The Films of Anjelica Huston: Part 2
The Girlfriend of the Star (1975-1984)
Huston moved to New York in the seventies and became a highly sought after fashion and runway model, promoted to success in part because of her relationship with photographer Bob Richardson. Her subsequent partnership with Jack Nicholson, a near-twenty-year roller coaster that provided many thrills and little security for her, was also connected to most of her film appearances in the seventies, forgettable bits overshadowed by her success as a model. These films and a few guest spots on television (mostly through her friendship with Penny Marshall on Laverne & Shirley) would mark the last period of her life as a niche celebrity before she would become a household, Oscar-winning name, but more on that later.
One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest
Milos Forman, 1975
Rating: BBBB
Cast: Jack Nicholson, Louise Fletcher, Will Sampson, William Redfield, Brad Dourif, Sydney Lassick, Christopher Lloyd, Danny DeVito, Dean Brooks, William Duell, Vincent Schiavelli, Michael Berryman, Alonzo Brown, Mwako Cumbuka, Nathan George, Marya Small, Scatman Crothers, Phil Roth, Louisa Moritz, Peter Brocco, Delos V. Smith Jr., Josip Elic, Mimi Sarkisian, Ted Markland, Mary Costa
After being sentenced to jail for contributing to the delinquency of a minor, Randle McMurphy (Jack Nicholson) convinces the authorities that he is crazy enough to serve his sentence in a mental institution instead of a prison. He is put under the care of a nurse (Louise Fletcher) who is severe to the point of making prison inmates seem less threatening, but he believes he can take her on and gives her his best boyish rebellion while plotting his escape. Nurse Ratched, however, performs her duties with cold-blooded confidence, the medications increasing and hope dying as McMurphy’s belief that he can make any choices about his future begin to look much more like the ravings of a lunatic. A fascinating drama about life’s biggest con, the illusion of freedom in a world full of people who are terrified of each other, this film is highlighted by rich characters and a marvelous screenplay, expertly directed and performed with exceptional skill by its leads as well as its budding supporting cast, including Danny DeVito, Christopher Lloyd and Brad Dourif (earning himself an Oscar nomination) in early career appearances. Huston and Aurore Clement have blink-or-you’ll-miss-them cameos in the background of a scene of this multiple Oscar winner, one of still only three films to win the top five prizes at the Academy Awards.
Swashbuckler
James Goldstone, 1976
Rating: BB
Cast: Robert Shaw, James Earl Jones, Peter Boyle, Geneviève Bujold, Beau Bridges, Geoffrey Holder, Avery Schreiber, Tom Clancy, Anjelica Huston, Bernard Behrens, Dorothy Tristan, Mark Baker, Kip Niven, Tom Fitzsimmons, Louisa Horton, Sid Haig, Robert Ruth, Bob Morgan
Moderately fun adventure film that tries to recapture the glory days of Errol Flynn’s high-seas epics but fails. Robert Shaw is unlikable as the pirate captain who helps a young woman (a terrifically sprightly Genevieve Bujold) avenge her father’s imprisonment from a cruel Jamaican governor (Peter Boyle, who looks as foolish in the role of villain as Shaw does playing the hero). There’s lots of swordplay and even some humour between Shaw and best friend James Earl Jones, but the narrative is so weak that it seems to end without ever having gone anywhere. The old Flynn movies had a genuine sense of adventure, as well as much stronger writing than this, plus Flynn himself was a brilliantly untouchable figure of heroism; Shaw gives you the impression that he can’t wait to stop fighting in order to hit the next bar for a drink of rum. The main reason it remains a Hollywood keepsake is the appearance by a beautiful young Huston as “Woman of Dark Visage”, the companion to the villain who appears in every other scene but never utters one word. Thankfully, future filmmakers saw more to her than just her exotic looks.
The Last Tycoon
Elia Kazan, 1976
Rating: BB
Cast: Robert De Niro, Tony Curtis, Robert Mitchum, Jeanne Moreau, Jack Nicholson, Donald Pleasence, Ray Milland, Dana Andrews, Ingrid Boulting, Peter Strauss, Theresa Russell, Tige Andrews, Morgan Farley, John Carradine, Jeff Corey, Diane Shalet, Seymour Cassel, Anjelica Huston
F. Scott Fitzgerald’s stories frequently take place in the glow of that green light shining from the end of Daisy’s dock, so whatever the subject matter (poverty, doomed romance, career trouble) there’s always a sense of patient and poetic beauty to the manner in which it is relayed. This rhythm has rarely translated well to film, something that director Kazan and screenwriter Harold Pinter did not disprove when making this adaptation of the great author’s last (unfinished) novel just two years after Jack Clayton’s disastrous adaptation of his most famous one. Robert De Niro gives a surprisingly unmotivated performance as an Irving Thalberg-like film producer in Hollywood’s golden age, whose bold strokes of creative genius, which cost plenty but make even more in profits, are starting to be seen as megalomania by his colleagues. Robert Mitchum as a rival studio executive and Ray Milland as an east coast lawyer are capitulating easily to the greedy New York offices, suits who want to get rid of this Boy Wonder and his crazy ideas (which include choosing to put prestige above profit on the odd film project) and focus solely on receipts. De Niro’s Monroe Stahr is distracted from any concern over his career by his fascination with a woman he spots visiting the lot on a guided tour (played beautifully by Ingrid Boulting) who reminds him of the Jean Harlow-esque starlet he was once in love with, and his fascination with her occupies all his time and energy.
Whatever conflict between love and work is being suggested here never actually happens on screen, the lovers have some wonderful scenes of calm erotic connection that doesn’t seem to either be distracting Stahr from his work or inspiring it. The whole thing plays out with absolutely no tension or atmosphere, something very surprising for the magnificent talent of Kazan, wasting the efforts of a superb cast (which also includes Jack Nicholson, John Carradine, Theresa Russell and Huston in a small role) on a drama that is never dramatic. Its recreation of Hollywood’s yesteryear is only sporadically convincing, with Jeanne Moreau as a diva movie star and Tony Curtis as her leading man in a Casablanca type film that has no resemblance to the style of acting or directing of the time (and whether or not it’s an example of Stahr being good at his job or dropping the ball is never clear either). The takeaway is the amazing production design, which deservedly received the film’s sole Oscar nomination, otherwise you’re better served by the flawed but far more memorable The Day of the Locust.
The Postman Always Rings Twice
Bob Rafelson, 1981
Rating: BB
Cast: Jack Nicholson, Jessica Lange, John Colicos, Michael Lerner, John P. Ryan, Anjelica Huston, William Traylor, Ron Flagge, William Newman, Chuck Liddell, Albert Henderson, Christopher Lloyd
Dreary update of the 1946 classic adapted from the novel by James M. Cain. Jack Nicholson plays the shady drifter who takes a grunt job at a roadside gas station and finds himself getting steamy over the owner’s young, beautiful wife (Jessica Lange). The two begin an affair that culminates with them murdering the old man and getting away with it, but how long before their corrupt liaison works against them from within? The period details are perfection, right down to the grease spots on the wall, but the drama doesn’t have any snap. David Mamet’s pretentious screenplay is rife with great dialogue, but the author of countless misogynistic plays about men sitting around yapping about their own glory is not a genre writer. Lange and Nicholson have terrific chemistry, and are quite bold in the film’s raunchy sex scenes, but hot sex can only make two hours go by quickly in real life. Huston appears as a lion tamer with whom Nicholson has an affair to break away from his leading lady’s machinations, a small but potent role that marked her upward path to the great success she would have later in the decade.
Frances
Graeme Clifford, 1982
Rating: BB.5
Cast: Jessica Lange, Kim Stanley, Sam Shepard, Bart Burns, Christopher Pennock, Jonathan Banks, Jeffrey DeMunn, Jordan Charney, James Karen, Anne Haney, Bonnie Bartlett, Sarah Cunningham, Keone Young, Sandra Seacat, Biff Yeager, Lane Smith, Zelda Rubinstein, Jane Lillig, Anjelica Huston, Pamela Gordon, Rick May
Frances Farmer rose up from small town obscurity to become one of Hollywood’s brightest stars in the 1930s, but, dissatisfied with the token roles handed out to women at the time, fought hard to be taken seriously as an actress and it pushed her past the brink of sanity. What should be an interesting examination of the pursuit of artistic excellence and its brittle ties to unbalanced mental health is actually just trashy exploitation in which we are manipulated into loving all the torture that Farmer is put through, but Jessica Lange, in the role that established her as a serious actress, and Kim Stanley as her ambitious mother, give the film a great deal more respectability than it deserves. Huston is credited as a little more than an extra in this film, although you might have trouble spotting her. As Karina Longworth’s listeners might know, evidence for most of the film’s claims has gone soft in the years since its release.
This Is Spinal Tap
Rob Reiner, 1984
Rating: BBBB.5
Cast: Michael McKean, Christopher Guest, Harry Shearer, Rob Reiner, Tony Hendra, R. J. Parnell, David Kaff, June Chadwick, Bruno Kirby, Ed Begley Jr., Danny Kortchmar, Fran Drescher, Patrick Macnee, Julie Payne, Dana Carvey, Sandy Helberg, Zane Buzby, Billy Crystal, Paul Benedict, Howard Hesseman, Paul Shortino, Lara Cody, Andrew J. Lederer, Russ Kunkel, Victory Tischler-Blue, Joyce Hyser, Gloria Gifford [fr], Paul Shaffer, Archie Hahn, Charles Levin, Anjelica Huston, Donald Kendrick, Fred Willard, Wonderful Smith, Robert Bauer, Fred Asparagus
Huston’s having previously appeared on her friend Penny Marshall’s sitcom Laverne and Shirley also led to her small role in Reiner’s all-time classic ‘mockumentary’, one of the most popular cult films of all time. This incredibly funny exercise in madness, directed by Rob Reiner, concerns itself with the crazy adventures of Spinal Tap, a heavy metal band who were once on top of the world and are now finding their popularity waning. As their concerts start grinding down to smaller and smaller venues, the three members of the band (Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, Harry Shearer) do their best to keep the feeling alive with their impressive ideas about music and their insatiable appetite for the good life. Their inspiration leads them to such classic choices as an 18-inch replica of Stonehenge (which is one of the funniest scenes in the movie) as a backdrop, as well as their special amplifier that goes up to 11. Featuring early career appearances by Billy Crystal, Bruno Kirby, Ed Begley Jr. and Fran Drescher, this delightful rib-tickler is good for repeat viewings.
The Ice Pirates
Stewart Raffill, 1984
Rating: B.5
Cast: Robert Urich, Mary Crosby, Michael D. Roberts, Anjelica Huston, Ron Perlman, Bruce Vilanch, John Carradine, John Matuszak, Ian Abercrombie, Alan Caillou, Natalie Core, Jeremy West, Rockne Tarkington, Carmen Filpi, Patty Maloney, Ron Taylor, Hank Worden, Robert Symonds, Gary Brockette, Marcia Lewis, Richard Young
Hilariously campy science-fiction adventure about futuristic pirates in a dried-up universe, navigating the stars in search of its most precious resource, water. The one planet that is brimming over with water is rigorously controlled by evil Templars who seek to make slaves of the cosmos, prompting our heroes to steal their supplies and provide themselves with the stuff for free. Robert Urich is the head of the brigands, a roguish devil who is thrilled to bits when the troupe kidnaps a princess (Mary Crosby) for ransom and is led by her to to the “seventh world”, a place where water is plentiful and free. Huston co-stars in a pre-Prizzi’s Honor role as the tough gal on the ship who can wield a sword with the best of them, her biggest role in a big release yet, and while the end product is something of an embarrassment, she has nothing to look back on with regret for her performance and speaks quite fondly of the project in her memoir. Too kitschy to ignore, it also stars Ron Perlman, and in a brief cameo, the unforgettable John Carradine.
The Cowboy and the Ballerina (TV Movie, 1984)