"THE LAST TYCOON" (1976) Review

 

"THE LAST TYCOON" (1976) Review

What is there to say about the 1976 movie, "THE LAST TYCOON"? Well . . . it was adapted from F. Scott Fitzgerald's last novel, which had remained at the time of his death in 1941. It proved to be the last movie directed by Elia Kazan. And it starred Robert De Niro.

Actually, there is more to say about "THE LAST TYCOON". It told the story of Monroe Stahr, Fitzgerald's literary version of the legendary Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer production chief, Irving Thalberg. Stahr served as production chief of a major Hollywood studio in the mid-1930s. The movie unfolds with Stahr juggling his time with emotional actors and directors, and several frustrated screenwriters. Stahr also deals with more pressing conflicts like the newly created Writers Guild of America, a union organizer from the East Coast and the growing resentment his boss and head of the studio, Pat Brady. During all this activity and growing turmoil, Stahr finds himself torn between two young women. One of those women is Brady's only child, a recent college graduate named Cecilia who is infatuated with Stahr. The other is an Irish beauty with a troubled past named Kathleen Moore, with whom Stahr falls in love and eventually obsessed. Unfortunately for Stahr, Kathleen is engaged to another man.

The production values for "THE LAST TYCOON" struck me as first rate. Well . . . almost. I enjoyed Victor J. Kemper's sharp and colorful photography. I also enjoyed Jack T. Collis' art direction, which I thought effectively conveyed the locations of the Hollywood community during the 1930s. But I feel that Collis' art direction would not have been as effective without Gene Callahan's production designs. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences must have also been impressed by both Collis and Callahan. The two men ended up receiving Oscar nominations for Best Art Direction-Set Decoration. On the other hand, I am not surprised that Anna Hill Johnstone and Anthea Sylbert's costume designs had failed to win any nominations. Do not get me wrong. They were not terrible. But . . . I did notice that like some of the hairstyles worn by the actresses in the film, the fashion styles of the 1970s tend to creep in.

I certainly had no problems with the movie's performances. Well . . . with most of them. May I be frank? Robert De Niro seemed to be an embodiment of Monroe Stahr . . . or should I say Irving Thalberg? De Niro did an excellent job in conveying Stahr's obsessive nature - whether it was creating movies or falling in love with Kathleen Moore. A second standout performance came from Theresa Russell, who portrayed Cecilia Brady, the daughter of the studio chief. Russell did an excellent job in portraying both Cecilia's passion for Stahr and her no-nonsense intelligence. Robert Mitchum was superb as Pat Brady, the studio chief who took his daughter's intelligence for granted and who resented Stahr's genius as a movie producer.

Both Tony Curtis and Jeanne Moreau gave excellent performances as Rodriguez and Didi, two Hollywood stars, whose egos and insecurities threaten a film they are currently shooting. Jack Nicholson provided a strong, yet quiet presence as an East Coast union official visiting Hollywood to organize the industry's employees. The movie also featured solid performances from Ray Milland, Dana Andrews, Donald Pleasance, Peter Strauss, Tige Andrews and Anjelica Huston. "THE LAST TYCOON" also featured Ingrid Boulting as Kathleen Moore, the woman who captured Monroe Stahr's heart. How did I feel about her? Hmmmm . . . she was not a terrible actress. But I was not particularly impressed by her performance. She seemed to spend most of the movie trying to iconic or remote . . . a 1970s version of Greta Garbo. And it did not work for me.

For me, the real problem with "THE LAST TYCOON" was its narrative. Quite frankly, I thought it sucked. Mind you, I thought the film's explorations of life at movie studio in the 1930s seemed interesting. What made this work is that most of this exploration was told from Monroe Stahr's point-of-view. I cannot deny that the film's peek into the old Hollywood studio system was interesting. But instead of fashioning a narrative from this topic or at least from studio politics, screenwriter Harold Pinter had decided revolve the film's plot around the Monroe Stahr-Kathleen Moore love story. I can understand why he did this. F. Scott Fitzgerald did the same in the unfinished novel. The problem was that Stahr's romance with Kathleen bored the hell out of me. One, the entire romance almost seemed on-sided on Stahr's part. And two, both Robert De Niro and Ingrid Boulting lacked any chemistry whatsoever. Every time the pair shared the screen, I found myself struggling to stay awake. Perhaps Pinter could have done a better job in connecting the Stahr-Moore romance with studio politics . . . who knows? Unfortunately, I felt as if I was watching a movie with two different narratives that barely connected - and with the major (and boring) subplot overshadowing the minor one. Pity.

Would I ever watch "THE LAST TYCOON" again? I honestly cannot answer that question. It is a beautiful looking film, thanks to men like Jack T. Collis and Gene Callahan. I also cannot deny the film's peek into the old Hollywood studio system and politics managed to somewhat fascinate me. Unfortunately, the movie was dominated by a dull love story that bored me senseless. So, would I ever watch this movie again? Right now, I would say no. I do not think so.

"THE LAST TYCOON" (1976) Photo Gallery

 

Below are images from "THE LAST TYCOON", the 1976 adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's 1941 unfinished novel that was published posthumously. Directed by Elia Kazan, the movie starred Robert DeNiro as Monroe Stahr:

"THE LAST TYCOON" (1976) Photo Gallery

"THE GLASS KEY" (1935) Review

"THE GLASS KEY" (1935) Review

Years ago, I watched the 1942 adaptation of Dashiell Hammett's 1930-31 novel called "The Glass Key". At the time, I had no idea that there had been a previous adaptation. Then I stumbled across one - produced and released by the same movie studio, Paramount Pictures, back in 1935.

"THE GLASS KEY" told the story of Ed Beaumont, a gambler and the brainy aide of a crooked political boss named Paul Madvig. The latter plans to support the political campaign of the corrupt Senator John T. Henry and marry the latter's daughter Janet. Unfortunately, the senator's son, Taylor Henry, is a gambling addict who is in debt to a gangster named Shad O'Rory, a gangster whose club Paul intends to put out of business. Also, Taylor has been romancing Paul's younger sister, Opal Madvig, much to the political boss' dismay. When Ed finds Taylor's dead body not far from Paul's home, everyone begins to suspect him of murder. Ed begins an investigation to discover Taylor's true killer, much to the displeasure of not only O'Rory, but also the Henry family and Paul.

I have read a few reviews of "THE GLASS KEY". Most of the reviews seemed to be of the opinion that it is more of a film noir than the 1942 version. To be honest, I did not make a big deal of trying to determine how much of a noir movie it was. I was too busy trying to maintain my interest in the story. What can I say? The plot seemed pretty damn good. And screenwriters Kathryn Scola and Kubec Glascom, along with dialogue scribe Harry Ruskin did a very solid job of adapting Hammett's novel. Sure, they made a few nips and tucks in the narrative. But overall, I had no real problems with the story.

The performances in "THE GLASS KEY" struck me as pretty solid. I thought the most memorable performances came from Edward Arnold as political boss Paul Madvig, Claire Dodd as Janet Henry, Guinn Williams as the O'Rory thug Jeff, and Ray Milland as the privileged and weak senator's son, Paul Henry. All gave very interesting performances. Rosalind Keith, Charles Richman and Robert Glecker also gave solid performances as Opal Madvig, Senator Henry and Shad O'Rory. One would notice that I have not said anything about lead actor George Raft. Before one assumes that I have a low opinion of his performance . . . I do not. I thought he did a pretty solid job, even if there were moments he came off as slightly wooden. He certainly did a pretty good job in carrying the film.

So, if I had no problems with the movie's narrative and the acting . . . why did I find it so difficult to maintain my interesting in the film? I have to lay most of the blame on director Frank Tuttle. I found his direction of the film rather dull and lifeless. Boring. It is a miracle that the cast managed to rise above his insipid direction. In fact, I find it a crime that a director could make a movie with a first-rate narrative and an eighty minute running time so dull and slow. Even the famous scene in which Ed Beaumont suffered a beating at the hands of Jeff the Thug came off as slightly dull.

Another problem I had with "THE GLASS KEY" proved to be its production values. Just because a movie has been labeled as a film noir does not mean I had to spend most of the film trying to make out the shapes and figures on the screen. There were plenty of moments when I could barely make out the images on the screen, due to Henry Sharp's photography. I found it incredibly dark at times. Sharp's dim photography was not helped by Hans Dreier and A. Earl Hedrick's art direction for this film. I was less than impressed by the film's production designs and art direction. The entire film looked as if it had been produced as an off-Broadway stage play. I have seen Warner Brothers B-movies released three or four years earlier that looked more prestigious. When one combines dark photography with less-than-mediocre production designs, well . . . it does not look good for a movie based upon a first-rate novel by Dashiell Hammett.

"THE GLASS KEY" had plenty of virtues to offer - solid and excellent acting from a cast led by George Raft, and first-rate adaptation of Hammett's novel. It seems a pity that those virtues seemed wasted by the movie's mediocre production values, a slow pacing and limpid direction by Frank Tuttle. Oh well. It has been years since I saw the 1942 version of Hammett's story. It would be interesting to see how it fares in compare to this film.

Ten Favorite WILLIAM WELLMAN Movies

Below are my top ten favorite movies directed by the winning director, William Wellman: 


TEN FAVORITE WILLIAM WELLMAN MOVIES



1. "Beau Geste" (1939) - Gary Cooper, Ray Milland and Robert Preston starred in this exciting adaptation of P.C. Wren's 1924 novel about three British brothers who join the French Foreign Legion to stave off a potential family scandal.





2. "Westward the Women" (1951) - Robert Taylor starred in this unusual Western about a wagonmaster hired to guide a wagon train of marriageable women to a region in 1850s California. Denise Durcel, Henry Nakumara and John McIntire co-starred.





3. "A Star Is Born" (1937) - Janet Gaynor and Fredric March starred in this award winning drama about a rising Hollywood actress and her marriage to a fading movie star. Wellman won the Best Writing (Original Story) Oscar for this movie.





4. "Safe in Hell" (1931) - Dorothy Mackaill starred in this fascinating tale about a New Orleans prostitute who struggles to survive and avoid the law, while dealing with an array of men out to exploit her.





5. "Wild Boys of the Road" (1933) - This highly acclaimed adaptation of Daniel Ahern's novel, "Desperate Youth", told the story about a group of teenagers forced to become hobos during the Great Depression. Frankie Darro, Edwin Phillips and Dorothy Coonan (Wellman's fourth and final wife) starred.



 

6. "Nothing Sacred" (1937) - Carole Lombard and Fredric March starred in this biting comedy about a young woman erroneously diagnosed with radiation poisoning and a newspaper reporter pretending that she really is dying for the sake of money and a series of articles.





7. "Night Nurse" (1931) - Barbara Stanwyck starred in this neat crime thriller about a young nurse who enlists the help of a petty criminal to foil a sinister plot to murder two children from a wealthy family. Ben Lyon, Joan Blondell and Clark Gable co-starred.





8. "Heroes For Sale" (1933) - Richard Barthelmess starred in this poignant tale about a World War I veteran who suffers a series of personal mishaps from the post-war period to the Great Depression. Loretta Young and Aline MacMahon co-starred.





9. "The Public Enemy" (1931) - James Cagney became a star portraying a young Chicago hoodlum who becomes a successful bootlegger via a bloody mob war. Edward Woods, Jean Harlow and Joan Blondell co-starred.





10. "The High and the Mighty" (1954) - John Wayne starred in this tense disaster movie, an adaptation of Ernest K. Gann's 1953 novel, about a commercial airplane that develops engine trouble during a trans-Pacific flight. Robert Stack, Claire Trevor and Larraine Day co-starred.