Steven Bach and the Famous Director
MrBuddwing
if he ever gave up the identity of the "famous director" he quoted in
his book "Final Cut." There's been speculation that the famous
director Bach approached informally about possibly taking over
"Heaven's Gate" was David Lean. But the person quoted in the book
doesn't sound like Lean - or at least, my concept of him ("You've got
a big problem because this isn't just firing some schmuck from a Movie
of the Week").
An acquaintance suggests it was John Huston, which would be more in
character (although I wonder about the champagne that Bach has the
Famous Director sipping during this conversation).
I found an Internet forum where somebody said the Famous Director was
Norman Jewison. That makes a lot more sense. I'm no expert on United
Artists or Norman Jewison, but I do believe he was very well known to
UA. The reference to a TV movie would also make sense, given Jewison's
earlier TV background. And since Lean and Huston are both gone, and
Jewison is still alive, that would also explain why Bach took the
Famous Director's identity to the grave with him.
Anyone have the answer?
Derek Janssen
>
> I found an Internet forum where somebody said the Famous Director was
> Norman Jewison. That makes a lot more sense. I'm no expert on United
> Artists or Norman Jewison, but I do believe he was very well known to
> UA. The reference to a TV movie would also make sense, given Jewison's
> earlier TV background. And since Lean and Huston are both gone, and
> Jewison is still alive, that would also explain why Bach took the
> Famous Director's identity to the grave with him.
>
> Anyone have the answer?
"Heaven's Gate" was technically a UA film and UA films were generally
indie productions, so it's entirely plausible--
Jewison was also typecast with large quirky projects, having already
made his 70's name on "Fiddler on the Roof" and "Rollerball" for MGM/UA.
Huston would've been only just starting his late-70's/early-80's
"Mainstream sellout to fund weirdo literary pet-projects" phase, so it's
possible he'd be mentioned as a "replacement" on a big-budget
studio-takeover project--But doesn't seem quite in character for even
what the studio *thought* the Revisionist Western was going to be.
Derek Janssen
eja...@verizon.net
tomcervo
> "Heaven's Gate" was technically a UA film and UA films were generally
> indie productions, so it's entirely plausible--
> Jewison was also typecast with large quirky projects, having already
> made his 70's name on "Fiddler on the Roof" and "Rollerball" for MGM/UA.
And with the roller rink and the Anetevka gone west that was "Heaven's
Gate", they may have thought he was a natural.
Me, I think they should have given it to Sam Fuller.
He could have called it "400 Guns".
It wouldn't have made any more sense but it would have been a hell of
a lot more fun to watch.
David Oberman
>Me, I think they should have given it to Sam Fuller.
>He could have called it "400 Guns".
>It wouldn't have made any more sense but it would have been a hell of
>a lot more fun to watch.
I feel the same, as I've said, about GWTW: I wish Edgar Ulmer had
directed it. They could have called it "Weird Woman."
Oh, what a missed opportunity. . . .
nick
> On Jul 11, 6:24 pm, Derek Janssen <ejan...@nospam.verizon.net> wrote:
>
> > "Heaven's Gate" was technically a UA film and UA films were generally
> > indie productions, so it's entirely plausible--
> > Jewison was also typecast with large quirky projects, having already
> > made his 70's name on "Fiddler on the Roof" and "Rollerball" for MGM/UA.
>
> And with the roller rink and the Anetevka gone west that was "Heaven's
> Gate", they may have thought he was a natural.
> Me, I think they should have given it to Sam Fuller.
"You've got
a big problem because this isn't just firing some schmuck from a
Movie
of the Week." That sounds like Sam Fuller.
Brian
> I found an Internet forum where somebody said the Famous Director was
> Norman Jewison. That makes a lot more sense. I'm no expert on United
> Artists or Norman Jewison, but I do believe he was very well known to
> UA. The reference to a TV movie would also make sense, given Jewison's
> earlier TV background. And since Lean and Huston are both gone, and
> Jewison is still alive, that would also explain why Bach took the
> Famous Director's identity to the grave with him.
>
> Anyone have the answer?
My money's on Norman Jewison based on the description in the book (a
director with a strong relationship with UA and one who had never made
a western - which eliminates Huston) - Jewison made a lot of hits for
UA ("The Russians are Coming", "In the Heat of the Night", "Thomas
Crown Affair", "Fidler on the Roof", etc) so he seems like a likely
director UA would turn to take over a big budget film in trouble.
nick
He did do the burning of Atlanta, didn't he? Kind of like Jess Franco
doing the second unit work in Chimes at Midnight. Rumored to have
shot the battle sequences so for one brief shining moment the director
of Ilsa the Wicked Warden was working at the same level as Eisenstein
or Kurosawa.