Sanford Meisner Movies
Though an actor whose long career included appearances on stage, screen, and television, Sanford Meisner is best known in the entertainment industry as a drama teacher whose distinguished pupils have included Steve McQueen, Diane Keaton, Joel Grey, Maureen Stapleton, Tony Randall, Joanne Woodward, and filmmaker Sydney Pollack. In 1931, he became a charter member of the prestigious Group Theatre along with Clifford Odets, Elia Kazan, Lee Strasberg, and others. He twice served as the director of the Neighborhood Playhouse in New York and trained a number of stars including Grace Kelly, Gregory Peck, and Robert Duvall, in addition to such directors as Bob Fosse. He also helped such budding playwrights as David Mamet. Meisner moved to Hollywood in 1959 to direct the talent division at 20th Century Fox until 1961. It was during that time that he began appearing in a few films. In 1970, a diagnosis of throat cancer resulted in his having a laryngectomy. He co-founded the Meisner/Carville School of Acting on the Caribbean island of Bequia in 1985. Three years later, he opened a branch school in Hollywood; it was helmed by Martin Barter. Meisner received the Public Service Award from President George Bush in 1990. In 1995, Meisner, James Carville, and Barter founded the Sanford Meisner Center for the Arts in North Hollywood. Later that year, the 90-year-old Meisner appeared on the NBC television series ER. Meisner passed away in his sleep at his Sherman Oaks, CA home in February 1997. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi- 1995
Despite orders from Hicks (CCH Pounder), Benton (Eriq La Salle) is determined to stay awake throughout a 48-hour shift, with potentially disastrous results. Elsewhere, a terminally ill patient (Sanford Meisner) is inadvertently given a brief "reprieve" by Carter (Noah Wyle). Ross (George Clooney) is surprised when Carol (Julianna Margulies) drops by -- during Ross' intimate dinner with Diane (Lisa Zane). And Greene (Anthony Edwards) may lose out on a terrific job opportunity if he can't iron out his domestic problems with Jenn (Christine Harnos). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
Nickey (John Cassavetes) is a small-time Jewish gangster in trouble with the mob. He calls on his lifelong friend Mikey (Peter Falk) for help. During the night the two spend together, the power of their friendship is undermined by their mutual nastiness and pressing financial concerns. Elaine May's script was allegedly taken from an episode in the life of her uncle. ~ Brian Whitener, Rovi
- Starring:
- Peter Falk, John Cassavetes, (more)
- 1962
Greenwich Village poet Duncan Kleist (Burgess Meredith) goes on a violent rampage early one morning, accosting people he meets for money and for help in mailing a parcel he's carrying. This leads to a confrontation with Stanley Dorkner (Herschel Bernardi). The two argue and fight, and Kleist is left to die on the street alone, his parcel gone and no witnesses to the assault. Detective Adam Flint (Paul Burke) leads the investigation -- but to determine who killed Kleist, he must first find out why he was killed. Flint interviews Mildred Pepper (Eileen Heckart), whom he lived with and abused for 20 years; Kleist's boyhood friend Kip Harris (Sanford Meisner), now a successful publisher, who wanted to see more of Kleist's work in print; Dorkner, to whom Kleist owed a 500-dollar bar tab; and the people with whom Kleist crossed paths on the last night of his life. The detective pieces together the tormented life of a shattered genius and finds out that Kleist had just been told that he had only days to live, a result of his alcoholism; he also learns that Kleist had planned to mail his unpublished manuscripts to his home town in Iowa, specifically to a woman he'd conjured up in his ramblings across the years named Gloria Christmas. Flint also discovers that the manuscripts were valuable enough to kill for -- and for Kleist to kill for. A humiliating confrontation with a young poet (Alan Alda) at Dorkner's tavern the night before Kleist's death had only brought matters to a head, and led to the murderous confrontation. ~ Bruce Eder, Rovi
- Starring:
- Burgess Meredith, Herschel Bernardi, (more)
- 1961
David O. Selznick had intended to film an adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's Tender is the Night as a vehicle for his wife Jennifer Jones. But financial difficulties compelled Selznick to sell the property (including Ms. Jones' services) to 20th Century-Fox. Jones stars as a wealthy but disturbed woman of the 1920s who marries her psychiatrist (Jason Robards Jr.). They live together at her Riviera estate, where the doctor's analytical skills atrophy. As Jones grows stronger, the doctor becomes totally dependent upon her emotionally and financially. The film's supporting characters are equally self-destructive, notably an alcoholic composer (Tom Ewell) and Jones' avaricious sister (Joan Fontaine). Perhaps if Selznick had produced Tender is the Night, the film wouldn't have wallowed in misery for its own sake; on the other hand, we still would have been stuck with Jennifer Jones, who is woefully miscast. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jennifer Jones, Jason Robards, Jr., (more)
- 1959
A suspenseful courtroom drama, The Story on Page One was the second and last film directed by the distinguished American playwright Clifford Odets (who also wrote the screenplay). Jo (Rita Hayworth) and Larry (Gig Young) are lovers accused of murdering Jo's husband. Their trial lawyer, Victor Santini (Anthony Franciosa) has his work cut out for him on two different fronts. For one, he has to overcome his own tendency to hit the bottle, and for another, he has to somehow win this case. As revealed in the beginning, Jo's husband died accidentally. Yet the unpredictability of the courtroom proceedings indicate that a verdict of "not guilty" is going to be anything but automatic. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi
- Starring:
- Rita Hayworth, Gig Young, (more)
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