This Day in Indie History

This Day in Indie History: Robert Duvall

Robert Duvall in MGM’s Assassination Tango - 2003 Photo: Juan-Angel Urruzola

It’s difficult to pick just one memorable role of Robert Duvall’s. The actor, born on this day in 1931, has contributed to such great films as The Godfather (I and II), Apocalypse Now and Network. The son of a career military officer, Duvall himself spent a few years in the service before moving to New York and studying alongside Dustin Hoffman at The Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre in New York City. After establishing a solid stage career, Duvall debuted on film as Arthur “Boo” Radley in the pivotal 1962 movie To Kill A Mockingbird. Over the years, the award-winning actor has successfully dabbled in both directing and screenwriting, and has been nominated for a total of six Academy Awards, with one Best Actor win for 1983’s Tender Mercies.

Filmstar Quotable: “I love the smell of napalm in the morning.” —Duvall as Lieutenant Colonel Bill Kilgore in Apocalypse Now

January 5th, 2007 | Category: This Day in Indie History | By MovieMaker Staff

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This Day in Indie History: Gosford Park

Robert Altman’s Gosford Park was released nationwide on this day in 2002. Altman developed the story with cast member Bob Balaban. The screenplay, written by Julian Fellowes (Vanity Fair), won the film’s only Academy Award (out of seven nominations), and Altman also took home a Golden Globe for Best Director.  The film follows the events at an English country house in the 1930s, after a mysterious murder puzzles the wealthy guests and lowly servants alike. In addition to Balaban, Gosford Park boasts an impressive cast that includes Maggie Smith, Helen Mirren, Michael Gambon, Kristin Scott Thomas, Clive Owen, Emily Watson, Kelly Macdonald and Jeremy Northam, to name a few.

Film Factoid: Gosford Park pays homage to Jean Renoir’s Rules of the Game, as both are set during a weekend party in the English countryside. It is said that Altman’s hunting scene is a direct tribute to the rabbit hunt in Renoir’s classic.

January 3rd, 2007 | Category: This Day in Indie History | By MovieMaker Staff

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This Day in Indie History: Five Easy Pieces

One of Jack Nicholson’s early masterpieces, Five Easy Pieces finished shooting on this day in 1970. The film went on to receive eight Academy Award and Golden Globe nods, with one Globe win for Karen Black’s supporting role. Directed by Bob Rafelson, Five Easy Pieces tells the story of Bobby Dupea (Nicholson) and his return to a family he tried to leave behind. The film follows the chain of events set in motion when Dupea finds out about his girlfriend’s pregnancy. In 2000 the U.S. Library of Congress named the movie a part of the National Film Registry.

Film Factoid: The title Five Easy Pieces refers to a book of piano compositions, key to the relationship between Dupea and his sick father.

January 3rd, 2007 | Category: This Day in Indie History | By MovieMaker Staff

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This Day in Indie History: Todd Haynes

Todd Haynes directs Focus Films’ Far From Heaven - 2002 Photo: Abbot Genser

When it comes to making your name in the film business, it’s quality, not quality, that counts. Moviemaker Todd Haynes, born on this day in 1961, proves this statement with each subsequent project. Covering issues from discrimination to anorexia to environmental pollution, Haynes has tackled each of these difficult subjects with wit and depth in the critically acclaimed Douglas Sirk homage, Far From Heaven, Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story and 1995’s Safe. Other titles by the Brown University grad include the British glam rock tale Velvet Goldmine (1998 Best Artistic Contribution, Cannes) and 1991 Sundance Grand Jury Prize winner, Poison.  In 2007 expect the release of I’m Not There, a Bob Dylan biopic that casts British thespians Christian Bale and Cate Blanchett, among others, in the role of the great folk hero.

Filmmaker Factoid: Superstar:  The Karen Carpenter Story depicts the singer’s anorexia and subsequent death entirely with girls’ fashion dolls. Richard Carpenter filed suit against Haynes, who had not received the rights to Carpenter’s music.  Subsequently, distribution of the film has come to an indefinite halt.

January 2nd, 2007 | Category: This Day in Indie History | By MovieMaker Staff

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This Day in Indie History: Luis Guzmán

Luis Guzman in Fox Searchlight’s Fast Food Nation - 2006

Popular character actor Luis Guzmán came into the world on this day in 1957. Born in Cayey, Puerto Rico, Guzmán soon moved with his family to New York City’s Lower East Side. It was only a short while after graduating from college that the Latino actor landed his first bit part in the 1977 film Short Eyes. In the years since, Guzmán has appeared in almost 100 films including Paul Thomas Anderson’s Boogie Nights, Magnolia and Punch Drunk Love. For his turn as Eduardo Roel in The Limey (one of several collaborations with Steven Soderbergh), the typically overlooked supporting actor was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award. Most recently, you’ll catch him in Richard Linklater’s Fast Food Nation.

Filmstar Factoid: When not on location, Guzmán lives in Vermont with his wife and five children. He is the owner of Wild Orchid Stables, which offers lessons in horseback riding.

December 31st, 2006 | Category: This Day in Indie History | By MovieMaker Staff

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This Day in Indie History: Jon Voight

Sixty-eight years ago today, Jon Voight was born in Yonkers, NY. The casual moviegoer might know him as the father of Oscar winner Angelina Jolie (both on-screen—in Lara Croft: Tomb Raider—and off). But Voight had earned his stripes long before his daughter’s philanthropy made headlines. Since graduating from Washington, D.C.’s Catholic University in 1960, the actor has received three Academy Award nominations (for Midnight Cowboy, Runaway Train and Ali) and one win for his performance as a Vietnam Vet in 1978’s Coming Home. His portrayal as a naive male prostitute in the decade-defining Midnight Cowboy is arguably still his most memorable role. Catch him next in 2007’s Transformers.

Film Star Quotable: “Well, sir, I ain’t a for-real cowboy. But I am one helluva stud.” —Jon Voight as Joe Buck, Midnight Cowboy.

December 28th, 2006 | Category: This Day in Indie History | By MovieMaker Staff

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This Day in Indie History: Auguste and Louis Lumière

Early prodigies in the development of the moving picture, brothers Auguste and Louis Lumière introduced the first commercially profitable film screening at Paris’ Grand Cafe in 1895. Improving on Thomas Edison’s Peephole Kinetoscope, the pair developed the Cinematograph, a lightweight and hand-cranked camera that ran 16 frames per second. Early films showed slice of life moments of everyday people gardening, exiting trains and heading home from work. In 1903 narrative films arrived on scene with breakthroughs including Edwin S. Porter’s The Life of an American Fireman and The Great Train Robbery.

December 27th, 2006 | Category: This Day in Indie History | By MovieMaker Staff

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This Day in Indie History: Marlene Dietrich

Screen star Marlene Dietrich was born on this day in 1901. The German actress made her film debut in 1923, after a wrist injury derailed her promising future as a violinist. In 1930 Dietrich landed a role in The Blue Angel, Germany’s first talkie; later that year she moved to Hollywood and received her only Oscar nomination for Morocco, co-starring Gary Cooper. By 1936 Dietrich was the highest paid actress in the business. But her success was short-lived and she found herself in need of a comeback. Destry Rides Again (1939) paired her with James Stewart and got her a new contract at Universal. Her career continued until 1979 when she went into seclusion in France. Dietrich passed away from kidney failure in May of 1992.

Film Star Factoid: Dietrich’s sister was a Nazi sympathizer in Germany during WWII. The actress, meanwhile, was awarded a Medal of Freedom for her contributions to the United States’ war efforts.

December 27th, 2006 | Category: This Day in Indie History | By MovieMaker Staff

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This Day in Indie History: 21 Grams

Alejandro González Iñárritu and Guillermo Arriaga saw their second feature film venture, 21 Grams, opened in theaters today in 2003. Much like their other collaborations, Amores Perros and Babel, the moviemakers built a tale of interwoven characters and storylines, using handheld cameras for most of the film to create a gritty, in-your-face appeal. Sean Penn, Naomi Watts and Benicio Del Toro star in the nonlinear tale of drug addiction, love and the weight of the human soul. Both Watts and Del Toro went on to Academy Award, SAG and BAFTA nominations, with all three actors winning prizes at the Venice Film Festival.

Moviemaker Quotable: “I think the target of every film that I do is to create a catharsis, an emotional movement. The response depends on the people who see it and which story and which theme or simple image will speak to them.” —Alejandro González Iñárritu (MovieMaker, Issue #66)

December 26th, 2006 | Category: This Day in Indie History | By MovieMaker Staff

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This Day in Indie History: To Kill A Mockingbird

Harper Lee’s Pulitzer-Prize-winning novel, To Kill A Mockingbird, reached the big screen on this day in 1962. In both forms, the classic story remains a touching tale of a Depression-era Alabamian lawyer who fights to defend a poor black man accused of rape. The movie stars Gregory Peck, who won an Academy Award for his portrayal of lawyer Atticus Finch, and also featured Robert Duvall in his first movie role as the misunderstood “Boo” Radley. Recently the American Film Institute named Atticus Finch the number one screen hero of the last 100 years while the movie made it to number two on the Institute’s 100 Most Inspiring Movies of All Time.

Film Quotable: “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view… Until you climb inside of his skin and walk around in It.” —Gregory Peck, as Atticus Finch.

December 25th, 2006 | Category: This Day in Indie History | By MovieMaker Staff

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This Day in Indie History: Flying Down to Rio

Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire’s first of nine films together, Flying Down to Rio, was released in the United States on this day in 1933. The dancing duo had bit parts as an orchestra singer and accordion player, respectively. The romantic musical tells the tale of a bandleader (Gene Raymond, of Hitchcock’s Mr. and Mrs. Smith) who seduces a Brazilian woman (Dolores del Rio, of John Ford’s Cheyenne Autumn) by promising her a free trip home. Though Raymond and del Rio were the purported stars, Astaire and Rogers stole the film with charming banter and a show-stopping dance number atop seven revolving white pianos, which had been fused together to form a stage.

Film Factoid: Dolores Del Rio made waves in Flying Down to Rio by sporting the first two-piece women’s bathing suit ever seen onscreen.

December 21st, 2006 | Category: This Day in Indie History | By MovieMaker Staff

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This Day in Indie History: The Graduate

Mike Nichols’ cinematic zeitgeist, The Graduate, was released in theaters on this day in 1967. Interestingly, although her character was meant to be at least 20 years his senior, Anne Bancroft was only six years older than her co-star, Dustin Hoffman. A landmark film on many counts, it won the 1968 Best Director Oscar for Nichols and was nominated for six more. That same year it won five Golden Globes out of a total seven nominations.

Film Factoid: The leg of then-unknown model Linda Gray would grace the famous promotional still for the film, standing in for Anne Bancroft’s Mrs. Robinson. More than 30 years later, Gray would play Robinson in the 2001 stage production of the film in London’s West End.

December 20th, 2006 | Category: This Day in Indie History | By MovieMaker Staff

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This Day in Indie History: Roger and Me

Michael Moore’s Roger and Me opened in New York and Los Angeles on this day in 1989. The film went on to become the highest-grossing documentary in the United States, winning every award it was nominated for, including the People’s Choice Award at the Toronto International Film Festival and Best Documentary from the National Society of Film Critics. The documentary follows the progress Moore makes in attempting an interview with General Motors CEO Roger Smith. GM had closed its automotive plant in the moviemaker’s hometown of Flint, Michigan and left a town of desperation and more than 30,000 people without employment in its wake. The subject hit home for the novice documentarian, as both his father and grandfather had been autoworkers at this very plant.

Film Factoid: The outspoken liberal moviemaker funded this, his first film, by mortgaging his house and hosting Bingo nights for profit.

December 19th, 2006 | Category: This Day in Indie History | By MovieMaker Staff

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This Day in Indie History: Ralph Richardson

Ralph Richardson was born on this day in 1902. An Englishman, knighted in 1947 by King George VI, Richardson split his acting career between stage and screen—earning the highest honors for both. He was nominated twice for a Best Supporting Actor Oscar and six times for Best Supporting and Best British Actor at the BAFTA. Richardson was often drawn to Shakespeare, performing in productions (both live and on film) of Richard III, Twelfth Night and more with the Royal Shakespeare Company. The actor also starred in Anna Karenina, Doctor Zhivago and, most famously, alongside Katharine Hepburn in Sidney Lumet’s Long Day’s Journey Into Night.

Filmstar Factoid: Richardson had a special connection with the famous thespian Laurence Olivier. The highly regarded actor worked with Olivier in numerous productions at London’s Old Vic theatre. In 1955, Richardson would team up with the actor in Olivier’s film adaptation of Richard III, and in 1982 he would receive a lifetime achievement Laurence Olivier Theatre Special Award.

December 18th, 2006 | Category: This Day in Indie History | By MovieMaker Staff

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This Day in Indie History: Betty Grable

Betty Grable was born on this day in 1916. Though the blonde actress was well known for her legs (insured by 20th Century Fox in 1943 for $1.25 million), her greatest accomplishment might be the honor of being the only female star to ever have a top 10 movie at the U.S. box office 10 years in a row. Her mother nudged her into Hollywood, and at the age of 13 Grable nabbed her first bit part, in the chorus line of Happy Days. Technically below the legal age for actresses at the time, she hid behind blackface make-up that was necessary for the production.

Filmstar Factoid: One year before making the film Pin Up Girl in 1944, Grable posed for provocative pin-ups of her own. The photos became wildly popular among men fighting in World War II and greatly contributed to Grable’s post-war career boom.

December 17th, 2006 | Category: This Day in Indie History | By MovieMaker Staff

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This Day in Indie History: Gone With the Wind

Starring Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh in arguably their most memorable performances, Victor Fleming’s Gone With the Wind premiered in Atlanta on this day in 1939. Nominated for 15 Academy Awards, the movie garnered nine statues, setting a record for its time and making it the first color film to pull in accolades in the Best Picture category. In another monumental milestone, Hattie McDaniel won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar, making the actress the first African-American to take home the award.

Filmstar Factoid: Although Judy Garland was considered for the part of Carreen O’Hara, her commitments laid first with another iconic Fleming film, The Wizard of Oz.

December 14th, 2006 | Category: This Day in Indie History | By MovieMaker Staff

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This Day in Indie History: Edward Scissorhands

After limited releases in New York and Los Angeles, Edward Scissorhands opened nationwide on this day in 1990. The tale of the gentle outcast who tried his hand at fitting in with the suburban world by living amongst them and pruning their hedges is said to have come easily to director Burton, who felt himself to be a misfit during his time at the cheery, cookie-cutter Disney Animation studios. This movie marked what would be the first of six collaborations between director Tim Burton and actor Johnny Depp. After pooling their imaginations for this Frankenstein-esque flick, the duo completed Ed Wood in 1994, Sleepy Hollow in 1999 and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Corpse Bride, both released in 2005. Next up, Depp stars in Burton’s adaptation of the Broadway hit Sweeney Todd.

Film Factoid: Master horror actor and Burton hero Vincent Price makes a cameo in the film as Edward’s creator.  This was Price’s last film before his death in 1993. Ironically, his final scene on film was the death of his character.

December 13th, 2006 | Category: This Day in Indie History | By MovieMaker Staff

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This Day in Indie History: Steve Buscemi

As each year goes by, Steve Buscemi racks up movie upon movie, with at least three credits a year for the past five years. The prolific moviemaker, born on this day in 1957, has acted in over 100 films since 1985, but perhaps is best known for his role as the talkative, “funny-lookin’” ex-con, Carl Showalter, in the Coen brothers’ Fargo. In 1996, his writing and directorial debut, Trees Lounge, was released and in 2001 he was nominated for an Emmy for his direction of an episode of “The Sopranos.” Audiences might also recognize his distinctive voice when watching the animated films Monsters, Inc., Home on the Range, Monster House and this month’s Charlotte’s Web.

Quotable: “I admire any director who makes his living solely from directing. I’m fortunate enough to earn a decent wage by occasionally playing psychopaths in other people’s movies, allowing me the luxury of not having to depend on the movies I direct to put food on the table.” (Steve Buscemi in MovieMaker Magazine, Issue #62)

December 13th, 2006 | Category: This Day in Indie History | By MovieMaker Staff

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This Day in Indie History: Edward G. Robinson

Born on this day in Bucharest, Romania in 1893, Edward G. Robinson began his life overseas but became an American idol soon enough. At the age of 10 he moved to the United States and by 22 was speaking fluent English and having his debut on Broadway.  Throughout his career he made over 90 films, including 14 from 1930 to 1932 alone. He was accused of treason and brought before the House Un-American Activities Committee in 1952. The affair hurt his career, but he soon bounced back, taking roles in The Ten Commandments, A Hole in the Head and The Cincinnati Kid. Robinson died of cancer in 1973, two months shy of receiving his honorary Oscar.

Filmstar Factoid: The name given to the famous actor at birth was Emanuel Goldenberg but when studying at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, it was suggested he change it. The initials E.G. were a nod to his original name, but it is said he never remembered the reason for taking Robinson as his last name.

December 12th, 2006 | Category: This Day in Indie History | By MovieMaker Staff

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This Day in Indie History: Paris, Texas

Wim Wenders’ Paris, Texas finished shooting on this day in 1983. Released the following year, Wenders’ tale of a man suffering from amnesia and attempting to reunite his family is perhaps the best known of the German moviemaker’s oeuvre. The movie stars Harry Dean Stanton as the amnesiac Travis and Nastassja Kinski, who also partnered with Wenders on 1975’s The Wrong Movement and 1993’s Faraway, So Close, as his wife. The film went on to win the 1985 BAFTA award for Best Direction and the 1984 Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival.

Quotable: “When we wrote Paris, Texas together, I always assumed that Sam [Shepard] would play Travis in the end. But he steadfastly refused, with the argument that he knew the character too well as a writer and therefore couldn’t also play him. And then Harry Dean Stanton was so good that he eventually made me forget my initial desire.” - Wim Wenders, MovieMaker’s Hands-on-Pages, Issue #39 (Read the full interview here.)

December 10th, 2006 | Category: This Day in Indie History | By MovieMaker Staff

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This Day in Indie History:  Born Into Brothels

Zana Brinski and Ross Kauffman’s Born Into Brothels opened at New York City’s Film Forum on this day in 2004, garnering rave reviews nearly across the board. As the shining documentary star of the year, the movie won the 2004 Sundance Audience Award in the Documentary category, as well as the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature the following year. The movie follows Brinski’s success at teaching the art of photography to children of the district’s prostitutes.

Film Factoid: Brinski first went to Calcutta in 1997 with the intention of photographing the prostitutes of the Red Light district. While it was often difficult to gain permission to photograph of the women, she found willing participants in their children, who were often eager to pose for the camera, and later, master the craft.

December 8th, 2006 | Category: This Day in Indie History | By MovieMaker Staff

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This Day in Indie History: Jeffrey Wright

Born on this day in 1965, Jeffrey Wright’s long list of characters ranges from a straight-laced attorney in Presumed Innocent to the tortured street artist Jean Michel Basquiat in Julian Schnabel’s biopic of the ’80s pop art icon. Wright’s awards have an equally expansive range, from Tony to Golden Globe to Emmy—all for his acclaimed turn as the gay nurse, Belize, in the stage and TV adaptations of Tony Kushner’s Angels in America. Having worked steadily in both film and theater since the early 1990s, Wright has established himself as one of the most talented—though sadly underappreciated—actors of his generation. His latest film roles include Syriana, The Manchurian Candidate and Casino Royale.

Quotable: “The white cracker who wrote the National Anthem knew what he was doing. He set the word ‘free’ to a note so high nobody could reach it. That was deliberate.” Jeffrey Wright as Belize in Angels in America.

December 7th, 2006 | Category: This Day in Indie History | By MovieMaker Staff

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This Day in Indie History: An American in Paris

One of the most beloved musicals in movie history, An American in Paris resumed shooting in 1950, after a more than one-month hiatus. During that time star Gene Kelly trained for the Impressionist-inspired final ballet sequence, which remains one of the longest continuous dance sequences in Hollywood screen history. The story of a soldier who makes a home and falls in love in France after WWI, the film received six Academy Awards in 1952, including statues for Best Picture, Best Color Cinematography and Best Screenplay. It features songs by brothers George and Ira Gershwin, who, coincidentally, were also born on this day in 1896.

Film Factoid: This was 19-year-old Leslie Caron’s first film, after being discovered by Gene Kelly after he saw her perform a ballet in Paris. Originally, Cyd Charisse was meant to play the character of Lise, but when the actress found out she was pregnant, Caron was called in to replace her.

December 5th, 2006 | Category: This Day in Indie History | By MovieMaker Staff

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This Day in Indie History: Woody Allen

Hugh Jackman, Scarlett Johansson and Woody Allen in Focus Features’ Scoop - 2006.jpg

Since Woody Allen appeared on the scene with What’s Up, Tiger Lily? in 1966, he has ingrained himself into the American consciousness with quirky humor, acute social commentary about New York culture and a distinct style best suited to induce anxiety and obsessive compulsive behavior in even the most reasonable movie lover. Born on this day in Brooklyn in 1935, Allen has a directorial career comprised of more than 40 feature films, among which Bananas, Love and Death and Annie Hall remain favorites of critics and audiences alike.

Cinematographer Gordon Willis on meeting Woody Allen before the shoot for Manhattan: “I arrived at his apartment, we said hello, he gave me the script and I proceeded to read it right there. He didn’t want it to leave his apartment. He left the room, and I sat there and read it through, laughing out loud, all by myself.” (MovieMaker Magazine, Issue #54)

November 30th, 2006 | Category: This Day in Indie History | By MovieMaker Staff

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This Day in Indie History: Brokeback Mountain

Ang Lee’s Brokeback Mountain premiered in Los Angeles on this day in 2005. Based on the story by E. Annie Proulx, the film opened to a flood of controversy, echoing the gay marriage rights battle raging around the country. Yet it also heralded what many critics claimed was the entry of gay cinema into the mainstream, garnering eight Academy Award nominations and winning three of those.

Film Factoid: Keep an eye out for a cameo by cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto, who came out from behind the camera to play a young Mexican prostitute picked up by Jack Twist (Jake Gyllenhaal).

November 29th, 2006 | Category: This Day in Indie History | By MovieMaker Staff

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