Pauline Kael (71 page)
Authors: Brian Kellow
163
“I already know what happened”:
Author interview with Howard Suber, July 28, 2010.
“I already know what happened”:
Author interview with Howard Suber, July 28, 2010.
163
“had been advertised as a one-man show”:
Kael, “Onward and Upward,”
The New Yorker
(February 20/27, 1971).
“had been advertised as a one-man show”:
Kael, “Onward and Upward,”
The New Yorker
(February 20/27, 1971).
164
“has lived all his life in a cloud of failure”:
Ibid.
“has lived all his life in a cloud of failure”:
Ibid.
164
“98% hustling and 2% moviemaking”:
DVD,
Citizen Kane
, Turner Home Entertainment, 2001.
“98% hustling and 2% moviemaking”:
DVD,
Citizen Kane
, Turner Home Entertainment, 2001.
164
“a first-rate account and I am a better man for having read it”:
Letter from Nunnally Johnson to Pauline Kael, March 5, 1971.
“a first-rate account and I am a better man for having read it”:
Letter from Nunnally Johnson to Pauline Kael, March 5, 1971.
164
“the references to Mank’s drinking”:
Ibid.
“the references to Mank’s drinking”:
Ibid.
164
“There have always been the Welles idolators”:
Author interview with Tom Mankiewicz, December 16, 2008.
“There have always been the Welles idolators”:
Author interview with Tom Mankiewicz, December 16, 2008.
164
“a highly intelligent and entertaining study”:
The New York Times
, October 31, 1971.
“a highly intelligent and entertaining study”:
The New York Times
, October 31, 1971.
164
“superficial and without one quotable line”:
Ibid.
“superficial and without one quotable line”:
Ibid.
164
“he was the one who did in fact put it all together”:
Ibid.
“he was the one who did in fact put it all together”:
Ibid.
165
“loaded with error and faulty supposition presented as fact”:
Esquire
(June 1972).
“loaded with error and faulty supposition presented as fact”:
Esquire
(June 1972).
165
“were to collaborate in writing the prefatory material to the published screenplay”:
Ibid.
“were to collaborate in writing the prefatory material to the published screenplay”:
Ibid.
165
“full credit for whatever use she made of it”:
Ibid.
“full credit for whatever use she made of it”:
Ibid.
165
“That is 100 percent, whole-cloth lying”:
Esquire
(June 1972).
“That is 100 percent, whole-cloth lying”:
Esquire
(June 1972).
165
“vivified the material”:
Ibid.
“vivified the material”:
Ibid.
165
“twaddle”:
Ibid.
“twaddle”:
Ibid.
166
“The revisions made by Welles”:
Ibid.
“The revisions made by Welles”:
Ibid.
167
“How am I going to answer this?”:
Author interview with Peter Bogdanovich, September 26, 2009.
“How am I going to answer this?”:
Author interview with Peter Bogdanovich, September 26, 2009.
167
“Don’t answer”:
Ibid.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN“Don’t answer”:
Ibid.
168
“I don’t really care much about the story in a film”:
Commentary by Robert Altman, DVD,
McCabe & Mrs. Miller
, Warner Bros., 2002.
“I don’t really care much about the story in a film”:
Commentary by Robert Altman, DVD,
McCabe & Mrs. Miller
, Warner Bros., 2002.
169
“saddened and disgusted”:
Rona Barrett broadcast, Channel 5, June 2, 1971.
“saddened and disgusted”:
Rona Barrett broadcast, Channel 5, June 2, 1971.
169
“rated R, presumably for rotten”:
Ibid.
“rated R, presumably for rotten”:
Ibid.
169
“got up and walked out”:
Ibid.
“got up and walked out”:
Ibid.
169
“
McCabe & Mrs. Miller
is a beautiful pipe dream of a movie”:
Pauline Kael, “The Current Cinema,”
The New Yorker
(July 3, 1971).
“
McCabe & Mrs. Miller
is a beautiful pipe dream of a movie”:
Pauline Kael, “The Current Cinema,”
The New Yorker
(July 3, 1971).
169
“so indirect in method”:
Ibid.
“so indirect in method”:
Ibid.
169
“the theatrical convention that movies have generally clung to”:
Ibid.
“the theatrical convention that movies have generally clung to”:
Ibid.
169
“Will a large enough American public accept”:
Ibid.
“Will a large enough American public accept”:
Ibid.
170
“Seeing
Sunday Bloody Sunday
”:
Kael,
The New Yorker
(October 2, 1971).
“Seeing
Sunday Bloody Sunday
”:
Kael,
The New Yorker
(October 2, 1971).
170
“MRS. GRENVILLE: Darling, you keep throwing in your hand”:
Penelope Gilliatt,
Sunday Bloody Sunday
:
The Original Screenplay of the John Schlesinger Film
(New York: Dodd, Mead, 1971), 89.
“MRS. GRENVILLE: Darling, you keep throwing in your hand”:
Penelope Gilliatt,
Sunday Bloody Sunday
:
The Original Screenplay of the John Schlesinger Film
(New York: Dodd, Mead, 1971), 89.
171
“Peter Finch’s Dr. Daniel Hirsh”:
Kael,
The New Yorker
(October 2, 1971).
“Peter Finch’s Dr. Daniel Hirsh”:
Kael,
The New Yorker
(October 2, 1971).
171
“the characters here all are coping”:
Ibid.
“the characters here all are coping”:
Ibid.
171
“instantly recognizable as a classic”:
Ibid.
“instantly recognizable as a classic”:
Ibid.
171
“lost his stridency”:
Ibid.
“lost his stridency”:
Ibid.
171
“what few people who write for the screen think to do”:
Ibid.
“what few people who write for the screen think to do”:
Ibid.
171
“mistake the film for the filmmaker”:
Author interview with William Friedkin, May 10, 2008.
“mistake the film for the filmmaker”:
Author interview with William Friedkin, May 10, 2008.
172
“bland, barren, gray look”:
The Village Voice
, February 24, 1972.
“bland, barren, gray look”:
The Village Voice
, February 24, 1972.
172
“It’s a dismal town”:
Ibid.
“It’s a dismal town”:
Ibid.
172
“I have visions of Pauline Kael in the year 2001”:
Ibid., October 14, 1971.
“I have visions of Pauline Kael in the year 2001”:
Ibid., October 14, 1971.
172
“turn into a bludgeon to beat other filmmakers with”:
Kael,
The New Yorker
(October 9, 1971).
“turn into a bludgeon to beat other filmmakers with”:
Kael,
The New Yorker
(October 9, 1971).
172
“worked-up, raunchy melodrama”:
Ibid.
“worked-up, raunchy melodrama”:
Ibid.
172
“exploitative of human passions and miseries”:
Ibid.
“exploitative of human passions and miseries”:
Ibid.
172
“a lovingly exact history of American small-town life”:
Ibid.
“a lovingly exact history of American small-town life”:
Ibid.
172
“perhaps what TV soap opera would be if it were more honest”:
Ibid.
“perhaps what TV soap opera would be if it were more honest”:
Ibid.
173
“For several decades”:
Ibid.
“For several decades”:
Ibid.
173
“still feeling that they represented something preferable ”:
Ibid.
“still feeling that they represented something preferable ”:
Ibid.
173
“part of the truth of American experience”:
Ibid.
“part of the truth of American experience”:
Ibid.
173
“Pauline misses the point”:
Author interview with Peter Bogdanovich, September 26, 2009.
“Pauline misses the point”:
Author interview with Peter Bogdanovich, September 26, 2009.
173
“It would have taken
Winchester’73
”:
Larry McMurtry,
The Last Picture Show
(New York: Dial Press, 1966), 204.
“It would have taken
Winchester’73
”:
Larry McMurtry,
The Last Picture Show
(New York: Dial Press, 1966), 204.
173
“If Bogdanovich replaces Hopper”:
Kael,
The New Yorker
(October 9, 1971).
“If Bogdanovich replaces Hopper”:
Kael,
The New Yorker
(October 9, 1971).
174
“I told him that Pauline had said it was a picture that even Richard Nixon would like”:
Author interview with Peter Bogdanovich, September 26, 2009.
“I told him that Pauline had said it was a picture that even Richard Nixon would like”:
Author interview with Peter Bogdanovich, September 26, 2009.
174
“I don’t know if that’s a compliment or not”:
Ibid.
“I don’t know if that’s a compliment or not”:
Ibid.
174
“I thought Pauline was deaf to feminism”:
Author interview with Karen Durbin, January 12, 2010.
“I thought Pauline was deaf to feminism”:
Author interview with Karen Durbin, January 12, 2010.
175
“the best high of all”:
Joan Didion and John Gregory Dunne, screenplay of
Panic in Needle Park,
1971.
“the best high of all”:
Joan Didion and John Gregory Dunne, screenplay of
Panic in Needle Park,
1971.
175
“everyone seems to be dressed for a mad ball”:
Kael,
The New Yorker
(October 30, 1971).
“everyone seems to be dressed for a mad ball”:
Kael,
The New Yorker
(October 30, 1971).
175
“It is literally true”:
Ibid.
“It is literally true”:
Ibid.
175
“often irrational and horrifying brutal”:
Ibid.
“often irrational and horrifying brutal”:
Ibid.
175
“extraordinarily well made”:
Ibid.
“extraordinarily well made”:
Ibid.
175
“what we once feared mass entertainment might become”:
Ibid.
“what we once feared mass entertainment might become”:
Ibid.
176
“primarily an American Jewish contribution”:
Kael,
The New Yorker
(November 13, 1971).
“primarily an American Jewish contribution”:
Kael,
The New Yorker
(November 13, 1971).
176
“probably the only successful attempt ”:
Ibid.
“probably the only successful attempt ”:
Ibid.
176
“the Jews as an oppressed people”:
Ibid.
“the Jews as an oppressed people”:
Ibid.
176
“self-hatred and self-infatuation”:
Ibid.
“self-hatred and self-infatuation”:
Ibid.
176
“Younger members of the audience—particularly if they are Jewish”:
Ibid.
“Younger members of the audience—particularly if they are Jewish”:
Ibid.
176
“Thank you for your in
depth
critique”:
Letter from Norman Jewison to Pauline Kael, March 15, 1972.
“Thank you for your in
depth
critique”:
Letter from Norman Jewison to Pauline Kael, March 15, 1972.
177
“man in his natural state”:
The New York Times
, January 4, 1972.
“man in his natural state”:
The New York Times
, January 4, 1972.
177
“directed toward cuteness at every opportunity”:
Life
(February 4, 1972).
“directed toward cuteness at every opportunity”:
Life
(February 4, 1972).
177
“a viciously rigged game”:
Ibid.
“a viciously rigged game”:
Ibid.
177
“If such a catastrophe has indeed occurred”:
The Village Voice
, December 20, 1971.
“If such a catastrophe has indeed occurred”:
The Village Voice
, December 20, 1971.
177
“a victory in which we share”:
Kael,
The New Yorker
(January 1, 1971).
“a victory in which we share”:
Kael,
The New Yorker
(January 1, 1971).
177
“symptomatic of a new attitude in movies”:
Ibid.
“symptomatic of a new attitude in movies”:
Ibid.
177
“corrupt”:
Ibid.
“corrupt”:
Ibid.
178
“At the movies”:
Ibid.
“At the movies”:
Ibid.
178
“right-wing fantasy”:
Kael,
The New Yorker
(January 15, 1972).
“right-wing fantasy”:
Kael,
The New Yorker
(January 15, 1972).
179
“falling to the water in an instant extended to eternity”:
Kael,
The New Yorker
(January 29, 1972).
“falling to the water in an instant extended to eternity”:
Kael,
The New Yorker
(January 29, 1972).
179
“take the façade of movie violence”:
The New York Times
, February 26, 1995.
“take the façade of movie violence”:
The New York Times
, February 26, 1995.
179
“got so wound up in the aesthetics of violence”:
Kael,
The New Yorker
(March 21, 1970).
“got so wound up in the aesthetics of violence”:
Kael,
The New Yorker
(March 21, 1970).
179
“profoundly depressing”:
Letter from Sam Peckinpah to Pauline Kael, May 22, 1970.
“profoundly depressing”:
Letter from Sam Peckinpah to Pauline Kael, May 22, 1970.
180
“You can’t make violence real to audiences today”:
Kevin J. Hayes,
Sam Peckinpah Interviews
(Jackson: University of Mississippi Press, 2008), 102.
“You can’t make violence real to audiences today”:
Kevin J. Hayes,
Sam Peckinpah Interviews
(Jackson: University of Mississippi Press, 2008), 102.
180
“The vision of
Straw Dogs
is narrow and puny”:
Kael,
The New Yorker
(January 28, 1972).
“The vision of
Straw Dogs
is narrow and puny”:
Kael,
The New Yorker
(January 28, 1972).
180
“intuitions as a director are infinitely superior to his thinking”:
Ibid.
“intuitions as a director are infinitely superior to his thinking”:
Ibid.
180
“stale anti-intellectualism”:
Ibid.
“stale anti-intellectualism”:
Ibid.
180
“one of the few truly erotic sequences in film”:
Ibid.
“one of the few truly erotic sequences in film”:
Ibid.
180
“the punches that subdue the wife”:
Ibid.
“the punches that subdue the wife”:
Ibid.
180
“The rape has heat to it”:
Ibid.
“The rape has heat to it”:
Ibid.
180
“The thesis that man is irretrievably bad and corrupt is the essence of fascism”:
The New York Times
, January 2, 1972.
“The thesis that man is irretrievably bad and corrupt is the essence of fascism”:
The New York Times
, January 2, 1972.
180
“What I am saying, I fear”:
Kael,
The New Yorker
(January 29, 1972).
“What I am saying, I fear”:
Kael,
The New Yorker
(January 29, 1972).
180
“Fascist, God how I hate that word”:
Letter from Sam Peckinpah to Pauline Kael, February 21, 1973.
“Fascist, God how I hate that word”:
Letter from Sam Peckinpah to Pauline Kael, February 21, 1973.
181
“Doesn’t Kael know
anything
about sex?”:
Hayes, 100.
“Doesn’t Kael know
anything
about sex?”:
Hayes, 100.
181
“
Cabaret
is a great movie musical”:
Kael,
The New Yorker
(February 19, 1972).
“
Cabaret
is a great movie musical”:
Kael,
The New Yorker
(February 19, 1972).
181
“distinctive, acrid flavor—a taste of death on the tongue”:
Ibid.
“distinctive, acrid flavor—a taste of death on the tongue”:
Ibid.
182
“The grotesque amorality in
Cabaret
is frightening”:
Ibid.
“The grotesque amorality in
Cabaret
is frightening”:
Ibid.
182
“you can create a new organic whole”:
Ibid.
“you can create a new organic whole”:
Ibid.
182
“the best popular movies come out of a merger of commerce and art”:
Kael,
The New Yorker
(March 18, 1972).
“the best popular movies come out of a merger of commerce and art”:
Kael,
The New Yorker
(March 18, 1972).
182
“tenaciously intelligent”:
Ibid.
“tenaciously intelligent”:
Ibid.
182
“mellowed in recent years”:
Ibid.
“mellowed in recent years”:
Ibid.
183
“those old men who carry never-ending grudges”:
Ibid.
“those old men who carry never-ending grudges”:
Ibid.
183
“Organized crime is not a rejection of Americanism”:
Ibid.
“Organized crime is not a rejection of Americanism”:
Ibid.
183
“one of the most intricately balanced moral dilemmas imaginable”:
Kael,
The New Yorker
(March 25, 1972).
“one of the most intricately balanced moral dilemmas imaginable”:
Kael,
The New Yorker
(March 25, 1972).
183
“Inexplicably”:
Ibid.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN“Inexplicably”:
Ibid.
186
“improbable one”:
Author interview with Erhard Dortmund, February 9, 2009.
“improbable one”:
Author interview with Erhard Dortmund, February 9, 2009.
186
“She would throw a little dart in”:
Author interview with James Wolcott, August 3, 2010.
“She would throw a little dart in”:
Author interview with James Wolcott, August 3, 2010.
187
“Sometimes I would just sit there silent as a stone”:
Author interview with James Morgenstern, May 8, 2009.
“Sometimes I would just sit there silent as a stone”:
Author interview with James Morgenstern, May 8, 2009.
187
“She thought that the editorial department should be doing more”:
Author interview with Hoyt Spelman, January 15, 2009.
“She thought that the editorial department should be doing more”:
Author interview with Hoyt Spelman, January 15, 2009.
187
“fossil”:
Author interview with Joseph Morgenstern, May 8, 2009.
“fossil”:
Author interview with Joseph Morgenstern, May 8, 2009.
188
“Pauline was one of the women”:
Author interview with Karen Durbin, January 12, 2010.
“Pauline was one of the women”:
Author interview with Karen Durbin, January 12, 2010.
188
“that a Negro family can be as dreary as a white family”:
“Trash, Art and the Movies”:
Harper’s
(February 1969).
“that a Negro family can be as dreary as a white family”:
“Trash, Art and the Movies”:
Harper’s
(February 1969).
188
“never pushes a moment too hard”:
Pauline Kael, “The Current Cinema,”
The New Yorker
(September 30, 1972).
“never pushes a moment too hard”:
Pauline Kael, “The Current Cinema,”
The New Yorker
(September 30, 1972).
188
“the singular good fortune”:
Ibid.
“the singular good fortune”:
Ibid.
188
“to strive for classical plainness”:
The New York Times
, September 25, 1972.
“to strive for classical plainness”:
The New York Times
, September 25, 1972.
188
“no resemblance whatsoever to reality as I observed it”:
The New York Times
, November 12, 1972.
“no resemblance whatsoever to reality as I observed it”:
The New York Times
, November 12, 1972.
188
“Are they available only for fantasies”:
Life
(October 20, 1972).
“Are they available only for fantasies”:
Life
(October 20, 1972).
189
“heavy and glazed”:
Kael,
The New Yorker
(November 4, 1972).
“heavy and glazed”:
Kael,
The New Yorker
(November 4, 1972).
189
“Factually it’s a fraud, but emotionally it delivers”:
Ibid.
“Factually it’s a fraud, but emotionally it delivers”:
Ibid.
189
“Pop music provides immediate emotional gratifications”:
Ibid.
“Pop music provides immediate emotional gratifications”:
Ibid.
189
“want Billie Holiday’s hard, melancholic sound”:
Ibid.
“want Billie Holiday’s hard, melancholic sound”:
Ibid.
190
“Everything outside this place is bullshit”:
Bernardo Bertolucci and Franco Arcalli, screenplay of
Last Tango in Paris
, 1972
.
“Everything outside this place is bullshit”:
Bernardo Bertolucci and Franco Arcalli, screenplay of
Last Tango in Paris
, 1972
.
191
“our marriage was nothing more than a foxhole for you”:
Ibid.
“our marriage was nothing more than a foxhole for you”:
Ibid.
191
“Listen, you dumb dodo”:
Ibid.
“Listen, you dumb dodo”:
Ibid.
191
“drenched”:
Author interview with George Malko, April 15, 2009.
“drenched”:
Author interview with George Malko, April 15, 2009.
191
“Bernardo Bertolucci’s
Last Tango in Paris
”:
Kael,
The New Yorker
(October 28, 1972).
“Bernardo Bertolucci’s
Last Tango in Paris
”:
Kael,
The New Yorker
(October 28, 1972).
192
“having a seizure onstage”:
Ibid.
“having a seizure onstage”:
Ibid.
192
“a study of the aggression in masculine sexuality”:
Ibid.
“a study of the aggression in masculine sexuality”:
Ibid.
192
“Americans seem to have lost the capacity for being scandalized”:
Ibid.
“Americans seem to have lost the capacity for being scandalized”:
Ibid.
192
“might have been easier on some”:
Ibid.
“might have been easier on some”:
Ibid.
192
“this is a movie people will be arguing about”:
Ibid.
“this is a movie people will be arguing about”:
Ibid.
192
“I’ve tried to describe”:
Ibid.
“I’ve tried to describe”:
Ibid.
193
“Bertolucci and Brando have altered the face of an art form”:
Kael,
The New Yorker
(October 28, 1972).
“Bertolucci and Brando have altered the face of an art form”:
Kael,
The New Yorker
(October 28, 1972).
193
“I remember we came out of the movie”:
Author interview with Charles Simmons, June 29, 2009.
“I remember we came out of the movie”:
Author interview with Charles Simmons, June 29, 2009.
193
“I saw
Last Tango
, not with her”:
Ibid.
“I saw
Last Tango
, not with her”:
Ibid.
193
“stylistically wasteful and excessive”:
The Village Voice
, February 1, 1973.
“stylistically wasteful and excessive”:
The Village Voice
, February 1, 1973.
193
“its best scenes are isolated from each other”:
Ibid.
“its best scenes are isolated from each other”:
Ibid.
194
“Under ordinary circumstances”:
Ibid.
“Under ordinary circumstances”:
Ibid.
194
“That . . . was her last tango with Sarris”:
Author interview with Hoyt Spelman, January 15, 2009.
“That . . . was her last tango with Sarris”:
Author interview with Hoyt Spelman, January 15, 2009.
194
“the ultimate princess fantasy”:
Kael,
The New Yorker
(November 11, 1972).
“the ultimate princess fantasy”:
Kael,
The New Yorker
(November 11, 1972).
194
“too sensitive for this world”:
Ibid.
“too sensitive for this world”:
Ibid.
194
“ridiculously swank”:
Ibid.
“ridiculously swank”:
Ibid.
194
“a writer’s performance”:
Ibid.
“a writer’s performance”:
Ibid.
195
“wanted Frank Perry to direct”:
Kael,
The New Yorker
(November 11, 1972).
“wanted Frank Perry to direct”:
Kael,
The New Yorker
(November 11, 1972).
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