As with leading men, the winner of Best Supporting Actor at the Oscars is usually one of the more seasoned competitors. Of the 88 winners to date, only four Best Supporting Actor champs were in their 20s and just 15 were thirtysomething, including 2021 champ Daniel Kaluuya (“Judas and the Messiah”). The 2024 winner, Robert Downey, Jr., was 58 when he picked up his prize for “Oppenheimer.” He joined 16 previous winners who were in their 50s when they took home the trophy. (Scroll down for the most up-to-date 2025 Oscar predictions for Best Supporting Actor.)
Eleven more men were in their 60s when they won Best Supporting Actor at the Academy Awards. For eight fellows, it took till they were in their 70s to win while two (George Burns for “The Sunshine Boys” and Christopher Plummer for “Beginners”) were north of 80 when they took home their only Oscars.
At the 2019 Academy Awards, Mahershala Ali won “Green Book.
Eleven more men were in their 60s when they won Best Supporting Actor at the Academy Awards. For eight fellows, it took till they were in their 70s to win while two (George Burns for “The Sunshine Boys” and Christopher Plummer for “Beginners”) were north of 80 when they took home their only Oscars.
At the 2019 Academy Awards, Mahershala Ali won “Green Book.
- 7/11/2024
- by Paul Sheehan and Jacob Sarkisian
- Gold Derby
At the 27th Academy Awards, Oscar helped Edmond O’Brien win an Oscar.
O’Brien played sleazy show biz publicist Oscar Muldoon in 1954’s “The Barefoot Contessa,” which starred Humphrey Bogart and Ava Gardner. Bogart had been crowned Best Actor of 1951 for “The African Queen,” and had also contended for the same award for 1943’s Best Picture, “Casablanca.” Gardner was coming off of her first and only nomination, for Best Actress in 1953’s “Mogambo.” “The Barefoot Contessa” was written and directed by Academy favorite Joseph L. Mankiewicz, who had won back-to-back Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay Oscars for 1949’s “A Letter to Three Wives” and 1950’s Best Picture, “All About Eve.”
”The Barefoot Contessa” didn’t fare quite as well at the Oscars as “Letter” or “Eve.” Neither Bogart or Gardner received nominations, though Bogart was cited for his role in that same year’s Best Picture entry “The Caine Mutiny.
O’Brien played sleazy show biz publicist Oscar Muldoon in 1954’s “The Barefoot Contessa,” which starred Humphrey Bogart and Ava Gardner. Bogart had been crowned Best Actor of 1951 for “The African Queen,” and had also contended for the same award for 1943’s Best Picture, “Casablanca.” Gardner was coming off of her first and only nomination, for Best Actress in 1953’s “Mogambo.” “The Barefoot Contessa” was written and directed by Academy favorite Joseph L. Mankiewicz, who had won back-to-back Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay Oscars for 1949’s “A Letter to Three Wives” and 1950’s Best Picture, “All About Eve.”
”The Barefoot Contessa” didn’t fare quite as well at the Oscars as “Letter” or “Eve.” Neither Bogart or Gardner received nominations, though Bogart was cited for his role in that same year’s Best Picture entry “The Caine Mutiny.
- 6/4/2024
- by Tariq Khan
- Gold Derby
The Hollywood Blacklist ruined dozens of lives. United States-based artists who were sympathetic to, or even curious about, communism were demonized as traitors to their country and, due to hysterical pressure from The House Committee on Un-American Activities (aka Huac), banned from working in the industry. Disgraced and unemployed, blacklisted individuals were forced to leave the country if they wanted to continue working or, if they could not afford to relocate, find a line of work where being an alleged communist wasn't frowned upon. This latter option was, of course, dismally unlikely. The mental and financial burden of being completely shunned from one's industry was so unbearable that it led actor Philip Loeb to die by suicide.
This put Hollywood at war against itself. Anyone suspected of having communist ties was pressured to come clean and, if they wanted to continue working, name names (a cowardly practice savaged by films...
This put Hollywood at war against itself. Anyone suspected of having communist ties was pressured to come clean and, if they wanted to continue working, name names (a cowardly practice savaged by films...
- 5/25/2024
- by Jeremy Smith
- Slash Film
Since the inception of the Academy Awards, the U.S.-based organization behind them has always strived to honor worldwide film achievements. Their extensive roster of competitive acting winners alone consists of artists from 30 unique countries, three of which first gained representation during the 2020s. The last full decade’s worth of triumphant performers hail from eight countries, while 42.1% of the individual actors nominated during that time originate from outside of America.
The academy’s history of recognizing acting talent on a global scale dates all the way back to the inaugural Oscars ceremony in 1929, when Swiss-born Emil Jannings (who was of German and American parentage) won Best Actor for his work in both “The Last Command” and “The Way of All Flesh.” Over the next three years, the Best Actress prize was exclusively awarded to Canadians: Mary Pickford (“Coquette”), Norma Shearer (“The Divorcee”), and Marie Dressler (“Min and Bill...
The academy’s history of recognizing acting talent on a global scale dates all the way back to the inaugural Oscars ceremony in 1929, when Swiss-born Emil Jannings (who was of German and American parentage) won Best Actor for his work in both “The Last Command” and “The Way of All Flesh.” Over the next three years, the Best Actress prize was exclusively awarded to Canadians: Mary Pickford (“Coquette”), Norma Shearer (“The Divorcee”), and Marie Dressler (“Min and Bill...
- 3/18/2024
- by Matthew Stewart
- Gold Derby
Robert Downey Jr. looks to have Best Supporting Actor locked up after he swept the precursors for his sterling turn in Christopher Nolan‘s “Oppenheimer.” But while Downey Jr. would be more than a deserving winner for his phenomenal performance, the Oscars always throws up a surprise or two on the actual night. Could we see an upset in Best Supporting Actor?
Downey Jr. is nominated alongside Ryan Gosling (“Barbie”), Mark Ruffalo (“Poor Things”), Sterling K. Brown (“American Fiction”), and Robert De Niro (“Killers of the Flower Moon”). Gosling has lots of support for his sublime “Barbie” performance while Ruffalo and Brown also have their backers, too. However, the legendary De Niro could prove to be the closest challenger to Downey Jr. thanks to his iconic career and status.
This is De Niro’s ninth Oscar nomination. He’s been nominated for Best Actor five times — in 1977 for “Taxi Driver,...
Downey Jr. is nominated alongside Ryan Gosling (“Barbie”), Mark Ruffalo (“Poor Things”), Sterling K. Brown (“American Fiction”), and Robert De Niro (“Killers of the Flower Moon”). Gosling has lots of support for his sublime “Barbie” performance while Ruffalo and Brown also have their backers, too. However, the legendary De Niro could prove to be the closest challenger to Downey Jr. thanks to his iconic career and status.
This is De Niro’s ninth Oscar nomination. He’s been nominated for Best Actor five times — in 1977 for “Taxi Driver,...
- 3/6/2024
- by Jacob Sarkisian
- Gold Derby
When it comes to lone acting Oscar nominations, the category with the fewest examples is Best Supporting Actor. After two consecutive years of there being no new additions to that subgroup, Brian Tyree Henry (“Causeway”) became its 54th member in 2023 after having been largely ignored by other awards bodies over the preceding weeks. He directly followed Tom Hanks, who is the only other entrant from the last five years.
Within the last decade, this club has only grown by seven, with those who preceded Hanks and Henry being Robert Duvall, Sylvester Stallone, Michael Shannon, Willem Dafoe, and Christopher Plummer. 2018 marked the fifth instance of two men accomplishing the feat at once, thus tying the category’s record for most bids of this kind in a single year. Contextually, the corresponding Best Supporting Actress record is three, while that of both lead categories is four.
As it happens, the Best Supporting...
Within the last decade, this club has only grown by seven, with those who preceded Hanks and Henry being Robert Duvall, Sylvester Stallone, Michael Shannon, Willem Dafoe, and Christopher Plummer. 2018 marked the fifth instance of two men accomplishing the feat at once, thus tying the category’s record for most bids of this kind in a single year. Contextually, the corresponding Best Supporting Actress record is three, while that of both lead categories is four.
As it happens, the Best Supporting...
- 1/22/2024
- by Matthew Stewart
- Gold Derby
18 producers will take part in the fifth edition of the Series Special programme.
European network Ace Producers has selected 18 independent producers for Ace Series Special, its workshop on the series production landscape.
Each producer attends the workshop with a series project in early stages of development. The 18 participants hail from 12 different countries, and will participate in the workshop from October 30 to November 4 this year in Riga, Latvia.
Scroll down for the full list of producers
The selected producers include Swedish producer Madeleine Ekman of Nordisk Film, with The Making Of A Terrorist, written by Leif Edlund and Emelia Hansson. Ekman...
European network Ace Producers has selected 18 independent producers for Ace Series Special, its workshop on the series production landscape.
Each producer attends the workshop with a series project in early stages of development. The 18 participants hail from 12 different countries, and will participate in the workshop from October 30 to November 4 this year in Riga, Latvia.
Scroll down for the full list of producers
The selected producers include Swedish producer Madeleine Ekman of Nordisk Film, with The Making Of A Terrorist, written by Leif Edlund and Emelia Hansson. Ekman...
- 7/26/2023
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
From left: Jon Voight, Tom Cruise in Mission: Impossible (Paramount), Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg in Mission: Impossible—Dead Reckoning Part One (Paramount) Graphic: AVClub Wtf is the Imf? The answer to that question, like many aspects of the long-running Mission: Impossible franchise itself, can be convoluted, elusive, frustrating, and rewarding, in equal measures.
- 7/10/2023
- by Scott Huver
- avclub.com
The Imf then and now: The Mission: Impossible TV cast show (1966-1973) and the stars of Mission: Impossible—Dead Reckoning Part One (Paramount).Photo: Bettmann (Getty Images)
Wtf is the Imf? The answer to that question, like many aspects of the long-running Mission: Impossible franchise itself, can be convoluted, elusive,...
Wtf is the Imf? The answer to that question, like many aspects of the long-running Mission: Impossible franchise itself, can be convoluted, elusive,...
- 7/10/2023
- by Scott Huver
- avclub.com
For most actors, winning an Oscar is seen as the absolute pinnacle of a Hollywood career. For a select group of performers, though, one simply isn’t enough.
There have been 44 different actors to have won multiple awards, the first coming in 1937 when Luise Rainer became the original two-time Oscar darling.
Some manage to win every time they are nominated. Others, such as the inimitable Meryl Streep, have careers peppered with nominations, winning only when the so-called narrative dictates.
In 2021, Anthony Hopkins took home his second statuette, for his role in The Father. The year before, Renée Zellweger took home her second Oscar after playing Judy Garland in Judy.
In 2020, Mahershala Ali picked up his second Best Supporting Actor Oscar for Best Picture winner Green Book. He previously won for Moonlight in 2017.
Here are the actors with the most Oscar wins.
Anthony Hopkins
Anthony Hopkins picked up his second Oscar for The Father,...
There have been 44 different actors to have won multiple awards, the first coming in 1937 when Luise Rainer became the original two-time Oscar darling.
Some manage to win every time they are nominated. Others, such as the inimitable Meryl Streep, have careers peppered with nominations, winning only when the so-called narrative dictates.
In 2021, Anthony Hopkins took home his second statuette, for his role in The Father. The year before, Renée Zellweger took home her second Oscar after playing Judy Garland in Judy.
In 2020, Mahershala Ali picked up his second Best Supporting Actor Oscar for Best Picture winner Green Book. He previously won for Moonlight in 2017.
Here are the actors with the most Oscar wins.
Anthony Hopkins
Anthony Hopkins picked up his second Oscar for The Father,...
- 3/12/2023
- by Louis Chilton
- The Independent - Film
Peter Schrurs has taken over as interim director for at least three months.
Bero Beyer, director of lead public agency the Netherlands Film Fund, is stepping down temporarily from his post for “work-related health reasons.” Peter Schrurs, a former director of the Vpro, has now started as interim director.
It is not clear when Beyer will return to the fund although a fund spokesperson confirmed to Screen that Schrurs is expected to be at the fund for at least three months. He will be at the helm of the organisation alongside business director George van Breemen.
Schrurs also served as...
Bero Beyer, director of lead public agency the Netherlands Film Fund, is stepping down temporarily from his post for “work-related health reasons.” Peter Schrurs, a former director of the Vpro, has now started as interim director.
It is not clear when Beyer will return to the fund although a fund spokesperson confirmed to Screen that Schrurs is expected to be at the fund for at least three months. He will be at the helm of the organisation alongside business director George van Breemen.
Schrurs also served as...
- 1/31/2023
- by Geoffrey Macnab
- ScreenDaily
For most actors, winning an Oscar is seen as the absolute pinnacle of a Hollywood career. For a select group of performers, though, one simply isn’t enough.
There have been 44 different actors to have won multiple awards, the first coming in 1937 when Luise Rainer became the original two-time Oscar darling.
Some manage to win every time they are nominated. Others, such as the inimitable Meryl Streep, have careers peppered with nominations, winning only when the so-called narrative dictates.
In 2021, Anthony Hopkins took home his second statuette, for his role in The Father. The year before, Renée Zellweger took home her second Oscar after playing Judy Garland in Judy.
In 2020, Mahershala Ali picked up his second Best Supporting Actor Oscar for Best Picture winner Green Book. He previously won for Moonlight in 2017.
Here are the actors with the most Oscar wins.
Anthony Hopkins
Anthony Hopkins picked up his second Oscar for The Father,...
There have been 44 different actors to have won multiple awards, the first coming in 1937 when Luise Rainer became the original two-time Oscar darling.
Some manage to win every time they are nominated. Others, such as the inimitable Meryl Streep, have careers peppered with nominations, winning only when the so-called narrative dictates.
In 2021, Anthony Hopkins took home his second statuette, for his role in The Father. The year before, Renée Zellweger took home her second Oscar after playing Judy Garland in Judy.
In 2020, Mahershala Ali picked up his second Best Supporting Actor Oscar for Best Picture winner Green Book. He previously won for Moonlight in 2017.
Here are the actors with the most Oscar wins.
Anthony Hopkins
Anthony Hopkins picked up his second Oscar for The Father,...
- 1/25/2023
- by Louis Chilton
- The Independent - Film
The Festival de Cannes has just revealed its Competition, Un Certain Regard and Premiere titles. Congratulations to all Ace producers on their films screening on the Croisette!
‘Close’ by Lukas Dhont
Competition
Close by Lukas Dhont
Co-produced by Laurette Schillings (Ace The Netherlands) and Frans van Gestel (Ace The Netherlands) Topkapi Films. Isa: The Match Factory
Triangle of Sadness by Ruben Östlund
Produced by Erik Hemmendorff (Ace Sweden)
Co-produced by Giorgos Karnavas (Ace Greece) and Per Damgaard Hansen (Ace Denmark). Isa: Coproduction Office
Vicky Krieps as Sisi, Empress of Austria in ‘Corsage’ by Marie Kreutzer
Un Certain Regard
Corsage by Marie Kreutzer
Co-produced by Jonas Dornbach (Ace Germany), Janine Jackowski (Ace Germany), Bernard Michaux (Ace Luxembourg), Jean-Christophe Reymond (Ace France) Komplizen Film Kazak Productions. Isa: MK2
Janine Jackowski and Jonas Dornbach, Komplizen Film of ‘Corsage’
Godland by Hlynur Palmason
Produced by Eva Jakobsen (Ace Denmark) Snowglobe Film. Isa: New Films Europe
Kurak Günler(Burning Days) by Emin Alper
Produced by Nadir Operli (Ace Turkey)
Co-produced by Yorgos’ Tsourgiannis (Ace Greece). Isa: The Match Factory
‘Sick of Myself’ by Kristoffer Borgli
Sick of Myself by Kristoffer Borgli
Produced by Dyveke Graver (Ace Norway). Isa: Memento
Cannes Premiere
Esterno Notte (Nightfall) by Marco Bellocchio
Produced by Simone Gattoni (Ace Italy)...
‘Close’ by Lukas Dhont
Competition
Close by Lukas Dhont
Co-produced by Laurette Schillings (Ace The Netherlands) and Frans van Gestel (Ace The Netherlands) Topkapi Films. Isa: The Match Factory
Triangle of Sadness by Ruben Östlund
Produced by Erik Hemmendorff (Ace Sweden)
Co-produced by Giorgos Karnavas (Ace Greece) and Per Damgaard Hansen (Ace Denmark). Isa: Coproduction Office
Vicky Krieps as Sisi, Empress of Austria in ‘Corsage’ by Marie Kreutzer
Un Certain Regard
Corsage by Marie Kreutzer
Co-produced by Jonas Dornbach (Ace Germany), Janine Jackowski (Ace Germany), Bernard Michaux (Ace Luxembourg), Jean-Christophe Reymond (Ace France) Komplizen Film Kazak Productions. Isa: MK2
Janine Jackowski and Jonas Dornbach, Komplizen Film of ‘Corsage’
Godland by Hlynur Palmason
Produced by Eva Jakobsen (Ace Denmark) Snowglobe Film. Isa: New Films Europe
Kurak Günler(Burning Days) by Emin Alper
Produced by Nadir Operli (Ace Turkey)
Co-produced by Yorgos’ Tsourgiannis (Ace Greece). Isa: The Match Factory
‘Sick of Myself’ by Kristoffer Borgli
Sick of Myself by Kristoffer Borgli
Produced by Dyveke Graver (Ace Norway). Isa: Memento
Cannes Premiere
Esterno Notte (Nightfall) by Marco Bellocchio
Produced by Simone Gattoni (Ace Italy)...
- 5/8/2022
- by Sydney
- Sydney's Buzz
Projects to receive funding include Tim Mielants’ Second World War drama ’Will’
Koen Mortier and Tim Mielants are among the Flemish directors to receive support for their new film projects in the latest round of investments made by Screen Flanders, which were announced today (Jan 17).
Mortier, the director of cult hit Ex-Drummer, is to receive €50,000 for his new feature Skunk, about a dysfunctional family scarred by alcohol, sex and violence. Their life is seen through the eyes of a young hero, Liam, a neglected teenager.
Mortier will again be working with leading Flemish cinematographer Nicolas Karakatsanis, whose US credits include Cruella and I,...
Koen Mortier and Tim Mielants are among the Flemish directors to receive support for their new film projects in the latest round of investments made by Screen Flanders, which were announced today (Jan 17).
Mortier, the director of cult hit Ex-Drummer, is to receive €50,000 for his new feature Skunk, about a dysfunctional family scarred by alcohol, sex and violence. Their life is seen through the eyes of a young hero, Liam, a neglected teenager.
Mortier will again be working with leading Flemish cinematographer Nicolas Karakatsanis, whose US credits include Cruella and I,...
- 1/17/2022
- by Geoffrey Macnab
- ScreenDaily
Holland Film Meeting is the industry strand of the Netherlands Film Festival.
Paula van der Oest’s €9m English-language drama Mata Hari is among the films being presented during the Holland Film Meeting’s projects programme, the industry side of this year’s Netherlands Film Festival, which begins today (September 24) in Utrecht. It will run until October 2.
Van der Oest, promised a ”feminist approach” to the subject matter. “Most of the existing Mata Hari films are told from a male perspective,” she told Screen. “They focus on Mata Hari being a glamorous and exotic spy. A dangerous temptress,...
Paula van der Oest’s €9m English-language drama Mata Hari is among the films being presented during the Holland Film Meeting’s projects programme, the industry side of this year’s Netherlands Film Festival, which begins today (September 24) in Utrecht. It will run until October 2.
Van der Oest, promised a ”feminist approach” to the subject matter. “Most of the existing Mata Hari films are told from a male perspective,” she told Screen. “They focus on Mata Hari being a glamorous and exotic spy. A dangerous temptress,...
- 9/24/2021
- by Geoffrey Macnab
- ScreenDaily
"Mission: Impossible" premiered on CBS in 1966 as an upside down "Topkapi" riff that left the conniving to the good guys. For creator Bruce Geller, expertise was the point. Characters and plots were left blank and blurry, forcing viewers to join the Impossible Missions Force or be left in the high-tech dust. Fun only got in the way; Geller famously scolded star Peter Graves for smiling at the end of an episode.
In 1996, director Brian De Palma reinvented the series as a star vehicle for Tom Cruise, and it's nothing but fun. The second film even includes a joke about how its star can't...
The post The 14 most dangerous Mission: Impossible stunts, ranked worst to best appeared first on /Film.
In 1996, director Brian De Palma reinvented the series as a star vehicle for Tom Cruise, and it's nothing but fun. The second film even includes a joke about how its star can't...
The post The 14 most dangerous Mission: Impossible stunts, ranked worst to best appeared first on /Film.
- 9/24/2021
- by Jeremy Herbert
- Slash Film
Belgium’s Fien Troch, who won best director in Venice Film Festival’s Horizons section in 2016 with “Home,” returned to the Lido last week to pitch her fifth feature, “Holly,” in the Venice Gap-Financing Market.
The project, which is budgeted at €2.5 million, is produced by Antonino Lombardo’s Belgian outfit Prime Time. The Dardenne Brothers’ company, Les Films du Fleuve, is among the co-producers.
“[The Dardenne Brothers] have been following Fien’s work for a long time, so it’s great to be able to finally work with them,” says Elisa Heene, who produces alongside Lombardo.
The film tells the story of a 15-year-old girl who unwittingly becomes a savior figure in the aftermath of a school fire. A traumatized community looks to her for consolation, but very soon the line between support and abuse blurs.
“It’s about the power of a community, what connects people, how they interact with each other...
The project, which is budgeted at €2.5 million, is produced by Antonino Lombardo’s Belgian outfit Prime Time. The Dardenne Brothers’ company, Les Films du Fleuve, is among the co-producers.
“[The Dardenne Brothers] have been following Fien’s work for a long time, so it’s great to be able to finally work with them,” says Elisa Heene, who produces alongside Lombardo.
The film tells the story of a 15-year-old girl who unwittingly becomes a savior figure in the aftermath of a school fire. A traumatized community looks to her for consolation, but very soon the line between support and abuse blurs.
“It’s about the power of a community, what connects people, how they interact with each other...
- 9/12/2021
- by Lise Pedersen
- Variety Film + TV
Since 1972, Ben Johnson has held the record for shortest Oscar-winning performance in the Best Supporting Actor category. His screen time in “The Last Picture Show” falls just under 10 minutes, and his is the only performance to win the award without hitting that mark. Yet, there are 16 other supporting males who have been nominated for even shorter roles, and Johnson has placed outside of the list of 10 shortest nominees since 1986. Here is a look at the current roster, which has been in place for just two years (and here are the 10 shortest winners):
10. Sam Elliott (“A Star Is Born”)
8 minutes, 45 seconds (6.45% of the film)
When Mahershala Ali won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar in 2019, his one-hour, six-minute, and 38-second performance in “Green Book” became the longest to ever win in the category. Some of his competitors also made history, with the year marking the first time that two actors with...
10. Sam Elliott (“A Star Is Born”)
8 minutes, 45 seconds (6.45% of the film)
When Mahershala Ali won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar in 2019, his one-hour, six-minute, and 38-second performance in “Green Book” became the longest to ever win in the category. Some of his competitors also made history, with the year marking the first time that two actors with...
- 1/29/2021
- by Matthew Stewart
- Gold Derby
It is certainly not unusual for a long performance to win a Best Supporting Actor Oscar. The average screen time among winners in the category is 33 minutes and 45 seconds, and several even longer ones have been victorious in the past decade. However, awarding longer supporting male performances is not a recent trend. Here is a look at the 10 longest winners of all time. (And here’s the list of the 10 shortest winning performances for Best Supporting Actor.)
10. Walter Huston (“The Treasure of the Sierra Madre”)
55 minutes, 3 seconds (43.68% of the film)
On his fourth and final nomination in 1949, Walter Huston won his only Oscar for playing a wise, old prospector simply known as Howard. He broke the record for longest Best Supporting Actor-winning performance and held it for 16 years. His other nominated supporting role in “Yankee Doodle Dandy” is notably shorter, as is his Best Actor-nominated performance in “The Devil and Daniel Webster...
10. Walter Huston (“The Treasure of the Sierra Madre”)
55 minutes, 3 seconds (43.68% of the film)
On his fourth and final nomination in 1949, Walter Huston won his only Oscar for playing a wise, old prospector simply known as Howard. He broke the record for longest Best Supporting Actor-winning performance and held it for 16 years. His other nominated supporting role in “Yankee Doodle Dandy” is notably shorter, as is his Best Actor-nominated performance in “The Devil and Daniel Webster...
- 12/23/2020
- by Matthew Stewart
- Gold Derby
The Lumiere Film Festival paid homage to Greek actress, singer and politician Melina Mercouri this week with a mini-retrospective on what would have been the centenary of her birth.
The centerpiece event was a screening Thursday of “Never on Sunday,” the 1960 musical drama directed by and co-starring her regular collaborator, husband Jules Dassin, who was put on the Hollywood Blacklist for being a member of the Communist Party, and moved to Europe.
Mercouri and Dassin met at the Cannes Film Festival in 1955 when Dassin was starring in “Rififi,” and Mercouri in “Stella,” a retelling of “Carmen.” They would work together many times, most famously on “Pheadra” (1962), “Topkapi” (1964), and “10:30 P.M. Summer” (1966).
Their 1960 collaboration, “Never on Sunday,” remains their most famous partnership. They would reprise their roles of Ilya and Homer in a Broadway production, “Ilya Darling,” that opened in April 1967.
Set in the Greek port city of Piraeus, the...
The centerpiece event was a screening Thursday of “Never on Sunday,” the 1960 musical drama directed by and co-starring her regular collaborator, husband Jules Dassin, who was put on the Hollywood Blacklist for being a member of the Communist Party, and moved to Europe.
Mercouri and Dassin met at the Cannes Film Festival in 1955 when Dassin was starring in “Rififi,” and Mercouri in “Stella,” a retelling of “Carmen.” They would work together many times, most famously on “Pheadra” (1962), “Topkapi” (1964), and “10:30 P.M. Summer” (1966).
Their 1960 collaboration, “Never on Sunday,” remains their most famous partnership. They would reprise their roles of Ilya and Homer in a Broadway production, “Ilya Darling,” that opened in April 1967.
Set in the Greek port city of Piraeus, the...
- 10/16/2020
- by Kaleem Aftab
- Variety Film + TV
"The Furniture," by Daniel Walber. (Click on the images for magnified detail)
Last week’s column on Suddenly, Last Summer was a bonus sidebar to our ongoing Montgomery Clift retrospective. Today, I offer a diversion from our wall-to-wall Monty programming, in the form of a tribute to someone else’s centennial: Melina Mercouri. None of this film star's movies were nominated for Best Production Design at the Oscars, but I adore her anyway. And one of her films, made at the peak of her fame, is a perfect fit: Topkapi (1964)
Mercouri’s brand, so to speak, was one of obstinate vitality. In Stella, her film debut, she played a nightclub singer who simply refuses to be married, even at the expense of love. Her character in Never on Sunday, for which she received her only Oscar nomination, insists upon her own chipper versions of the Greek classics. Medea, who didn’t really murder her children,...
Last week’s column on Suddenly, Last Summer was a bonus sidebar to our ongoing Montgomery Clift retrospective. Today, I offer a diversion from our wall-to-wall Monty programming, in the form of a tribute to someone else’s centennial: Melina Mercouri. None of this film star's movies were nominated for Best Production Design at the Oscars, but I adore her anyway. And one of her films, made at the peak of her fame, is a perfect fit: Topkapi (1964)
Mercouri’s brand, so to speak, was one of obstinate vitality. In Stella, her film debut, she played a nightclub singer who simply refuses to be married, even at the expense of love. Her character in Never on Sunday, for which she received her only Oscar nomination, insists upon her own chipper versions of the Greek classics. Medea, who didn’t really murder her children,...
- 10/14/2020
- by Daniel Walber
- FilmExperience
The Academy has chosen its film scholars this year and is not letting the coronavirus pandemic get in the way of one of AMPAS’ most important programs, at least in terms of serious studies relating to the film industry. Fittingly, considering Oscar’s drive toward greater diversity, both projects involve issues revolving around movies and their depictions of the Black community.
Racquel Gates and Rebecca Prime have been chosen as 2020 Academy Film Scholars by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Their respective book projects, Hollywood Style and the Invention of Blackness and Uptight!: Race, Revolution, and the Struggle to Make the Most Dangerous Film of 1968, explore in depth the topic of race in Hollywood. The Academy’s Educational Grants Committee will award Gates and Prime $25,000 each on the basis of their proposals.
Established in 1999, the Academy Film Scholars program is designed to support significant new works of film scholarship.
Racquel Gates and Rebecca Prime have been chosen as 2020 Academy Film Scholars by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Their respective book projects, Hollywood Style and the Invention of Blackness and Uptight!: Race, Revolution, and the Struggle to Make the Most Dangerous Film of 1968, explore in depth the topic of race in Hollywood. The Academy’s Educational Grants Committee will award Gates and Prime $25,000 each on the basis of their proposals.
Established in 1999, the Academy Film Scholars program is designed to support significant new works of film scholarship.
- 7/30/2020
- by Pete Hammond
- Deadline Film + TV
‘Tailgate’ set to be screened at Cannes’ Marché du Film Online.
Montreal-based sales agent Attraction Distribution has closed deals across Europe and Asia on Dutch road-rage thriller Tailgate.
The film, which Attraction will screen at the Cannes’ Marché du Film Online this week, has sold to the UK (Signature), France (Trade Media), Russia/Cis (Volga), China (Jetsen), Japan (New Select) and South Korea (Challan).
Written and directed by Dutch filmmaker Lodewijk Crijns, the film is produced by Amsterdam-based Topkapi Films and Savage Film, the Belgian production outfit behind Patrick and The Ardennes.
The story begins with a family road trip...
Montreal-based sales agent Attraction Distribution has closed deals across Europe and Asia on Dutch road-rage thriller Tailgate.
The film, which Attraction will screen at the Cannes’ Marché du Film Online this week, has sold to the UK (Signature), France (Trade Media), Russia/Cis (Volga), China (Jetsen), Japan (New Select) and South Korea (Challan).
Written and directed by Dutch filmmaker Lodewijk Crijns, the film is produced by Amsterdam-based Topkapi Films and Savage Film, the Belgian production outfit behind Patrick and The Ardennes.
The story begins with a family road trip...
- 6/22/2020
- by 57¦Geoffrey Macnab¦41¦
- ScreenDaily
Stunned to discover that her son has vanished while studying abroad in Athens, an Iranian woman sets off on a desperate search across the Greek capital to find him. Navigating a foreign and forbidding landscape, she’s forced to also travel deep within herself, uncovering buried truths and offering a chance for her own reinvention.
“Pari” is the feature debut of writer-director Siamak Etemadi, who was born and raised in Iran and lives in Athens. Produced by Heretic (Greece), Le Bureau (France), Topkapi (Netherlands), and The Chouchkov Brothers (Bulgaria), it had its world premiere Feb. 25 in the Panorama section of the Berlin Film Festival. Heretic Outreach is handling world sales.
Conceived in part as what Etemadi calls a “love letter” to his mother, the film is a portrait of a woman (Melika Foroutan) unbowed by her own fears and inhibitions, driven by an almost blind determination to find her son.
“Pari” is the feature debut of writer-director Siamak Etemadi, who was born and raised in Iran and lives in Athens. Produced by Heretic (Greece), Le Bureau (France), Topkapi (Netherlands), and The Chouchkov Brothers (Bulgaria), it had its world premiere Feb. 25 in the Panorama section of the Berlin Film Festival. Heretic Outreach is handling world sales.
Conceived in part as what Etemadi calls a “love letter” to his mother, the film is a portrait of a woman (Melika Foroutan) unbowed by her own fears and inhibitions, driven by an almost blind determination to find her son.
- 2/26/2020
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
The prolific Greek outfit has arrived in Berlin with multiple new projects which it is either producing, coproducing or selling.
Prolific Greek outfit Heretic has arrived in Berlin with multiple new projects which it is either producing, coproducing or selling.
Greek director Vassilis Katsoupis’ first English language project Inside, scripted by British screenwriter Ben Hopkins and which Heretic is producing, has just received German funding from The Film and Media Foundation, Nrw. The film will shoot in Cologne and Berlin. Backers thus far include Gfc, Nrw and Mmc studio. Coproducers are Schiwago Films and Borde Carde. A sales agent is yet to be announced.
Prolific Greek outfit Heretic has arrived in Berlin with multiple new projects which it is either producing, coproducing or selling.
Greek director Vassilis Katsoupis’ first English language project Inside, scripted by British screenwriter Ben Hopkins and which Heretic is producing, has just received German funding from The Film and Media Foundation, Nrw. The film will shoot in Cologne and Berlin. Backers thus far include Gfc, Nrw and Mmc studio. Coproducers are Schiwago Films and Borde Carde. A sales agent is yet to be announced.
- 2/21/2020
- by 57¦Geoffrey Macnab¦41¦
- ScreenDaily
’You see these great roles for women but they’re male gaze roles.’
Man Up Film partners Halina Reijn and Carice van Houten, whose first completed film Instinct gets its North American premiere in Tiff on Saturday (7), have optioned rights to Second World War bestseller The High Nest.
Roxane van Iperen’s novel centres on two sisters who ran a safehouse for Jews and survived the camps. “It’s a totally female-driven story,” said Reijn, who interviewed the women’s children. “I want to make it in this contemporary way with clear parallels to what’s happening with immigration and refugees today.
Man Up Film partners Halina Reijn and Carice van Houten, whose first completed film Instinct gets its North American premiere in Tiff on Saturday (7), have optioned rights to Second World War bestseller The High Nest.
Roxane van Iperen’s novel centres on two sisters who ran a safehouse for Jews and survived the camps. “It’s a totally female-driven story,” said Reijn, who interviewed the women’s children. “I want to make it in this contemporary way with clear parallels to what’s happening with immigration and refugees today.
- 9/7/2019
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
Government-backed scheme is backing projects by Thomas Vinterberg, Alex van Warmerdam and Ramon Gieling.
The Netherlands film production incentive has announced today it is backing high-profile projects by Thomas Vinterberg and Alex van Warmerdam in its first funding round of 2019.
Overall the incentive will pump €10.5m ($11.79m) into 22 new productions and five high-end TV-series. This breaks down as 17 feature films, three feature length documentaries, two animated feature films, four drama series and one animated series, including 14 international co-productions. It is predicted the projects backed in this spending round will generate more than €40m ($35.64m) in production expenditure in the Netherlands.
The Netherlands film production incentive has announced today it is backing high-profile projects by Thomas Vinterberg and Alex van Warmerdam in its first funding round of 2019.
Overall the incentive will pump €10.5m ($11.79m) into 22 new productions and five high-end TV-series. This breaks down as 17 feature films, three feature length documentaries, two animated feature films, four drama series and one animated series, including 14 international co-productions. It is predicted the projects backed in this spending round will generate more than €40m ($35.64m) in production expenditure in the Netherlands.
- 4/4/2019
- by Geoffrey Macnab
- ScreenDaily
Mahershala Ali added another Oscar as Best Supporting Actor to his shelf for his role as a talented concert pianist traveling through the 1960s South in “Green Book.” The victory comes just two years after his first win in the category for “Moonlight” (2016). He became the 83rd person in history to clinch that prize, beating out Adam Driver (“BlacKkKlansman”), Sam Elliott (“A Star Is Born”), Richard E. Grant (“Can You Ever Forgive Me?”) and Sam Rockwell (“Vice”). Tour our photo gallery above of every Academy Award winner for Best Supporting Actor, from the most recent winner to the very first one.
SEE2019 Oscars: Full list of winners (and losers) at the 91st Academy Awards
The supporting categories were added in 1936 at the ninth Academy Awards. Initially, winners were given plaques instead of gold statuettes, but starting in 1943 they were given full Oscars.
Since 1936, only eight actors have won this prize more than once.
SEE2019 Oscars: Full list of winners (and losers) at the 91st Academy Awards
The supporting categories were added in 1936 at the ninth Academy Awards. Initially, winners were given plaques instead of gold statuettes, but starting in 1943 they were given full Oscars.
Since 1936, only eight actors have won this prize more than once.
- 2/25/2019
- by Zach Laws
- Gold Derby
Are “Green Room” and “Bohemian Rhapsody” Best Picture Oscar favorites because they won the Golden Globes’ top prizes? Maybe.
Or maybe not.
Though the Globes have been considered a leading bellwether for the Academy Awards, the Hollywood Foreign Press Assn. and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences have agreed to disagree numerous times in major categories over the past 75 years.
In fact, the very first Golden Globes ceremony selected the religious drama “The Song of Bernadette” as the best film of 1943, while the Oscar for best picture went to the beloved “Casablanca.”
Even last year, Guillermo del Toro’s romantic fantasy “The Shape of Water” won four Oscars including best film and director. But the Globes chose “Lady Bird” for best picture musical or comedy and “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” won best drama. Del Toro did win the Globe for director.
Checking out Golden Globes best drama winners for the past decade,...
Or maybe not.
Though the Globes have been considered a leading bellwether for the Academy Awards, the Hollywood Foreign Press Assn. and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences have agreed to disagree numerous times in major categories over the past 75 years.
In fact, the very first Golden Globes ceremony selected the religious drama “The Song of Bernadette” as the best film of 1943, while the Oscar for best picture went to the beloved “Casablanca.”
Even last year, Guillermo del Toro’s romantic fantasy “The Shape of Water” won four Oscars including best film and director. But the Globes chose “Lady Bird” for best picture musical or comedy and “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” won best drama. Del Toro did win the Globe for director.
Checking out Golden Globes best drama winners for the past decade,...
- 1/11/2019
- by Susan King
- Gold Derby
One of the biggest shocks of this year’s Golden Globe nominations was that Sam Elliott didn’t receive a Best Supporting Actor nomination for his role in “A Star is Born.” Elliott isn’t out of contention, though, for the Oscar. There is actually quite an impressive list of actors who got left out at the Globes but went on to take the Academy Award anyway. In fact, as recently as 2006, Alan Arkin won the Oscar for “Little Miss Sunshine” while being left out by Globe nominators.
Elliott has been a huge topic of discussion in Gold Derby’s forums (as have most things related to “A Star is Born.”) While some people have complained that the performance is too short for an actual victory, other forum posters have celebrated the fact that a performance with limited screen time is in Oscar contention as opposed to the lead performances...
Elliott has been a huge topic of discussion in Gold Derby’s forums (as have most things related to “A Star is Born.”) While some people have complained that the performance is too short for an actual victory, other forum posters have celebrated the fact that a performance with limited screen time is in Oscar contention as opposed to the lead performances...
- 12/11/2018
- by Robert Pius
- Gold Derby
Company sets up own international sales agent, Nine Film.
Pim Hermeling’s September Films, one of Benelux’s leading art house distributors, is to diversify into international co-production and sales.
The company is setting up its own international sales agent, Nine Film, of which Nelleke Driessen, former MD at Fortissimo, is now managing director. September has also bought a 50% stake in production outfit KeyFilm, run by Hanneke Niens and Hans De Wolf, through which Hermeling would like to co-produce international features.
It has also launched its own VOD platform for arthouse films.
“The old-fashioned way of distribution is not making sense any more,...
Pim Hermeling’s September Films, one of Benelux’s leading art house distributors, is to diversify into international co-production and sales.
The company is setting up its own international sales agent, Nine Film, of which Nelleke Driessen, former MD at Fortissimo, is now managing director. September has also bought a 50% stake in production outfit KeyFilm, run by Hanneke Niens and Hans De Wolf, through which Hermeling would like to co-produce international features.
It has also launched its own VOD platform for arthouse films.
“The old-fashioned way of distribution is not making sense any more,...
- 5/11/2018
- by Geoffrey Macnab
- ScreenDaily
Christopher Plummer’s last-minute casting and reshoot for “All the Money in the World” resulted in a third Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination for him — all in the last decade and all while he’s in his 80s. Should Plummer upset frontrunner Sam Rockwell (“Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”), he’d join a small group of two-time champs in the category.
While Walter Brennan holds the category record with three wins — which he bagged in the first five years of the award — six men have bookend Best Supporting Actor statuettes: Anthony Quinn (1952’s “Viva Zapata!” and 1956’s “Lust for Life”), Peter Ustinov (1960’s “Spartacus” and 1964’s “Topkapi”), Melvin Douglas (1963’s “Hud” and 1979’s “Being There”), Jason Robards (1976’s “All the President’s Men” and 1977’s “Julia”), Michael Caine (1986’s “Hannah and Her Sisters” and 1999 “The Cider House Rules”) and Christoph Waltz (2009’s “Inglourious Basterds” and 2012’s Django Unchained”).
After a...
While Walter Brennan holds the category record with three wins — which he bagged in the first five years of the award — six men have bookend Best Supporting Actor statuettes: Anthony Quinn (1952’s “Viva Zapata!” and 1956’s “Lust for Life”), Peter Ustinov (1960’s “Spartacus” and 1964’s “Topkapi”), Melvin Douglas (1963’s “Hud” and 1979’s “Being There”), Jason Robards (1976’s “All the President’s Men” and 1977’s “Julia”), Michael Caine (1986’s “Hannah and Her Sisters” and 1999 “The Cider House Rules”) and Christoph Waltz (2009’s “Inglourious Basterds” and 2012’s Django Unchained”).
After a...
- 2/11/2018
- by Joyce Eng
- Gold Derby
While Sam Rockwell (“Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”) has, through Critics’ Choice Award, Golden Globe and SAG Award victories, cemented his status as the Best Supporting Actor Oscar front-runner, challengers Willem Dafoe (“The Florida Project”) and Christopher Plummer (“All the Money in the World”) should not to be counted out.
Dafoe, after all, nearly swept this awards season’s critics’ awards, scoring honors from, among others, the Los Angeles Film Critics Assn., National Board of Review, National Society of Film Critics and New York Film Critics Circle.
Then there is Plummer, whose turn made headlines amidst the behind-the-scenes drama around “All the Money in the World,” a project that saw original star Kevin Spacey replaced by Plummer after Spacey came under fire for sexual misconduct.
Should either actor score an upset over Rockwell, he will be the 6th winner of this award who was the sole nominee from his film.
Dafoe, after all, nearly swept this awards season’s critics’ awards, scoring honors from, among others, the Los Angeles Film Critics Assn., National Board of Review, National Society of Film Critics and New York Film Critics Circle.
Then there is Plummer, whose turn made headlines amidst the behind-the-scenes drama around “All the Money in the World,” a project that saw original star Kevin Spacey replaced by Plummer after Spacey came under fire for sexual misconduct.
Should either actor score an upset over Rockwell, he will be the 6th winner of this award who was the sole nominee from his film.
- 1/24/2018
- by Andrew Carden
- Gold Derby
Or, “Never on Sunday with Your Stepson.” Director Jules Dassin’s monument to his beloved Melina Mercouri transposes a Greek tragedy to a modern setting. The pampered wife of a shipping magnate is like a queen of old — she can fling a priceless gem into the Thames on just a whim, and she goes in whatever direction her heart takes her. When her attractive stepson Anthony Perkins enters the picture, there will be Hell to Pay.
Phaedra
Blu-ray
Olive Films
1962 / B&W / 1:66 widescreen / 116 min. / Street Date March 21, 2017 / available through the Olive Films website / 29.95
Starring: Melina Mercouri, Anthony Perkins, Raf Vallone, Elisabeth Ercy.
Cinematography: Jacquest Natteau
Film Editor: Roger Dwyre
Original Music: Mikis Theodorakis
Written by Jules Dassin, Margarita Lymberaki from the play Hippolytus by Euripides
Produced and Directed by Jules Dassin
Anyone into amour fou, the romantic notion of a love without limits, beyond the harsh constraints of reality?...
Phaedra
Blu-ray
Olive Films
1962 / B&W / 1:66 widescreen / 116 min. / Street Date March 21, 2017 / available through the Olive Films website / 29.95
Starring: Melina Mercouri, Anthony Perkins, Raf Vallone, Elisabeth Ercy.
Cinematography: Jacquest Natteau
Film Editor: Roger Dwyre
Original Music: Mikis Theodorakis
Written by Jules Dassin, Margarita Lymberaki from the play Hippolytus by Euripides
Produced and Directed by Jules Dassin
Anyone into amour fou, the romantic notion of a love without limits, beyond the harsh constraints of reality?...
- 3/21/2017
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Close-Up is a column that spotlights films now playing on Mubi. The Law is playing on Mubi in the Us through January 21, 2016.For those who like nice touches, keep your eye on the bird. In Jules Dassin's The Law (1959), it's the first character we meet, where, in a town square under the hot Mediterranean sun, a group of men are watching a pigeon. The men are out of work and squarely at the bottom of the socioeconomic totem pole. The pigeon is an idiot, one man says—why would anything that could fly choose to stay here? Because sometimes people throw it crumbs, a man answers. And if you had any doubts what this all symbolizes, another of the men hastily adds: just like us. This is a film very much about hierarchy, and the forces or illusions that keep everyone in their place. The air is soon...
- 12/23/2015
- by Duncan Gray
- MUBI
The new issue of Necsus features an interview with Eric de Kuyper, who worked with Chantal Akerman for decades, and audiovisual essays on Monica Vitti and Jules Dassin's Topkapi. Also in today's roundup: Simon Callow and Alex Ross on Orson Welles, Carlotta Films co-founder Vincent Paul-Boncour on Jacques Rivette's Out 1, and a big New York magazine cover package on Adam McKay's The Big Short featuring interviews with Christian Bale, Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling, Brad Pitt and Michael Lewis, author of the bestselling book. And the Berlinale will present an Honorary Golden Bear and an Homage series to cinematographer Michael Ballhaus, best known for his work with Rainer Werner Fassbinder and Martin Scorsese. » - David Hudson...
- 11/30/2015
- Fandor: Keyframe
The new issue of Necsus features an interview with Eric de Kuyper, who worked with Chantal Akerman for decades, and audiovisual essays on Monica Vitti and Jules Dassin's Topkapi. Also in today's roundup: Simon Callow and Alex Ross on Orson Welles, Carlotta Films co-founder Vincent Paul-Boncour on Jacques Rivette's Out 1, and a big New York magazine cover package on Adam McKay's The Big Short featuring interviews with Christian Bale, Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling, Brad Pitt and Michael Lewis, author of the bestselling book. And the Berlinale will present an Honorary Golden Bear and an Homage series to cinematographer Michael Ballhaus, best known for his work with Rainer Werner Fassbinder and Martin Scorsese. » - David Hudson...
- 11/30/2015
- Keyframe
Jules Dassin Classic “Rififi” To Premiere In New Dcp Version At Laemmle's Royal In L.A., September 4
Rialto Pictures will beloved French heist film Rififi by director Jules Dassin, for the first time on Dcp, at Los Angeles' Laemmle Royal, for one week beginning Friday, September 4.
Jules Dassin (1911 - 2008) began his filmmaking career in the early 1940s and is known for his hits Brute Force (1947), The Naked City (1948), and Thieves' Highway (1949). His career later took a hit when he was blacklisted for Communist activities during the McCarthy Era. Dassin's move to France helped revive his career and was the setting for the hit film Rififi that set his career in motion once again. After the film's successful French release, Dassin was awarded the directing prize at Cannes which allowed Rififi to be released in the U.S. where it enjoyed a successful art house run. Rififi is renowned for being one of the early 'heist' films and served as an inspiration for later films in the genre.
Jules Dassin (1911 - 2008) began his filmmaking career in the early 1940s and is known for his hits Brute Force (1947), The Naked City (1948), and Thieves' Highway (1949). His career later took a hit when he was blacklisted for Communist activities during the McCarthy Era. Dassin's move to France helped revive his career and was the setting for the hit film Rififi that set his career in motion once again. After the film's successful French release, Dassin was awarded the directing prize at Cannes which allowed Rififi to be released in the U.S. where it enjoyed a successful art house run. Rififi is renowned for being one of the early 'heist' films and served as an inspiration for later films in the genre.
- 8/30/2015
- by [email protected] (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
In a novel effort to stress that film noir wasn’t a film movement specifically an output solely produced for American audiences, Kino Lorber releases a five disc set of obscure noir examples released in the UK. Spanning a near ten year period from 1943 to 1952, the titles displayed here do seem to chart a progression in tone, at least resulting in parallels with American counterparts. Though a couple of the selections here aren’t very noteworthy, either as artifacts of British noir or items worthy of reappraisal, it does contain items of considerable interest, including rare titles from forgotten or underrated auteurs like Ronald Neame, Roy Ward Baker, and Ralph Thomas.
They Met in the Dark
The earliest title in this collection is a 1943 title from Karel Lamac, They Met in the Dark, a pseudo-comedy noir that barely meets the criteria. Based on a novel by Anthony Gilbert (whose novel...
They Met in the Dark
The earliest title in this collection is a 1943 title from Karel Lamac, They Met in the Dark, a pseudo-comedy noir that barely meets the criteria. Based on a novel by Anthony Gilbert (whose novel...
- 8/24/2015
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
Sean Witzke has put together the following video essay exploring the work of Brian De Palma, John Woo, J.J. Abrams and Brad Bird over the Mission: Impossible franchise and it's a fascinating study of influence from a director's perspective and what has come of the franchise, primarily following Abrams' taking over ever since Mission: Impossible III. Witzke spends a ton of time exploring De Palma's contributions and influences when it comes to Mission: Impossible (1996) and as he moves on the time spent on each film decreases, which is interesting in and of itself. Talk of the influence of Alfred Hitchcock on all the films, as well as Ronald Neame's Gambit, Jules Dassin's Topkapi (which I have not seen, but desperately need to) and Roman Polanski's Macbeth are all referenced and he also discusses, as I have before, the fact Woo's Mission: Impossible II is essentially a...
- 8/4/2015
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
'Henry V' Movie Actress Renée Asherson dead at 99: Laurence Olivier leading lady in acclaimed 1944 film (image: Renée Asherson and Laurence Olivier in 'Henry V') Renée Asherson, a British stage actress featured in London productions of A Streetcar Named Desire and Three Sisters, but best known internationally as Laurence Olivier's leading lady in the 1944 film version of Henry V, died on October 30, 2014. Asherson was 99 years old. The exact cause of death hasn't been specified. She was born Dorothy Renée Ascherson (she would drop the "c" some time after becoming an actress) on May 19, 1915, in Kensington, London, to Jewish parents: businessman Charles Ascherson and his second wife, Dorothy Wiseman -- both of whom narrowly escaped spending their honeymoon aboard the Titanic. (Ascherson cancelled the voyage after suffering an attack of appendicitis.) According to Michael Coveney's The Guardian obit for the actress, Renée Asherson was "scantly...
- 11/5/2014
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Actor and director who brought dark good looks and a commanding presence to his roles
Austrian by birth, Swiss by circumstance and international by reputation, Maximilian Schell, who has died aged 83, was a distinguished actor, director, writer and producer. However, he will be best remembered as an actor, especially for his Oscar-winning performance in Stanley Kramer's Judgment at Nuremberg (1961) – an early highlight among scores of television and movie appearances. He also directed opera, worked tirelessly in the theatre and made six feature films, including Marlene (1984) - a tantalising portrait of Dietrich, his co-star in Judgment, who is heard being interviewed but not seen, except in movie extracts.
Schell courted controversy and much of his work, including The Pedestrian (1973), dealt with the second world war, its attendant crimes and the notion of collective guilt. In 1990, when he was offered a special award for his contributions to German film, he refused to accept it.
Austrian by birth, Swiss by circumstance and international by reputation, Maximilian Schell, who has died aged 83, was a distinguished actor, director, writer and producer. However, he will be best remembered as an actor, especially for his Oscar-winning performance in Stanley Kramer's Judgment at Nuremberg (1961) – an early highlight among scores of television and movie appearances. He also directed opera, worked tirelessly in the theatre and made six feature films, including Marlene (1984) - a tantalising portrait of Dietrich, his co-star in Judgment, who is heard being interviewed but not seen, except in movie extracts.
Schell courted controversy and much of his work, including The Pedestrian (1973), dealt with the second world war, its attendant crimes and the notion of collective guilt. In 1990, when he was offered a special award for his contributions to German film, he refused to accept it.
- 2/3/2014
- by Brian Baxter
- The Guardian - Film News
Maximilian Schell dead at 83: Best Actor Oscar winner for ‘Judgment at Nuremberg’ (photo: Maximilian Schell ca. 1960) Actor and filmmaker Maximilian Schell, best known for his Oscar-winning performance as the defense attorney in Stanley Kramer’s 1961 political drama Judgment at Nuremberg died at a hospital in Innsbruck, Austria, on February 1, 2014. According to his agent, Patricia Baumbauer, Schell died overnight following a "sudden and serious illness." Maximilian Schell was 83. Born on December 8, 1930, in Vienna, Maximilian Schell was the younger brother of future actor Carl Schell and Maria Schell, who would become an international film star in the 1950s (The Last Bridge, Gervaise, The Hanging Tree). Immy Schell, who would be featured in several television and film productions from the mid-’50s to the early ’90s, was born in 1935. Following Nazi Germany’s annexation of Austria in 1938, Schell’s parents, Swiss playwright Hermann Ferdinand Schell and Austrian stage actress Margarete Schell Noé,...
- 2/2/2014
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Hollywood has lost a legend today, with Austrian-born actor Maximilian Schell passing away at 83 years old. While the actor's film debut came opposite Marlon Brando and Montgomery Clift in "The Young Lions," it would be his performance in his second movie that would bring him worldwide attention. As the only actor brought over from the Playhouse 90 TV production of "Judgment At Nuremberg" to the feature film version directed by Stanley Kramer, Schell's turn in the iconic film as the defense attorney landed him an Oscar win (he would be nominated twice more for "The Man In The Glass Booth" in 1975 and "Julia" in 1977) and from there, he didn't look back. The actor's work, which spanned both feature films and television, found him appearing in a wide range of roles, including everything from "The Odessa File" and "Topkapi," to "John Carpenter's Vampires" and "Deep Impact," to working with newer auteurs...
- 2/1/2014
- by Kevin Jagernauth
- The Playlist
Since the Oscars introduced the supporting awards at the 9th annual ceremony in 1936, there have been only two years when all four acting winners hailed from outside the United States. The first was back in 1964 when the winners were three Brits -- Rex Harrison ("My Fair Lady"), Julie Andrews ("Mary Poppins") and Peter Ustinov ("Topkapi") -- and Russian-born Lila Kedrova ("Zorba the Greek"). And the second came at the 80th ceremony in 2007, when two Brits -- Daniel Day-Lewis ("There Will Be Blood") and Tilda Swinton ("Michael Clayton") -- were joined by Marion Cotillard ("La Vie en Rose"), who made Oscar history by giving the first French language performance to be so honored, and Javier Bardem ("No Country for Old Men"), the first Spanish actor to win an Oscar. Could this year mark the third time that happens? Australian Cate Blanchett ("Blue...
- 11/20/2013
- Gold Derby
Both of the Oscars wins for "Django Unchained" -- Christoph Waltz (Best Supporting Actor) and Quentin Tarantino (Best Original Screenplay) -- are history making. Waltz, who claimed this same award three years ago for "Inglorious Basterds," his first collaboration with Tarantino, is the seventh actor to win more than once in this category, following: Walter Brennan: "Come and Get It" (1936), "Kentucky" (1938), "The Westerner" (1940); Anthony Quinn: "Viva Zapata!" (1952), "Lust for Life" (1956); Peter Ustinov: "Spartacus" (1960), "Topkapi" (1964); Jason Robards: "All the President's Men" (1976), "Julia" (1977); Melvyn Douglas: "Hud" (1963), "Being There" (1979); and Michael Caine: "Hannah and Her Sisters" (1986...
- 2/28/2013
- Gold Derby
Jules Dassin had established himself as a very capable, smart genre filmmaker in Hollywood by the time the blacklist kicked him out. In Britain, he made Night and the City (1950), which continued his winning streak, and in France Rififi (1955) not only anticipated the direction Jean-Pierre Melville's career was about to take (translating American crime movie tropes to the French idiom), it spawned a whole sub-genre of unofficial sequels. Dassin's own Topkapi (1964) was a colorful spoof of the heist movie.
But the other strand of Dassin's European filmmaking is not so popular: his attempts at being an arthouse director have inspired considerable derision: David Thomson recommends The Law, Phaedra and 10:30 P.M. Summer as cures for suicidal depression; their earnestness strikes him as irresistibly preposterous.
Well, I can resist the temptation to laugh, up to a point: Anthony Perkins' torrid love scene with Dassin's wife, Melina Mercouri, in...
But the other strand of Dassin's European filmmaking is not so popular: his attempts at being an arthouse director have inspired considerable derision: David Thomson recommends The Law, Phaedra and 10:30 P.M. Summer as cures for suicidal depression; their earnestness strikes him as irresistibly preposterous.
Well, I can resist the temptation to laugh, up to a point: Anthony Perkins' torrid love scene with Dassin's wife, Melina Mercouri, in...
- 11/8/2012
- by David Cairns
- MUBI
We love crime movies. We may go on and on about Scorsese’s ability to incorporate Italian neo-realism techniques into Mean Streets (1973), the place of John Huston’s The Asphalt Jungle (1950) in the canon of postwar noir, The Godfather (1972) as a socio-cultural commentary on the distortion of the ideals of the American dream blah blah blah, yadda yadda yadda…but that ain’t it.
We love crime movies because we love watching a guy who doesn’t have to behave, who doesn’t have to – nor care to – put a choker on his id and can let his darkest, most visceral impulses run wild. Some smart-mouth gopher tells hood Tommy DeVito (Joe Pesci), “Go fuck yourself,” in Scorsese’s Goodfellas (1990), and does Tommy roll with it? Does he spit back, “Fuck me? Nah, fuck you!” Does he go home and tell his mother?
Nope.
He pulls a .45 cannon out from...
We love crime movies because we love watching a guy who doesn’t have to behave, who doesn’t have to – nor care to – put a choker on his id and can let his darkest, most visceral impulses run wild. Some smart-mouth gopher tells hood Tommy DeVito (Joe Pesci), “Go fuck yourself,” in Scorsese’s Goodfellas (1990), and does Tommy roll with it? Does he spit back, “Fuck me? Nah, fuck you!” Does he go home and tell his mother?
Nope.
He pulls a .45 cannon out from...
- 10/30/2012
- by Bill Mesce
- SoundOnSight
To mark the release of Go to Blazes on DVD this Monday, 6th February, Studio Canal have given us three copies of the class movie to give away. The movie was originally released in 1962, is directed by Michael Truman and stars Maggie Smith, Dave King, Robert Morley and Daniel Massey.
For anyone who loves British comedy, Go To Blazes features an all-star cast that includes Robert Morley (The African Queen, Topkapi), Daniel Massey (In Which We Serve, The Entertainer), Dennis Price (Kind Hearts and Coronets, The Rebel) and Coral Browne (Auntie Mame, Theatre of Blood). Go To Blazes also features classic British character actors Norman Rossington (The Wrong Box, The Charge of the Light Brigade), Finlay Currie (Around The World in Eighty Days, Ben Hur) and Miles Malleson (The Importance of Being Earnest, The Man In The White Suit). And last but not least, Go To Blazes stars Dame Maggie Smith...
For anyone who loves British comedy, Go To Blazes features an all-star cast that includes Robert Morley (The African Queen, Topkapi), Daniel Massey (In Which We Serve, The Entertainer), Dennis Price (Kind Hearts and Coronets, The Rebel) and Coral Browne (Auntie Mame, Theatre of Blood). Go To Blazes also features classic British character actors Norman Rossington (The Wrong Box, The Charge of the Light Brigade), Finlay Currie (Around The World in Eighty Days, Ben Hur) and Miles Malleson (The Importance of Being Earnest, The Man In The White Suit). And last but not least, Go To Blazes stars Dame Maggie Smith...
- 2/3/2012
- by Competitons
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
From Turkish versions of Tarzan and Dracula to wintry weepies, via (whisper it) Midnight Express, Fiachra Gibbons picks out the best films shot in Istanbul
• As featured in our Istanbul city guide
From Russia with Love, Terence Young, 1963
"They dance for him, they yearn for him, they die for him …" From Russia with Love is not only arguably the best of the Bond films, it set the template for all that followed, right down to the corny one-liners. This is Tatiana, the Russian double-agent love interest succumbing to Sean Connery's charms: "The mechanism is… Oh James… Will you make love to me all the time in England?" "Day and night, darling… Go on about the mechanism…" The film was shot when the city's population was less than two million (it has mushroomed to more than 13 million today), and it's a magic carpet ride back to a time when Istanbul teemed with hamals,...
• As featured in our Istanbul city guide
From Russia with Love, Terence Young, 1963
"They dance for him, they yearn for him, they die for him …" From Russia with Love is not only arguably the best of the Bond films, it set the template for all that followed, right down to the corny one-liners. This is Tatiana, the Russian double-agent love interest succumbing to Sean Connery's charms: "The mechanism is… Oh James… Will you make love to me all the time in England?" "Day and night, darling… Go on about the mechanism…" The film was shot when the city's population was less than two million (it has mushroomed to more than 13 million today), and it's a magic carpet ride back to a time when Istanbul teemed with hamals,...
- 9/14/2011
- by Fiachra Gibbons
- The Guardian - Film News
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