best/worst: John Huston

Thanks for pushing me to read the novel; my local bookstore had a copy.

it's very faithful to the excellent source novel

this was always Huston's signature move

whoa:

Under the then-extant rules, Stacy Keach should have been awarded Best Actor from the New York Film Critics Circle for his portrayal of Tully because it required only a plurality of the vote. Keach was the top vote-getter for Best Actor. At the time, the NYCC was second in prestige only to the Academy Awards and was a major influence on subsequent Oscar nominations. A vocal faction of the NYFCC, dismayed by the rather low percentage of votes that would have given Keach the award, successfully demanded a rule change so that the winner would have to obtain a majority. In subsequent balloting, Keach failed to win a majority of the vote, and he lost ground to the performance of Marlon Brando in The Godfather. However, Brando could not gain a majority either. As a compromise candidate, Laurence Olivier in Sleuth eventually was awarded Best Actor.

Coincidentally, director John Huston had initially wanted Brando to play the role of Tully. When Brando informed Huston repeatedly that he needed some more time to think about it, Huston finally came to the conclusion that the star wasn't really interested and looked for another actor until he finally cast the then relatively unknown Keach.

Looking through my books old film reviews it's interesting that neither Pauline Kael, John Simon, nor Stanley Kauffman were much impressed by Stacy Keach's performance. Kael thought Susan Tyrell should have won the Oscar, but her review of the film was mixed - she wondered why she was watching these loser characters. Simon didn't like the film at all and felt that Tyrell's performance was artless and out of control.

Oh, also John Simon's review misspells John Huston's name as Houston throughout.

Brando would've been too old for that role. The character in both the book and the film is 29. Brando was 47. Stacy Keach was the same age as the character.

I don't suppose I will be the first one who thinks Richard Basehart's Ishmael in Moby Dick looks so uncannily like Ewen McGregor that a DNA test shouldn't be out of the question.

Looking through my books old film reviews it's interesting that neither Pauline Kael, John Simon, nor Stanley Kauffman were much impressed by Stacy Keach's performance. Kael thought Susan Tyrell should have won the Oscar, but her review of the film was mixed - she wondered why she was watching these loser characters. Simon didn't like the film at all and felt that Tyrell's performance was artless and out of control.

― Josefa,

I thought Kael said in a later but contemporaneous review that a performance comes around once in a while so bad it's a wonder it doesn't win an Oscar.

^You're right! That was the passage I was referring to, but rereading it now it's clear Kael was being ironic, comparing Tyrrell's performance to previous bad performances that did win Oscars. Kael's phrase, "a performance of that caliber" threw me.

and she's wrong! I had this conversation pre-COVID a couple years ago over drinks about the best drunk performances in film. I mentioned Susan Tyrell, particularly her second bar scene where Keach picks her up. She creates an alternate reality like I've seen other deep alcoholics do.

Still haven't seen Fat City, but anyone looking for a true monster of a Susan Tyrell performance is encouraged to check out the 80s queer horror should-be classic Butcher Baker Nightmare Maker.

Kael thought Susan Tyrell should have won the Oscar, but her review of the film was mixed - she wondered why she was watching these loser characters.

lol I know no one is consistent about stuff like this but "don't want to watch losers" would be a tough standard for a cinemagoer in the 1970's

Man Fat City! Help me make it through the night is used so well. Love how it ends with the second verse, “yesterday is dead and gone.” Nice gut punch