Richard Schickel Movies

Jack L. Warner, Harry Warner, Albert Warner and Sam Warner were siblings who were born in Poland and emigrated to Canada near the turn of the century. In 1903, the brothers entered the budding motion picture business, first running a traveling show that brought movies to small towns in the Midwest and then opening a theater in Newcastle, Pennsylvania. In time, the Warner Brothers moved into film production, and would open their own studio in 1923. Warner Brothers quickly established itself as a studio with both nerve and vision; they were the first studio to enjoy major success with talking pictures and musicals, they were an early supporter of color films, they took on the censors with gangster films that dealt with violent crime in a realistic manner, and were unafraid to make movies that confronted the major issues of the day, such as racism, anti-Semitism, governmental corruption, abuses in the prison system and freedom of the press. Warner Brothers also made stars out of unconventional talents such as James Cagney, Humphrey Bogart, Edward G. Robinson, Bette Davis and Paul Muni, and hosted a cartoon studio that gave birth to Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Sylvester the Cat and Elmer J. Fudd. Film historian and filmmaker Richard Schickel pays homage to the formative years of one of Hollywood's greatest entertainment empires in You Must Remember This: The Warner Bros. Story 1923-1949, a documentary that features plentiful film clips as well as the behind-the-scenes story of how the studio's great films came to be. Clint Eastwood narrates. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

While Los Angeles has been the capital of major studio filmmaking in America since the early ears of the 20th Century, in the northern part of California, San Francisco has become home to a different breed of filmmaker -- artists who treasure their independence and carefully guard their creative vision, even while working in the highest echelons of the commercial movie business. Francis Ford Coppola and George Lucas are just two of the best-known directors to emerge from the San Francisco film community, and Fog City Mavericks is a documentary which pays homage to a number of important filmmakers from the City by the Bay. In addition to Coppola and Lucas, Fog City Mavericks profiles directors Clint Eastwood, Carroll Ballard, Philip Kaufman and Chris Columbus, pioneering independent auteur John Korty, experimental filmmaker Bruce Conner, producer Saul Zaentz, editor and sound designer Walter Murch, cinematographer and director Caleb Deschanel, digital animation moguls Brad Bird, Pete Docter, John Lasseter and Andrew Stanton, and actor Robin Williams, and many more. While examining these individuals, the film also embraces the whole of the San Francisco film scene, and explains why these artists remain so loyal to their hometown. Fittingly, Fog City Mavericks received its world premiere at the 2007 San Francisco International Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

The notoriously reclusive comedian/filmmaker Woody Allen forsook his characteristic silence to engagingly participate in this 90-minute TV documentary. Speaking in his celebrated shambling, self-deprecatory manner (but generally avoiding jokes and one-liners), Allen discusses his cinematic philosophy, specifically his ongoing romance with New York City and his fascination with the female of the species. Woody's earlier, funnier comedies are given short shrift, leading the more impressionable viewer to conclude that Allen's directorial career began with the Oscar-winning Annie Hall. Though his films are generously represented with lengthy clips from Interiors, Manhattan, Broadway Danny Rose, Stardust Memories, Shadows and Fog, and the like, at least one of Woody's co-stars is conspicuous by her absence. For reasons that should be familiar enough to readers without further comment, Mia Farrow refused to allow any of her scenes to be used -- meaning that, for example, Hannah and Her Sisters was represented minus a single closeup or longshot of the titular Hannah. The documentary concludes with tantalizing samples from Allen's (then) newest theatrical release, Hollywood Ending. Written, produced, and directed by film critic/historian Richard Schickel, Woody Allen: A Life in Film debuted May 4, 2002, on the Turner Classic Movies cable network. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Actor Tom Hanks and producer-director Steven Spielberg, previously teamed for the epic WWII film Saving Private Ryan, again join forces for this two-hour ABC TV documentary celebrating the bravery and accomplishments of wartime combat photographers. Among those interviewed are Hollywood directors Richard Brooks and Russ Meyer, both of whom put in hard time filming the activities of American fighting men in Europe and the Pacific. Much of the footage shown herein -- the storming of Normandy beach on D-Day, the stomach-turning charnel of the Nazi death camps, the aerial shots of the first atomic bomb explosion over Hiroshima -- is familiar, but compelling nonetheless. Hanks serves as narrator for most of the program, while historian Stephen Ambrose takes over for the final sequences. Written by film critic Richard Schickel, Shooting War originally (and significantly) aired on December 7, 2000. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Michael Chekhov and George Shdanoff were Russian expatriates who came to Hollywood and became two of the best known and most influential acting coaches in the film industry; Chekhov was nominated for an Academy Award for his work in Spellbound, and as a teacher he and his associate Shdanoff helped guide the careers of Leslie Caron, Patricia Neal, Gregory Peck, Rex Harrison, Marilyn Monroe and Clint Eastwood. From Russia to Hollywood provides a glimpse into their lives and careers as Chekhov flees Russia for Germany after the Communist government expresses its displeasure with his productions for the Moscow Art Theater (Stanislavsky considered Chekhov a genius, but the government considered him ideologically unsound). When the Nazis began to rise to power, Chekhov relocated to the United States, where he taught acting when not busy with his own career on the stage and screen. Here, several of Chekhov and Shdanoff's better known students discuss their work and how their teachings effected a generation of Hollywood actors. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Richard Gere, Jodie Foster, and Sally Field host this documentary TV series with clips from movies cited in the American Film Institute's controversial 100 Greatest Films special (aired June 16, 1998 on CBS). The AFI list irritated numerous movie buffs, film academics, and cinema critics, who noted the omission of Buster Keaton, Preston Sturges, King Vidor, Ernst Lubitsch and other top talents. The opening hour-long installment, "Against the Grain," skips lightly over any historical context while honoring American movie heroes with clips from Frank Capra's Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939), Easy Rider (1969), the Oscar-winning To Kill a Mockingbird (1962) and other classics. The series' second episode, "Beyond the Law," focuses on American film noir and crime movies -- from Billy Wilder's grim Double Indemnity (1944) to Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction (1994). Interviews include Capra, Fred Zinnemann, Milos Forman, and the 88-year-old Elia Kazan. The series premiered June 23, 1998 on TNT. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide

This documentary on the life and work of Academy award-winning director Elia Kazan highlights his colorful life on Broadway and in film, which is exemplified by such classic movies as East of Eden,A Streetcar Named Desire, On the Waterfront, and Gentleman's Agreement. Kazan's life outside the movie set is equally noteworthy, and this film utilizes various interviews to illustrate his controversial appearance before the House Un-American Activities Committee in the '50s. Elia Kazan is one of America's most respected directors, and this video provides a unique glimpse into the life of a man who has left a lasting mark on the worlds of both cinema and theatre. ~ Dan Macintosh, All Movie Guide

Hosted by Clint Eastwood, Hollywood Remembers: Gary Cooper -- American Life, American Legend is a biographical portrait of the life and times of movie star Gary Cooper. The 47-minute tribute chronicles the actor's life from his early days as an "extra" in silent pictures to his acceptance of the 1960 Academy Award for lifetime achievement in film. Cooper's real-life role as a cowboy and his talent as a cartoonist are discussed, as are many of the Westerns, adventures, comedies, and war films in which he starred. ~ Kathleen Wildasin, All Movie Guide

Born in 1899, James Cagney managed to become one of America's greatest and most imitated actors. Some of his best-known films are also ones in which his sister Jeanne played a role: Yankee Doodle Dandy, The Time of Your Life, A Lion Is in the Streets, and Man of a Thousand Faces. He received an Oscar for his performance in Yankee Doodle Dandy, a film based on the life of George M. Cohan, who hand-picked Cagney for the role. Cagney's last film appearance was in Ragtime. Throughout his life, Cagney was deeply affected by his father's early death, helping his mother support the family from the time he was in his early teens. Despite this light shed on Cagney's personal life, this video concentrates more on detailing his notable screen performances.
~ Elizabeth Smith, All Movie Guide

This video, narrated by Richard Schickel, takes a look at the genius of filmmaker D.W. Griffith. Griffith's films were a high point of the early era of silent films in America. The video shows clips from some of Griffith's works, including Way Down East, Intolerance, and the incomparable Birth of a Nation. Archival film footage and personal recollections tell the story of this revolutionary of the silver screen. ~ Rose of Sharon Winter, All Movie Guide

Iconoclastic film director Samuel Fuller spent decades nurturing his dream project, a movie about his experiences in the Army's First Infantry Division during World War II, but it wasn't until 1979 that he was able to finally bring the picture before the cameras. Unfortunately, Fuller was forced by his producers to work with a scaled-down budget, and he did not have final cut on the film; after his first rough cut ran nearly four-and-a-half hours, the studio took over editing on the project, and Fuller was vocally unhappy with the final results. In 2003, critic and film historian Richard Schickel initiated an effort to restore The Big Red One to a form that more closely resembled Fuller's original vision; using a large cache of newly discovered footage and the director's shooting script as a guide, the 113-minute theatrical version was expanded to 158 minutes, adding depth and detail to Fuller's sweeping and episodic tale of a hard-as-nails sergeant (Lee Marvin) and four inexperienced recruits under his command (Mark Hamill, Robert Carradine, Bobby Di Cicco, and Kelly Ward) as they battle their way across Africa to Europe between 1942 and 1945. Schickel's reconstruction received enthusiastic reviews when it went into limited release in the fall of 2004. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide