady, Lay" for the film, but didn't complete it in time to be included in the soundtrack. John Barry’s score for the film was released on a United Artists LP, and re-issued on CD by EMI Manhattan in 1985.
MIDNIGHT COWBOY was also named one of the top ten films of the year by the National Board of Review. In 1994, it was added to the Library of Congress’s National Film Registry, and in 2007, it was ranked 43rd on AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies--10th Anniversary Edition list of the greatest American films, moving down from the 36th position it held on AFI's 1997 list. The movie's line "I'm walking here! I'm walking here!" was voted as the number twenty-seven movie quote by the AFI (out of 100).
In 1971, UA re-submitted MIDNIGHT COWBOY to the MPAA for a re-rating, after removing the film from theaters for a requisite sixty days. The organization reverted to its original decision to rate the film [R], and the picture was subsequently re-released, uncut, as an [R] film.
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Posted: |
Jun 14, 2019 - 12:49 PM
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By: |
Bob DiMucci
(Member)
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Sylvia Miles co-starred with Red Buttons in the 1971 crime drama WHO KILLED MARY WHATS'ERNAME? When a prostitute (Leila Martin) is murdered on the streets of a tough, low-income neighborhood, a diabetic retired boxer who knew her, “Mickey Isadore” (Buttons), is appalled by the lack of interest shown in the case by the police or anybody else in the neighborhood. He decides to investigate the case himself. Miles plays another prostitute, “Christine,” who assists Mickey.
Supposedly, the character “Mickey Isadore” was the inspiration for the 1969 Simon & Garfunkel hit song, “The Boxer.” Ernest Pintoff directed the film, which had an unreleased score by Gary McFarland. McFarland died on 2 November 1971, a few days before the film's release. The film, which cost $425,000 to produce, grossed $1.7 million at the box office.
In 1971's GOING HOME, Jan-Michael Vincent plays nineteen-year-old "Jimmy Graham," who decides to visit his father "Harry" (Robert Mitchum) in prison, after not having contact with him for years. Upon arriving at the prison, he finds to his dismay that Harry had been released months ago. Jimmy decides to seek him out, still bitter that, while in a drunken rage, Harry had murdered Jimmy's mother 15 years earlier.
GOING HOME, which was originally rated [R] was re-rated [GP] before its release when MGM studio head James Aubrey cut twenty-one minutes from the film, including the role of actress Sylvia Miles, as a housewife involved with "Jimmy Graham." Miles' scenes were filmed in my hometown of McKeesport, PA.
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Posted: |
Jun 14, 2019 - 1:28 PM
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By: |
Bob DiMucci
(Member)
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HEAT is a parody of SUNSET BOULEVARD. “Joey Davis” (Joe Dallesandro), an unemployed ex-child actor, uses sex to get his landlady, “Lydia” (Pat Ast), to reduce his rent, and then tries to exert his influence on “Sally Todd” (Sylvia Miles), who is now washed-up and wasn't even more than slightly important at the height of her career. Sally tries to help Joey, until he realizes that she just isn't well-connected enough to be of any service to him. The affair is complicated by Sally's psychotic, maybe-lesbian-or-maybe-not daughter “Jessica” (Andrea Feldman), who tries to muscle in on her mother's relationship with Joey.
Sylvia Miles and Joe Dallesandro in HEAT
HEAT was the first film produced by noted artist, filmmaker and Factory impresario Andy Warhol that was shot on the West Coast, although the scenes in Sally's bedroom were filmed at Warhol's house in East Hampton, NY. Paul Morrissey directed the 1972 film. HEAT marked the last motion picture appearance of actress Andrea Feldman, who committed suicide on 8 August 1972.
John Cale's music credit noted that the film's music was featured on the Warner-Reprise album "Academy in Peril." The title song, "Days of Steam," was written and performed by Cale, a founding member of the group The Velvet Underground. Andy Warhol agreed to do the cover art for the album in exchange for the use of "Days of Steam" in the film. HEAT grossed $600,000 at the box office.
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Posted: |
Jun 14, 2019 - 1:55 PM
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By: |
Bob DiMucci
(Member)
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Robert Mitchum played detective “Philip Marlowe” in the 1975 adaptation of Raymond Chandler’s novel FAREWELL, MY LOVELY. “Moose Malloy” (Jack O’Halloran), who has just completed a seven year stretch for a bank heist, asks the detective to locate his girlfriend, Velma Valento. Malloy explains that he has not heard from Velma in six years and takes Marlowe to a downtown night club, run by “Jessie Florian” (Sylvia Miles), where Velma used to work. FAREWELL, MY LOVELY was Miles' second film with Robert Mitchum, after 1971's GOING HOME, in which all her scenes were cut.
Dick Richards directed the film. David Shire’s score was released on a United Artists LP, which was re-issued on CD by Film Score Monthly in 2002. Sylvia Miles received an Academy Award nomination as Best Supporting Actress for her performance in the film. She lost to Lee Grant for SHAMPOO. FAREWELL, MY LOVELY grossed $6.1 million at the box office.
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Posted: |
Jun 14, 2019 - 2:50 PM
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By: |
Bob DiMucci
(Member)
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In THE GREAT SCOUT AND CATHOUSE THURSDAY, three prospectors (Lee Marvin, Oliver Reed, and Strother Martin) confront their ex-partner (Robert Culp) who, 15 years earlier, ran off with all the gold from their mine. They also plan to kidnap his wife (Elizabeth Ashley). Sylvia Miles plays “Mike,” the town madam of Serenity, Colorado. A Boxoffice news item explained that, while six of the prostitutes in the film would be named for days of the week, the seventh would be named “Holiday” out of respect for the Sabbath (although the character was referred to as “No Holidays” in the film).
Don Taylor directed the western comedy, which was set in 1908. The film had an unreleased score by John Cameron. During filming, Lee Marvin and Oliver Reed had a drinking contest, which Reed won after ten hours when Marvin fell unconscious. THE GREAT SCOUT AND CATHOUSE THURSDAY grossed $10.9 million at the box office. After making this film, Lee Marvin left Hollywood and went into semi-retirement from acting.
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Posted: |
Jun 14, 2019 - 5:12 PM
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By: |
Bob DiMucci
(Member)
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When four teenage friends go to the carnival and spend the night in THE FUNHOUSE, they are stalked by a deformed man in a mask. Star Elizabeth Berridge was given an “Introducing” credit, although she had appeared in the 1979 independent film NATURAL ENEMIES. Sylvia Miles played “Madame Zena,” a fortune teller in the carnival’s side show.
Producer Derek Power assembled the creative team of THE FUNHOUSE and brought the filmmakers to executive producer Mace Neufeld. The team included director Tobe Hooper. Although the script described the monster as a “troll,” special makeup designer, Rick Baker advanced the design from a deformed person to a type of mythological creature. His goal was, in his words, to create something “overwhelmingly ugly, but strangely sympathetic.” The latex mask was molded to the features of actor Wayne Doba, who was formerly a Berkeley, CA, street mime and was performing at a Miami restaurant when he was discovered by Power and Hooper. According to Tobe Hooper, Sylvia Miles jokingly asked "Did I just throw my career away?" after filming a sex scene with the film's freak/monster.”
Sylvia Miles in THE FUNHOUSE
A period carnival, with a freak show and rides dating to the 1940s and 1950s, was discovered in Akron, OH, and moved to Norin Studios in Miami, where it was reassembled for the production. Production designer Morton Rabinowitz also built the funhouse set on the studio backlot.
THE FUNHOUSE was independently financed, and Universal Pictures obtained worldwide distribution rights. The film opened on Friday, 13 March 1981. Composer John Beal released a promotional CD of his score through Intrada in 1998. The film grossed $7.9 million at the box office.
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Posted: |
Jun 14, 2019 - 5:30 PM
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By: |
Bob DiMucci
(Member)
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Guy Hamilton directed the Agatha Christie adaptation EVIL UNDER THE SUN. The 1982 film relocated the setting from the novel's Smuggler's Island off England's Devonshire Coast to an island in the Adriatic Sea "somewhere west of Suez", a setting played by the exotic Spanish island location of Majorca. The film's screenwriter Anthony Shaffer said of this: "The location is important. The island should be a star. Just as the Nile steamer [in DEATH ON THE NILE (1978)] and the Orient Express [in MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS (1974)] were stars." As it happened, Majorca was at the time the home of Guy Hamilton.
The film finds Christie’s famed Belgian detective, “Hercule Poirot” (Sir Peter Ustinov), called in to investigate a case for an insurance company regarding a dead woman's body found on a moor. When an important diamond sent to the company to be insured, turns out to be a fake, Poirot discovers that the diamond was bought for “Arlena Marshall” (Diana Rigg) by “Sir Horace Blatt” (Colin Blakely). Since Arlena is on her honeymoon with her husband and stepdaughter on a tropical island hotel, Piorot joins them on the island and finds that everybody else starts to hate Arlena for different reasons: refusing to do a stage show, stopping a book, and for having an open affair with “Patrick Redfern” (Nicholas Clay), another guest, in full view of his shy wife (Jane Birkin). So it's only a matter of time before Arlena turns up dead, strangled, and Poirot must find out who did it. Among the suspects are theatrical producer “Odell Gardener” (James Mason) and his domineering wife “Myra” (Sylvia Miles).
The film's score consisted of Cole Porter tunes, newly arranged and conducted by John Lanchberry. At the time of the film's release, RCA issued an LP of Porter selections drawn from their back catalog of big band tunes. The actual Larchberry arrangements were not released until DRG issued them on CD in 1994.
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Actress Sylvia Miles, best known for her role in "Midnight Cowboy", has died at age 84.
94 actually.
Zero to Sixty starring Darren McGavin, Joan Collins, Miles, and the Hudson Brothers looks like something out of the "What Could Have Been But Never Was" thread. Did you "create" this poster and film to see if we were paying attention, Bob? (J/K!)
"Farewell", Jessie Florian.
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