Harry Dean Stanton Movies
A perpetually haggard character actor with hound-dog eyes and the rare ability to alternate between menace and earnest at a moment's notice, Harry Dean Stanton has proven one of the most enduring and endearing actors of his generation. From his early days riding the range in Gunsmoke and Rawhide to a poignant turn in David Lynch's uncharacteristically sentimental drama The Straight Story, Stanton can always be counted on to turn in a memorable performance no matter how small the role. A West Irvine, KY, native who served in World War II before returning stateside to attend the University of Kentucky, it was while appearing in a college production of Pygmalion that Stanton first began to realize his love for acting. Dropping out of school three years later to move to California and train at the Pasadena Playhouse, Stanton found himself in good company while training alongside such future greats as Gene Hackman and Robert Duvall. A stateside tour with the American Male Chorus and a stint in New York children's theater found Stanton continuing to hone his skills, and after packing his bags for Hollywood shortly thereafter, numerous television roles were quick to follow.Billed Dean Stanton in his early years and often carrying the weight of the screen baddie, Stanton gunned down the best of them in numerous early Westerns before a soulful turn in Cool Hand Luke showed that he was capable of much more. Though a role in The Godfather Part II offered momentary cinematic redemption, it wasn't long before Stanton was back to his old antics in the 1976 Marlon Brando Western The Missouri Breaks. After once again utilizing his musical talents as a country & western singer in The Rose (1979) and meeting a gruesome demise in the sci-fi classic Alien, roles in such popular early '80s efforts as Private Benjamin, Escape From New York, and Christine began to gain Stanton growing recognition among mainstream film audiences; and then a trio of career-defining roles in the mid-'80s proved the windfall that would propel the rest of Stanton's career. Cast as a veteran repo man opposite Emilio Estevez in director Alex Cox's cult classic Repo Man (1984), Stanton's hilarious, invigorated performance perfectly gelled with the offbeat sensibilities of the truly original tale involving punk-rockers, aliens, and a mysteriously omnipresent plate o' shrimp.
After sending his sons off into the mountains to fight communists in the jingoistic actioner Red Dawn (also 1984) Stanton essayed what was perhaps his most dramatically demanding role to date in director Wim Wenders' Paris, Texas. Cast as a broken man whose brother attempts to help him remember why he walked out on his family years before, Stanton's devastating performance provided the emotional core to what was perhaps one of the essential films of the 1980s. A subsequent role as Molly Ringwald's character's perpetually unemployed father in 1986's Pretty in Pink, while perhaps not quite as emotionally draining, offered a tender characterization that would forever hold him a place in the hearts of those raised on 1980s cinema. In 1988 Stanton essayed the role of Paul the Apostle in director Martin Scorsese's controversial religious epic The Last Temptation of Christ.
By the 1990s Stanton was a widely recognized icon of American cinema, and following memorably quirky roles as an eccentric patriarch in Twister and a desperate private detective in David Lynch's Wild at Heart (both 1990), he settled into memorable roles in such efforts as Against the Wall (1994), Never Talk to Strangers (1995), and the sentimental drama The Mighty (1998). In 1996, Stanton made news when he was pistol whipped by thieves who broke into his home and stole his car (which was eventually returned thanks to a tracking device). Having previously teamed with director Lynch earlier in the decade, fans were delighted at Stanton's poignant performance in 1999's The Straight Story. Still going strong into the new millennium, Stanton could be spotted in such efforts as The Pledge (2001; starring longtime friend and former roommate Jack Nicholson), Sonny (2002), and The Big Bounce (2004). In addition to his acting career, Stanton can often be spotted around Hollywood performing with his band, The Harry Dean Stanton Band. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
Bette Midler stars as Rose in this somber drama loosely based on the life of the late Janis Joplin. She plays an ill-fated singer who succumbs to the pressures of performing by indulging in drugs and alcohol. Her sweetheart Dyer (Frederic Forrest) is the former chauffeur who naively tries to save her from self destruction, while her British manager Rudge (Alan Bates) is ultimately blamed for not preventing her inevitable fall. The story mirrors any one of a number of popular singers who have fallen victim to the excess of success. Midler and Forrest were nominated for Oscars for their performances, with Best Editing laurels given to Timothy O'Meara and Robert Wolf. The Rose was a box office smash and was the plum role that elevated Midler to star status in the eyes of the public and Hollywood. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bette Midler, Alan Bates, (more)
Set in the Deep South during the postwar era, Wise Blood stars Brad Dourif as an aimless veteran, who decides to become a Bible-thumping preacher (for a questionable concern called "The Church Wihout Christ") principally because he hasn't anything better lined up. Dourif links up with a veteran of the hellfire-and-brimstone circuit, who for business purposes pretends to be blind. The older man persuades Dourif to blind himself for real so that he can truly "see the light" (yes, the movie is that weird). Director Huston, himself, appears as Dourif's grandfather. Adapted from the one-of-a-kind novel by Flannery O'Connor, Wise Blood was a noble experiment but a box-office failure-though, to be fair, Huston never set out to make a blockbuster from O'Connor's offbeat tale. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Brad Dourif, Ned Beatty, (more)
"In space, no one can hear you scream." A close encounter of the third kind becomes a Jaws-style nightmare when an alien invades a spacecraft in Ridley Scott's sci-fi horror classic. On the way home from a mission for the Company, the Nostromo's crew is woken up from hibernation by the ship's Mother computer to answer a distress signal from a nearby planet. Capt. Dallas' (Tom Skerritt) rescue team discovers a bizarre pod field, but things get even stranger when a face-hugging creature bursts out of a pod and attaches itself to Kane (John Hurt). Over the objections of Ripley (Sigourney Weaver), science officer Ash (Ian Holm) lets Kane back on the ship. The acid-blooded incubus detaches itself from an apparently recovered Kane, but an alien erupts from Kane's stomach and escapes. The alien starts stalking the humans, pitting Dallas and his crew (and cat) against a malevolent killing machine that also has a protector in the nefarious Company. ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tom Skerritt, Sigourney Weaver, (more)
- 1979
Flatbed Annie is played by Annie Potts; her sidekick Sweetiepie, aka Ginny La Rosa, is played by Kim Darby. Annie is a hard-bitten veteran, Sweetiepie a starry-eyed novice. Harry Dean Stanton co-stars as a mean, nasty, awful bad guy who wants to repossess the girls' truck. The plot is further complicated by a gang of hijackers. Fred Willard plays Sweetiepie's hubby, while Arthur Godfrey, of all people, is the lovable Special Guest Star. And they hoped that this thing would graduate into a weekly TV series, did they? Flatbed Annie & Sweetiepie: Lady Truckers was first telecast February 10, 1979. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Adapted for the screen by novelist Joseph Wambaugh himself, The Black Marble stars Robert Foxworth as a burned-out, hard-drinking cop who is teamed with idealistic lady officer Paula Prentiss. These two polar opposites wade their way through a seamy urban world of corruption and hopelessness. The film is peppered with supporting players, of which include Harry Dean Stanton, James Woods, John Hancock and Barbara Babcock. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Foxworth, Paula Prentiss, (more)
Paroled criminal Max Dembo (Dustin Hoffman) is compelled to withstand the calculated cruelties of slimy parole officer Earl Frank (M. Emmet Walsh). The more Max tries to go straight, the more he is defeated by circumstance or hectored by the sadistic Frank. It becomes clear after a while that neither Max nor his fellow ex-cons will be able to survive looking for legitimate work. Max is too "far gone" as a human being to succeed at anything other than crime. He goes back to his old thieving ways, inveigling reformed crook Jerry Schue (Harry Dean Stanton) into helping him. A climactic "big caper" goes tragically awry, thanks in great part to the tragic flaws in Max's personality. Based on a novel by Edward Bunker, Straight Time is possibly the most realistic cinematic probe into the sociopathic psyche of the career criminal. Famed theatrical director and instructor Ulu Grosbard directed, with an uncredited assist from star Hoffman; it was their second film together, after Who Is Harry Kellerman and Why Is He Saying Those Terrible Things About Me? ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dustin Hoffman, Theresa Russell, (more)
- 1978
- R
Bob Dylan made this concert film that chronicles a 1975/1976 performance of his Rolling Thunder Revue. In between songs he, his wife Sara Dylan, along with Joan Baez, Allen Ginsberg, and other counterculture figures perform philosophically based improvisational pieces. During the skits, Dylan plays the ambiguous Renaldo, while Ronnie Hawkins and Ronee Blakely play Dylan and his wife. Songs include "Isis, I Want You," "It Ain't Me Babe," "Knockin' on Heaven's Door," "Hurricane," "Romance in Durango," "One Too Many Mornings," "One More Cup of Coffee," "Sara," "Patty's Gone to Laredo," "Just Like a Woman," "A Hard Rain's Gonna Fall," "Sad-Eyed Lady of the Lowland," "When I Paint My Masterpiece," (Bob Dylan), "Chestnut Mare" (Roger McGuinn), "Diamonds and Rust" (Joan Baez), "Suzanne" (Leonard Cohen), "Need a New Sun Rising" (Ronee Blakely), "Salt Pork West Virginia" (Jack Elliott), "Kaddish" (Allen Ginsberg), "Cucurrucucu Paloma" (Tomas Mendez), and "Time of the Preacher" (Willie Nelson). ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bob Dylan, Sara Dylan, (more)
- 1977
Originally screened as a mini-series on the NBC television network, this epic-length feature combines the entirety of The Godfather and The Godfather Part II with 15 minutes of outtakes from the two films, recutting the material into chronological order (clarifying the complex structure of The Godfather Part II, which jumped back and forth between events that occurred before and after the narrative of the first film). The Godfather 1902-1959: The Complete Epic tells the tale of the Corleone Family, from the arrival of Vito Corleone in the U.S. as a boy and his rise to criminal power as a young man (played by Robert DeNiro) to the decline of his empire decades later. While some of the original material was censored for television broadcast, when The Godfather 1902-1959: The Complete Epic was later released on home video, the altered footage was restored to its original content. However, this proved not to be the final and complete document of the Corleone saga, as Francis Ford Coppola added another chapter to the story nine years later with the release of The Godfather Part III. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Al Pacino, Marlon Brando, (more)
A rancher, a rustler, and a regulator face off in Arthur Penn's eccentric western. As a cover for their horse thievery, a gang of Montana rustlers, led by the laid-back Tom Logan (Jack Nicholson), buys a small farm adjacent to the ranch of their latest target/nemesis, Braxton (John McLiam). When the gang leaves Tom on the farm and heads to Canada for another score, Tom takes a shine both to farming and Braxton's rebellious, strong-willed daughter, Jane (Kathleen Lloyd). The slightly loco Braxton, however, hires the psychopathic regulator Lee Clayton (Marlon Brando) to root out the rustlers. With a series of unorthodox methods (and costumes), Clayton hunts down Logan and his gang one by one, even after Braxton fires him, but Logan isn't about to let Clayton (or Braxton) make him obsolete. ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Marlon Brando, Jack Nicholson, (more)
- 1975
- R
The "Gold Dust Twins" are two L.A. gals who kidnap a likable-loser type who's a driving instructor (Alan Arkin) and force him to take them from Los Angeles to New Orleans. On the way they run into action of all sorts, and by the time they get to the Bayou state, the three have bonded as buddies. ~ All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alan Arkin, Sally Kellerman, (more)
- 1975
- R
Previously filmed in 1942 as The Falcon Takes Over and in 1944 as Murder, My Sweet, Raymond Chandler's Farewell My Lovely was given its third cinematic go-round under its original title in 1975. Spouting the Chandlerish prose as if it were second nature, Robert Mitchum stars as 1940s private eye Philip Marlowe, hired by the goonish Moose Malloy (Jack O'Halloran) to locate his former girl friend. This involves Marlowe in the theft of a jade necklace, which in turn leads to murder. All roads seemingly lead to adventuress Mrs. Grayle (Charlotte Rampling), wealthily married but far from satisfied. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Mitchum, Charlotte Rampling, (more)
- 1975
Though set in Key West, Florida, a goodly portion of 92 in the Shade was filmed in England. Peter Fonda plays Tom Skelton, a bum who gets a job as a fishing guide in his old home town. Nobody wants to have anything to do with Skelton, least of all rival guides Nichol Dance and Carter (Warren Oates and Harry Dean Stanton). Faced with financial disaster and widespread hostility, he turns to his wealthy grandfather Goldsboro (Burgess Meredith) for help. Taking time off from his lovemaking sessions with sexy secretary Bella (Sylvia Miles), his grandfather pumps some money into Tom's operation, and our hero makes his peace with Carter. A climactic fight with Nichol puts an end to that problem, while Tom's romantic relationship with Miranda (Margot Kidder) helps him sort out his priorities. Director/writer Thomas McGuane adapted the script from his own novel. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Fonda, Warren Oates, (more)
In Frank Perry's curious, off-center comedy Western, Jeff Bridges and Sam Waterston play Jack McKee and Cecil Carlson, a couple of cattle rustlers whose special target is taciturn rancher John Brown (Clifton James). Both men are outcasts by choice; McKee can't stand being around his stuck-up ex-wife (played by Doria Cook), while Carlson, an Indian, finds his fellow tribesmen too tradition-bound for his tastes. Together, they plan to lift themselves out of the penny-ante class with one big crime caper. Brown gets wind of their scheme, and sends private eye Henry Beige (Slim Pickens) after them. The cast is top-heavy with attractive women, ranging from Brown's bored wife, Cora (Elizabeth Ashley), to "camp followers" Betty Fargo (Patti D'Arbanville) and Mary Fargo (Maggie Wellman). Thomas McGuane authored the script; Jimmy Buffett provides the songs. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jeff Bridges, Sam Waterston, (more)
Francis Ford Coppola's legendary continuation and sequel to his landmark 1972 film, The Godfather, parallels the young Vito Corleone's rise with his son Michael's spiritual fall, deepening The Godfather's depiction of the dark side of the American dream. In the early 1900s, the child Vito flees his Sicilian village for America after the local Mafia kills his family. Vito (Robert De Niro) struggles to make a living, legally or illegally, for his wife and growing brood in Little Italy, killing the local Black Hand Fanucci (Gastone Moschin) after he demands his customary cut of the tyro's business. With Fanucci gone, Vito's communal stature grows, but it is his family (past and present) who matters most to him -- a familial legacy then upended by Michael's (Al Pacino) business expansion in the 1950s. Now based in Lake Tahoe, Michael conspires to make inroads in Las Vegas and Havana pleasure industries by any means necessary. As he realizes that allies like Hyman Roth (Lee Strasberg) are trying to kill him, the increasingly paranoid Michael also discovers that his ambition has crippled his marriage to Kay (Diane Keaton) and turned his brother, Fredo (John Cazale), against him. Barely escaping a federal indictment, Michael turns his attention to dealing with his enemies, completing his own corruption. ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Al Pacino, Robert Duvall, (more)
Frank Mansfield (Warren Oates) is a game cock trainer who has taken a vow of silence; he once bragged too loudly about his cockfighting prowess and ended up losing his best fowl in a drunken, late-night match before an important tournament. To regain his pride after such hubris, Frank refuses to utter a word until he wins the coveted "Cockfighter of the Year" medal. Cockfighter follows his ups and downs as he attempts to succeed in the shadowy, barely legal sport. Frank loses his truck, trailer, and a girlfriend after trying to rig a match with fellow cocksman Jack Burke (Harry Dean Stanton), and has to sell his house to raise funds for stock. Later, Frank wins ten roosters in a private backwoods match and trains them heavily with his partner, Omar Baradinsky (Richard B. Shull), working his way back to the top of his chosen craft. He also attempts to reestablish his relationship with an old girlfriend (Patricia Pearcy) who doesn't know much about cockfighting and is repulsed when she actually witnesses one in the flesh. There is plenty of brutal footage included in Cockfighter that will dismay many animal lovers, so those with qualms about the sport should steer clear. ~ Fred Beldin, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Warren Oates, Richard B. Shull, (more)
- 1974
- PG
Based on Lillian Bos Ross' novel The Stranger and adapted by screenwriter Marc Norman 25 years before he would win the Best Original Screenplay Academy Award for 1999's Shakespeare in Love (along with Tom Stoppard), Zandy's Bride is a romantic Western starring (Gene Hackman) as gruff rural rancher Zandy Allan. Looking more for an extra hand around the ranch than a companion, Zandy sends for a mail-order bride from Sweden. Unfortunately for him, he doesn't get what he expected. When his bride, Hannah (Liv Ullmann), arrives she is anything but compliant, bearing a headstrong attitude that rubs Zandy the wrong way. Although he mistreats her at first, Zandy and Hannah fall in love as hardship hits and they must struggle together for their survival. Also starring Eileen Heckart and Harry Dean Stanton, Zandy's Bride was also released under the title For Better, For Worse. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gene Hackman, Liv Ullmann, (more)
- 1974
While the title may mislead one into thinking that Where the Lilies Bloom is a picturesque outdoors family film, the story is pretty strong stuff, not altogether suited for younger children. When their father dies, four backwoods kids hide the fact, lest they be separated by the authorities and shipped off to foster homes. Julie Gholson, the oldest of the children, assumes the "parent" role, proving a formidable opponent for landlord Harry Dean Stanton. Much to everyone's surprise, Stanton turns out to be one of the good guys. Where the Lilies Bloom was adapted by Waltons maven Earl Hamner Jr. from a novel by Vera and Bill Cleaver. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Julie Gholson, Jan Smithers, (more)
John Milius's first directorial effort in its own small way set the stage in the 1970s for a subgenre of action films that depict a nostalgia for historical figures tinged with a hard-edged skepticism. Warren Oates stars as John Dillinger, whose short-lived career as Public Enemy No.1 was, at least according to Milius, promoted by Dillinger with a self-absorbed boosterism, comforting his victims by telling them, "Someday you'll tell your grandchildren about this." The film captures the highlights of Dillinger's criminal career, as seen through the eyes of Melvin Purvis (Ben Johnson), the FBI agent whose obsession with capturing Dillinger led to Dillinger's death in the back alley of Chicago's Biograph Theater. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Warren Oates, Ben Johnson, (more)
A former friend betrays a legendary outlaw in Sam Peckinpah's final Western. Holed up in Fort Sumner with his gang between cattle rustlings, Billy the Kid (Kris Kristofferson) ignores the advice of comrade-turned-lawman Pat Garrett (James Coburn) to escape to Mexico, and he winds up in jail in Lincoln, New Mexico. After Billy theatrically escapes, inspiring enigmatic Lincoln resident Alias (Bob Dylan) to join him, the governor (Jason Robards Jr.) and cattle baron Chisum (Barry Sullivan) requisition Garrett to form a posse and hunt him down. Rather than flee to Mexico when he can, Billy heads back to Fort Sumner, meeting his final destiny at the hands of his friend Pat, who, two decades later, is forced to face the consequences of his own Faustian pact with progress. With a script by Rudolph Wurlitzer, Peckinpah uses the historical basis of Billy's death to eulogize the West dreamily yet violently as it is desecrated by corrupt capitalists. Both Pat and Billy know that their time is passing, as surely as Garrett's posse knows that they are participating in a legend. Using familiar Western players like Slim Pickens and Katy Jurado, Peckinpah underscores the West's existence as a media myth, and he even appears himself as a coffin maker. Just as the bloodletting of Peckinpah's earlier The Wild Bunch (1969) invoked the Vietnam War, the casting of Kristofferson and Dylan alluded to the chaotic late '60s/early '70s present; the counterculture has little place in a corporate future. Also like The Wild Bunch, Pat Garrett was truncated by its studio; the cuts did nothing to help its box office. Key scenes, particularly the framing story of Garrett's fate, have since been restored to the home-video version. In this director's cut, Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid stands as one of Peckinpah's most beautiful and complex films, killing the Western myth even as he salutes it. ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Coburn, Kris Kristofferson, (more)
- 1972
Three rollicking bumblers get into all sorts of slapstick trouble as they attempt their get-rich schemes at the race track in this comedy. The film is alternately titled The Big Payoff. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1972
- R
In this western a rookie gunfighter decides to switch careers before he is killed. He is traveling when he encounters a group of Indian prisoners under cavalry guard. They are led by a cruel-hearted sergeant, Wilbanks. He later, runs into the band again. This time, most of the Indians have been slaughtered by the troop. Xochitl is one of the survivors. The ex-gunman tries to take the survivors to a safer place. En route he and the woman fall in love. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
A '55 Chevy takes on a '70 GTO in a race across the Southwest in Monte Hellman's cult favorite. The Driver (James Taylor) and the Mechanic (Dennis Wilson) phlegmatically slouch from race to race, pitting their gray Chevy against any and all gearheads in order to make money for gas and food. They and the tag-along Girl (Laurie Bird) meet their match in "Oh Maybelline" fan GTO (Warren Oates), and they all set off on a cross-country race to Washington D.C., with the winner getting the loser's car. But it isn't the end that really counts; it is the process of getting there, as the Girl's fickleness forces the Driver to decide what matters more: endless races or her. Shot on location from a spare script by Rudolph Wurlitzer and Will Corry, Two-Lane Blacktop was trumpeted as the "film of the year" in Esquire magazine before its release. It bombed, and disputes over music rights kept it from home video until 1999, but repertory and TV screenings have gained it an avid following for its automotive detail, flashes of authentic idiosyncrasy, and artfully abstract examination of the urge to forge ahead, whether or not there is anywhere to go. ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Taylor, Warren Oates, (more)
This crime-drama follows the exploits of a rock star who is finally freed from prison after being convicted of drug dealing. Though he wants to go straight, he is blackmailed by a crooked cop who forces him to sell marijuana. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
Like M*A*S*H and Catch-22, both released the same year, this military comedy takes place in an earlier war but is really a thinly disguised treatise on the modern-day insanity and avariciousness then unfolding in Vietnam. Clint Eastwood stars as Kelly, a former lieutenant whose illusions about the glory of war, if he has any, are lost when he is busted in rank for following some poorly considered orders in World War II France. After capturing a friendly German officer, Kelly learns the whereabouts of millions of dollars in gold bars, earmarked to finance a military payroll. Taking advantage of a three-day liberty, Kelly assembles a motley trio of fellow soldiers to help him sneak behind enemy lines and retrieve the booty. They include Big Joe (Telly Savalas), a gruff sergeant; Crapgame (Don Rickles), a supply sergeant already enriching himself as a black marketer and con man; and the hippie-like tank commander Oddball (Donald Sutherland). Since crossing into enemy-held territory means heading in the opposite direction of the retreating Allies, Kelly and his men encounter armed resistance. Receiving word of their campaign, the vain General Colt (Carroll O'Connor) mistakes the quartet of freelancing scam artists for all-American heroes. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Clint Eastwood, Telly Savalas, (more)
- 1970
The year is 1876. The place is Medalia, MN. With the Jesse James and Cole Younger gangs cutting a murderous swath through the land, the citizens of Medalia brace themselves against an outlaw invasion. Normally, the townsfolk could turn to their marshal, Sam Garrison (Don Murray), for salvation; but alas, it has been years since Sam has picked up a gun, and both his nerves and his trigger hand are gone. Made for television, The Intruders first aired November 10, 1970, on NBC, while most viewers were watching the vastly superior TV movie Tribes on ABC. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
