Casting Coup Week: Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore

My Retro Hollmanns were an accident. One day, The Godfather: Part 2 was on one of the movie channels, and I watched it because I'd never seen it. Then I saw that Lenny was on Netflix, and I watched it because I'd never seen it. Then I saw that such was the case with The Conversation, The Towering Inferno, Claudine...really, so much of '74 was available that I had to take a look back.

One of those films was also Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore.

So, in Alice, Ellen Burstyn plays Alice, whose husband Donald dies, leading her to take herself and her bratty kid on a road trip to Monterey so that she can pursue a singing career. She winds up staying in Tucson, a greasy spoon waitress trying to make enough to get back on her feet. While there, she winds up befriending tough-talking Flo and falling for rancher David. It's a character study, a romance, a comedy, all in one go. It won Oscars, inspired a hit sitcom, and solidified director Martin Scorsese's presence in the 70s film scene.

Burstyn made the film happen. After the success of The Exorcist, the studio allowed her to pick any script any wanted, with a director of her choice. She made the right choice, of course, and although Scorsese did not make it as far as the Oscars, writer Robert Getchell did, in the category of Original Screenplay. Neither he nor Supporting Actress nominee Diane Ladd won their categories, but Burstyn's triumph over Chinatown's Faye Dunaway and A Woman Under the Influence's Gena Rowlands was as unexpected as it was deserving. Ok, maybe not over Dunaway, but it's still one of the best performances of that year.

How then, could I possibly recast it? Well, it wasn't that easy. I kept considering and rejecting strong actresses like Charlize Theron and Amy Adams. I just couldn't see them filling Burstyn's shoes. Then, like the Voice of God, the name just popped into my head. Of course! And all I had to do was fill in the rest.

Here is the beginning of my post.

DONALD

Who is He: Alice's first husband, not a warm guy, not supportive, doesn't like the kid. His sudden death prompts Alice's journey to pursue a singing career.

Originally played by:

Billy Green Bush (Five Easy Pieces, Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday)

My Choice: Academy Award/Golden Globe Nominee for Best Actor - Drama (Hustle & Flow), SAG Award Winner for Best Ensemble (Crash)

Terrence Howard (Ray, Red Tails)
The audience just wouldn't expect him to be a one-scene wonder, but he would establish with ease the character's distance from his family and less-than-active mind.

BEN

Who is He: A charming younger man who courts the flattered Alice for a little bit...until his wife turns up, leading Ben into a violent outburst.

Originally played by: Academy Award/Golden Globe Nominee for Best Supporting Actor (Bugsy)

Harvey Keitel (The Last Temptation of Christ, The Bad Lieutenant)

My Choice: SAG Award Nominee for Best Ensemble (The Hurt Locker)

Anthony Mackie (Night Catches Us, Real Steel)
Yeah, he's got the charm Ben would need to sell us and Alice on...himself. And Mackie, too, is a very fine actor who could play that sudden shift uncomfortably, believably.

VERA

Who is She: A waitress at Mel's, noted for her odd quiet, her emotional fragility, and those pigtails.

Originally played by: Academy Award Nominee for Best Original Screenplay (And Justice For All)

Valerie Curtin (All the President's Men, Down and Out in Beverly Hills)

My Choice: SAG Award Nominee for Best Ensemble (Bobby)

Joy Bryant (Antwone Fisher, Baadasssss!)

MEL

Who is He: The chef and owner of Mel's, a roadside greasy spoon. Mel keeps the oddest people on staff, but he appreciates them as one big family. He really does love them, even as he argues with them.

Originally played by:

Vic Tayback (Loverboy, All Dogs Go to Heaven)

My Choice:

Terry Crews (The Expendables, Bridesmaids)
Very underrated comic actor. 

DAVID

Who is He: A rancher frequenting Mel's diner who takes a shine to Alice. A warm, supportive presence who's also not afraid to help her with her shortcomings.

Originally played by: Academy Award Nominee for Best Song Score (Songwriter), Golden Globe Winner for Best Actor - Musical/Comedy (A Star is Born)

Kris Kristofferson (Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia, Blade)

My Choice: SAG Award Nominee for Best Ensemble (American Gangster)

Idris Elba (Prom Night, Thor)
Earthy, sexy, masculine -- such is the way of Elba, who can play big-hearted just as well as he can play authoritative.

FLO

Who is She: A tough-talking waitress with a foul mouth and an open heart. Winds up becoming Alice's great friend.

Originally played by: Academy Award/Golden Globe Nominee for Best Supporting Actress (Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore, Wild at Heart, Rambling Rose), BAFTA Award Winner for Best Supporting Actress (Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore)

Diane Ladd (Chinatown, Christmas Vacation)

My Choice: SAG Award Nominee for Best Ensemble (Precious)

Sherri Shepherd (Beauty Shop, One for the Money)
Handy with the one-liners, her comic timing is always pitch-perfect. She stole One for the Money, and her scenes on "30 Rock" are among the best. 

ALICE HYATT

Who is She: Our heroine! A widowed mum whose dream of a singing career is delayed by work and romance. Occasionally self-pitying, mule-headed, temperamental, and much too indulgent of her son, Alice is imperfect -- but who isn't? She's also honest, hard-working, passionate, protective, funny, resilient.

Originally played by: Hollmann Award Nominee for Best Actress (Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore), Academy Award/BAFTA Award Winner for Best Actress (Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore), Golden Globe Winner for Best Actress - Musical/Comedy (Same Time, Next Year), SAG Award Nominee for Best Actress (Requiem for a Dream) and Best Ensemble (How to Make an American Quilt)

Ellen Burstyn (The Loss of a Teardrop Diamond, The Mighty Macs)

My Choice:

Kimberly Elise (John Q, The Manchurian Candidate)
An actress who has showed us time and again that she can play all sides of a woman and still have us rooting for her. Also, an actress who should be getting more lead roles than she's offered.

FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION

Best Actress: Kimberly Elise

Best Supporting Actor: Idris Elba, Terry Crews, Anthony Mackie

Best Supporting Actress: Sherri Shepherd

Best for Last: Actress, 1974

And so it comes to an end. Almost.

Yes, even though I looked at best Picture a few days ago, that is not the end of my 1974 flashback. There's still the Retro Hollmann Awards, of course, but more importantly: it's time to look at Best Actress.

The whole reason this project started was because of a tweet from Nick Davis of Nick's Flick Picks, asking readers to follow along with his class and watch Claudine and A Woman Under the Influence. He then suggested going through the other Actress nominees for a full taste of the greatness on display. Of course, once I realized just how many 1974 films I'd coincidently seen recently (The Godfather: Part II, Phase IV), and how much of an overlap there was between Oscar categories that year, I knew that a full-scale project was in order. The year itself will be given a send-off on the 31st, but tonight is another Oscar night.

And so, I'm going out the way I came in: with the Leading Ladies of 1974.

Ellen Burstyn in Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore

****

You know what I really admire about this performance? Burstyn is capable of making Alice unlikable without making her unlovable. She spoils her bratty son, ignores readily apparent problems, self-martyrs to an extreme, and is generally confused, frustrating and ungrateful. I'm pretty sure I know her. You know her. We all know Alice. She's a funny woman with a big heart, but she doesn't always make the best decisions.

Sometimes Alice is a real chore to be around. She cries so much and she's so stupid about men. Burstyn is unafraid to tackle this head-on, yet she conveys such warmth that you root for her. She knows how to make Alice magnetic and personable, even if she's not perfect. Indeed, it's thanks to Burstyn that Alice is the most relatable character in this race. For everyone who has ever kicked themselves when they're down, for everyone who has ever worked to keep themselves afloat, for everyone who sacrifices for those they love: Alice. She's not perfect, but damn do I love her.

Diahann Carroll in Claudine

**

Carroll plays a strong, struggling mother of six pursuing a romance with slick garbageman James Earl Jones. I actually find it hard to discuss this role because, while I feel it's very solid, I don't find it extraordinary. Like, she's very good at portraying an often tired woman working to get by, but I feel that I would have loved her performance more if the film had focused on her and the family rather than the romance with Jones. Her interactions with her increasingly radical son (Laurence Hilton-acques) and sexually awakened daughter (Tamu Blackwell) are what kept me watching. Her frenzied "cleaning" whenever the welfare lady shows up is funny in its frankness, tackling the problem with the welfare state without directly saying it. Good Lord, must this woman work a job and lie to the government just so she can barely keep her family afloat? Is this really my America? And then we're back to James Earl Jones and it's ehhhhh.

I like the movie, and I like Carroll's performance, but something's missing. There are times where she doesn't look completely in the moment, and I actually don't believe the attraction between her and Jones. I don't. It's a key part of the film, and I'm not feeling it. And if I'm not buying part of the performance, then I'm not buying the whole character, and that's...that's disappointing.   

Faye Dunaway in Chinatown

*****

This is a performance that requires two viewings before one can place judgment, and it's also one that's hard to get into without any spoilers. The movie may be almost 40 years old, but I somehow managed to see it the first time without any knowledge of the plot or plot twists, so why ruin it for everyone else?

Let it be understood, then, that Dunaway's performance is another great example of the weird balancing act the film does. She is at once old-school stylized and contemporary real. She has the look and the clipped speech down, but there's also a lot of subtlety and control in her line readings and expressions. The second viewing really brings this home, seeing just how that horrifying "twist" is hinted at with glances, gestures and pauses. Her final, desperate scene put a lump in my throat -- the one you get from anxiety, not necessarily from sadness. Her chemistry with Nicholson is surprisingly sweet, and it's actually more likely to touch you than get you hot and bothered...though it does that, too. Suffice to say, without giving anything away, Dunaway delivers. 

Valerie Perrine in Lenny

****

I am unapologetic in my love for this film, a film that (OF COURSE) extends to the performances. Perrine was more than a pleasant surprise: she was a revelation. Now, you'd be perfectly fair in saying, "But Walter, the first time you saw Valerie Perrine was in Can't Stop the Music. Surely anything she did afterwards was bound to impress you." And that may be true, though I absolutely love Can't Stop the Music ('Til my dying breath, I love it to death). Still, one look at this and it cannot be denied: she knocks it out of the park. She's so sweet and charming and carnal...it's everything we want in a woman! Perrine makes us feel for Honey Bruce's troubled marriage as often as she irritates us with her choices. Like, my God, her husband gets her into a threesome and then berates her for going along with it? That brave woman stuck by him! But, my God, she's not brave -- she's weak! Look at her addiction, abandoning her child for drugs, jailed, broken, weeping. Any role that runs the gamut of emotions like this always risks melodrama, overplaying beats, or not selling the different halves equally well -- and with those intimidating press-on nails, you better believe it's hard to keep Honey subtle. Perrine manages it, and the interview sessions framing the story reveal this best. It's a real stunner.

But is it a lead performance? Perrine seems to be co-lead for the first act of the film, but since this is Lenny's story, there's little Perrine to be seen once Honey goes to jail. There's very little of her in the second half, and it's not like Lenny's choices and routines revolve around Honey. It's difficult to judge the placement of Perrine, since her character gets the most screentime out of any of the "narrators", but it's not really her story.

In the end, while I think it's a pretty perfect performance, I don't know if this is the right category for her. Still: goddamn is it impressive.   

Gena Rowlands in A Woman Under the Influence

***

I expressed some reticence concerning this film earlier, and I have to admit that it extends to this performance. On the one hand, I think it's a deeply disturbing, effectively uncomfortable one. Rowlands looks so much like the many women outside the Greyhound station, so certainly her portrayal of a woman not in complete possession of her wits is realistic. On the other hand, what makes people like this so uncomfortable is the spontaneity of their nature, and I just don't think Rowlands presents us with a spontaneous creature. A lot of her performance, for me, reads as technique, too calculated to be fully effective.

Of course, there's also the idea that while the character is clearly nuts, she's been nuts for so long that this erratic behavior has lost its spontaneity, and is practically routine. Certainly one sees the annoyance of familiarity in Peter Falk's face when Rowlands starts the whole raspberry-muttering-eye roll. And perhaps a large part of my inability to embrace this movie fully is the fact that it seems just fucking illogical that someone would willingly keep this woman in a house with children when she is obviously waaaaaaaay off in the head. But then, what we're seeing is the culmination of years of this finally getting out of hand.

I don't know, really. I know I like the performance, and I think I should give this movie a second chance somewhere down the road. But right now, it's too click-click for me.

----------------------------

Oscar chose Burstyn, who famously didn't show up because she didn't think she'd win. I would choose Perrine except for the whole category question mark. So, the choice is clear: my Oscar vote goes to...

FAYE DUNAWAY

for

CHINATOWN

a legend, and rightfully so

Greatness at the Edges: Supporting Actress, 1974

Remember when StinkyLulu had a 1974 smackdown on his blog? I consider this my way-late weigh-in, just like it's my way-late Academy vote. I need a watch. And a calendar.

Ingrid Bergman in Murder on the Orient Express

**

When I first saw this movie as a young lad, I remember a "huh?" moment when hearing Bergman won the Oscar. Bergman is very good in this, I think, and it's absolutely shocking to see Ilsa Lund play this frumpy missionary. I believe every word she speaks, I believe her naively referring to the children of her mission as "black babies born more backwards than I" just as I believe her yelling, "Thou shalt not kill!" after the discovery of the body. It's a role that strikes one as merely stereotypical in the novel, but Bergman manages to convey some humanity in it.

But while I don't think this performance is deserving of the bile it's received in recent years, I certainly don't think it's Oscar-worthy. It's a solid performance of a simply-written character, but with such a large ensemble, there were at least three other superior supporting actresses to choose from. I really do love this movie, though I admit to being an Agatha Christie fanatic!

Valentina Cortese in Day for Night

***

Cortese is so electric and hilarious at film's beginning, it's a shame we rarely get to see her. I really only remember three key scenes with Cortese's character: the dressing-room, the Big Scene that she keeps flubbing, and the farewell dinner. My sister once said that she hates people who declare themselves divas, because real divas don't need to declare it, and they're rarely aware of it. Certainly this describes Severine, who boozes her way through the set of May I Present Pamela. Of course, she has her reasons, but these are hastily explained and dispensed with, never to be heard of again. Yet now the subtext is there, deepening our perception of the character.

Is the performance that deep? Not in the same way, but sure. Cortese seems to be playing with her own motivations, ones that work just as effectively and heartbreakingly as the one scriptgirl Joelle offers. Severine is confused, now jolly, now deeply unhappy, now joking, now motherly. Really, I miss Severine when she's gone, and her last scene made me wish for more. And that...that's an accomplishment.

Madeline Kahn in Blazing Saddles

*****

Madeline Kahn is probably one of the funniest women to ever appear on screen. Her performances are as legendary as they are hilarious: Mrs. White, Elizabeth, the "brave, unbalanced woman" in What's Up Doc?, and of course, the Dietrich-parody that is Lili von Shtupp. She gets an entire sequence to herself, one in which she is tasked by the evil Hedley Lamar (Harvey Korman) to seduce and destroy the town of Johnson's black sheriff, Black Bart. She croons, she dances, she seduces, she falls for him. After all, what they say about men like Bart is twue.

Kahn's great ability as a comedienne, though, was not just to sell the jokes themselves, but to sell the character with sincerity. Seeing Lili go from exhausted singer-spy to a smitten romantic is not only amusing, but pretty adorable. Only Kahn could sell a song as corny/funny/bawdy as "I'm Tired" (They're alvays coming and going/And going and coming/And alvays too soon). Only Kahn could follow up an evening of carnality with the line, "Vat a nice guy." There's a reason why, more than ten years after her death, she's still one of the most admired and quoted character actresses around. It's a shame she quickly disappears after ten straight minutes of her hot comic genius, but I guarantee you'll be thinking about her at film's end. She;s easily the best part of one of the best comedies ever made.

Diane Ladd in Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore

****

Alice... takes an awful long time to get going. Maybe this is because I knew she had to get there, but the first 40 minutes really feel like one long set-up to getting Ellen Burstyn to that diner to be a waitress.

You know who makes that 40-minute wait worthwhile? Diane Ladd's Flo, the greatest of all greasy-spoon waitresses. She's loud, she's crude, and you know that hair put a hole in the ozone. Of course, like everyone brassy individual the movies throw at us, Flo has some simple wisdom to impart, shrugged off with a cigarette in the bathroom as her friends break down. Really, anyone who doesn't want to be Flo's best friend is probably a real drag.

Talia Shire in The Godfather: Part II

*

Shire has two big scenes: playing boozy, negligent mother who wants to run off with Tory Donahue; begging Michael to forgive Fredo after that famous kiss of death. Shire plays both pretty lousily, in my opinion. Clearly, it was the second scene that got her the nomination, and it's a damn well-written piece. Unfortunately, Shire's the actress in this case, and for some reason she's just no good in this movie. Like, at all. From her first scene to her last, I grit my teeth and begged for the end. I don't even think Shire's a bad actress for the most part, but this does not work for me.

------------------

I can't believe Oscar chose Bergman, and that Bergman chose Cortese, because for me, it's so obvious that the Oscar should have gone to...

MADELINE KAHN

in

BLAZING SADDLES

she's pooped

All Their Own: Original Screenplay, 1974

Of course, as soon as I have a new thing planned, work calls. The Summer Movie Season is upon us! Here's what I wanted to post Thursday:

Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore by Robert Getchell 

***

I'll be honest, I don't know how much of what I love is the screenplay. For instance, I love that Alice is actually kind of unlikable in a lot of scenes, yet so human that we can't help but identify with and root for her. But is that the writing, an acting choice or Scorsese's direction? Though I suppose the latter two would have to have been working off of something. Then again, Getchell does deliver that inexplicable Hollywood ending with the Big Romantic Speech...but then again, still, he also gave us the wonderful Flo. It's so hard to tell what was the writer and what was the director with these auteurs.

Chinatown by Robert Towne

*****

I really do think this is one of those masterpiece screenplays. Every moment of every scene provides a clue to the mystery, whether you realize it or not. There are surprisingly hilarious moments, making that finale all the more shocking, and effective. And then of course there's the gradual progression of our understanding of what Chinatown is.

What's bizarre, though, is that while the ending really is one of the greatest strengths of the film, credit for that must go to director Polanski, who convinced a reluctant Towne to change it from the less downbeat climax of the script. It's strange, for it goes so well with what Towne's established, with the characters and tone and setup and everything. Surely, though, it is a great writer who can see what's best for the story, even if it's different from his original plan. Towne himself eventually admitted it was better for the film. How should I rate this, then? On the final result, or the writer's intentions?

Final result, man. Because it's fucking Chinatown.

The Conversation by Francis Ford Coppola

****

A character study-mystery-thriller with nary a moment wasted. Every line of dialogue either presents a new aspect of Gene Hackman's character or a new element of paranoia. Think about this: we're watching a film about a private individual who says very little, whom few people know intimately, yet we're there with him every step of the way...and there's no voice-over. Like Chinatown, every development is earned by what's preceded it, never a dishonest step.

Day for Night by Jean-Louis Richard, Suzanne Schiffman and Francois Truffaut

***

An ensemble film about filmmaking? Bitches, you know I'm gonna love this. The script allows every member of the ensemble to have at least one great moment in the spotlight: the script girl, the producer, the wife of one of the executives, the lead actress's husband, everyone! If there is an element that gives me pause, it's the way certain things are brought up and then dropped, like the real source of star Severine's muddling of her lines. And yet...is this not a perfect portrait of a film set? Brief catches of gossip, of lovemaking, of rivalries, springing up and disappearing in the limited amount of time they have. Severine herself puts it best: "What a funny life we lead. We meet, we work together, we love each other, and then -- THPPT! As soon as we grasp something, it's gone! See?"

Of course, some people do believe that dialogue = screenplay, and Day for Night certainly has some classic lines. Besides Severine's little speech, my two favorite pieces of dialogue would have to be: "People used to stare at fires. Now they watch TV. We need to see moving images, especially after dinner," and "I'd drop a guy for a film. I'd never drop a film for a guy!" When you can tell everything about a character just from the words they say, the writer's done their job.

Harry & Tonto by Paul Mazursky and Josh Greenfeld

**

Harry & Tonto, for me, misses so many opportunities to be more than an adorable old man taking a road trip. Maybe I missed something, but is there an arc of any kind? Harry doesn't want to leave his apartment, he's thrown out, he road trips he meets people. Do these people change his life in any significant way? Or anything at all? No, he just kind of meets them and then continues on his way. What's the point of the prostitute? The hitchhikers? The old flame? The son who pretends to have it all but doesn't? The nephew who refuses to speak? Ellen Burstyn? There are interesting set-ups to each of these segments, and it feels like they're about to go somewhere, but they don't.

Perhaps the most irritating aspect, for me, is a major spoiler, so feel free to skip this paragraph.

But isn't Tonto the most important thing for him now? He won't get on a plane because of Tonto, he won't stay on a Greyhound because of Tonto, he panics while in jail because of Tonto. Yet Tonto's death is off-screen, and delivered to us by way of voice-over...and I feel no emotional connection. Mayve I shouldn't blame this on the screenplay. Maybe this is more on the directing and editing side of things, and there was a beautiful and poignant moment set up within the script. All I know is, one of the title characters died and it hardly mattered. It's as though the cat existed merely to get him off the bus and away from planes. No thank you.

---------------------------------------------

Really, who am I to argue with Oscar on this one? I, too, believe the Oscar should go to...

ROBERT TOWNE

for

CHINATOWN