Posts filed under 'Deaths'
September 17th, 2009
Henry Gibson, who died earlier this week at the age of 73, had what can safely be called a wide-ranging career. He was a regular on the TV show LAUGH-IN, made memorable appearances in Robert Altman’s NASHVILLE and THE LONG GOODBYE, and played an ominous barfly in Paul Thomas Anderson’s 1999 Altmanesque drama, MAGNOLIA. He guest-starred on dozens of TV shows, from THE DICK VAN DYKE SHOW to QUINCY to BOSTON LEGAL, and even had a role in Jerry Lewis’ THE NUTTY PROFESSOR, where he played a student named “Gibson.”
But here in Illinois, he’ll always be best known for this scene from THE BLUES BROTHERS…
September 15th, 2009
After battling pancreatic cancer for more than a year, Patrick Swayze died Monday at the age of 57.
I was never a fan of Swayze’s biggest movies, DIRTY DANCING and GHOST, mostly because they weren’t aimed anywhere near my direction, but I appreciated the fact that he seemed to be having fun onscreen and enjoyed taking offbeat roles that were just this side of comedic. His turns in POINT BREAK and ROAD HOUSE gave both films a big jolt of energy, and he didn’t seem to worry if you thought his surfer/bank robber/skydiver or zen bouncer was a bit ridiculous, he just wanted you to enjoy yourself.
And, to give the guy credit, he did branch out every now and then. He slipped into drag for TO WONG FOO, THANKS FOR EVERYTHING, JULIE NEWMAN, and he played a genuinely creepy motivational speaker in the cult film DONNIE DARKO. Here’s that movie’s trailer, which gives you a few glimpses of Swayse’s surprising performance.
August 18th, 2009
It’s true. Here’s the Web Site.
And here’s the trailer…
August 18th, 2009
Over at his News from Me blog, Mark Evanier brings news that Sammy Petrillo died Saturday at the age of 75.Â
Now, unless you’re a huge Jerry Lewis nerd (like me), you’ve probably never heard of Sammy Petrillo. But believe it or not, during the height of Jerry and Dean’s popularity in the 1950s, Petrillo made a living acting as a Jerry Lewis imitator. He worked with a number of Dean Martin-esque crooner/actors, most notably a guy named Duke Mitchell, and starred in a genuinely terrible (yet somehow fascinating) bit of low budget schlock called — believe it or not — BELA LUGOSI MEETS A BROOKLYN GORILLA. Here’s the trailer, which should give you a taste of Sammy’s uncanny resemblance to a young Jerry Lewis.
Sammy didn’t have much of a career after splitting with Mitchell, but I find it amazing that Jerry Lewis was once so popular that someone would steal his schtick, lock stock and barrel, and use it in nightclubs and low-budget movies. Duke Mitchell, in a way, had an even stranger career. Aside from BELA LUGOSI MEETS A BROOKLYN GORILLA, one of the only other movies on his imdb.com resume is the 1978 cult crime classic MASSACRE MAFIA STYLE, which he wrote, produced, directed and starred in — and composed the music for.
August 12th, 2009
… In the New York Times. And she has some interesting things to say.
Among them, there’s this…
Most everyone knows that John retreated from Hollywood and became a sort of J.D. Salinger for Generation X. But really, sometime before then, he had retreated from us and from the kinds of movies that he had made with us. I still believe that the Hughes films of which both Michael and I were a part (specifically SIXTEEN CANDLES and THE BREAKFAST CLUB) were the most deeply personal expressions of John’s. In retrospect, I feel that we were sort of avatars for him, acting out the different parts of his life — improving upon it, perhaps. In those movies, he always got the last word. He always got the girl.
She’s right. John Hughes made other fine films — PLANES, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES, for example, and the underrated SHE’S HAVING A BABY. But even his other famous high school film, FERRIS BUELLER’S DAY OFF, doesn’t have the same emotional kick that SIXTEEN CANDLES and THE BREAKFAST CLUB do. They just seem more serious and thoughtful, somehow, even though they both have some moments of (very) broad comedy.
In fact, looking at those movies objectively, I’d say PLANES and FERRIS are better movies — sharper, smarter and directed with more style and snap. They’re a lot more focused and seem more aware of what they want to be. But SIXTEEN CANDLES and BREAKFAST CLUB, like Ringwald says, are more personal. They’re sloppier, less focused and, as often as not, they fall on their faces. But that’s why they still work, and still connect with high schoolers and people who haven’t been in high school a long, long time (I graduated in 1985, the same year THE BREAKFAST CLUB hit theaters). On some level, they feel like they were made not only for high schoolers, but by a high schooler.
And judging by what Ringwald says in her perceptive piece, maybe they were.
Read the rest here.
August 6th, 2009
Screenwriter (and novelist) Budd Schulberg died Wednesday at the age of 95. He’s best known for writing ON THE WATERFRONT, including Brando’s “I coulda been a contender” speech, which ranks with the most famous bits of screenwriting in movie history. Here, on the off chance you’ve never seen it (or on the good chance you’d like to see it again) is that scene…
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But as great as ON THE WATERFRONT is — and don’t get me wrong, it’s plenty great — my favorite Schulberg movie is A FACE IN THE CROWD, also directed by Elia Kazan. Andy Griffith is mesmerizing delivering Schulberg’s fiery dialogue, including this bit…
Offscreen, Schulberg is best known for writing WHAT MAKES SAMMY RUN? the definitive Hollywood novel that, so far, has remained unfilmed. (Ben Stiller has been trying to bring it to the screen for years.) If you’re looking to pay tribute to a true Hollywood great — one who toiled behind the scenes — I’d highly recommend an ON THE WATERFRONT/FACE IN THE CROWD double feature. You’ll be entertained — and you’ll see just how talented Budd Schulberg was.
July 6th, 2009
Former Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara, nicknamed “the architect of the Vietnam War,” has died at the age of 93. He wasn’t a movie star, of course, but there is a fascinating movie about him. Errol Morris’ THE FOG OF WAR is really nothing but a long interview with McNamara, but it’s a compelling interview, and Morris uses some imaginative techniques to bring history to life. I highly recommend renting it when you get a chance.
Here’s the trailer…
July 2nd, 2009
Though he got his start in musicals such as THE UNSINKABLE MOLLY BROWN (on stage and screen) and PAINT YOUR WAGON (where he sang “They Call the Wind Maria), modern audiences probably know him best for a decidedly non-musical role: tough-as-nails father-in-law Wade Gustafson in FARGO.
That unforgettable performance (in a movie that’s full of them) gave Presnell a second career in all sorts of TV and movies, ranging from STAR TREK to MR. DEEDS to a great supporting role on the ill-fated Andy Richter sitcom, ANDY BARKER, P.I. (And though it’s not on his IMDB.com resume, I’m pretty sure he has a cameo as a wrestler in the movie Barton Fink watches in that Coen Brothers movie.)
Presnell died Tuesday at the age of 75 from pancreatic cancer. Here’s a clip from his performance in FARGO. (I apologize for the fact that it was obviously taped off someone’s TV, but it’s the best chunk of Harve in FARGO I could find.)
July 1st, 2009
Actor Karl Malden – born born Mladen Sekulovich in Chicago on March 22, 1912 — has died at the age of 97. He died of natural causes at his home in Brentwood, Calif. Here’s a link to the LA Times obit, and here’s a great Malden quote from that article…
“I was so incredibly lucky. I knew I wasn’t a leading man. Take a look at this face.”
Though he was probably best known (especially in the past couple of decades) for his American Express commercials and the phrase “don’t leave home without it,” Malden had a long, distinguished career in theater, movies and television. He won an Oscar for playing Mitch (a role he originated on Broadway) in A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE with Marlon Brando and director Elia Kazan. He worked with both of those men again in ON THE WATERFRONT. Here’s a great Malden moment from that movie…
June 26th, 2009
Michael Jackson didn’t make many movies, but his influence on the art of cinema is still being felt. That’s because music videos changed the way movies were made (and consumed) in the 1980s, and no single person did more to popularize the artform of music videos than Michael Jackson.
He’s been considered an out-of-touch weirdo so long it’s hard to remember when he was, in fact, the biggest star in the entire world. Premieres of his videos on MTV used to be accorded the same level of press coverage as a coronation. I still remember my family gathering around the set to watch the first showing of “Thriller,” Jackson’s extra-long video narrated by screen legend Vincent Price and directed by (then) big deal director John Landis.
Years later, with his “Black and White” video, he brought major-league morphing to the viewing audience. The same year TERMINATOR 2 wowed theatergoers with its computer-generated effects, Jackson’s video included a memorable sequence where one lip syncher changed into another (including a young Tyra Banks). Here’s the video, the morphing starts around the 5:27 mark. (And I should warn you, the video itself is painful to watch thanks to all its incredibly dated elements — little kids rapping, Macauley Culkin, the whole tough guy pose Jackson attempts and a psuedo documentary ending where you get a glimpse of director John Landis):
His only major actual movie appearance, though, was in the musical THE WIZ. He played the Scarecrow and was virtually unrecognizable under all that makeup. Back then, though, we couldn’t imagine just how unrecognizable he’d become.
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