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Well I don't like any of the movies in the OP's post. So glad there aren't more based off of his writings. Not that there is anything better out there.
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Sorry I forgot descending opinions are not allowed on this forum.
No, AScending opinions aren't allowed.
DE scending opinions are fine
brm
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Posted: |
Jul 20, 2014 - 11:11 AM
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By: |
Bob DiMucci
(Member)
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Not all of Crichton's screen work came from his books. This original screenplay resulted in one of Crichton's least known film credits:
EXTREME CLOSE-UP was released in 1973 by National General Pictures. It’s a pretty obscure film, given that it has an original screenplay by Michael Crichton. In fact it was Crichton’s first screenplay. The story concerns a reporter who becomes obsessed with using surveillance equipment to spy on people. The film was produced by Paul N. Lazarus III, who that same year would produce Crichton’s directorial debut, WESTWORLD. He would go on to produce such films as CAPRICORN ONE and HANOVER STREET.
The cast of EXTREME CLOSE-UP was generally unknown. It was headed by James McMullan, who had primarily done television work since the early 1960s, but had appeared as one of James Stewart’s sons in 1965’s SHENANDOAH. He would generally remain in TV throughout his nearly 40-year career. Supporting McMullan were Katherine Woodville, a British actress who came to the U.S. in the late 1960s. She did limited U.S. film work but worked in American television until the late 1970s. Third billed was James A. Watson, Jr., a black actor who has worked continuously in television since the late 1960s.
Under the working titles of “The Investigator” and “Sex Through a Window,” the film was shot in the Los Angeles area under the direction of Jeannnot Szwarc. The film marked the motion picture directing debut of Szwarc, who had previously directed television productions such as “Marcus Welby, M.D.” and “Night Gallery.” Szwarc, who is still working in television today (“Private Practice”; “Bones”) would go on to direct such theatrical features as JAWS 2, SOMEWHERE IN TIME, SUPERGIRL, and SANTA CLAUS: THE MOVIE. The film sported an early score by Basil Poledouris, which has never been released.
The R-rated film had its New York opening on 16 May 1973. The critics took an exceedingly dim view of EXTREME CLOSE-UP. Variety’s “Murf” called it “a tedious sexploitationer” which “dips its toes in soft-core porno voyeurism while taking a shocked stance against contemporary private surveillance and espionage.” Cue’s Donald J. Mayerson felt that the “dull movie . . . doesn’t deliver the X-rated goodies or Hitchcock-like suspense.” Agreeing, The Washington Post’s Tom Zito felt the film “would be better named Extreme Boredom” (“Any film that manages to make sex a bore can’t be much fun.”) The New York Times’ Roger Greenspun called EXTREME CLOSE-UP “the most pointless movie of the year” in that it “revives the nervous formula of lust and shame.” In Time, Jay Cocks called the film “a lubricous, opportunistic piece of business.” And Kevin Thomas of the Los Angeles Times felt that “EXTREME CLOSE-UP doesn’t hold up to close examination. What’s more, its cleverly calculated, deviously justified lasciviousness could be said to constitute an invasion of the viewer’s privacy itself.”
EXTREME CLOSE-UP quickly disappeared from theaters. It was re-released in 1977, by a different distributor, TAS, as SEX THROUGH A WINDOW.
Although EXTREME CLOSE-UP was not registered for copyright at the time of its release, Investigator Productions, Inc. registered it for copyright on 18 June 1985, at which time it was released on cassette by Vestron Video under the SEX THROUGH A WINDOW title. That tape is exceedingly rare, and the American Film Institute could not find a copy of the film to view for its cataloging project. However, the film currently seems to be available as a “gray market” DVD under the SEX THROUGH A WINDOW title.
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I saw it!
It was the closest i could get to seeing a "skin flick " at the time
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brm
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