Happy 75th Birthday Warren Beatty!

Today is Warren Beatty’s 75^th birthday. I wanted to write a little post about Beatty, since he’s one of my favorite actors. He’s made some truly great movies, beginning with his first starring role in “Splendor in the Grass,” and on to other classics like “Bonnie and Clyde,” “Shampoo,” “Heaven Can Wait,” “Reds,” “Dick Tracy,” “Bugsy,” and “Bulworth.” Of course, there have been some failures in there too. (“Ishtar,” and “Town & Country,” among others.) Beatty quickly decided he wanted to be a producer as well as a leading man, and his first producing credit was for “Bonnie and Clyde.” From that point on, Beatty has usually been heavily involved in all of his film projects. Very seldom is Beatty just an actor for hire. In fact, Beatty is the only person other than Orson Welles to garner Oscar nominations for Acting, Writing, Producing, and Directing for the same film. Welles achieved this distinction for his classic film “Citizen Kane.” Beatty actually accomplished it twice, for both “Heaven Can Wait” and “Reds.” (Beatty won his only Oscar for “Reds” for Best Director.) Beatty gained fame early in his life for both his talent and for his strikingly handsome good looks. But he proved that he was more than just a pretty face with his great performance in “Bonnie and Clyde.” Beatty is excellent at light comedy, and he’s able to inject even the most serious of roles with some comic moments. For example, the scene in “Bugsy” where Beatty tries to simultaneously throw a birthday party for his child while also conducting business with his Mob associates is sublimely ridiculous. “Heaven Can Wait” is probably my favorite Warren Beatty movie, it’s such a funny, sweet film and Beatty gives a great performance in it. It also has James Mason as an angel, which is pretty awesome.

Warren Beatty the man is something of a contradiction. On the one hand, he’s a very private man who doesn’t talk much about his personal life, but on the other hand, he has also led a very public love life by dating so many famous women. The picture above, taken from the New York Times Book Review, shows Beatty with some of the women he’s been linked with over the years. Another contradiction in Beatty’s personal life is that he was known as a Don Juan during his bachelor days-which lasted until he was 55-but for the last 20 years he’s been known as a model of stability as Annette Bening’s husband.

Beatty has a reputation as a perfectionist, and he’s made very few films. Since starring in “Splendor in the Grass” in 1961, Beatty has made just 22 feature films. In this way, he’s the opposite of Clint Eastwood, who just keeps churning out great movies. Beatty is currently rumored to be at work on a movie about Howard Hughes. I really hope the rumor is true, as I would be very interested to see any movie that Beatty makes. And I also hope it’s true so the dreadful “Town & Country” isn’t Beatty’s last movie. He’s so much more talented than that awful movie. Here’s hoping that over the next few years that Warren Beatty adds some more great movies to his impressive filmography.

I Met Martin Sheen!

Okay, so this week was a good week for meeting people. On Tuesday afternoon, Martin Sheen spoke at a rally for Al Franken, who is running for the U.S. Senate from Minnesota. (Yes, Al Franken from SNL.) Al actually wasn't at the rally, because he was being interviewed on Minnesota Public Radio. It was at a Mexican restaurant on Lake Street, kind of a random place for a rally, but whatever. There's a large space upstairs where they have dances and entertainment, and that's where the rally was. Keith Ellison, who represents the Congressional district that includes most of Minneapolis, spoke and introduced Martin. Keith Ellison is also the only Muslim serving in the U.S. Congress. (He actually did take his oath of office on a Koran!) Martin spoke for about 10 or 15 minutes, and wove some quotations and stories into his pitch for Al Franken. Oh, I wish that Martin Sheen was the President in real life! He's such a cool guy.

After Martin spoke the rally was basically over, and Martin was talking to whoever wanted to talk to him. My Mom was at the rally too, she wouldn't have missed it for the world. She's been a huge Martin Sheen fan since she saw him on TV in 1973 in "The Execution of Private Slovik." Martin actually spent time talking to everyone he met, finding out some common thread or something to talk to them about. He would ask people questions, and he was totally locked in to the conversation. He's honestly interested in people, he would make a great politician. I got to shake his hand, and tell him that I really admired his work as an actor, and his political activism. My Mom talked to Martin for a minute, and Martin insisted on getting a picture with us! (I didn't bring my camera, so some guy who was there taking pictures took the picture.) Martin said, "I need a picture with these two!" He's the nicest guy! It was really great to meet someone I've liked and respected for a long time, and have them be even cooler than I thought they would be. My Mom thought the same thing. So, that's my brush with fame this week!

Paul Newman, 1925-2008

The passing of Paul Newman was not totally unexpected, as reports about his health have been commonplace over the last 6 months, but it was still a very sad day. Newman was one of my very favorite actors, one of the all-time great film stars, and a lifelong Democrat. (Among many other things, devoted husband, dedicated philanthropist, etc.) His star shone brightly in Hollywood for fifty years, a rarity in film history, and his many memorable roles have touched all of us.

From the very beginning of his career, it was clear that Newman would be a different kind of actor, a different kind of star. His first movie was a flop, a Biblical epic called The Silver Chalice. Newman was given the star buildup, but he distanced himself from the finished product when he took out an ad in the Hollywood trade papers apologizing for the film and his performance. You would think that this would have been a bad move for his career, but there was no lasting effect. His next movie was Somebody Up There Likes Me, a biopic of boxer Rocky Graziano, and it made Newman a star. The role had originally been intended for James Dean, but after his death Newman inherited the role. By the end of the 50's, Newman's career was in full swing, after twin triumphs in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and The Long, Hot Summer. (It was on the set of Long, Hot Summer where he met Joanne Woodward, and one of Hollywood's greatest love stories began.)

But the 1960's would make Paul Newman an icon. Movies like The Hustler, Hud, and Cool Hand Luke made him the epitome of cool. Like Steve McQueen, he was a rebel who played by his own rules. He finished out the decade in the first buddy movie, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, starring alongside a relative newcomer, Robert Redford. (The studio wanted a more famous co-star, like Steve McQueen.) Another, much less famous movie from 1969, Winning, started Newman's obsession with race car driving.

The 1970's belonged to Newman's friend Redford, although Newman did appear in two huge hits, The Sting, and The Towering Inferno. (Okay, so Towering Inferno isn't a great movie. No one's perfect.) But, The Towering Inferno is notable in that Newman starred alongside that other 60's anti-hero with piercing blue eyes who also loved racing on the side: Steve McQueen. Their relationship seems to have been a bit edgy. McQueen had had a tiny role in Somebody Up There Likes Me, and seems to have still been insecure around Newman, even though he was just as big a star. (Maybe McQueen didn't like being around someone who reminded him so much of himself?) There was a long battle about top billing for the movie, finally resolved with McQueen's name appearing first on the left of the screen, and Newman's name appearing at the right of the screen, but higher up. McQueen also insisted that he and Newman have exactly the same number of spoken lines! Yes, I think Steve was a bit insecure...and Newman could have cared less, it seems.

Newman gave one of his greatest performances in 1982's The Verdict, playing an alcoholic, ambulance-chasing attorney. (It's my own favorite Newman performance.) But he lost the Oscar, as usual. He finally won for playing Fast Eddie Felson in The Color of Money, Martin Scorsese's sequel to The Hustler. As Newman grew older, it seemed like the only change in his appearance was that his hair went grey. (Eschewing the usual Hollywood vanity, he almost never dyed it for parts.)

I know I'm just skimming over Newman's career here, but it was extremely fitting that his very last performance was as a Hudson Hornet in Cars. Newman's career and life were both truly remarkable, he was someone I had a great amount of respect for, as a great actor and also as a great man. He gave the world so much, and for that we should all be thankful.

More Burt Lancaster

There's another really fine article about Burt Lancaster from a UK publication, this time it's the Independent newspaper. There's a retrospective of his films in London, here's the link to the article:

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/film-and-tv/features/burt-lancaster-the-last-real-action-hero-786670.html

This article touches on the contradictions inherent in both Lancaster's on-screen roles and his off-screen life. There's also a wonderful quote from Burt about his desire to not be typecast. "If you look back on my career, you'll see I never got stuck in a mould. Even when I was beginning, I was always trying to find ways to refine my talent and do something different," Lancaster once said. "Once the public decide what you are you might as well give up trying to be anything else." This quote emphasizes the point I made in my last entry about Lancaster. Anyway, it's a fine article about a great actor, read it and then go out and rent Sweet Smell of Success or The Swimmer or Elmer Gantry.

The picture of Burt that the Independent used to go along with this article shows the scars that he had on his left cheek. I assume that they are pockmarks from acne, but I don't know for sure. Anyone out there know? I like that he didn't hide them, it just gives his face more character. Next time you see a Gene Kelly movie, look for his scar on his left cheek. Next time you see a Kevin Spacey movie, look for his scar on his right cheek. Next time you see a Richard Burton movie, look for his acne scars on his right cheek. Next time you see a Gregory Peck movie, look for his different-sized ears. I'm not making this up! I didn't believe it when I read about Gregory's ears, but it's true. One studio even rejected his screen test because of his ears! (Note to the studio, I don't think women cared about his ears.) Last obscure Hollywood tidbit, Laurence Olivier had a scar on his upper lip from an accident on the set of Henry V (1945), he often grew a moustache to hide it.