Saturday, January 8, 2022

Pieces of Time

 


As 1960s yielded to the 1970s, a term was coined to describe the present state of the American film industry: New Hollywood. What did that mean? Well, that it was different from Old Hollywood. Different acting styles, different camera angles, different cinematography, different art direction, different screenplays, and last but not least, in fact first and foremost in most people's eyes, swear words and nudity, not seen or heard in American mainstream movies prior to 1967. And people who made these movies were seen as rebels. What's so surprising is how often so many of these New Hollywood rebels--Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola, Brian de Palma, William Freidkin, Paul Schrader, John Carpenter, John Milius, George Lucas, Steven Spielberg--expressed their love for Old Hollywood films. And then there's Peter Bogdanovich (1939-2022.) As a programmer for New York City's Museum of Modern Art in the early-to-mid 1960s, a period of time when the idea of Hollywood once having had a "Golden Age" (roughly 1930 to 1950) began to take hold, Bogdanovich curated retrospectives of such filmmaker from that era as John Ford, Alfred Hitchcock, Howard Hawks, and Orson Welles. He wrote about these directors, interviewed these directors, and actually became close friends with these directors. In particular, Orson Welles, whose last big hit was Touch of Evil in 1958 and was now spending the 1960s and '70s scrambling around looking for financing for whatever cinematic project he was working on, taking on all kinds of odd acting assignments along the way. So strapped for cash was Welles by 1972, Bogdanovich let him stay in his Bel Air mansion for a couple of years. 

Wait a second. Bel Air mansion? The Museum of Modern Art pays THAT well? No, it doesn't. After having seen so many films (up to 400) and interviewing so many filmmakers, Bogdanovich decided he'd like to be a filmmaker himself, so he and his then-wife Polly moved to Hollywood. The major studios were closed off to him at first, but an independent producer and director by the name of Roger Corman was willing to give him a try. After doing a few bit parts in motorcycle and monster movies (originally an actor, he had been trained by Stella Adler, who also had taught Marlon Brando), Bog--

--hold on, my smart phone is flashing. Something to do with Sidney Poitier. I'll worry about it later--

--as I was saying, Bogdanovich got a chance to write (or cowrite with then-wife Polly) and direct 1969's Targets. An above-average, metafictional exploitation film that cannily contrasts the pending retirement of a horror movie actor with the real-world horror of a crazed sniper on the loose, it was a drive-in movie with a bloody drive-in movie climax. As is so often the case with B-movies, no matter how well-made, Targets came and went without much notice from the general public. However, the major studios DID notice Bogdanovich's talent. He signed some sort of contract and co-wrote and directed The Last Picture Show (1971), a not-so-nostalgic look at the 1950s. Like any New Hollywood movie it had swear words and nudity, but it looked like it had been directed by John Ford and was in black-and-white to boot! A big hit, it was followed by two more big hits, What's Up Doc? (1972) and Paper Moon (1973.) Peter Bogdanovich was a filmmaker to reckon with.

Or so everyone thought. His next four films were box-office flops, and a romance with a Playboy Playmate of the Year ended with a murder-suicide (though Bogdanovich himself was neither the murderer, murdered, or suicide.) He bounced back in 1985 with Mask. After that, well, Bogdanovich was pretty much like his old friend Orson Welles, scrambling around looking for the right comeback film. It never happened. Now, to put this in perspective, films fail at the box office for all sorts of reasons that doesn't necessarily have anything to do with quality of the product. Some of his flops have cult followings. Some may have cult followings in the future. For now, let's look at the movies that everyone AGREES were good, and have the box office receipts to back those agreements up.



If you blinked, you may have missed that tall elderly gentleman at the end. Well, here he is again as he puts the whole film in context:

Tell them Boris sent you.










OK, those were the hits...

And now, a movie that wasn't a hit and doesn't have a cult following (unless it has a cult following for the wrong reasons), but no mention of Peter Bogdanovich's' life or career or even his times would be complete without it:


 Audrey Hepburn! John Ritter! Ben Gazzara! Actors whose mere presence could make any film better, even a so-so one like They All Laughed. However, their performances aren't what makes this movie an object of morbid curiosity, but rather:






As another Golden Age filmmaker (and Bogdanovich interviewee), George Cukor, once asked in a different context, What Price Hollywood? 

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Quips and Quotations (Dream Un-Deferred Edition)

(Yes, two posts in one. Don't blame me, blame the news cycle--Kirk)


1927-2022


Before Sidney, African American actors had to take supporting roles in major studio films that were easy to cut out in certain parts of the country. But you couldn't cut Sidney Poitier out of a Sidney Poitier picture.

--Denzel Washington

















12 comments:

  1. Hi, Kirk!

    Ever hear of "sleep," good buddy? Look it up.

    I envy the Grim Reaper. He's got job security.

    I figured you'd be burning the oil after news that two more big names in Hollywood have died. It was only a couple weeks ago that Mrs. Shady and I watched the Dorothy Stratten documentary that recounted her love affair with Peter Bogdanovich which developed during the filming of They All Laughed and while the doomed Playmate turned actress was still married to "Great Guy of the Year" Paul Snider. It was hard for me to watch that trailer and see Dorothy along with John Ritter whose life was also cut short. Bogdanovich and Hugh Hefner, both grief stricken in the wake of Dorothy's senseless slaying, turned on each other and blamed each other for contributing to her demise. With that disturbing story fresh in my mind, I learned that Peter B has now died. He was one of my favorite directors. I saw Last Picture Show at least half a dozen times. I have seen What's Up Doc?, Paper Moon and Mask. Target looks like one I'd enjoy, especially since it features legendary film scary guy Boris Karloff in his last serious dramatic role. I enjoyed listening to his story in that clip. It reminds me of a similar tale her told about an inquisitive mariner, a man who was always probing, always asking questions, always wanting to know. One day they found the poor devil. He had no tongue. That speech is found in Haunted Strangler (1958), a horror movie I saw as a kid. Getting back to Targets, I also greatly admire Roger Corman, who produced the low budget film and gave Peter his first break.

    "I've been around that trashy behavior all my life. I'm gettin' tired of puttin' up with it." - Sam the Lion (Included in that clip, it's one of my favorite and most memorable quotes in Last Picture Show.) I was delighted with Barbra's performance in What's Up Doc. She really is a Funny Girl.

    Sidney Poitier was a class act and a big part of my earlier youth. When I think of Sidney, the word that first comes to mind is "dignity." His characters had dignity. I saw many of his films including Backboard Jungle, Defiant, Raisin, Lillies, Patch of Blue, To Sir, Heat and Guess Who's Coming To Dinner.

    Sidney opened the door for actors and actresses of color to land major roles in films and TV in roles other than maids, servants and bellhops.

    Once again you did a stellar job of assembling back-to-back tributes on short notice. Enjoy your weekend, good buddy Kirk.

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    1. Shady, I was all set to do a three-paragraph examination of the Dorothy Stratten story when I found out Sidney Poitier had died and wanted to set some time aside for that. It's just as well. I probably would have gotten a bit too snarky about the whole sorry episode. While I wouldn't hold either Peter Bogdanovich or Hugh Hefner responsible for what happened, neither fellow came across all that well in the aftermath, what with the finger-pointing that you just mentioned. They both should have just kept their mouths shut.

      Ben Johnson, aka, Sam the Lion, was a former rodeo star who became an actor and was in some of John Ford's later films. It was Ford who recommended to Bogdanovich (I told you he was friends with all those Old Hollywood directors) that he put him in The Last Picture Show. Johnson went on to win an Oscar for his performance.

      Most people think of Barbra Streisand as a singer, and she's certainly that, but she's also an excellent comic actress. Really, one of our best.

      I was thinking of showing a clip from A Patch of Blue, which I liked very much, but had enough clips already and wasn't sure how familiar anybody was with that film. As for Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, I felt that the screenplay made Poitier's character too perfect, and Tracy and Hepburn's characters too cosmopolitan for there be a real conflict over an interracial marriage. Plus, everyone seemed to have deep pockets, which could smooth any problems over. I have read that due to the strength of her performance as the maid (she's the funniest one in the movie), Isabel Sanford got cast as Louise Jefferson on All in the Family, and of course that eventually led to her own spinoff, so we can at least be thankful for the movie for that.

      Thanks for dropping by, Shady, and glad you liked it.

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  2. Sidney Poitier helped New Hollywood be more realistic and progressive about racism. Still a long way to go.

    New Hollywood was exactly like Old Hollywood in its treatment of women though. Still waiting for New New Hollywood in that department.

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    1. Debra, in the aftermath of the Dorothy Stratten murder, as part of the finger-pointing me and Shady were talking about, Bogdanovich blamed Hefner for the sexual objectification of women, but what did the director think casting a Playboy centerfold who could barely act in his move was? Bogdanovich then went on to marry his murdered girlfriend's sister. How weird is that? It eventually ended in divorce, but not before the both of them collaborated on a screenplay, a romantic comedy titled She's Funny That Way which loss $4 million at the box office (um, the snark is sneaking back in, isn't it?)

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  4. HA! When I stared reading about Peter Bogdanovich I thought, Hey where's Sidney Poitier?

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  5. Might be interesting to watch all these Bogdonavich films again.

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    1. Mitchell, at least see The Last Picture Show again. It's one of the great movies of the 1970s, a decade with no shortage of great movies.

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  6. Sidney what a legend. RIP.

    What's Up, Doc? is one of my favourite films of all time. I just love it so much!

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  7. Ananka, ever see Bringing Up Baby with Cary Grant and Katherine Hepburn? It was a direct influence on What's Up, Doc?

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    1. Haha of course, it is one of my top favourites, that is how I found out about What's Up, Doc? I love all those Cary Grant comedies and the 30s Screwball comedies. I could never get bored of Bringing Up Baby :-D

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