John Huston Movies
An American film director who told stories about independent and adventurous men struggling for their individuality, John Huston led such a life, himself. His hyper-masculine protagonists seemed to stem from his own youthful pursuits as a boxer, competitive horseman, Calvary officer, and major in the U.S. Army. Married five times and divorced four (fourth wife Ricki Soma died in 1969), his reportedly bitter attitude toward women informed his female characters as either weak-willed prizes or seductive threats to manhood. Nevertheless, Huston's unconventional and rambling lifestyle led to some of the most celebrated American cinema, as well as the hub of three generations of Oscar winners.Born in Missouri to noted actor Walter Huston, his family traveled extensively on the vaudeville circuit. After riding horses in Mexico and magazine reporting in New York, the younger Huston secured a job writing dialogue in Hollywood. He started acting and published his first play, Frankie and Johnny, before wandering around London and Paris working as a street performer and artist. Upon his return, he worked as an editor and writer before convincing his employers at Warner Bros. to let him direct his first movie, The Maltese Falcon, in 1941. The popular source novel by mystery author Dashiell Hammett had been filmed twice before, but only Huston's adaptation would be remembered as a prime example of the classic film noir-detective story. It also made a star out of leading man Humphrey Bogart, whom Huston would cast in his next few films: Across the Pacific, Key Largo, and The Treasure of the Sierra Madre. An adventure drama shot in Mexico examining the nature of man's greed, Sierra Madre won him his first Oscar for Best Director and earned his father, Walter Huston, his first for Best Supporting Actor.
Continuing to write Hollywood screenplays and make military documentaries for the U.S. War Department, Huston's next big directorial success was in 1950 with the gritty caper film The Asphalt Jungle, another cinematic innovation in the crime genre. This was quickly followed by The African Queen, earning leading man Bogart his first and only Academy award for his role as drunken boat captain Charlie Allnut. Huston's next production, an adaptation of Stephen Crane's The Red Badge of Courage, had a notorious history of production difficulties with MGM. In 1952, his biographical drama of painter Henri de Toulouse-Latrec, Moulin Rogue, won Oscars for art direction and costume design. In 1956, he and co-screenwriter Ray Bradbury conquered a major literary adaptation with Moby Dick, starring Gregory Peck as Captain Ahab. During this time, Huston had found a home for himself in Ireland with his wife and newborn daughter, Anjelica. After he quit during production of A Farewell to Arms, he then tried the African Queen romantic formula again with Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison. In 1961, he directed The Misfits, the tragic last film of both Clark Gable and Marilyn Monroe, co-starring Montgomery Clift (whom Huston would cast in the psychoanalyst title role of his next feature, Freud). Two more adaptations would follow: The List of Adrian Messenger from the mystery novel by Philip MacDonald and The Night of the Iguana from a play by Tennessee Williams.
After winning a Golden Globe for his supporting role in Otto Preminger's The Cardinal, Huston did odd acting projects for the next decade and directed A Walk With Love and Death, marking the film debut of daughter Anjelica. In 1974, he gave one of his most notable performances as the villainous Noah Cross in Roman Polanski's Chinatown. Huston made a brief comeback the following year as writer/director of the witty action-adventure saga The Man Who Would Be King, the black comedy Wise Blood, and the Broadway musical adaptation Annie. But his major comeback would be in 1985 with the crime comedy Prizzi's Honor, which earned Anjelica Huston her first Oscar for the supporting role of Maerose. She also starred in her father's last film, The Dead (1987), which was inspired by the James Joyce short story collection Dubliners. Huston died of pneumonia later that year in Newport, RI. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
- 1980
- R
Teetering between camp, silly, and derivative, this undistinguished horror film by Giulio Paradisi, aka Michael J. Paradise, stars several respectable actors. Mel Ferrer is an Atlanta notable who is mysteriously in communication with some demonic forces. These evil powers want him to father a child by his wife who carries the necessary genes to produce a real live earthling demon. When she refuses to go through yet another labor, the horrific shenanigans start. Glenn Ford is a detective intent on investigating the reason for the mayhem, but he soon meets a ghastly end himself -- though for some viewers, his end may not be as bad as that of the film. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mel Ferrer, Glenn Ford, (more)
- 1980
- R
In this grim horror movie, the only one ever made by director John Huston, patients from a psychiatrist's phobia group are being murdered in ways that reflect their deepest fears. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Paul Michael Glaser, John Colicos, (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)
Based on a novel by the iconoclastic Richard Condon (of Manchurian Candidate and Prizzi's Honor fame), Winter Kills was one of the vanguard efforts in the "JFK conspiracy" school of literature. Jeff Bridges stars as Nick Kegan, the scion of a powerful Kennedyesque family, who has done his best to make himself obscure after the assassination of his older brother, the former president of the U.S. While working as an oil rigger, Nick is introduced to a terminally ill gentleman who claims to have been "the second assassin." His curiosity aroused, Nick begins digging into what was supposed to be a closed case -- and, predictably, what he finds out isn't pretty. This, however, is the only predictable element of this mesmerizingly mazelike yarn. A failure when first released, Winter Kills fared somewhat better when director William Richert arranged to rerelease the film through his own company and restore several scenes that had been cut by its previous backers. Elizabeth Taylor appears uncredited as one "Lola Comante." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jeff Bridges, John Huston, (more)
- 1979
- PG
Karate champion Joe Lewis stars as a special agent on a worldwide mission to put the skids on a drug cartel. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joe Lewis, Christopher Lee, (more)
- 1978
Word is about the newly discovered text that is allegedly written by the younger brother of Jesus Christ. It the document is genuine, it would throw the world's theological community into chaos. David Janssen plays an archaeologist who travels to Italy to verify the document's origins. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Movie Guide
J.R.R. Tolkien's classic book about the Hobbit Bilbo Baggins and his unexpected adventures came to life in this animated, televised adaptation by Rankin-Bass Productions. Enthusiasts of Tolkien's lengthy and more demanding Lord of the Rings trilogy, as well as adult readers of The Hobbit, may be disappointed by this somewhat simplified adaptation of the book, though children and first-time readers of Tolkien will appreciate its whimsical introduction to the fictional world of Middle Earth.
As the story goes, "In a hole in the ground, there lived a Hobbit...." Bilbo Baggins would much rather relax in his comfy hobbit-hole or take long walks in the Shire than have adventures. After all, "adventures make one late for dinner." Unfortunately, Gandalf the Wizard shows up one day with other plans for Bilbo. Gandalf introduces Bilbo to a rag-tag band of dwarves whose leader, Thorin Oakensheild, asks Bilbo for help in recovering his family's treasure from the fire-breathing dragon Smaug. Bilbo meekly accepts the offer, and soon finds himself on a long journey through Mirkwood forest, to Smaug's dark lair in the Lonely Mountain. Along the way, the unlikely band is captured and nearly eaten by trolls, shackled and prodded by goblins, tied-up in webs and hung from trees by giant spiders, and finally imprisoned by the swarthy, distrustful woodland elves of Mirkwood. With keen hobbit-wits and a magic ring he finds in the goblin caves, Bilbo manages to free the band on several occasions and helps them recover their lost inheritance.
Understandably, much detail was omitted from Tolkien's novel to fit this made-for-TV adaptation -- most notably the story of the group's encounter with Beorn the shape shifter, and the somewhat complex issue of the Arkenstone, a legendary gem which Bilbo steals from Smaug's treasure-trove unbeknownst to the dwarves. Rankin-Bass Productions made another foray into Middle Earth several years later with The Return of the King, picking up where animator Ralph Bakshi left his unfinished adaptation of Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. ~ Anthony Reed, All Movie Guide
As the story goes, "In a hole in the ground, there lived a Hobbit...." Bilbo Baggins would much rather relax in his comfy hobbit-hole or take long walks in the Shire than have adventures. After all, "adventures make one late for dinner." Unfortunately, Gandalf the Wizard shows up one day with other plans for Bilbo. Gandalf introduces Bilbo to a rag-tag band of dwarves whose leader, Thorin Oakensheild, asks Bilbo for help in recovering his family's treasure from the fire-breathing dragon Smaug. Bilbo meekly accepts the offer, and soon finds himself on a long journey through Mirkwood forest, to Smaug's dark lair in the Lonely Mountain. Along the way, the unlikely band is captured and nearly eaten by trolls, shackled and prodded by goblins, tied-up in webs and hung from trees by giant spiders, and finally imprisoned by the swarthy, distrustful woodland elves of Mirkwood. With keen hobbit-wits and a magic ring he finds in the goblin caves, Bilbo manages to free the band on several occasions and helps them recover their lost inheritance.
Understandably, much detail was omitted from Tolkien's novel to fit this made-for-TV adaptation -- most notably the story of the group's encounter with Beorn the shape shifter, and the somewhat complex issue of the Arkenstone, a legendary gem which Bilbo steals from Smaug's treasure-trove unbeknownst to the dwarves. Rankin-Bass Productions made another foray into Middle Earth several years later with The Return of the King, picking up where animator Ralph Bakshi left his unfinished adaptation of Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. ~ Anthony Reed, All Movie Guide
This 1978 horror-lite opus was the work of René Cardona Jr., who was a creative force behind other tabloid-inspired efforts like Survive! and Guyana, Cult of the Damned. This less-exploitative entry in his filmography utilizes the infamous legends revolving around the many disappearances in the Bermuda Triangle as the backdrop for a fictional horror tale. The Bermuda Triangle tells the tale of a family scuba expedition, led by patriarch Edward (John Huston). Things take a turn for the bizarre when Edward's daughter finds a mysterious doll. The little girl claims the doll is telling her of their impending doom as strange things begin to happen to the cast and crew. The resulting film was more restrained than the likes of Survive!, going for more a Twilight Zone-style creepiness. Like much of Cardona Jr.'s work, it boasted an international cast that included Huston, Italian starlet Gloria Guida, Claudine Auger, and Cardona Jr. regular Hugo Stiglitz. The Bermuda Triangle found little favor with the critics but has earned a small cult following amongst people who have encountered it on late-night television. ~ Donald Guarisco, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Huston, Gloria Guida, (more)
One of four miniseries comprising NBC's Best Sellers anthology, The Rhinemann Exchange was adapted from the Robert Ludlum novel of the same name. Stephen Collins stars as American intelligence officer David Spaulding, who under cover of his musician father's concert tours embarks upon a number of fact-finding missions in Europe just before WW2. Once hostilities break out, Spaulding relocates to Aergentina, there to exchange industrial diamonds for a secret gyroscope needed for the American war effort. Naturally, the Nazis are equally interested in those diamonds, putting Spaulding in any number of perilous predicaments. Lauren Hutton costars as Leslie Hawkewood, one of those ravishing "mystery women" so common to espionage fiction. Originally running 5 hours and telecast in three segments on March 10, 17, and 24, 1977, The Rhinemann Exchange was later rebroadcast as a four-hour, two-part "TV movie." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Stephen Collins, Lauren Hutton, (more)
- 1977
In this subpar Canadian film, Sophia Loren is Angela, a prostitute who has decided to become a waitress after she gets pregnant by Ben Kincaid (John Vernon) and needs a better way to support her baby. When Ben gets back from service in the Korean War, he does not believe Angela's little boy is his, and after he starts working for his old mob boss, he says he cannot continue as long as the boy is in the house. So his boss Hogan (John Huston) has the child kidnapped, which triggers Angela to seek revenge, and she informs the police about Ben's planned robbery. He is caught and goes to jail for more than two decades, and when he gets out, his only goal is to get even. Meanwhile, Angela has worked her way up to the ownership of an elegant restaurant and has fallen in love with handsome young Jean Labrecque (Steve Railsback), who delivers meat to the kitchen -- without either knowing at the time that they are mother and son. With dim lighting, a dim script, and dim chances, this turkey was quickly made into dim-sum and shelved in video cassettes. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sophia Loren, Steve Railsback, (more)
- 1977
- PG
The American prints of Battle Force credit the direction to one Humphrey Longan, but in fact the man behind the megaphone of this European war flick was Umberto Lenzi. Orson Welles narrates this crazy-quilt of stock battle footage and hapharzardly staged new scenes. A lot of potent acting talent -- Henry Fonda, Stacy Keach, Helmut Berger, Samantha Eggar -- is squandered herein. Since we know who won the war, it serves no purpose to offer a random series of events leading up to the victory if they aren't going to be interestingly presented. Originally titled Il Grande Attaco, this one was also shipped out as La Battaglia di Mareth, The Biggest Battle and The Great Battle. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1977
- R
A vigilante secret-watch group works to avenge miscarriages of justice by killing crooks, but one of their agents turns out to be a serial killer. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Debi Chaney, Turk Cekovsky, (more)
- 1977
Italian filmmaker Ovidio Assonitis, who had ripped off The Exorcist with his successful Chi Sei? (1974) here turns his attentions to the post-Jaws ecokill film with silly results. The titular beast kills swimmers and divers before attacking a sailing regatta (an idea which, paradoxically, was re-appropriated for the American Jaws 2). The film's most outstanding feature is its cast, which includes John Huston, Shelley Winters, and a phoned cameo by Henry Fonda. Bo Hopkins and Claude Akins are also along for the minimal excitement. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Huston, Shelley Winters, (more)
- 1976
Sherlock Holmes in New York is a topnotch TV movie starring Roger Moore (surprisingly effective as Holmes) and Patrick MacNee (an intelligent, compassionate Watson). The Great Detective travels to the Big Apple of the 1890s to thwart arch-villain Moriarty, who plans to devalue the world's gold supply. Holmes is also reunited with his lost love Irene Adler (Charlotte Rampling), whose honesty--or lack of it--is just as much in doubt as it had been in Doyle's Scandal in Bohemia. The film combines the razor-sharp deductions of Holmes with the deeper, darker aspects of his character. Sherlock Holmes in New York underwent numerous script and concept changes while the producers awaited the availability of Roger Moore, who in the mid-1970s was being kept busy as James Bond. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1976
Historical overview of the events and personalities involved in the creation of the United States Declaration of Independence in 1776. ~ Tana Hobart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- William Atherton, Pat Hingle, (more)
- 1976
Combining familiar newsreel footage with freshly shot material, David Helpern's Hollywood on Trial is a documentary concerning the "communist witch-hunt" era. In the years following World War II, several ambitious Washington politicos were anxious to dissipate the last traces of Roosevelt's New Deal, and in so doing labelled virtually everything hinting of liberalism as communistic. These cynical crusaders couldn't make the headlines if they merely concentrated on such "radicals" as college professors and pamphleteers, so they targeted the most public industry of all: Motion Pictures. That's why the House UnAmerican Activities Committee conducted one-sided "investigations" of the Hollywood Left, and that's why so many actors, writers and directors found themselves on the Blacklist that no producer would ever admit existed. Most of Hollywood on Trial concerns itself with the misadventures of the "Hollywood Ten," a group of writers and directors who refused to answer the committee's questions and wound up in jail as a result. John Huston, himself briefly under scrutiny from the HUAC for being "unfriendly," narrates this surprisingly objective, multi-viewpointed film. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Huston, Edward Dmytryk, (more)
In the early 1900s, an American businessman was kidnapped by a rebellious Arab chieftain, principally as a means to embarrass the sultan of Morocco. This abduction sparked the threat of armed intervention by President Theodore Roosevelt, which was never carried out. In The Wind and the Lion, the unattractive male captive is replaced by the gorgeous female Mrs. Pedecaris, an American widow played by Candice Bergen. The ruthless but essentially decent Arab chief Raisuli is portrayed by Sean Connery, while Teddy Roosevelt is depicted as a jingoistic blowhard by Brian Keith. The film's main theme -- that of America's emergence as a world power -- is largely secondary to the growing mutual-respect relationship between Mrs. Pedecaris and Raisuli. After releasing his hostage, Raisuli is himself captured by German forces, who at the behest of the Kaiser are seeking out methods of laying the groundwork for what would evolve into World War I. Mrs. Pedecaris must then help Raisuli escape. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sean Connery, Candice Bergen, (more)
The star-director team of Charles Bronson and Tom Gries (Breakheart Pass) combine their efforts again on Breakout. Bronson plays Nick Colton, a reckless pilot who heads to an unnamed South American country, in hopes of rescuing imprisoned Jay Wagner (Robert Duvall). Villain Harris Wagner (John Huston), who has framed Jay, has an unlimited supply of henchmen at his disposal, but they're no match for the dauntless Colton. Jill Ireland, Bronson's real-life wife, costars as Duvall's missus. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charles Bronson, Robert Duvall, (more)
The Man Who Would Be King opens with author Rudyard Kipling (Christopher Plummer) working in his study. His solitude is broken by the arrival of a tattered, half-mad derelict, who is soon revealed to be his old acquaintance Peachy Carnahan (Michael Caine). As Kipling listens in rapt fascination, Peachy relates the incredible adventures of himself and his partner-in-chicanery Daniel Dravot (Sean Connery). Con men Carnahan and Dravot have masterminded all sorts of underhanded money-making schemes, the most elaborate of which takes them to a remote city in the hills of eastern Afghanistan. Here, through methods both foul and fair, Daniel passes himself off as the incarnation of Alexander the Great, the better to lay his hands on the vast riches all around him. Unfortunately, Daniel begins to believe his own lies, and the results are disastrous for both himself and Peachy. Inadvertently exposing Daniel's scheme is his native wife, played by Shakira Caine (Michael Caine's real-life wife). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sean Connery, Michael Caine, (more)
"You may think you know what you're dealing with, but believe me, you don't," warns water baron Noah Cross (John Huston), when smooth cop-turned-private eye J.J. "Jake" Gittes (Jack Nicholson) starts nosing around Cross's water diversion scheme. That proves to be the ominous lesson of Chinatown, Roman Polanski's critically lauded 1974 revision of 1940s film noir detective movies. In 1930s Los Angeles, "matrimonial work" specialist Gittes is hired by Evelyn Mulwray (Faye Dunaway) to tail her husband, Water Department engineer Hollis Mulwray (Darrell Zwerling). Gittes photographs him in the company of a young blonde and figures the case is closed, only to discover that the real Mrs. Mulwray had nothing to do with hiring Gittes in the first place. When Hollis turns up dead, Gittes decides to investigate further, encountering a shady old-age home, corrupt bureaucrats, angry orange farmers, and a nostril-slicing thug (Polanski) along the way. By the time he confronts Cross, Evelyn's father and Mulwray's former business partner, Jake thinks he knows everything, but an even more sordid truth awaits him. When circumstances force Jake to return to his old beat in Chinatown, he realizes just how impotent he is against the wealthy, depraved Cross. "Forget it, Jake," his old partner tells him. "It's Chinatown." Reworking the somber underpinnings of detective noir along more pessimistic lines, Polanski and screenwriter Robert Towne convey a '70s-inflected critique of capitalist and bureaucratic malevolence in a carefully detailed period piece harkening back to the genre's roots in the 1930s and '40s. Gittes always has a smart comeback like Humphrey Bogart's Sam Spade and Philip Marlowe, but the corruption Gittes finds is too deep for one man to stop. Other noir revisions, such as Robert Altman's The Long Goodbye (1973) and Arthur Penn's Night Moves (1975), also centered on the detective's inefficacy in an uncertain '70s world, but Chinatown's period sheen renders this dilemma at once contemporary and timeless, pointing to larger implications about the effects of corporate rapaciousness on individuals. Polanski and Towne clashed over Chinatown's ending; Polanski won the fight, but Towne won the Oscar for Best Screenplay. Chinatown was nominated for ten other Oscars, including Picture, Director, Actor, Actress, Cinematography, Art Direction, Costumes, and Score. ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jack Nicholson, Faye Dunaway, (more)
- 1973
- G
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The fifth and last of the original series of motion pictures based upon author Pierre Boulle's imaginative novel Monkey Planet, this science fiction film was the least-liked by the series' legion of fans. Roddy McDowall returns as Caesar, the rebellious intelligent chimp of the previous film, Conquest of the Planet of the Apes (1972). Caesar led his brethren in a revolution against their human masters earlier, but humanity has since nearly destroyed itself in a nuclear apocalypse, and survivors are second-class citizens within ape society. Now a beneficent ruler of his people, Caesar encourages a fragile, peaceful coexistence with humans, despite the protests of militaristic gorilla leader General Aldo (Claude Akins). When Caesar learns that recordings of his murdered parents may exist in the Forbidden City, he journeys to the irradiated wasteland with the human MacDonald (Austin Stoker) and the wise orangutan Virgil (Paul Williams). Although Caesar finds what he's looking for, he also attracts unwanted attention: mutant humans who still dwell underground in the devastated war zone follow the search party back home, leading to a climactic battle and Aldo's tragic challenge of Caesar's authority. Suffering greatly due to penny-pinching studio 20th Century Fox's low budget, Battle for the Planet of the Apes (1973) is most notable for a cameo by director John Huston as an ape named "The Lawgiver," who appears in a wraparound segment. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Roddy McDowall, Claude Akins, (more)
- 1973
- PG
John Huston directed this cold war spy thriller (from a script by Walter Hill) concerning a British agent trying infiltrate the organization of a nefarious communist spy. Paul Newman is Joseph Reardon, a British secret agent commissioned by Mackintosh (Harry Andrews) to impersonate a jewel thief. When the police are tipped off about his diamond robbery, Reardon is arrested and shipped off to a high-security prison. At the prison, he meets a convicted Russian spy and the two are involved in a prison break, arranged by a mysterious group called the Scarperers. After the successful breakout, Reardon finds himself drugged and sent to Ireland. It turns out that the escapade was organized by Mackintosh in the hopes Reardon could infiltrate the Scarperers and gather information on the group's leader, Sir George Wheeler (James Mason), and prove him to be a Russian spy. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Paul Newman, Dominique Sanda, (more)
- 1972
- PG
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Paul Newman plays the title role in John Huston's surreal, revisionist western as the infamous Texas hanging judge. Upon arriving in the tiny West Texas town of Vinegaroon, Roy Bean draws a moustache on a wanted poster of himself, marches into a saloon, and declares his presence. He is immediately robbed, beaten within an inch of his life, tied to a horse and dragged out into the prairie, then left to die. Rescued by a young Mexican girl, Maria Elena (Victoria Principal), Roy Bean heads back into town and murders everyone in the local saloon, declaring that he'll kill anyone of the same sort who turns up. He also sets himself up as the sole arbiter of law and order and renames the town Langtry, in honor of the legendary actress Lily Langtry (Ava Gardner). The community prospers as Judge Bean dispenses his own brand of frontier justice upon strangers passing by, robbing or killing anyone who tries to make their way through the town. But when Maria dies, Bean's old associates begin to turn on him, one at a time (in response to his constant harping on their wives, many of whom were former prostitutes) and Bean is forced to leave. Years later, Bean rides back into town, called back to the place to save his daughter from trouble - and finds that the community has been taken over by a shady character called Frank Gass (Roddy McDowall) - a circumstance that requires Bean to dispense his own unique brand of justice once again. Stacy Keach lends a neat comic turn to the film as Bad Bob, an albino gunslinger whose dining habits consist of chowing down on raw onion, drinking hot coffee from a pot, and demanding that an entire horse be cooked for his supper. John Milius (Red Dawn) scripted.
~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Paul Newman, Victoria Principal, (more)
- 1972
The narration and poetry of Octavio Paz, spoken by John Huston, is set against the inspiration environment of Mexican painter Rufino Tamayo. ~ All Movie Guide
With a screenplay adapted by Leonard Gardner from his own novel, John Huston's drama examines the meager hopes and resigned dreams of small-time boxers. In limbo between retirement and his youthful prime, alcoholic farm laborer Tully (Stacy Keach) shacks up with fellow outcast Oma (Susan Tyrrell) and keeps trying to make a boxing comeback, but his personal demons repeatedly overpower his ambitions. Meanwhile, fellow Stockton, CA resident and budding fighter Ernie (Jeff Bridges) takes Tully's advice to join trainer Ruben (Nicholas Colasanto)'s gym and make something of himself. Learning the tough lesson that winning is not as easy as it sounds, Ernie is still determined to get what he can out of boxing and, unlike Tully, not let disappointments get the best of him. Shot on location in Stockton by Conrad Hall, the film maintains a realistic, slice-of-life view of Tully's and Ernie's struggles, eschewing theatrical boxing victories for psychological and social details. As Huston avowed at the Cannes Film Festival that Fat City's virtue was its "modesty," critics agreed that he had made his best film in two decades; and Tyrrell was nominated for a Best Supporting Actress Oscar. However, despite the praise and the efforts of producer Ray Stark, Fat City failed at the box office. Even so, its unromanticized depiction of modest wins and personal losses revealed that old Hollywood pro Huston had adapted well to the late '60s-early '70s New Hollywood grit, and the film revived his artistic standing. ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Stacy Keach, Jeff Bridges, (more)
