5 big names of cinema who signed only one film

5 big names of cinema who signed only one film

It’s not exactly a discovery. Filmmaking, in front of and/or behind the camera, isn’t always a long smooth river. The experience can even go to extremes, as in the case of Apocalypse Now, whose Homeric shooting is told in a mind-boggling shot at the heart of darkness. Or Werner Herzog’s Fitzcarraldo and his conflicted relationship with Klaus Kinski.

If some film talents are not particularly keen on donning the director’s hat one day, there are just as many who eventually succumb to the sirens of directing, out of desire and/or challenge. However, some attempts will not be repeated. For what ? Painful and exhausting experience, financial reasons… there is no shortage of explanations.

Our small selection of previous dossiers seems to have been appreciated, here are five new examples in this volume. 2!

John Goes to War by Dalton Trumbo

What is it about?

During the First World War, a young soldier was wounded by a mine: he lost his arms, legs and entire face. He cannot speak, hear or smell, but remains conscious. In the hospital room, he tries to connect and recalls his story…

Undoubtedly one of the most famous people to go full McCarthyism during Hollywood’s blacklisted witch hunts, Dalton Trumbo is primarily known for his remarkable work as a screenwriter. Winner of two Oscars (for Roman Holiday in 1953 and Les clamours se silent in 1956), we also owe the screenplay for Spartacus, Joseph Los’s Le Rodeur, Papillon’s screenplay… though it would wait until 1971, at this age. 66 years old, signed his first film as a director.

The movie Johnny Goes to War is based on its director’s book of the same name, which was first published in 1939, just two days after the start of World War II. The film also indirectly refers to the Vietnam War.

Never having made films, Dalton Trumbo considered entrusting the adaptation of his novel to his friend Luis Buñuel; He also noted the participation of Salvador Dali. But the latter refused, considering that the film belonged only to its author. However, Buñuel contributes by collaborating on certain shots (the Jesus Christ scenes).

“The Missing Man” by Peter Laurie.

What is it about?

In Germany, shortly after the end of the Second World War, Dr. Karl Rothe, who took the name Neumeister, works in a refugee camp. He sees himself appearing one day under the name of Novak, his former colleague, Jose. Two men share a difficult secret.

In 1943, José helped Carl, in agreement with a certain Colonel Winkler, to cover up the murder of his lover, Inge. Indeed, entrusted with important research by the Nazi regime, Roth strangled him when Hosche and Winkler told him that his fiancee had betrayed him by passing on the results of his work to London…

The great actor Peter Lorre, especially remembered for his disturbing face, unforgettable in his most famous role, the face of the child killer M’le Maudit at Fritz Lang; but also with John Huston in The Maltese Falcon and other supporting roles in successful Hollywood productions in the 1940s (Casablanca with Michael Curtis, Intrigues in the East with Raoul Wall…). We know much less about director Peter Lorre.

In this case, he is the director and main interpreter of one film made in 1951, L’Homme perdu. Set in a post-war Germany still struggling to emerge from the ruins, The Great Darkness is at once a spy story, a revenge story and a portrait of the psychology of a killer.

The film was a commercial failure; And only, it seems, ten days left on the screens. Undoubtedly, one of the reasons for this failure is the fact that in Germany, still traumatized by the years of Nazism and in full reconstruction, the time was not right to store the country’s guilt about the past. whose ruins were still smoking…

“Phase IV” by Saul Bass.

What is it about?

The desert ants suddenly come together to form a collective intelligence and declare war on humans. Two scientists and the girl they rescued from the mandibles of the ants are on a mission to destroy them.

Little known to the general public, graphic designer Saul Bass (1920-1996) always produced the opening credits of avant-garde films. Worked with Alfred Hitchcock on three films: Cold Sweat, Psychosis and Death by Northwest. We also owe West Side Story, Spartacus, or even Alien, The Eighth Passenger, though no credit to the latter.

A great admirer of his work, Martin Scorsese brought him out of semi-retirement in the early 90s to ask him to sign the credits for Les Affranchis, Les Nerfs à vive and, in what remains his final work, the fabulous opening of Casino, a musical by Jean-Sébastien Bach. On the subject of “The Passion of Matthau”. In short, a leader in his field.

Long before his obsession with Bernard Werber and ants, Saul Bass made his first and last feature film in 1974: Phase IV; An amazing work to discover, at the core of Secret Andromeda, at the crossroads of SF, with a touch of horror and thriller. The story of the life-death struggle between man and ants.

The title of the film is explained by its narrative structure, divided into four parts. A bitter failure at the box office, the film was quickly buried by Paramount, except for cuts (for example, some scenes in BA are not in the film) and especially the mythic ending originally planned by Saul Bass.

A four-minute surreal and psychedelic montage, looking back at 2001: A Space Odyssey. The original ending was long thought lost until it was found and shown in June 2012. In France, the film was not even released until ten years later; That is, the then confidential distribution of the work. Publisher Carlotta has also released a superb DVD/Blu-ray box set of this very original nugget.

“You Can’t Swallow” by Gary Oldman.

What is it about?

Raymond’s family, his wife Val and his brother Billy, live in a working-class area of ​​London. Billy is a drug addict and Raymond kicks him out of the house, forcing him to live outside, hoping for help from his mother Janet and grandmother Cathy. Raymond, the father of a little girl, is mostly drunk and sometimes violent, including with his pregnant wife…

A huge actor whose reputation has long been established, the absolute role model for a whole generation of actors (especially Tom Hardy), Gary Oldman played many memorable roles, from Dracula to True Romance in JFK, The Taupe, Leon, Hannibal, The Dark Hours. and his extraordinary composition as Churchill, his portrayal of Commissioner Gordon in Nolan’s Dark Knight Trilogy… to name just a handful of his incarnations.

In 1997, he signed his only achievement and his only screenplay: Do Not Swallow. In addition, a shock film financed with the help of Luc Besson, which was even presented at the opening of the Cannes festival.

A portrait of the everyday life of a family torn apart by violence, alcohol and drugs, the film was also partly (and only partly) autobiographical. “I wanted it to be honest, true, without concessions, like a photo album of everyone who touched and hurt me in my life” He explained; He who spent his youth in the deprived suburbs of south-east London. His sister, Laila Morse, and even his mother star in the film.

25 years after its release, Oldman still talks about it with great emotion A long exchange Publicly organized within the framework of the British Film Institute. “I don’t know how cathartic the film is. I’m a big fan of John Cassavetes, the film is also influenced by Italian neorealism and of course Ken Loach.

Someone in my extended family had a heroin problem and obviously needed money to buy drugs. He stole from me, broke into my apartment, my sister’s… The basic idea of ​​the film was originally based on him. The script of the film took me three years, but in the end it took 30 years to develop.”

He adds: “No one wanted my film. It was very difficult to finance it. People often ask me why I haven’t made another film. The irony is that often the people who read this are the people who run companies who have money or have. The way to make that money is not They want this movie there, they want another one Four weddings and a funeral. They’re fine with me doing another film, but not a film like this.”

We can understand Oldman’s bitterness, which also emphasizes how exciting the experience was for him, but exhausting and painful, even at one point considering shutting down the shoot entirely because he was $1 million short of his team. . Now he is 64 years old and is in no hurry to repeat the experience.

And so it remains this unique, one-of-a-kind work, crowned with two BAFTAs in particular: Best Screenplay and Best British Film. Unseen by us for years, known to us, not even released on DVD by us. Unfortunately, you have to resort to import as An exact copy restored in 4K by the BFI.

A Stone’s Throw from Hell by James Cagney.

What is it about?

Kyle Niles, a hitman, was hired by an acquaintance to kill two men. He receives and after completing his work he receives his due salary. However, he does not know that the money received is robbery and that the number of each ticket is known by the police. In a pincer motion shot, Kyle kidnaps the fiancee of a pursuing cop to cover his escape.

We almost didn’t introduce James Cagney, one of the greatest actors of Hollywood’s first golden age. Someone who spent his childhood in a tough neighborhood in New York would be the star of the unforgettable Public Enemy, making him the main star of a 1930s gangster film. the musical.

27 years after his debut in front of the camera, he will be making his directorial debut with A Stone’s Throw from Hell, a detective thriller that remains his only contribution. In addition to marking the debut of Yvette Vickers, who enjoyed ephemeral fame thanks to measurements revealed in Playboy magazine, this film was presented as a double program at drive-in theaters and was a commercial failure.

Cagney actually had no desire to become a director. According to the archive paid for by the studio in the libraryAcademy of Motion Picture Arts and SciencesThe studio did not disclose Cagney’s salary for the film, which cost just over $346,000 to make. In fact, the actor did it for his friend AC Lyles, a longtime Paramount executive.

Source: Allocine

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