The Great Ones: Volume Two (Side B, Track Three) Jack Weston

Recently I rewatched Stuart Rosenberg’s The April Fools (1969) for probably the thirtieth time and I was struck by how much I absolutely adore late character actor Jack Weston. The great Weston, who sadly passed away just over a decade ago, appeared in nearly 100 films and TV shows in his four decade career and I think it is safe to say that every one of them was improved in an immeasurable way by his presence.
Glancing over Weston’s page at IMBD a few things stood out…such as the fact that he was never once nominated for an Academy Award. In fact he is listed as to have not won even one major award in his career and that is something that I have a hard time reconciling. How could a man so talented and original have left this world without some solid recognition from his peers as to how great he was? There are actors with dozens of awards on their shelves right now who wouldn’t have been fit to even shine Weston’s shoes and it really makes me sad and more than a little angry…but that is the way it was, and is, for many of our great unnoticed character actors.
Weston charged into this world in the late Summer of 1924. Born in Cleveland as the son of a shoe repairman, Weston’s father was the first who noticed his considerable dramatic skills and he signed him up for a local playhouse at the age of ten. Weston excelled here and became quite popular in his hometown before a draft notice arrived just after his 19th birthday and changed his life completely.
He served as Machine Gunner and even did some work for the USO during World War Two. He immediately started acting again when he was discharged in the late forties just shy of his 25th birthday. First it was the Broadway stage that called Weston’s name, and he would indeed return to it throughout his life, but it was film that really captured his soul and heart.

His first roles in front of a camera came via some live television work in the early fifties and he immediately stood out from the crowd, and by the late part of the decade he was landing plum guest spots on everything from Perry Mason to Peter Gunn.
A striking looking heavy set man with a warm and engaging smile, Weston made his big screen debut for legendary New York director Sidney Lumet with a small but memorable role in 1958’s Stage Struck. A few more small appearances followed, including a bit in Douglas Sirk’s Imitation Of Life (1958), before he landed the first really great part of his career in the charming Doris Day vehicle Please Don’t Eat The Daisies (1960) for director Charles Walters.
Weston stole every scene he was in for Walters and it got him a lot of notice. Soon film, and even more television work, came pouring in for the tireless professional. In film after film, such as the Dean Martin flick All In A Night’s Work (1961) and the early Steve Mcqueen picture The Honeymoon Machine (1961), Weston would prove himself as a charismatic comic force who made every move seem completely natural and real.

His television work in this period also contained some real noteworthy performances, with special note going to the influential Twilight Zone episode "The Monsters Are Due On Maple Street" (1960) where Weston showed that it was in fact drama and not comedy that had been the first thing he had mastered.
One of my favorite early performances by Weston is in Norman Jewison’s The Cincinnati Kid (1965) which would find him working again with Mcqueen. Who else but Jack Weston could divert my attention from the likes of Steve, Tuesday Weld and Ann-Margret but Jack Weston? He’s one of the truly great elements to Jewison’s still undervalued minor masterpiece.
And so it went throughout the rest of his career with dozens upon dozens of supporting roles in television shows and films. Try to imagine Wait Until Dark (1967) or The Thomas Crown Affair (1968) or Cactus Flower (1969) without him and you will find it impossible.

Rosenberg’s The April Fools is one of my all time favorite films and Weston’s work in it is one of the great comedic performances. He would garner a Golden Laurel nomination for his hilarious turn as Jack Lemmon’s drunken lawyer Potter Shrader and it is a performance that never fails to make me laugh. It is one of many roles that the Academy should have noticed and failed to throughout Weston’s distinguished career.

1972’s Fuzz is probably among the most important film Weston ever made as it is the first film that teamed him up with Burt Reynolds (the two had previously worked together on a Twilight Zone episode). The two had an immediate connection on screen and off and the couple of films they made together, Gator (1976) being the other, show them as one of the great partnerships of the seventies. It is a shame that they didn’t work together more but by the late seventies Weston finally started to slow down as health problems begin plaguing him more and more.
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Gator is a real feather in Weston’s cap and his large role as Irving Greenfield is one of his most potent and surprising Gator, Reynold’s first film as a director, is one of the mid seventies finest and it contains perhaps Weston’s finest work in front of the camera.
Weston’s final film with Reynolds should have marked a new phase in his career but now in his fifties, Jack’s work slowed down considerably. He made a dozen or so pictures in the eighties and his career sadly ended with the disappointing Short Circuit 2 (1988).

Jack Weston doesn’t have any books written about him that I know of and you won’t see his name pop up on any best actor lists, but that is an oversight on both counts. Over at the IMDB message boards there are just a few posts about him. One is from someone who claims they knew him and their post says simply, “He was the sweetest.” I think that is a good way to describe this guys really remarkable career. I know every time I see a film or TV show with Jack Weston’s name on it, I am in for something special just because he is in it regardless of the quality of the film. He was the sweetest…may God bless him.

Inspiring Careers In Modern Cinema: Mary McCormack

I am starting a new series that will basically focus on modern American actors whom I think are great but for whatever reason typically aren't getting the kind of parts their talents deserve. These actors, I guess, can be considered just slightly under the radar and this series will be my little way of paying tribute to them.

New Jersey native Mary McCormack was born in February of 1969, in her early teens she began appearing in school stage productions and after studying at New York's William Esper Studio she made her New York stage debut in her early twenties. She has since gone on to appear in several Broadway and off-Broadway productions including most recently a revival of CABARET.

The IMDB lists her first screen credit as a small role in a 1994 episode of LAW AND ORDER. After that she would quickly make the leap to the big screen with a small but noticeable role in the well meaning MIRACLE ON 34TH STREET remake. She would then appear in a couple of straight to video offerings before landing the part of Howard Stern's wife in PRIVATE PARTS. This was the first time I saw Mary and she stood out to me immediately as someone who radiated a real warmth and intelligence in her acting style. PRIVATE PARTS remains one of her most well known roles and she is indeed extremely memorable in the film and helps give it an emotional center that wouldn't have been there otherwise.
Several more straight to video features as well as some tv work followed Betty Thomas' PRIVATE PARTS before Mary would appear in a another female director's film, this time the Mimi Leder helmed 1998 film DEEP IMPACT. Mary would again prove unforgettable in a small role that would find her outshining most of the bigger names in the cast.
1999 would prove to be a very big year for Mary with three very good roles in higher profile films. First up was Clint Eastwood's underrated TRUE CRIME. Mary has just one scene in this film but it is a great one and it just happens to be shared with Eastwood himself. Watching Mary work with someone of Eastwood's stature is fascinating as she not only holds her own with the great man but actually seems to bring something special out in him. Mary's second film of 1999, MYSTERY ALASKA, offered a much larger role and the opportunity to work with two great icons, Burt Reynolds and Russell Crowe. I like this little film a lot and Mary plays off wonderfully well with both of the awesomely talented leading men. She would close out the year with a leading role in the very entertaining and well receive comedy, THE BIG TEASE.
Mary would appear in a whopping ten films in the next two years, including the delightful HIGH HEELS AND LOW LIFES opposite her friend Minnie Driver, before landing one of her best roles in Steven Soderbergh's flawed but interesting FULL FRONTAL.
FULL FRONTAL is perhaps a perfect encapsulation of Mary's career so far. Here she is in a film surrounded by big name Hollywood stars, such as Julia Roberts, and yet she is still the warmest, most captivating and real person in it. Comparing her to the mannered, and pretty dull, Roberts in this film is fascinating when you stop to think how huge Roberts is and how most people will even barely know the name Mary McCormack. I'm not trying to wage an attack on Julia Roberts, I am just trying to point out that there is an ease and naturalness to McCormack that most major 'stars' in modern cinema do not posses. Mary is the best part of FULL FRONTAL and I think it is still one of the great performances of this now not so young decade.

Soderbergh would recognize how incredible talented Mary was and would cast her in one of the leading roles in his short lived but ambitiously alive tv series, the searing K STREET. As the greedy and selfish Maggie Morris, McCormack created one of the great characters in television from this decade. The show would come under a lot of criticism but I find it, and specifically Mary McCormack's work, to be among the most memorable of the last few years.
After K STREET'S quick cancellation, Mary would find her greatest role yet in the intense and extremely undervalued miniseries TRAFFIC. I thought this version of TRAFFIC was the equal to the British original and actually topped Soderbergh's Oscar winning film. Mary's work as the morally fragmenting Carole is the work of a real master and I thought the Emmy and Golden Globe snub was shameful. TRAFFIC is one of the great modern mini series and Mary McCormack's work in it is truly revelatory, and of the quality rare seen in television productions.
TRAFFIC should have opened the door wide for Mary McCormack but things have been on the quiet side since. Some solid tv work in E.R. and THE WEST WING followed the great mini series but for the most part Mary has concentrated on her family, which probably shows that the warmth and compassion she generates in many of her roles strongly reflects who the real Mary McCormack is.
Mary can currently be seen in 1408, which is a surprisingly strong thriller. Like most of her other projects, her part is small but she still manages to steal every scene she is in. It is a continuing reminder of how incredibly talented this woman is, even though it is a talent that continues to be overlooked by many.
Mary McCormack is one of my favorite actresses in modern American cinema. I would also argue that she is one of the best and if she hasn't yet had a role that really captured the American public's eye, give her time. I think a lot of great things are in store for this wonderful and winning young woman.

I'm not the only one who recoginizes how great Mary is. Here are links to two very good fan sites.

http://vtibika.free.fr/

http://www.geocities.com/matching8/

Cinema's Great Faces: Dorothy Stratten

While she was taken from this world tragically before her 21st birthday, the memory of Dorothy Stratten has never faded. It has, in fact, grown in the 27 years since her murder in August of 1980. This is a tribute to a remarkable young woman whose smile and spirit will continue to live on for many years to come. Even though she made only a handful of films before her untimely death, it is safe to say that had she lived Dorothy Stratten probably would have become one of the biggest stars of the eighties. Remarkably beautiful and charming, Stratten jumps off the screen in all of her roles, especially in Peter Bogdanovich's remarkable THEY ALL LAUGHED (1981). Whether it was in a silly production like 1979's GALAXINA or in the pages of Playboy, Dorothy Stratten had charisma to burn. The story of Canadian born Dorothy Stratten is very well known, so I won't spend too much time re-writing her biography. Briefly, she was born in Vancouver in 1960 and she had a relatively happy childhood. Known for her kindness and the poetry which she so much enjoyed writing, her life would be forever changed by a chance meeting with a sleazy young man named Paul Snider just before her 18th birthday. The meeting was the most unfortunate possible for the young and naive Stratten, who was quickly sucked into Snider's manipulative world. Within a couple of years after meeting Snider, the young Stratten would become one of the most memorable Playmate's in Playboy magazines history, a promising young actress, and a victim in one of the most brutal crimes of 1980. So much has been written about Dorothy's tragic murder, that I won't go into it here. I instead want to celebrate her brief but extremely memorable career. The obvious place to start this discussion is indeed the photographs of her in Playboy that burned themselves into every ones thoughts who first saw them back in 1979. Her Playboy shoots are what most people remember her for, and they are among the most beautiful Hugh Hefner's once great and groundbreaking magazine ever published. Viewed in our increasingly plastic, and disposable world, the photographs of Dorothy Stratten in Playboy are incredibly alive and work as a joyous celebration of the female form and spirit. Much like the photographs of Marilyn Monroe that started the magazine twenty five years before Dorothy's pictures, the photos of her are erotic, haunting, and finally incredibly resonate. Had she never given us the clue that she could have become a great screen figure, these photos alone would have been a valuable way to remember her. After being named Playmate Of The Year, Dorothy began getting a flood of television and low budget film offers. Scene stealing small roles quickly began adding up in films like AMERICATHON, SKATETOWN U.S.A. (both 1979) and television shows like FANTASY ISLAND and BUCK RODGERS. She would also appear in starring roles in two films of varying quality. AUTUMN BORN (1979) is a low budget Canadian production that would be completely forgettable if it wasn't for Dorothy. Better, but still no where near great, was the silly (but fun) GALAXINA (1980) a Sci-Fi spoof that again was finally memorable for the striking presence of one Dorothy Stratten. Everything would begin to change though after Dorothy appeared on Johnny Carson's The Tonight Show where she proved herself to be funny, charming and completely irresistible. Carson himself was obviously totally beguiled by her in this interview, and it was the first clear sign since the first Playboy shoot that there was something really remarkable about this young woman. A chance meeting with legendary director Peter Bogdanovich would put Dorothy on the road to stardom that she was never allowed to get far on. He cast her in his film THEY ALL LAUGHED shortly after meeting her, and the two quickly fell head over heels in love on the set. THEY ALL LAUGHED is a stunning film, a classic that is among the greatest that Peter Bogdanovich ever shot, and Dorothy Stratten's performance is one of the the best things about it. Simultaneously funny, sexy, and touching, Stratten is perfect in the role of Dolores and her scenes with co-star John Ritter are some of the best that Bogdanovich ever helmed. There is one scene in particular in a shoe store, where Stratten gives an audacious double take to a bemused Ritter that is absolutely incredible. Dorothy Stratten is so good in THEY ALL LAUGHED, that it gives her a proper film legacy in just one picture. Of course it finally was just that one picture. By the time it opened, Dorothy Stratten would be gone, leaving behind a destroyed Bogdanovich and a heartbroken family and growing fan base. Her memory refused to fade though. There have been movies about her (the weak DEATH OF A CENTERFOLD starring a miscast Jamie Lee Curtis, and the astounding STAR 80 starring a perfect Mariel Hemingway), documentaries (including a Playboy production, an A+E Biography, and an E True Hollywood Story), books (Peter Bogdanovich's bruising DEATH OF A UNICORN is a crushing read written by an obviously very distressed man) and extraordinary fan tributes (check out the links below). Far, from being just a pretty starlet who got murdered, there was something truly special about Dorothy Stratten. Thankfully fairly recent special edition releases of both GALAXINA and THEY ALL LAUGHED have reminded even more and more people of it...this is one legacy that isn't going to fade anytime soon. My look at one of my favorite films, THEY ALL LAUGHED, will appear in the next day or so. For more on Dorothy Stratten, please visit the lovely tribute site DorothyStratten.com, which is easily one of the best fan sites on the Internet. For information on Peter Bogdanovich's strange and sad KILLING OF A UNICORN please visit here. YouTube has several fan tributes posted, and someone posted this five minute excerpt from Playboy's out of print tribute video, which features clips from her layout shoots, as well as some home movies. Copies of this essential vidio can be bought used here. Finally to chat with other Dorothy fans, please visit here.

Inspiring Careers in Modern Cinema: Chloe Sevigny

Born in Darien, Connecticut in the late fall of 1974 to a strict Catholic family, Chloe Stevens Sevigny probably seemed like an unlikely candidate to blossom into one of the most uncompromising and bravest actors in modern American cinema. Since her searing screen debut in Larry Clark’s Kids (1995) though she has been just that, an intense and potent reminder that the independent heart of American cinema always has a strong backbone behind it.
Springing from both Polish and French heritage, Sevigny was the youngest of two children in a relatively normal household. Her rather sheltered world began to open up as a teenager when she began to make regular visits to New York City in the late eighties and early nineties. Blossoming into a remarkably striking and beautiful young woman, Sevigny was discovered just past her 18th birthday by a Fashion magazine editor who brought her on as an intern.


After landing her intern position, Sevigny’s world quickly changed and within a year she was modeling on the front of a Gigolo Aunts album, hanging out with Sonic Youth's Kim Gordon and having odes written to her in the press by Jay Mcinerney. Cinema seemed the natural extension for the exciting young scenester and it came calling in 1995 when Sevigny came into the view of controversial photographer and filmmaker Larry Clark, who was planning a new film based on a screenplay by a young writer named Harmony Korine.


It’s a bit hard to describe the impact Kids had on the film world in 1995, but it was a searing one and much of it was due to the devastating performance Chloe Sevigny delivered as Jennie for Clark and Korine. Simultaneously projecting an inexperience with a world weariness and an intensity not possessed in very many actors from her generation, Sevigny’s work in Kids marked her as one of the most important newcomers of the nineties and destroyed doubters who thought Mcinerney’s “It-Girl” would be a quick flash in the pan.

Sevigny followed up Kids with the remarkable Trees Lounge (1996), a knowing and controlled film directed by and starring Steve Buscemi. Again delivering a haunting performance in a smaller role, Sevigny’s work and the film itself continues to be one of the small hidden treasures of American Independent Cinema in the nineties.


Next up for the young actress was Gummo (1997), the directorial debut film from Korine and the film which briefly marked the end of her first run with strictly independent films, as her next work would be relatively high profile affair.
1998’s Palmetto (1998) from director Volker Schlondorff would indeed be Sevigny’s first mainstream work and it would see her working alongside Woody Harrelson and Elisabeth Shue. The cast is particularly good in Palmetto but the modern noir finally suffers from a rather tired script.

After the disappointing Palmetto, Chloe appeared in Whit Stillman’s interesting The Last Days of Disco(1998) opposite a strong Kate Beckinsale. Despite not finding the success of Stillman’s previous works Metropolitan (1990) and Barcelona (1994), The Last Days of Disco has arguably aged better and is need of a reassessment.


Sevigny would strike gold with her next film, a low budget affair called Boys Don’t Cry (1999) that would become one of the major films of 1999 and would garner her an Academy Award Nomination as Best Supporting Actress. Viewed today, Boys Don’t Cry is quite a haunting work and the pairing of Sevigny and Hilary Swank was an inspired choice by director Kimberly Peirce. It is worth noting that Chloe was originally up for the lead in the film but she opted for the supporting spot, a career line she has bravely followed throughout her career.


After filming Boys Don’t Cry, Sevigny was offered the lead female role in Buffalo 66 (1998), the debut feature film from writer-director-actor Vincent Gallo. Scheduling conflicts didn’t permit it and the plum role went to Christina Ricci, although Gallo and Sevigny’s paths would cross again several years later.

Boys Don’ Cry proved to be a hard film to follow for the recently Oscar nominated Sevigny. She became more and more of a fashion icon and had strong roles in Korine’s Julian Donkey Boy (1999) and Mary Harron’s audacious American Psycho (1999) but she seemed out of place in A Map of the World (1999). Some TV work followed as well as a spot in the Anthology film Ten Minutes Older (2002) before she would return to form in Olivier Assayas’ flawed but still powerful DemonLover (2002) and the ferocious Party Monster (2002) for directors Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato.


2003 would prove to be the most controversial year in Chloe Sevigny’s career. It would be a year that would see her work with fiercly uncompromising directors ranging from Lars Von Trier to Vincent Gallo, and it would end with her losing her contract at the William Morris Agency.
Von Trier’s masterful and bruising Dogville (2003) opened the year for Sevigny and she more than held her own against award winning performers ranging from Nicole Kidman to Lauren Bacall to Ben Gazzara…not to mention she survived Von Trier and indeed it is the unforgettable Dogville Confessions where we perhaps see Chloe Sevigny at both her most vulnerable and bravest.


The heated and much argued about Dogville couldn’t hold a candle in controversary to Vincent Gallo’s The Brown Bunny (2003), one of the most individualistic and moving American Independent films of the past thirty years. As the very damaged Daisy that haunts Gallo’s character, Sevigny delivers her most poetic work and it's unfortunate that such a powerful turn was lost in the media frenzy surrounding the film’s climatic oral sex scene. The Brown Bunny remains one of the most distinct American films of the decade and Chloe Sevigny’s performance as the ghostly Daisy remains one of the most resonate.


A strong small turn in the striking and rather brilliant Shattered Glass (2003) got lost amidst the furious reaction The Brown Bunny inspired. Without an agency backing her, one might have expected Sevigny to fade from view, a fact that has made her last few years all the more inspiring and remarkable.
Quality roles in the fine Woody Allen film Melinda and Melinda (2004) as well as Jim Jarmusch’s Broken Flowers (2005) followed The Brown Bunny as did her turn in the disappointing Dogville follow-up production Manderlay (2005), and if the remake of Brian De Palma’s Sisters (2006) was a mistake then the same can’t said for David Fincher’s jaw dropping Zodiac (2007), a brilliant and epic piece of work that finds Chloe again delivering another stirring and solid supporting turn amidst some of the other best actors of her generation.
In the past couple of years Chloe Sevigny has maintained a high profile thanks to many striking print ads and a continuing role on the acclaimed HBO series Big Love. Her upcoming features include Barry Munday and The Killing Room. Not surprisingly, Chloe has supporting roles in both, and they will both no doubt continue one of the most interesting and inspiring careers of the past two decades.
Unlike many of her ‘indie’ peers who came out of the nineties, Chloe Sevigny has for the most part shied away from mainstream Hollywood. Even studio made films like Palmetto have at the very least had an independent feel. Chloe Sevigny's unwillingness to buckle to the system is beyond refreshing and at times feels downright heroic. Long may she continue to stay on the outskirts…

For more on Chloe Sevigny, please visit this remarkable fan site, where all of the above images plus thousands of others can be seen.

Watch Closely Now: Kris Kristofferson on Screen in the Seventies

There’s a moment towards the end of Frank Pierson’s often maligned 1976 big budget remake of A Star is Born that plays over and over in my head like the fragments of a favorite song or the memory of a long lost lover never to be seen again. It’s the bit where the aging and defeated rock star John Norman Howard is flying down his last lonely highway on the way to oblivion. While the scene is expertly handled in everyway possible, it isn’t the music, editing or direction that gets me but it is unbelievably moving way that Howard keeps glancing at his reflection in his rearview mirror as he tears down the road faster and faster. It's a remarkable moment and what really makes it great is the actor behind the wheel perfectly portraying all of the lonliness and frustration of a man well past his limit.



While I have celebrated the music of Texas born Kris Kristofferson here before, I haven’t really paid tribute to the fact that the man is one of my favorite actors as well. Kris has now been acting for more than forty years and he’s proven himself more than capable in any kind of role imaginable. He’s become one of America’s most dependable character actors but there was a period in the seventies where he was also one of the big screens great leading men. Projecting a potent mixture of vulnerability and ruggedness that has always separated him from his peers, Kris Kristofferson’s value as an actor has often been overlooked but his best wrork resonates and is ripe for rediscovery.
Before he was seen on the big screen Kris Kristofferson was heard, and his legendary voice and songwriting skills have played a major part in his film career. There is just something downright musical about the guy and his best roles as an actor reflect this. Before being considered as serious material as an actor, filmmakers like Tom Stern, Dennis Hopper and Monte Hellman incorporated Kris' songs and sound into their work, and Kristofferson’s distinctive view of America is stamped all over works like The Last Movie and Two Lane Blacktop.
After proving himself incredibly charismatic on the small screen in the early seventies, Kris Kristofferson made his feature-length debut in Dennis Hopper’s legendary The Last Movie in 1971. Billed as one of the ‘Minstrel Wranglers’ and just appearing briefly, Kris could have made it a one-off but he had ambitions that stretched beyond the black vinyl grooves his name was already stamped on. It would take just a year for those cinematic ambitions to come to fruition.



Kristofferson’s first starring role did indeed come in 1972 opposite acting heavyweight Gene Hackman in the very intriguing and undervalued Cisco Pike for director Bill L. Norton. This strange but effective film featuring Kris and Gene along with Harry Dean Stanton, Karen Black and Viva immediately shows Kristofferson as a force to be reckoned with. Remarkably natural and poised on the screen, Kris proved himself as and actor to watch with star power in Cisco Pike.
Among the filmmakers who took notice of Kristofferson’s early screen work was Sam Peckinpah, a director whose films reflected the bruised and wearied worldview of many of Kris’ greatest songs. Peckinpah gave Kris one of his greatest roles in the beautiful and unforgettable Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid. While the way the film was handled by the studio was tragic, Kris’ moving performance as the kid was a triumph in any version and it remains one of the seventies most iconic and haunting turns in front of the camera.



Had Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid been released with Peckinpah’s original vision completely intact, the film career of Kris Kristofferson would have gone ever further than it did. The film seemed to cement Kris as a talented actor customed made for director’s more personal and often less commercial visions. Such was the case with Paul Mazursky’s flawed but valuable Blume in Love, a film that hinted at Kris potential as a possible romantic lead.



After his brief but menacing moments in Peckinpah’s Bring Me The Head of Alfredo Garcia, Kris would deliver one of his most effective performances in Martin Scorsese’s surprising and heartfelt drama Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore in 1974. Holding his own with powerhouse Ellen Burstyn, Kris once again proved himself as an actor capable of delivering a performance as nuanced and skilled as his more experienced and trained costars.
After his marriage to Rita Coolidge just before Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, Kris took a break from his film career to refocus on his music. He would return in 1976 with a whopping three films, two of which would prove to be among the most important and controversial of his career.
Ironically of the three films he starred in in 1976, it is the lesser of the three that would have perhaps the biggest impact on his later career. George Armitage’s enetertaining but less than stellar Vigilante Force might have been a failure critically and commercially but it planted the seed for later works like Semi-Tough and Songwriter, films that seeked to capitalize on Kris’ status as a ‘country icon’. Much more interesting though was the film that opened 1976 for Kris Kristofferson, an erotic drama adapted from a famed Japanese novel by Yukio Mishima.



Overshadowed by a steamy Playboy spread featuring Kris and costar Sarah Miles used to promote the film, The Sailor Who Fell From Grace with the Sea is a strange and eerie work that was pulverized critical upon its release and has never really found its audience. It’s an interesting if flawed work though and Kris is mesmerizing as the complicated lead Jim Cameron. While both The Sailor Who Fell From Grace With the Sea and Vigilante Force failed to make much of an impact, Kris’ third film in 1976 would prove to be the biggest hit of his career.
While it is hard to imagine anyone else as John Norman Howard in the still exciting and wonderfully overdone 1976 version of A Star is Born, star, composer and producer Barbra Streisand had originally wanted and pursued Elvis Presley for the role Kris Kristofferson would eventually fill. After Presley turned down the plum role of the boozing and aging rock star in the midst of a spiritual crisis, Streisand offered the role to Kristofferson and he turned out to be the perfect choice for the uber-talented singer. Kristofferson actually steals the film from Streisand and it remains my favorite performance by the man, a powerful and beautiful turn that is simultaneously tragic and triumphant.



A Star is Born would prove to be the mega-hit that had evaded Kris up until that point and its soundtrack would musically be his biggest seller as well. For his work, Kris would win the Golden Globe as best actor but both he and fellow winner Streisand were ignored at the Oscars. Sadly though the film wouldn’t immediately lead Kris Kristofferson to greater roles as both Semi-Tough and Convoy were disappointing despite the talent involved in front of and behind the cameras. As the seventies came to a close, Kris Kristofferson’s career on the big screen had lost its momentum but there would be one more film that would prove to be both his biggest disaster and most powerful moment.



While it was released in 1980, Michael Cimino’s absolutely masterful and unforgettable Heaven’s Gate is very much a film from the seventies. Along with Martin Scorsese’s Raging Bull, Heaven’s Gate can be looked upon as the last movie of the seventies, and it is fitting that Kris would close the decade with it considering that he had opened the decade with a similarly controversial work.
Heaven’s Gate is one of the most powerful films I have ever seen and Kris Kristofferson’s unfairly maligned performance as James Averill is extraordinary. Kris would later recall the irony in the fact that it would take a role in a film that he had believed in to ruin his career, which is precisely what Cimino’s powerful epic did.
Kris had already filmed Alan Pakula’s disappointing 1981 film Rollover with Jane Fonda when he was all but blackballed in Hollywood due to his involvement with Cimino and Heaven’s Gate. He would return his focus to his musical career but that lanscape had sadly changed as well and there was little room for someone as intelligent and challenging as Kris Kristofferson.
Kris Kristofferson would return to the screen in the mid eighties but the films would prove to be typically not worthy of his considerable talents. He would continue on though and would finally become one of America’s most dependable character actors, even though ultimately he was deserving of much more.



When I think about the film career of Kris Kristofferson in the seventies, I am always reminded of Heaven’s Gate famous promotional tagline, “What one loves about life are the things that fade.” Indeed, Kris Kristofferson’s place as one of Hollywood’s most distinctive leading men has very much faded but for many, myself included, the memory of it remains. To paraphrase another famous quote from a film that bears the iconic Kristofferson stamp, the satisfactions of Kris Kristofferson's film career in the seventies are permanent.

Paul Thomas Anderson Tribute Month: Actor Profiles (Luis Guzman)

***Here's a redone and updated piece that was originally written as part of my 'Great Ones' series a few years back.***


Great characters actors should be routinely celebrated, as some of the best can add layer upon layer of dimension to films good, bad and great. Luis Guzman is one of the best on the planet right now, and has been for the past couple of decades but I rarely see that fact mentioned. So here is a little tribute to a guy who consistently has made some of my favorite films even better than they would have been without him.
A friend of mine used to shout out "The GuzMan!!!" every time we would Luis' name would pop up in a film's opening credits. It was like a stamp of approval..."okay, the film might be bad but at least it has the Guzman in it." Often though the films have been good, because Guzman is a really smart actor and he has managed to work consistently with many of the best directors on the planet. Filmmakers like Brian De Palma, Steven Soderbergh, and Paul Thomas Anderson have recognized the greatness present in Guzman and their films have been made all the more special because of his presence.

Guzman was born in Puerto Rico around the time that Rock and Roll was being fully realized for the first time. His family moved to New York's lower East side when Luis was a kid, and it was in New York that he came of age. After graduating from college, Guzman became a social worker who acted in theater to make some extra money, and as time went on he found himself acting more and more. Outside of a small role in Robert M. Young's SHORT EYES though in 1977, Guzman didn't began to find steady acting work in front of the camera until the early eighties when he started doing television in such shows as MIAMI VICE (someone should write a book on how many great actors got their start on this Michael Mann created show), and THE EQUALIZER.
Guzman would appear in a variety of television shows and films throughout the eighties. The first time I remember seeing him was in Joseph Ruben's vastly underrated TRUE BELIEVER in 1989. Even at this early stage you could tell that there was something special about Guzman, and it was really noticeable in Sidney Lumet's 1990 drama Q & A where Guzman delivered a really memorable performance for the great director.
Many more television roles would follow before Guzman landed one of the great roles of his career in Brian De Palma's emotional and intense CARLITO'S WAY (1993). Guzman was especially memorable in this undervalued De Palma masterwork, and the role would lead him to the attention of a group a young filmmakers who were coming of age as the nineties progressed.
One of those young filmmakers was named Paul Thomas Anderson and he kept the young actor in mind as his career began. When the time came to shoot his second feature, the astonishing BOOGIE NIGHTS (1997), Anderson would hand Guzman the best part of his career up to that point. Luis Guzman is one of the secret weapons in BOOGIE NIGHT'S mighty arsenal. As the lovable club owner Maurice who wants nothing more than to make a film for Jack Horner to impress his friends at home, Guzman is funny, fresh and moving. It is impossible to imagine the film without him. Unfortunately some of his best work had to hit the cutting room floor due to time limitations, but Anderson thankfully included these in the deleted scenes on the BOOGIE NIGHTS DVD. One scene in particular involving Guzman and Heather Graham's Roller Girl is one of the most oddly touching moments of his career.
Guzman would hit a major winning streak after BOOGIE NIGHTS. Soderbergh loved him in it and cast him in the small but unforgettable role of the escaped convict Chino in OUT OF SIGHT (1998). Guzman shines next to George Clooney and particularly in a scene with Jennifer Lopez and Catherine Keener. De Palma's SNAKE EYES (1998) followed and then some solid work with Angelina Jolie in THE BONE COLLECTOR (1999) before Guzman would score another set of films with Anderson and Soderbergh.
Guzman is extremely memorable as one of the game show contestants in Anderson's unforgettable MAGNOLIA (1999) but he is even better in Soderbergh's THE LIMEY (1999) opposite Terence Stamp. THE LIMEY would give Guzman one of his largest roles, and he is commanding in the film. The fact that he holds his own with an actor of Stamp's stature says a lot. As Eduardo in Soderbergh's already legendary film, Guzman delivers an honest and striking performance that should have garnered him much more acclaim than it did. He is brilliant in the film, and one of its major highlights.

Anderson and Soderbergh would give him two more great roles in their films PUNCH DRUNK LOVE (2002) and TRAFFIC (2000) but for the most part it has been back to business as a scene stealing character actor this decade for the great Guzman. He did score a major role in the funny 2005 comedy WAITING opposite Ryan Reynolds. The WAITING DVD, be the way, has a jaw dropping behind the scenes practical joke involving Guzman that has to be seen to be believed. Outside of WAITING though Guzman hasn't recently been given roles as good as he is...which says more about the films being made right now rather than Luis Guzman. He has kept extremely busy though, appearing in a whopping 3 dozen or so films and television roles since WAITING, but he should be getting plum roles in more great films than he currently is. Hopefully they will be coming again for him soon.
Luis Guzman is one of the major actors on the scene today. He is someone who always makes a movie better than it would have been. As my friend said to me once..."If you are making movies now, you need to have Luis Guzman in your movie." I agree, this guy is one of the greats.

To read an interview with Luis where he talks on his life and career please visit this link.

To visit the site of Luis' company Wild Orchid Stables please click here.

To visit his official MySpace page, please click here.

Paying Tribute To The Little Big Man

I must say that all of the recent cinema related deaths have caused me to really want to look at some of my favorites who were among my heroes growing up and who are still around. One of my favorite actors is turning an incredible seventy years old today so it seemed a perfect opportunity to pay tribute to him.

I sometimes wonder if younger film fans truly understand just how amazing and important the great Dustin Hoffman is. He is certainly still a very visible actor but he has basically turned into one of our great character actors and rarely appears as the lead anymore. He remains though, along with much more often mentioned names like Pacino, De Niro, Hackman and Nicholson, one of the premiere and finest American actors that came out of the mid sixties.

The Los Angeles native Hoffman was born in 1937 to a Jazz pianist and set decorator. Interested in theatre from a very young age, Hoffman met Gene Hackman and in their early twenties they travelled to New York together for theater work.
After working a number of odd jobs and studying at the Actor's Studio, Hoffman began landing roles in a variety of TV shows, including NAKED CITY and THE DEFENDERS. After a minor role in THE TIGER MAKES OUT (1966) Hoffman became an overnight sensation with his work in Mike Nichols THE GRADUATE (1967). This award winning film, with it's Simon and Garfunkel soundtrack, would help define a generation and Hoffman quickly became one of the most important actor's in American film. It was perfect timing too as American cinema was getting ready to undergo some major changes and Hoffman was the perfect actor and star for the New Hollywood.

After getting an Oscar nomination for THE GRADUATE and winning many other notable awards, a few lean years and minor roles followed as Hoffman was trying to plan his next move. In 1968 director John Schlesinger offered him the role of Enrico 'Ratso' Rizzo in the astonishing MIDNIGHT COWBOY (1969) and Hoffman accepted the brave and difficult role after some hesitation. While Hoffman has admitted some disappointment in certain aspects of his performance, Ratso Rizzo is one of the most famous characters in screen history and Hoffman is brilliant in the part. MIDNIGHT COWBOY would go on to win best picture and Hoffman's performance should have won the Oscar that was given to John Wayne in TRUE GRIT. He did, however, win many other film awards for the iconic Rizzo.
Dustin would follow up the intense MIDNIGHT COWBOY with a surprising and underrated turn in JOHN AND MARY (1969) opposite a lovely Mia Farrow. He won a well deserved BAFTA award for that film and was also honored with another Golden Globe nomination.
One of his greatest and most interesting roles followed in 1970 with Arthur Penn's audacious and moving LITTLE BIG MAN. Hoffman's performance as the elderly Jack Crabb looking back over his life in the Old West is incredible and the film remains one of the most moving and sympathetic accounts of Native American life ever caught on film. Hoffman would receive another BAFTA nomination for his brave work in this undervalued American classic.
After the strange WHO IS HARRY KELLERMAN AND WHY IS HE SAYING THOSE TERRIBLE THINGS ABOUT ME? (1970) Hoffman would deliver a performance of staggering intensity in a film that would make him absolutely miserable in his personal life.

Sam Peckinpah's STRAW DOGS (1971) is one of the most controversial and greatest films in Peckinpah's extraordinary canon. A difficult and cold film that has been mis-read by many, including famously by Pauline Kael, Criterion's DVD is one of the most essential sets ever released as far as containing eye opening supplemental material. Hoffman and Peckinpah had major problems on the set and unfortunately this is a role Dustin doesn't talk about much. His work as David Sumner is masterful though and one of the key performances of the early seventies, it is a shame Hoffman doesn't have warmer feelings for the film.
A role in Pietro Germi's ALFREDO ALFREDO (1972) would give him the chance to work opposite the exquisite Stefania Sandrelli but it would be PAPILLON (1973) that would give him his best role since STRAW DOGS. Playing opposite a wonderful Steve Mcqueen, Hoffman is great as Louis Degain in Franklin J. Schaffner's exciting and moving escape film.
The years following PAPILLON would give Dustin some of his greatest roles ever. Starting with Bob Fosse's brutal LENNY (1974), a film in which he would receive yet another Oscar nomination, Hoffman became along with Al Pacino probably the best all around young actor America had. After exhausting himself inhabiting the great Lenny Bruce, Hoffman took a little time off but would return with a bang in 1976 with not one, but two, of the Seventies best films.
Alan J. Pakula's ALL THE PRESIDENTS MEN (1976) isn't just a great film but it is one of a handful that can be truly called important. Producer and star Robert Redford spent two years doing exhaustive research to make sure the film would be accurate and it remains not only of the great political films this country has ever seen but one of the best looks at American Journalism in history. Hoffman's Carl Bernstein is another totally unique and memorable creation and he would click so well with Redford's Bob Woodward. The two of them are both so solid in this film that it still baffles me how their performances were ignored by the Academy.

Even better, performance wise, for Hoffman, was John Schlesinger's MARATHON MAN (1976). In perhaps his greatest role, Hoffman plays a student who is unexpectedly caught up in a very deadly conspiracy. Along with THREE DAYS OF THE CONDOR (1973) and PARALLAX VIEW (1974), MARATHON MAN is one of the greatest paranoid thrillers of the Seventies and Hoffman gives one of the most convincing portrayals of fear and confusion ever committed to celluloid. Once again Hoffman was ignored by the Academy, although he did receive several other honors for this major film.
Ulu Grosbard's STRAIGHT TIME (1978) is a real buried treasure. Working with the young, intense and incredibly talented Theresa Russell in a film he originally wanted to direct, Dustin's work as the persecuted thief Max Dembo is along with STRAW DOGS his most underrated performance. Grosbard's great film is in need of a major re-appraisal and hopefully its recent appearance on DVD will bring that about. With the possible exception of Michael Mann's THIEF (1980) it is the most honest look at the consequences of crime in an American film of the seventies.
After the relative failure of STRAIGHT TIME and the flawed AGATHA (1979), Hoffman scored a major hit and finally won the Oscar for Robert Benton's KRAMER VS. KRAMER (1979). Benton's film, focusing on a husband who has been abandoned by his wife leaving him to take care of his son alone, struck a major chord in 1979. If it seems a bit dated today it is more the fault of how many times the subject has been covered since rather than the film itself. Benton's sensitive direction is punctuated by Hoffman's down to earth and inspiring performance. A young Meryl Streep is also excellent as is eight year old Justin Henry as the son caught in the middle. The film all but swept the 1980 Academy Awards and would prove one of the biggest hits of Dustin Hoffman's career.
Taking another well deserved break Hoffman returned in 1982 in Sydney Pollack's masterful and hugely popular TOOTSIE. In another Oscar nominated turn, Hoffman plays out of work actor Michael Dorsey who lands a gig as a woman on a weekly soap opera. Hoffman is simply astonishing in the role and the film remains one of the funniest and best of the eighties. His scenes with Jessica Lange are among the best of his career and the film is a real highpoint in American Comedy history.

TOOTSIE was a massive hit but it would mark an end to Dustin Hoffman's reign as one of America's leading actors. He took a five year break from the screen, with only a solid DEATH OF A SALESMAN TV production keeping him in the film goer's eyes.
He returned in 1987 with ISHTAR opposite Warren Beatty and Isabelle Adjani. While the film isn't the disaster many made it out to be, it hurt Hoffman. He would garner another Oscar with RAIN MAN (1988) which isn't a film I like much. Tom Cruise hadn't come into his own as an actor yet and the film has not aged well in my eyes. More disappointing films followed including FAMILY BUSINESS (1989) and BILLY BATHGATE (1991) (which at least had a great early Nicole Kidman performance). His small role in Beatty's DICK TRACY (1990) did give him the one opportunity to work briefly with Pacino but the period is otherwise a low point in his career.
Several high profile roles followed but it wasn't until the audacious and compelling WAG THE DOG in 1997 that Dustin would find another truly great role. As the smarmy Hollywood producer Stanley Motss in Barry Levinson's sharp satire, Hoffman gives his best performance since TOOTSIE and easily steals the film from Robert De Niro's mannered and self conscious performance.
Hoffman would receive another well deserved Oscar Nomination for the role but WAG THE DOG wasn't the hit it should have been. The last ten years have been a busy time for Hoffman even though he typically just pops up in supporting roles. His best work from the past decade has been opposite Rachel Weisz twice in 2003's CONFIDENCE and RUNAWAY JURY, a film that finally matched him with Hackman, and a scene stealing role in David Russell's masterful I HEART HUCKABEES (2004). He also easily stole another film from Robert De Niro in the hugely popular MEET THE FOCKERS (2005). He has several films on the horizon and it doesn't look like he is going to slow down anytime soon. I wish someone would give him at least one more great leading role though as there are still few actors who are capable of delivery such emotionally devastating and honest work as Dustin Hoffman.

I really want to embrace the heroes of my youth who are still around while I can. The mere idea of world without a Hoffman, Eastwood, Pacino, De Niro, Hackman, Nicholson and so on just kills me. Dustin Hoffman is one of our great actors and an honorable man who has managed to get through 40 years in the public eye without any major scandal or controversy, and a career made up of some of the greatest performances in screen history. We should all send him the best wishes on his seventieth birthday.