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Posted: |
Jul 19, 2019 - 3:00 PM
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By: |
Bob DiMucci
(Member)
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After having been forced to leave the Soviet Union in 1929, Leon Trotsky (Richard Burton) has ended up in Mexico. In 1940, he is still busy with politics, promoting socialism to the world. But Stalin has ordered THE ASSASSINATION OF TROTSKY. He has sent out assassin Frank Jackson (Alain Delon), who befriends a young communist and gets an invitation to Trotsky's house. Valentina Cortese plays Trotsky’s wife, Natalia Sedowa Trotsky, in this 1972 film.
Director Joseph Losey originally offered the part of Leon Trotsky to Dirk Bogarde, with whom he had made five other films. Losey admitted that the script was terrible, but told Bogarde that it would be revised. Bogarde turned the role down, embittering Losey, who felt that Bogarde didn't trust him. Richard Burton, who had worked with Losey on BOOM! (1968) did trust Losey enough to take the part.
Richard Burton, Valentina Cortese, and Romy Schneider in THE ASSASSINATION OF TROTSKY
Judging by his private diaries, Burton seems to have genuinely thought at first that the film had the potential to be a "blockbuster" on the scale of his recent action hit WHERE EAGLES DARE (1968). He appears only to have read the script after accepting the part "and discovered that almost every scene I do takes place on 'the Patio of Trotsky's house'". His journal records his gradual realization that the limited English of other actors, combined with the static, dialogue-heavy script, would materially harm the film.
The set representing Leon Trotsky's house was stocked with genuine books and 1940s magazines, and Burton's greatest pleasure during filming seems to have been reading these in breaks from shooting. Egisto Macchi’s score for the film was released by Beat Records in 1990. The film was a bomb at the U.S. box office, grossing only $200,000.
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Thanks for this overview of her career, Bob. You're approaching Day for Night which, along with her eccentric performance in Juliet of the Spirits, is the first I knew of her. I've only recently seen some of her earlier stuff such as The House on Telegraph Hill.
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Posted: |
Jul 19, 2019 - 4:59 PM
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By: |
Bob DiMucci
(Member)
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In DAY FOR NIGHT, the film-within-a film Meet Pamela is starting to shoot in Nice and director “Ferrand” (Francois Truffaut) has just learned his shooting schedule has been cut. His cast is a handful of personal problems: “Séverine,” an aging actress who turns to drink (Valentina Cortese); “Julie Baker,” a leading lady who just had a nervous breakdown (Jacqueline Bisset); “Alphonse,” a youthful male lead who is immature and reckless (Jean-Pierre Léaud); and “Alexandre,” an older leading man with his own romantic secrets (Jean-Pierre Aumont). Fortunately, Ferrand also has good help on his side in his script girl (Nathalie Baye) and costume girl (Nike Arrighi), and his jack-of-all-trades propman (Bernard Menez). But can he wade through the various romances and tantrums and get his movie made?
The English title DAY FOR NIGHT refers to a technique for filming night scenes in broad daylight, achieved by either lowering the lens aperture or through the use of filters. The French call it the "American night,”, hence the French title of the film “La nuit américaine.” Ferrand uses this literal translation when talking about the car crash shooting, but Julie cannot understand what he means ("What is American night?," she asks.).
In the film, Séverine (Valentina Cortese) has more and more trouble remembering her lines (blowing several takes). Ferrand eventually writes her lines on pieces of paper that can be stuck up on the set out of sight of the camera, so that she can read them. It doesn't really work here. However, Truffaut used the same trick for himself when he was having trouble remembering his English lines in CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND (1977).
Séverine reminisces about the days when she and Alexandre (Jean-Pierre Aumont) arrived in Hollywood at the same time, both treated as sexy/romantic and exotic, implying that they are about the same age. Now, she laments, he is still playing romantic leads, while she is relegated to playing the mother of the juvenile lead. In fact, Jean-Pierre Aumont was twelve years older than Valentina Cortese.
When actress Nathalie Baye first heard that Billy Wilder asked Truffaut if he used a real script girl for the part of Joelle, she felt a bit offended as she was trying hard to be a proper actress. Later, she eventually admitted it was the best compliment she could receive.
Valentina Cortese in DAY FOR NIGHT
At one point, Georges Delerue (who did the score for this film and many of Truffaut's films), appears as an actor and calls to play Ferrand a piece of music, later used in the costume ball scene. This music was from Truffaut and Delerue's earlier collaboration, TWO ENGLISH GIRLS (1971). In fact the opening sequence primarily uses outtakes from TWO ENGLISH GIRLS' scoring session. Twelve minutes of music from DAY FOR NIGHT have been released on several Delerue compilations.
The film was nominated for Academy Awards in two years: As best foreign language film of 1973, and for director, supporting actress (Valentina Cortese), and screenplay in 1974. This happened because the eligibility periods for foreign language films were different than other awards, and were dependent on the films’ release in their originating countries. Academy rules have since been amended, limiting nominations in all categories to the same year.
Truffaut received his only Best Director Oscar nod for this film, losing to Francis Ford Coppola for THE GODFATHER, PART II. Valentina Cortese received her only Oscar nomination for this film, losing to Ingrid Bergman for MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS. Cortese also received a Golden Globe nomination as Best Supporting Actress, losing to Linda Blair for THE EXORCIST. However, Cortese did win the Best Supporting Actress Awards from the BAFTA, the National Society of Film Critics, and the New York Film Critics Circle.
After the release of DAY FOR NIGHT, Jean-Luc Godard sent François Truffaut a letter criticizing the way the film depicts filmmaking and called him a liar for it. Godard also criticized Truffaut for pandering to the mainstream, something they were both critical of filmmakers doing when they were critics at Cahiers du Cinema. Godard went on to say that because the film was not truth, and because the film was a hit, that they should make a film together about the filmmaking process; Truffaut would produce, Godard would direct, and they would both co-write the script.
Godard's return address was of Jacques Daniel-Norman, a virtually unknown filmmaker whose films were loved by Truffaut and Godard when they were film critics, hinting at a return to a simpler time. Ignoring this hint, Truffaut was insulted by the letter and responded by telling Godard that he was demeaning and pretentious and that he pretended to be poor, when in reality he was the wealthiest of their circle of friends. The response also included a line in which Truffaut flat out called Godard a "shit". It is believed that this quarrel is what ended their lifelong friendship. Godard later regretted writing this letter, especially after Truffaut's early death in 1984, and went as far as to write a moving tribute to his former friend.
Even though DAY FOR NIGHT won the Oscar as Best Foreign Language Film, it still grossed only $1.2 million at the U.S. box office. By contrast, Fellini’s AMARCORD, released in the U.S. the following year, and also the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar-winner, grossed $7.0 million.
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Posted: |
Jul 19, 2019 - 11:31 PM
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By: |
Bob DiMucci
(Member)
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In 1974’s APPASSIONATA, star Gabriele Ferzetti appears as middle-aged dentist “Emilio,” who starts re-assessing his life after his teenage daughter's best friend “Nicola” (Eleonora Giorgi) seduces him from his dentist chair. However, Nicola behaves with such detachment after the act that, in one of the film's scattered moments of humor, Emilio wonders if maybe she simply had a strange reaction to Novocain. At home, Emilio's wife “Elisa” (Valentina Cortese) is perpetually on the verge of a nervous breakdown, while constantly mourning a failed career as a concert pianist. Their daughter “Eugenia” (Ornella Muti) hates and antagonizes her mother, while using her nubile young body to flirt creepily with her father.
Valentina Cortese and Ninetto Davoli in APPASSIONATA
Gianluigi Calderone directed this 1974 release. It’s unclear whether the film had any U.S. release. Piero Piccioni’s score was released on a Cinevox LP, which was re-issued in an expanded version on CD by Japan’s Soundtrack Listeners Communications in 1996. In 2011, Quartet released the original LP and the full score on a 2-CD set.
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Posted: |
Jul 19, 2019 - 11:46 PM
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By: |
Bob DiMucci
(Member)
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Valentina Cortese’s second film for director Franco Zeffirelli was JESUS OF NAZARETH, an epic re-telling of the story of Jesus Christ, made as a television mini-series. Robert Powell starred in the title role, and the film featured nearly two dozen well-known actors and actresses in other roles. Cortese played Herodias, the wife of Herod Antipas (Christopher Plummer).
Zeffirelli had considered Dustin Hoffman and Al Pacino for the part of Jesus, and Robert Powell to play Judas. Tom Courtenay was offered the role, but declined. Once Powell got the lead role, Peter O'Toole was cast as Judas, but had to back out of the project, due to illness. Ian McShane ultimately played the part.
Zeffirelli wanted Marcello Mastroianni for the role of Pontius Pilate, but they couldn't agree on financial terms. Zeffirelli was happy in the end, as he felt that Rod Steiger was a "magnificent Pilate". Maria Schneider was originally offered the role of the Virgin Mary, but declined, and later regretted the decision. Olivia Hussey played the part. Elizabeth Taylor was interested in playing Mary Magdalene, but the role went to Anne Bancroft.
The film was shot primarily in Tunisia and Morocco. According to Ernest Borgnine (The Centurion), many local extras had to be dubbed because they couldn't speak English very well. Zeffirelli decided to avoid recording sound altogether in many parts, and simply sent the principal actors and actresses to dub their own characters in the studio later. Norman Bowler, Fernando Rey, and Ian Bannen were dubbed by others.
At a cost estimated between twelve and twenty million dollars, this mini-series had a budget equivalent to many feature films of the time, and was by far the most expensive made-for-television movie at the time of production, a record it would hold for several years.
The mini-series premiered on NBC as "The Big Event" in two three-hour installments with limited commercials on Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday (April 3 and April 10, 1977). Additional footage was added for a 1979 re-run, which was broadcast in four two-hour installments. The film has been released on VHS and DVD as one complete presentation with one set of credits.
The film received Emmy Nominations for Outstanding Special and for James Farentino as Outstanding Supporting Actor, for playing Simon Peter. Zeffirelli received a BAFTA nomination for Best Direction of a Single Play. Maurice Jarre’s score for the film was released on an RCA LP in the U.S., and on Pye Records in the UK. The first CD release came from RCA Italy in 1996. An expanded release was issued in Italy by Legend in 2010.
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Posted: |
Jul 20, 2019 - 12:59 AM
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By: |
Bob DiMucci
(Member)
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In 1980’s WHEN TIME RAN OUT…, an active volcano threatens a south Pacific island resort and its guests. Paul Newman is “Hank Anderson,” an oil driller concerned for the safety of the vacationers. But William Holden's hotel magnate “Shelby Gilmore” has been swayed by Anderson's self-serving partner “Bob Spangler” (James Franciscus) into thinking that the volcano poses no threat. Gilmore's girlfriend “Kay Kirby” (Jacqueline Bisset) wants to re-start her torrid romance with Hank, while Bob callously plans to ditch his wife “Nikki,” Gilmore's daughter (Veronica Hamel of Hill Street Blues) and run off with hotel employee “Iolani” (Barbara Carrera), who breaks off her engagement to fellow hotel clerk “Brian” (Edward Albert). Among the guests are Red Buttons as an embezzler and Ernest Borgnine as the New York cop on his tail. Valentina Cortese and Burgess Meredith are a happy pair of retired circus aerialists. "Special Guest Volcano Victims" include Alex Karras, John Considine, Sheila Matthews and Pat Morita.
Producer Irwin Allen bought the rights to the book The Day the World Ended, a factual depiction of the 1902 Martinique earthquake. The film was originally written as a period piece set in Martinique with a script by Edward Anhalt. After Allen’s decision to switch the picture to a contemporary setting, writer Nelson Gidding was hired. But Gidding’s script was rejected in spring 1976, and screenwriters Carl Foreman and Stirling Silliphant were hired to write a new script.
The 14 June 1976 Daily Variety stated the movie’s budget was $15 million; however, Twentieth-Century Fox executives withdrew from the project when costs became too high. In October 1978, Fox sold the rights to Warner Bros. for $1 million. Warner Bros. gave the film a green light based on its impressive cast, with the condition that Irwin Allen could not direct. A start date was announced for December 1978, but other delays followed. With the hiring of director James Goldstone, principal photography began 8 or 9 February 1979 on Hawaii’s Kona Coast. The film was scheduled for a seventy-two day shoot on a $20 million budget. But rainstorms on location caused long delays in shooting.
Paul Newman, William Holden, Veronica Hamel, Ernest Borgnine, and Red Buttons were all under contract with Irwin Allen, and appeared in this film to fulfill their contracts. Toward the end of his life, Paul Newman confessed in interviews that this was the only film he ever did solely for the money. He called it "that volcano movie" and said that he and most of the cast knew it would be a bomb from day one. Many believe that part of his salary from this movie was used as seed money for a salad dressing business he was setting up with A.E. Hotchner, with 100% of the profits, after taxes, going to educational and charitable organizations. Newman's Own, established in 1982, has raised over $260 million for charities all over the world, and continues to grow and prosper.
William Holden was hospitalized for six days during production to treat his alcoholism after director James Goldstone convinced Irwin Allen that Holden was a danger to himself and others in the cast.
A tidal wave was simulated by forcing thousands of gallons of water through chutes attached to dump tanks on Stage 15 at The Burbank Studios. Other special effects were completed during postproduction, which lasted for five or six months. In his memoirs, Ernest Borgnine claimed that the film's special effects looked so cheap because so much of the budget went toward location shooting.
Lalo Schifrin’s score for the film has not had a release. WHEN TIME RAN OUT… was a dud at the box office, grossing only $4.0 million. This was Irwin Allen's third big budget/all-star movie in a row to bomb at the box office (After THE SWARM and BEYOND THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE). It killed off the disaster movie genre and prevented Allen from any further big-screen projects. Everything he made after that was for television. It was also director James Goldstone’s final feature film. He would spend the next decade in television before his retirement in 1990.
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Posted: |
Jul 20, 2019 - 11:18 AM
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By: |
Bob DiMucci
(Member)
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THE ADVENTURES OF BARON MUNCHAUSEN explores the world of a famous German nobleman during the Ottoman Wars of the late 18th Century. He returns to save a town ravaged by war, since he felt responsible for being the one that caused all of it. With the help of a young girl named “Sally” (Sarah Polley), Baron Munchausen (John Neville) travels through different worlds to retrieve the men who had helped him in his many adventures yet is battling age and the new realities of his quest as it plays into the idea of fantasy vs. reality.
The film is filled with odd and wondrous characters: the fast-running “Berthold” (Eric Idle), the strongman “Albrecht” (Winston Dennis), the midget with strong ears and wind-power “Gustavus” (Jack Purvis), and the sharpshooter “Adolphus” (Charles McKeown). They all reluctantly join Munchausen even as they share a sense of resentment towards him.
Valentina Cortese has a dual role as “Queen Ariadne” who is a former lover of Munchausen as well as stage actress “Violet” who is in love with Munchausen. Peter Jeffrey is the “Sultan Mahmud I” who starts a war only because of a wager he lost to Munchausen. Uma Thurman has has a dual role as the young actress “Rose” who is trying get some attention as well as the role of “Venus” whose beauty is indescribable as she is charmed by Munchausen. Oliver Reed is the eccentric yet hot-tempered fire god “Vulcan” who welcomes Munchausen only to be upset when Munchausen gets to dance with Venus. Jonathan Pryce is the very smarmy city official the “Right Ordinary Horatio Jackson.”
Robin Williams played the “King of the Moon.” The role was intended for Sean Connery until the part was largely cut. Connery didn't think it was "kingly" enough and bowed out. Williams was a last-minute casting choice after the budget had run out, and he performed his role uncredited and unpaid. The credits list "Ray D. Tutto". This is the English transliteration of the Italian phrase "Re di Tutto", which means "King of Everything", which is how the King of the Moon introduces himself to the Baron. Most of Williams' dialogue was ad-libbed. He performed the part as soon as he arrived in England after a transatlantic flight.
Robin Williams and Valentina Cortese in THE ADVENTURES OF BARON MUNCHAUSEN
Terry Gilliam directed this 1988 fantasy, which was a UK-West German co-production. The film was over budget. What was originally budgeted at $23.5 million, grew to a reported $46.63 million. Terry Gilliam, while acknowledging he had gone over budget, said its final costs had been nowhere near $40 million. Either way, the film flopped in the U.S. market, grossing only $8.1 million. Michael Kamen’s score was released by Warner Bros.
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