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Posted: |
Mar 13, 2025 - 9:01 AM
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By: |
Bob DiMucci
(Member)
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In I NEVER SANG FOR MY FATHER, widowed “Gene Garrison” (Gene Hackman), a 40-year-old New York college professor, reluctantly tells his aging parents, “Tom and Margaret” (Melvyn Douglas and Dorothy Stickney), that he plans to marry “Peggy” (Estelle Parsons), a divorced physician and mother, and move to California. Although Gene's mother is understanding, his father warns Gene that his departure will kill her.
Gene Hackman and Melvyn Douglas in I NEVER SANG FOR MY FATHER
The film was based on Robert Anderson’s 1968 play of the same name. Gilbert Cates, who produced the Broadway play, both produced and directed the movie. Cates purposely did not bring any of the principal actors—Alan Webb, Hal Holbrook, Lillian Gish, and Teresa Wright—with him from the stage to the film. “When an actor plays on Broadway, he gives a performance that’s outsize, which is something I believe he’s not fully able to conquer when he does it on film,” Cates said. “I wanted to start from scratch. I didn’t want any, ‘We did it this way on the stage’ or ‘Why did you take out that line?’ from the cast.” Cates had originally approached Melvyn Douglas for the stage play, but the actor hated the character of “Tom Garrison” so much that he could not play him every night, but could tolerate him once in the film version. Dorothy Stickney had also turned down the role in the play.
The 1970 film’s score, by Barry Mann and Al Gorgoni, was released on a Bell Records LP, but has not been re-issued on CD. The film received favorable reviews, but grossed a below average $3.8 million at the domestic box office. Gene Hackman was nominated for an Academy Award as Best Supporting Actor, losing to John Mills for RYAN’S DAUGHTER.
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Posted: |
Mar 15, 2025 - 12:29 AM
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By: |
Bob DiMucci
(Member)
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The main characters in DOCTORS’ WIVES are “Dr. Brennan” (Richard Crenna) and his estranged wife, “Amy” (Janice Rule); “Dr. Gray” (Carroll O’Connor) and his self-loathing wife, “Maggie” (Cara Williams); “Dr. Randolph” (Gene Hackman) and his embittered wife, “Delia” (Rachel Roberts); and “Dr. Dellman” (John Colicos). In the opening scene, Dr. Dellman’s horny wife, “Lorrie” (Dyan Cannon), announces her plan to sleep with all of the doctors in order to report back to the women on each man’s sexual failing. When Dellman catches Lorrie in bed with a surgeon, he shoots her dead, wounding the surgeon in the process. Dellman confesses and surrenders to the police, but then he contrives a plan. He uses dirty secrets to blackmail his fellow doctors for getaway money, and when he’s asked to perform emergency surgery on a boy who requires Dellman’s specialized services, he makes arrangements to slip out of the hospital, avoiding the cops who are watching him. Also thrown into the mix is a subplot about Dr. Brennan’s extramarital affair with an African-American nurse, “Helen” (Diana Sands), as well as a separate subplot about a doctor’s wife stealing his meds to feed her appetite for morphine.
Gene Hackman in DOCTORS’ WIVES
George Schaefer directed this 1971 melodrama, which has an unreleased score by Elmer Bernstein. Gene Hackman, Richard Crenna, and George Gaynes all previously appeared in MAROONED, which, like DOCTORS’ WIVES, was produced by M. J. Frankovich. The film grossed a respectable $8.9 million.
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Posted: |
Mar 15, 2025 - 2:59 PM
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By: |
Bob DiMucci
(Member)
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Gene Hackman appeared in his first western with 1971’s THE HUNTING PARTY. During an annual hunting trip with his friends, “Brandt Ruger” (Hackman) celebrates the occasion with the purchase of long-range rifles and prostitutes, feeding his sadistic urges. Back home, Ruger's wife, schoolteacher “Melissa” (Candace Bergen), is kidnapped by “Frank Calder” (Oliver Reed), a brutal outlaw who's taken the frightened woman to help him conquer illiteracy, falling in love with his prize while keeping her away from the rest of his gang. Learning about the abduction, Ruger decides to hunt Calder with his pals, setting out to kill the man who's slowly winning over Melissa.
Gene Hackman in THE HUNTING PARTY
Although they only share a handful of scenes in this film, Candice Bergen and Gene Hackman would go one to appear in two more films together. Bergen is on record as saying she learned more about film acting from Gene Hackman than from any other quarter. Frequent television director Don Medford directed this Spanish-filmed picture, the first of only two theatrical films he helmed over his 40-year career. The film has an unreleased score by Riz Ortolani. THE HUNTING PARTY received scathing reviews and fared poorly at the U.S. box office, grossing just $2.7 million.
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Posted: |
Mar 16, 2025 - 1:25 PM
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By: |
Bob DiMucci
(Member)
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Robin Moore's 1969 book THE FRENCH CONNECTION was based on the real-life 1961 case in which New York narcotics detectives Eddie “Popeye” Egan and Sonny “Cloudy” Grosso confiscated 120 pounds of heroin, worth over $32 million. At that time, French businessman Jean Jehan controlled a massive drug-smuggling operation into the United States, and as shown in the film, although the detectives confiscated one shipment, Jehan escaped. A warrant was issued for his arrest, but the French government refused to extradite him. Director William Friedkin asserted in an interview that Jehan’s record as a resistance fighter during World War II earned him the protection of the French government. Unlike in the film, the case took two and a half years to complete, and no one involved was killed during that time.
In the film, Gene Hackman had his first lead role, playing “James "Popeye" Doyle,” a detective unafraid to bust a few skulls to get what he wants. Doyle and his partner, “Buddy "Cloudy" Russo” (Roy Scheider), learn that low-level con “Sal Boca” (Tony Lo Bianco) is hanging around gangsters known to smuggle narcotics. Doyle's informers tell him a big heroin shipment will reach New York's harbor within the week, and the detectives stake out Boca's movements with the help of federal agent “Bill Mulderig” (Bill Hickman), who barely hides his disdain for Doyle. The film's title is derived from shipping tycoon “Alain Charnier” (Fernando Rey), who uses French actor “Henri Devereaux's” (Frédéric de Pasquale) celebrity to smuggle 120 pounds of heroin inside a Lincoln Continental being shipped to the States.
Friedkin stated that he had never read Moore’s book and had not wanted the casting of Gene Hackman. The filmmakers considered Robert Mitchum, Peter Boyle, Jackie Gleason, Eddie Egan, and popular New York columnist Jimmy Breslin to play the role of “Popeye.” Paul Newman was another top choice, but producers said that he was well out of their budget. Rod Taylor actively pursued the role and was a choice the studio approved of, but ultimately Jimmy Breslin was hired.
Breslin’s stay with the production was brief. Friedkin said Breslin was fired after completing three weeks of rehearsals with co-star Roy Scheider, because his acting was below par, and he could not drive. Gene Hackman then received the role of Popeye Doyle after an interview with Friedkin, without auditioning, reading the part, or screen testing. Eddie Egan, however, thought Hackman unsuitable for the part. The main reason was that Hackman didn't hail from New York. When he first read the script, Hackman's first thought regarding portraying Popeye Doyle was that it gave him a chance to emulate James Cagney.
William Friedkin (left) and Gene Hackman (right) on location for THE FRENCH CONNECTION
Roy Scheider and Gene Hackman patrolled with technical advisors Eddie Egan and Sonny Grosso for a month to get the feel of the characters. Hackman became disgusted at the sights he saw during this patrol. In one incident, he had to help restrain a suspect in the squad car and later worried that he would be sued for impersonating a policeman.
Hackman had great difficulty getting into the grouchy mindset of Jimmy 'Popeye' Doyle, so Friedkin employed various tactics to provoke Hackman into anger for the grittier scenes during filming. One technique was to show dissatisfaction with Hackman by repeatedly sighing heavily and shaking his head after a take, even when Hackman had delivered a great performance. The trick almost worked too well, as Hackman got so angry that he reportedly nearly quit on the second day of filming, when the film’s opening scene, in which Popeye Doyle dressed as Santa Claus tackles a drug dealer, was shot 27 times. Hackman was so upset at having to repeat the scene that he threatened to walk off the film. Only the threat of legal action kept him working.
Gene Hackman in THE FRENCH CONNECTION
To save money on the budget and also because they didn't always have permits, William Friedkin had the cameraman moved around in a wheelchair instead of using a camera mounted on dolly tracks for the moving shots. This is most noticeable when Gene Hackman runs to, and then enters, a subway car. As the camera follows Hackman hurrying towards the car, the film movement is smooth, but then shakes noticeably as the cameraman gets up from the wheelchair and follows Hackman into the subway car.
According to Friedkin, Gene Hackman had a hard time saying Doyle's racist language without cringing. Friedkin admitted that the blatant racism was directly inspired by the real Doyle, retired officer Eddie Egan, but he also called Egan "a great cop, and a lot of this was an act. A lot of what Egan did was bravado in order to seize control and make sure that all of these suspects, most of them dealers and often users of heavy drugs, would do what he told them to do."
Gene Hackman in THE FRENCH CONNECTION
The chase scene in THE FRENCH CONNECTION has been widely celebrated as one of the best in cinema history. Friedkin asserted that producer Philip D’Antoni challenged him to make the chase better than the famed sequence in BULLITT. Although in some interviews, Friedkin stated that he shot the sequence with painstaking preparation, other sources stated that the footage was often obtained by using shockingly dangerous and unrehearsed methods. A camera was mounted on the bumper of the car that Gene Hackman drives in the car chase sequence, with another put inside the car to capture Hackman's performance. The actor did a lot of his own driving over a section of 26 blocks. The rest of the sequence was by stunt driver Bill Hickman, whom Friedkin claimed drove the car up to speeds of 90 miles per hour through city streets. Hackman stated that the crash shown at the beginning of the sequence was genuine and occurred when a local resident drove his car into the scene. Friedkin filmed the chase from the backseat of the car, operating the camera himself because the other camera operators were married with children, and he was not.
The picture garnered critical raves and won numerous awards, including Academy Awards for Best Actor (Gene Hackman), Best Director, Best Film Editing, Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay; Academy Award nominations for Best Supporting Actor (Scheider), Best Cinematography and Best Sound; BAFTAs for Best Actor (Hackman) and Best Film Editing; the Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement to Friedkin; the Writers Guild of America Award for Best Drama Adapted from Another Medium; and Golden Globe Awards for Best Director, Best Picture and Best Actor (Hackman).
Philip D’Antoni, Gene Hackman, Jane Fonda, and William Friedkin at the 44th Annual Academy Awards
THE FRENCH CONNECTION was the first R-rated film to win an Oscar for Best Picture. The critical recognition of the $1.5 million production contributed to the film’s grosses, which, as of April 1972, were estimated at nearly $80 million worldwide. Don Ellis’ score was released by Film Score Monthly in 2001 and re-issued in a slightly expanded version by La-La Land in 2016.
According to William Friedkin in his autobiography, "The Friedkin Connection," though Gene Hackman appreciated the film and the positive effect it had on his career, he never seemed to personally enjoy watching the film and never told Friedkin whether he liked it or not.
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Posted: |
Mar 17, 2025 - 10:50 PM
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By: |
Bob DiMucci
(Member)
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Prior to filming THE FRENCH CONNECTION, Gene Hackman co-starred with Kris Kristofferson and Karen Black in CISCO PIKE. After concluding his role in the film, Hackman left for New York to start work on THE FRENCH CONNECTION the next day.
In CISCO PIKE, a psychotic LAPD detective named “Leo Holland” (Hackman) forces rocker-turned-recidivist “Cisco” (Kristofferson, in his film debut) to sell a huge stash of pot that’s fallen into Holland’s hands. In shaking down his old music-industry contacts for cash, Cisco finds out which friends have integrity, and thereby arrives at a new but unsettling understanding of his place in the world.
Kris Kristofferson and Gene Hackman in CISCO PIKE
In 1969, Bill Norton, a recent UCLA Film School graduate, pitched his story for the film to Gerald Ayres, who at the time was an executive at Columbia. Ayres left the studio to produce the film (for distribution by Columbia), which was shot on location in Venice, California with “the smallest Hollywood crew Columbia had ever used.” Norton made his directorial debut with the film.
The film had a song score, with top-billed Kris Kristofferson providing four songs. Three of his songs appeared on an EP release from Columbia Records, but these had previously been featured on Kristofferson’s 1971 album release, “The Silver Tongued Devil and I.”
After completion of the film in early 1971, it sat on the shelf until early 1972, when Columbia, taking notice of Gene Hackman’s rise to stardom, opened the film in New York three months after THE FRENCH CONNECTION had premiered. Hackman, who was third-billed in CISCO PIKE, was pushed up to top billing in Columbia’s ads for the film. The $800,000 film battled poor reviews, but still grossed $2.6 million at the domestic box office.
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I finally saw Cisco Pike earlier tonight. It's one of the better early 1970s counter-culture films, quite honestly done.
Hackman appears prominently in the beginning scenes and the climax with maybe just one scene in the middle of the movie. It's a marvelous eccentric performance as the detective at the end of his rope. Terrific whether he's trying to manipulate Kristofferson or freaking out Karen Black with his babbling on about his heart condition.
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Posted: |
Mar 19, 2025 - 11:55 PM
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By: |
Bob DiMucci
(Member)
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Gene Hackman led an all-star ensemble cast in producer Irwin Allen’s first big disaster film, THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE. Allen was a writer, director and producer who began his film career making spectacle films such as 1961’s VOYAGE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA, then worked in television on such series as “Lost in Space.” THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE marked his first film in ten years. The film begins with the following written statement: “At midnight on New Year’s Eve, the S.S. Poseidon, enroute from New York to Athens, met with disaster and was lost. There were only a handful of survivors. This is their story….”
Paul Gallico’s novel The Poseidon Adventure was published in 1969. The story was inspired by a trip he took on the R.M.S. Queen Mary ocean liner in 1937. When he was having breakfast in the dining room, the liner was hit by a large wave, sending people and furniture crashing to the other side of the vessel. He was further inspired by a true incident which occurred aboard the Queen Mary during World War II. Packed with American troops bound for Europe, the ship was struck by a gargantuan freak wave in the North Atlantic. It was calculated that if the ship had rolled another five inches, she would have capsized like the Poseidon. Gallico carried out extensive research to ensure that the disaster scenario was realistic and feasible. The film follows the same basic story of the novel, tracing a charismatic, rebellious preacher, “Reverend Scott” (Gene Hackman), as he leads survivors of an overturned ocean liner toward the ship’s hull. Unlike the film, however, the book includes additional characters, more deaths, and some incidents not portrayed in the film.
The cast included former Academy Award winners Ernest Borgnine, Shelley Winters, Jack Albertson, and Red Buttons. During filming, Gene Hackman was awarded the 1971 Best Actor Oscar for his work in THE FRENCH CONNECTION. Sally Kellerman was considered to play "Linda Rogo," the wife of police detective “Mike Rogo” (Ernest Borgnine), a part that ultimately went to Stella Stevens. Petula Clark was offered the role of singer "Nonnie Parry," which ended up being played by Carol Lynley. And Gene Wilder was originally cast as haberdasher "James Martin," with Red Buttons eventually playing the role.
The cast of THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE:
Standing (l. to r.): Ernest Borgnine, Arthur O’Connell, Carol Lynley, Red Buttons, Jack Albertson
Sitting (l. to r.): Pamela Sue Martin, Stella Stevens, Gene Hackman, Shelley Winters, Roddy McDowall
Ben Stiller is a huge fan of THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE. In a 2020 interview with Vanity Fair, he recalled working with Gene Hackman on THE ROYAL TENENBAUMS (2001) and trying to work up the courage to tell him how seeing THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE changed his life and made him want to become a film-maker. When he finally raised the subject two days before the end of the shoot, Hackman replied, "Oh yeah, money job".
The film, shot in sequence in order to follow the characters faithfully as they became more and more bedraggled, began production on location aboard the Queen Mary. The ship had launched in 1934 as an ocean liner carrying up to 2,020 passengers. Upon its retirement in 1967 in Long Beach, CA, it was restored as a hotel and tourist attraction. For the storm sequence, director Ronald Neame mounted cameras on gyros to create the illusion of a swaying ship. The scenes that occur after the ship overturns were shot on the Fox lot, where Neame and production designer William Creber used historical photographs and plans to build near-exact replicas of various areas of the ship. The dining room was built right-side-up, hoisted with a forklift so it tilted up to thirty degrees to film the initial stages of the capsizing. With the actors removed, the set was then flipped upside-down, and the actors were returned to continue the sequence. The filmmakers also constructed a miniature Queen Mary, measuring twenty-two feet long, that was photographed inside a studio tank. The replica now resides in the Los Angeles Maritime Museum in San Pedro, CA.
Eric Shea, Ernest Borgnine, Gene Hackman, and Red Buttons in THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE
The stars personally performed most of the stunts for the film, and this was done by design as part of the studio's marketing plan. Much publicized was the fact that Shelley Winters gained thirty-five pounds to play the role of “Belle Rosen” and studied for weeks to learn to swim like a champion. Originally Reverend Scott was to send Belle on the underwater mission and then save her life, but Gene Hackman suggested that the situation be reversed. The scene in which the character of “Terry” falls from a table and crashes into the ballroom skylight has since become an iconic cinematic shock moment. Actor Ernie Orsatti was asked by the filmmakers to perform the fall himself, and despite his reluctance he did it. Orsatti went on to become a renowned stunt man. Allen and Neame planned for the film’s final shot to be an aerial view of the sinking ship, but budget constraints forced them to drop the shot.
THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE premiered in New York on 12 December 1972. It proved a critical success and was the top grossing film of 1972, at which point it had earned almost $100 million. The picture's success initiated a spate of disaster films, many produced by Allen, and is considered to be one of the genre’s finest. The film received an Academy Award for Best Song and a Special Achievement Award in Visual Effects (L. B. Abbott and A. D. Flowers), as well as nominations for Best Supporting Actress (Winters), Art Direction (Creber and Raphael Bretton), Cinematography (Harold E. Stine), Costume Design (Paul Zastupnevich), Film Editing (Harold F. Kress), Sound (Theodore Soderberg and Herman Lewis) and Music, Original Dramatic Score (John Williams). Williams lost the Oscar to Charles Chaplin, Ray Rasch, and Larry Russell for the score to the 1952 film LIMELIGHT (which had played in Los Angeles for the first time in 1972).
Gene Hackman in THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE
The film’s theme song was officially entitled "The Song from The Poseidon Adventure," but became more widely known as “The Morning After.” Although contemporary articles stated that Carol Lynley sang the song during the film, the voice heard was actually stand-in singer Renee Armand. Armand had turned down the opportunity to sing the single, which was released by Maureen McGovern simultaneously with the picture. After composers Al Kasha and Joel Hirschhorn won the Academy Award in the spring of 1973, it was re-released and became a number-one hit.
The success of THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE and Irwin Allen’s next film, 1974’s THE TOWERING INFERNO, earned him the nickname “Master of Disaster.” When ABC bought the television rights to THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE in 1973, the network paid a then-record $3.2 million for one showing. John Williams’ score was first released by Film Score Monthly in 1998. It was re-issued by La-La Land in 2010, and again in 2019 as part of the “Disaster Movie Soundtrack Collection.”
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Posted: |
Mar 20, 2025 - 10:35 PM
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By: |
Bob DiMucci
(Member)
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SCARECROW was a road picture about two scruffy strangers, “Max” (Gene Hackman) and “Lion” (Al Pacino), hitchhiking their way from California to Pittsburgh, in hopes of opening a car wash in the city.
Studio publicity claimed that, to prepare for their roles, Pacino and Hackman dressed like bums and panhandled on the streets of San Francisco for a week. However, Pacino, an advocate of method acting, found that his techniques conflicted with those of Hackman, who would be silent and focused before shooting, while Pacino was tense and energetic. Although Hackman enjoyed the production, Pacino later commented, "It wasn't the easiest working with Hackman, who I love as an actor."
Gene Hackman and Al Pacino in SCARECROW
Jerry Schatzberg directed the film, which was shot on location and in chronological order of the script. Reportedly, Hackman, Pacino and Schatzberg, a former fashion photographer, had many disagreements during production.
According to Schatzberg, Gene Hackman was hard to work with and argued with everyone on the set including his brother, Richard Hackman, who was working as his stand-in. To get back at Gene, Schatzberg gave Richard a part in the film as a guard, but Gene ended up being delighted that his brother was in the film.
Fred Myrow scored the film. Reviews for the picture were mixed, as some critics complained that Hackman and Pacino did not make a believable screen duo. Despite its mixed reception in the U.S., SCARECROW was a co-winner of the Golden Palm best picture award at the 1973 Cannes Film Festival, along with THE HIRELING.
Modern sources claim that while “Max” was one of Hackman’s favorite roles, he was disappointed by the picture’s poor box office, and afterward sought more commercial vehicles in which to star. However, the film ended up in the top 30 films of the year, with a $13 million U.S. gross. Around 2013, Schatzberg was working on a sequel to SCARECROW, showing Max and Lion 40 years later, but no studio was interested and Hackman had retired.
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