Bob Slutske, an expert on the efficiency and effectiveness of media issues throughout the film production process, has died. He was 81.
Slutske died Tuesday in Los Angeles following a long illness, The Hollywood Reporter learned Wednesday.
Throughout his 60-year career, Slutske worked in the theater and entertainment space, serving as one of the initial developers of nonlinear editing technology. He also helped pave the way for computerized lighting and automated mix-down in the industry with “first of a kind” systems.
He started working in theater, focused on lighting, stage management and direction, including in the productions Amen Corner with James Baldwin and The Loudest Sound in the World with Frank Silvera. He transitioned to Ampex and LucasFilm, where he worked with Stanley Kubrick, Sidney Lumet, Alan Alda and George Lucas to bring nonlinear editing systems to market.
Slutske served 17 years as the vice president of National TeleConsultants, where he provided...
Slutske died Tuesday in Los Angeles following a long illness, The Hollywood Reporter learned Wednesday.
Throughout his 60-year career, Slutske worked in the theater and entertainment space, serving as one of the initial developers of nonlinear editing technology. He also helped pave the way for computerized lighting and automated mix-down in the industry with “first of a kind” systems.
He started working in theater, focused on lighting, stage management and direction, including in the productions Amen Corner with James Baldwin and The Loudest Sound in the World with Frank Silvera. He transitioned to Ampex and LucasFilm, where he worked with Stanley Kubrick, Sidney Lumet, Alan Alda and George Lucas to bring nonlinear editing systems to market.
Slutske served 17 years as the vice president of National TeleConsultants, where he provided...
- 4/4/2024
- by Carly Thomas
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Ultra HD puts Stanley Kubrick’s second feature film in a new light — his B&w images of New York lend a ‘Weegee’ flavor to the tale of a prizefighter who comes to the rescue of a dance hall girl. Kubrick does better sticking to the urban streets he knows so well; the cast scores via his strong direction and art museum-quality images. The post-dubbed soundtrack is the weak link, and perhaps Kubrick’s somewhat awkward flashback gear changes. But for 1955 he’s definitely a talent on the way. Kino’s disc carries an analytical commentary by Imogen Sara Smith.
Killer’s Kiss
4K Ultra HD
Kl Studio Classics
1955 / B&w / 1:37 Academy / 67 min. / Street Date June 28, 2022 / Kiss Me, Kill Me / available through Kino Lorber / 24.95
Starring: Frank Silvera, Jamie Smith, Irene Kane, Jerry Jarrett, Mike Dana, Felice Orlandi, Shaun O’Brien, Barbara Brand, Ruth Sobotka.
Cinematography: Stanley Kubrick
Film Editor: Stanley Kubrick...
Killer’s Kiss
4K Ultra HD
Kl Studio Classics
1955 / B&w / 1:37 Academy / 67 min. / Street Date June 28, 2022 / Kiss Me, Kill Me / available through Kino Lorber / 24.95
Starring: Frank Silvera, Jamie Smith, Irene Kane, Jerry Jarrett, Mike Dana, Felice Orlandi, Shaun O’Brien, Barbara Brand, Ruth Sobotka.
Cinematography: Stanley Kubrick
Film Editor: Stanley Kubrick...
- 6/11/2022
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
As the Venice Film Festival prepares to celebrate its 90th anniversary, researchers have reconstructed how Stanley Kubrick’s first film, now known as “Fear and Desire,” came to screen on the Lido in 1952.
The screening of the film, initially titled “Shape of Fear,” took place at the Palazzo del Cinema on the Lido on Aug. 18, 1952, in a section called Festival of the Scientific Film and Art Documentary.
Basically, Kubrick’s debut was invited for a special screening after not making the cut for competition due to “the length and character of the film,” as an exchange of letters between the 23-year-old Kubrick and then Venice chief Antonio Petrucci attests (see below).
The whole story has been reconstructed for the first time in the letters and documents preserved in the archives of the fest’s parent organization, the Venice Biennale, ahead of an international conference celebrating the 90th anniversary of the world’s oldest film festival,...
The screening of the film, initially titled “Shape of Fear,” took place at the Palazzo del Cinema on the Lido on Aug. 18, 1952, in a section called Festival of the Scientific Film and Art Documentary.
Basically, Kubrick’s debut was invited for a special screening after not making the cut for competition due to “the length and character of the film,” as an exchange of letters between the 23-year-old Kubrick and then Venice chief Antonio Petrucci attests (see below).
The whole story has been reconstructed for the first time in the letters and documents preserved in the archives of the fest’s parent organization, the Venice Biennale, ahead of an international conference celebrating the 90th anniversary of the world’s oldest film festival,...
- 6/8/2022
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
Roger Corman’s ferocious gangster epic (more squibs!) bounces back in a UK Region B edition, noisier and bloodier than ever. Jason Robards, George Segal, Ralph Meeker and a couple of dozen top-notch hoods replay the ugly events that led up to the notorious 1929 gangland slaying — which now almost seems tame — where gun massacres are concerned, today ‘Every Day Is a Holiday.’
The St. Valentine’s Day Massacre
Region B Blu-ray
Powerhouse Indicator
1967 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 100 min. / Street Date April 30, 2018 / available from Powerhouse Films UK / £15.99
Starring Jason Robards, George Segal, Ralph Meeker, Jean Hale, Frank Silvera, Joseph Campanella, Richard Bakalyan, David Canary, Bruce Dern, Harold J. Stone, Kurt Kreuger, Joe Turkel, John Agar, Celia Lovsky, Tom Reese, Jan Merlin,Alex D’Arcy, Reed Hadley, Gus Trikonis, Charles Dierkop, Alex Rocco, Leo Gordon, Russ Conway, Jonathan Haze, Betsy Jones-Moreland, Dick Miller, Barboura Morris, Jack Nicholson, Joan Shawlee.
Cinematography Milton Krasner
Art Direction Philip Jefferies,...
The St. Valentine’s Day Massacre
Region B Blu-ray
Powerhouse Indicator
1967 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 100 min. / Street Date April 30, 2018 / available from Powerhouse Films UK / £15.99
Starring Jason Robards, George Segal, Ralph Meeker, Jean Hale, Frank Silvera, Joseph Campanella, Richard Bakalyan, David Canary, Bruce Dern, Harold J. Stone, Kurt Kreuger, Joe Turkel, John Agar, Celia Lovsky, Tom Reese, Jan Merlin,Alex D’Arcy, Reed Hadley, Gus Trikonis, Charles Dierkop, Alex Rocco, Leo Gordon, Russ Conway, Jonathan Haze, Betsy Jones-Moreland, Dick Miller, Barboura Morris, Jack Nicholson, Joan Shawlee.
Cinematography Milton Krasner
Art Direction Philip Jefferies,...
- 4/21/2018
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Morgan Freeman – Academy Award winning actor, producer, voice actor and activist – has been named the 54th recipient of SAG-aftra's highest tribute: the SAG Life Achievement Award for career achievement and humanitarian accomplishment.
Freeman will be presented the performers union’s top accolade at the 24th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards,which will be simulcast live on TNT and TBS on Sunday, Jan. 21, 2018 at 8 p.m. (Et), 7 p.m. (Ct), 6 p.m. (Mt) and 5 p.m. (Pt). Given annually to an actor who fosters the “finest ideals of the acting profession,” the SAG Life Achievement Award will join Freeman’s exceptional catalog of preeminent industry and public honors, which includes a Screen Actors Guild Award, an Academy Award, HFPA’s Cecil B. DeMille Award, an AFI Lifetime Achievement Award, seven Image Awards, a Silver Berlin Bear, several Obies, a Kennedy Center Honor, and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Freeman will be presented the performers union’s top accolade at the 24th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards,which will be simulcast live on TNT and TBS on Sunday, Jan. 21, 2018 at 8 p.m. (Et), 7 p.m. (Ct), 6 p.m. (Mt) and 5 p.m. (Pt). Given annually to an actor who fosters the “finest ideals of the acting profession,” the SAG Life Achievement Award will join Freeman’s exceptional catalog of preeminent industry and public honors, which includes a Screen Actors Guild Award, an Academy Award, HFPA’s Cecil B. DeMille Award, an AFI Lifetime Achievement Award, seven Image Awards, a Silver Berlin Bear, several Obies, a Kennedy Center Honor, and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
- 8/24/2017
- Look to the Stars
Unsung actress Beverly Garland becomes TV’s first lady cop, in what’s claimed to be the first TV show filmed on the streets of New York City. This one-season wonder from 1957 has vintage locations, fairly tough-minded storylines and solid performances, from Bev and a vast gallery of stage and TV actors on the way up.
Decoy
(Policewoman Decoy)
TV Series
DVD
Film Chest Media
1957-’58 / B&W / 1:33 flat full frame (TV) / 39 x 30 min. / Street Date May 30, 2017 / 19.98
Starring: Beverly Garland
Art Direction (some episodes): Mel Bourne
Original Music: Wladimir Selinsky
Written by Lillian Andrews, Nicholas E. Baehr, Cy Chermak, Jerome Coopersmith, Don Ettlinger, Frances Frankel, Steven Gardner, Abram S. Ginnes, Mel Goldberg, Saul Levitt, Leon Tokatyan
Produced by Arthur H. Singer, David Alexander, Stuart Rosenberg, Everett Rosenthal
Directed by Teddy Sills, Stuart Rosenberg, David Alexander, Michael Gordon, Don Medford, Arthur H. Singer, Marc Daniels
How did I experience...
Decoy
(Policewoman Decoy)
TV Series
DVD
Film Chest Media
1957-’58 / B&W / 1:33 flat full frame (TV) / 39 x 30 min. / Street Date May 30, 2017 / 19.98
Starring: Beverly Garland
Art Direction (some episodes): Mel Bourne
Original Music: Wladimir Selinsky
Written by Lillian Andrews, Nicholas E. Baehr, Cy Chermak, Jerome Coopersmith, Don Ettlinger, Frances Frankel, Steven Gardner, Abram S. Ginnes, Mel Goldberg, Saul Levitt, Leon Tokatyan
Produced by Arthur H. Singer, David Alexander, Stuart Rosenberg, Everett Rosenthal
Directed by Teddy Sills, Stuart Rosenberg, David Alexander, Michael Gordon, Don Medford, Arthur H. Singer, Marc Daniels
How did I experience...
- 5/16/2017
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Charlton Heston movies: ‘A Man for All Seasons’ remake, ‘The Greatest Story Ever Told’ (photo: Charlton Heston as Ben-Hur) (See previous post: “Charlton Heston: Moses Minus Staff Plus Chariot Equals Ben-Hur.”) I’ve yet to watch Irving Rapper’s melo Bad for Each Other (1954), co-starring the sultry Lizabeth Scott — always a good enough reason to check out any movie, regardless of plot or leading man. A major curiosity is the 1988 made-for-tv version of A Man for All Seasons, with Charlton Heston in the Oscar-winning Paul Scofield role (Sir Thomas More) and on Fred Zinnemann’s director’s chair. Vanessa Redgrave, who plays Thomas More’s wife in the TV movie (Wendy Hiller in the original) had a cameo as Anne Boleyn in the 1966 film. According to the IMDb, Robert Bolt, who wrote the Oscar-winning 1966 movie (and the original play), is credited for the 1988 version’s screenplay as well. Also of note,...
- 8/5/2013
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Blu-ray & DVD Release Date: Oct. 23, 2012
Price: DVD $29.95, Blu-ray $34.95
Studio: Kino Lorber
A squad of soldiers unwinds behind enemy lines in Stanley Kubrick's 1953 Fear and Desire.
Virtually unseen since its theatrical premiere in 1953, Fear and Desire was the ambitious first feature film by legendary filmmaker Stanley Kubrick (A Clockwork Orange).
An existential war film often compared with the director’s Paths of Glory (1957) and Full Metal Jacket (1987), Fear and Desire follows a squad of soldiers who have crash-landed behind enemy lines and must work their way downriver to rejoin their unit. In the process, they encounter a peasant girl (Virginia Leith) and bind her to a tree, where she is tormented by a mentally unbalanced soldier (future director Paul Mazursky). Before making their escape, the soldiers determine the location of an enemy base and formulate a plot to assassinate its commanding officer.
The 60-minute-long film was produced, directed, photographed and...
Price: DVD $29.95, Blu-ray $34.95
Studio: Kino Lorber
A squad of soldiers unwinds behind enemy lines in Stanley Kubrick's 1953 Fear and Desire.
Virtually unseen since its theatrical premiere in 1953, Fear and Desire was the ambitious first feature film by legendary filmmaker Stanley Kubrick (A Clockwork Orange).
An existential war film often compared with the director’s Paths of Glory (1957) and Full Metal Jacket (1987), Fear and Desire follows a squad of soldiers who have crash-landed behind enemy lines and must work their way downriver to rejoin their unit. In the process, they encounter a peasant girl (Virginia Leith) and bind her to a tree, where she is tormented by a mentally unbalanced soldier (future director Paul Mazursky). Before making their escape, the soldiers determine the location of an enemy base and formulate a plot to assassinate its commanding officer.
The 60-minute-long film was produced, directed, photographed and...
- 8/29/2012
- by Laurence
- Disc Dish
Killer’s Kiss
Directed by Stanley Kubrick
Written by Stanley Kubrick and Howard Sackler
U.S.A, 1955
Just as last week’s column entry took a look at one of Stanley Kubrick’s earliest works, The Killing, this week yet an earlier piece of cinema from the director is explored. One year prior to making his real breakout film and equipped with what amounted to a micro-budget, Kubrick and his limited cast and crew filmed around the streets of Manhattan to tell the tale of two lovers in Killer’s Kiss. Any production values are incredibly minute (artificial sets, special lighting) when compared to the master’s later work, and even tonally the film differs very much from almost everything he did later, yet the curious may still want to discover this one.
Davey Gordon (Jamie Smith) is man whose potential never fully materialized. He is a boxer, and while...
Directed by Stanley Kubrick
Written by Stanley Kubrick and Howard Sackler
U.S.A, 1955
Just as last week’s column entry took a look at one of Stanley Kubrick’s earliest works, The Killing, this week yet an earlier piece of cinema from the director is explored. One year prior to making his real breakout film and equipped with what amounted to a micro-budget, Kubrick and his limited cast and crew filmed around the streets of Manhattan to tell the tale of two lovers in Killer’s Kiss. Any production values are incredibly minute (artificial sets, special lighting) when compared to the master’s later work, and even tonally the film differs very much from almost everything he did later, yet the curious may still want to discover this one.
Davey Gordon (Jamie Smith) is man whose potential never fully materialized. He is a boxer, and while...
- 5/18/2012
- by Edgar Chaput
- SoundOnSight
This year, New Directors/New Films is "breaking precedent and presenting a film nearly 20 years older than the festival itself."
Nick Schager in Slant: "So loathed by Stanley Kubrick that the legendary director reportedly confiscated all existing copies to keep it out of circulation, Fear and Desire proves a modest, if relatively promising, 1953 debut for the late auteur, touching on his trademark themes via the allegorical tale of soldiers shot down behind enemy lines in an unnamed country in an unspecified time. Kubrick's story, penned by Howard Sackler, is deliberately vague with regard to nationalities and politics so that its focus can remain squarely on the psychological turmoil of its characters, a ragtag quartet that includes ruminative Lieutenant Corby (Kenneth Harp), gruff Sergeant Mac (Frank Silvera), meek Private Fletcher (Stephen Colt), and sensitive Private Sidney (future filmmaker Paul Mazursky) — men whose narrated internal monologues articulate, with frequent pretentiousness, Kubrick's investigation...
Nick Schager in Slant: "So loathed by Stanley Kubrick that the legendary director reportedly confiscated all existing copies to keep it out of circulation, Fear and Desire proves a modest, if relatively promising, 1953 debut for the late auteur, touching on his trademark themes via the allegorical tale of soldiers shot down behind enemy lines in an unnamed country in an unspecified time. Kubrick's story, penned by Howard Sackler, is deliberately vague with regard to nationalities and politics so that its focus can remain squarely on the psychological turmoil of its characters, a ragtag quartet that includes ruminative Lieutenant Corby (Kenneth Harp), gruff Sergeant Mac (Frank Silvera), meek Private Fletcher (Stephen Colt), and sensitive Private Sidney (future filmmaker Paul Mazursky) — men whose narrated internal monologues articulate, with frequent pretentiousness, Kubrick's investigation...
- 3/27/2012
- MUBI
You'd think a movie starring Marlon Brando at the height of his young-firebrand sex appeal, written by Nobel laureate John Steinbeck, and directed by the great Elia Kazan, would be better remembered today. Yet "Viva Zapata!", released exactly 60 years ago (on Feburary 7, 1952), is all but regarded as a footnote in the careers of Brando, Steinbeck, and Kazan. That's a shame, since it's at once a terrifically exciting action film, a heroic biopic, and a penetrating political study. Of course, even then, it was an odd one -- a movie about legendary figures in Mexican history portrayed by an almost Mexican-free cast; a movie about a pro-peasant revolutionary hero made at a time of anti-Communist hysteria in Hollywood. That it got made at all was remarkable, given the battles over censorship and casting, not to mention the battles between Brando and co-star Anthony Quinn, whose bitter tension often erupted into elaborate pranks and practical jokes.
- 2/7/2012
- by Gary Susman
- Moviefone
Allegorical War Drama Highlights TCM.s Dec. 14 Salute
to The George Eastman House International Museum of Photography and Film
Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is set to make movie history this December when it presents the world television premiere of Fear and Desire (1953), the rarely seen debut film by legendary director Stanley Kubrick. Premiering Wednesday, Dec. 14, at 8 p.m. (Et), the allegorical war drama from the director of 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) and The Shining (1980) will be the centerpiece of an extraordinary 24-hour marathon honoring the preservation efforts of the Motion Picture Department at George Eastman House. TCM host Robert Osborne will be joined by Jared Case, Head of Cataloguing and Access at George Eastman House, to present 15 cinematic rarities from one of the country.s leading moving-image archives.
TCM.s Dec. 14 salute to the Motion Picture Collection at George Eastman House will begin at 6:15 a.m. (Et) with The Blue Bird...
to The George Eastman House International Museum of Photography and Film
Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is set to make movie history this December when it presents the world television premiere of Fear and Desire (1953), the rarely seen debut film by legendary director Stanley Kubrick. Premiering Wednesday, Dec. 14, at 8 p.m. (Et), the allegorical war drama from the director of 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) and The Shining (1980) will be the centerpiece of an extraordinary 24-hour marathon honoring the preservation efforts of the Motion Picture Department at George Eastman House. TCM host Robert Osborne will be joined by Jared Case, Head of Cataloguing and Access at George Eastman House, to present 15 cinematic rarities from one of the country.s leading moving-image archives.
TCM.s Dec. 14 salute to the Motion Picture Collection at George Eastman House will begin at 6:15 a.m. (Et) with The Blue Bird...
- 12/5/2011
- by Michelle McCue
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Fear and Desire, the 1953 debut film of a young Look magazine photographer named Stanley Kubrick, will have its world television premiere on Turner Classics Movies on Dec. 14 at 8 p.m. Starring Frank Silvera, Paul Mazursky, and Kenneth Harp, Fear and Desire is an existential anti-war drama about a lost platoon whose journey to safety is complicated by an encounter with a mysterious woman.
Kubrick, who shot the film quickly with a crew of about 15 people, was never especially proud of his maiden effort, calling it a “a bumbling amateur film exercise.” It quickly disappeared from theaters despite some critical accolades,...
Kubrick, who shot the film quickly with a crew of about 15 people, was never especially proud of his maiden effort, calling it a “a bumbling amateur film exercise.” It quickly disappeared from theaters despite some critical accolades,...
- 12/1/2011
- by Jeff Labrecque
- EW - Inside TV
Now that the 2010 line-up for the Criterion Collection has finally been announced with last week’s December titles, we can begin speculating on what we’ll get in 2011. With over 50 spine numbers in 2010, will we see # 600 in 2011? At the rate that Criterion is churning out these discs, we have to assume so. Where will they get all of these upcoming titles from?
Well, over the past few months we’ve seen several titles from MGM’s catalog announced, and hinted at in their monthly newsletter. Most likely due to MGM’s current financial problems, it’s nice to see Criterion stepping up to rescue these films from the abyss of “out of print”. If you head over to the various forums (CriterionForum.org, Mubi, etc.) you’ll find many people speculating on the MGM titles that Criterion has acquired the rights to. While some are mostly speculation, I have had...
Well, over the past few months we’ve seen several titles from MGM’s catalog announced, and hinted at in their monthly newsletter. Most likely due to MGM’s current financial problems, it’s nice to see Criterion stepping up to rescue these films from the abyss of “out of print”. If you head over to the various forums (CriterionForum.org, Mubi, etc.) you’ll find many people speculating on the MGM titles that Criterion has acquired the rights to. While some are mostly speculation, I have had...
- 9/20/2010
- by Ryan Gallagher
- CriterionCast
Stanley Kubrick was an upstart kid from The Bronx when, in 1955, he borrowed $40,000 from an uncle and directed, wrote, edited and photographed a movie thriller called "Killer's Kiss."
Kubrick would not make a name for himself until his next movie, "The Killing" (1956), a yarn about a racetrack heist featuring Sterling Hayden. But more than half a century later, "Killer's Kiss" remains a watchable work of raw energy.
Rarely shown on the big screen, the black-and-white noir will unreel tomorrow and Saturday at midnight at...
Kubrick would not make a name for himself until his next movie, "The Killing" (1956), a yarn about a racetrack heist featuring Sterling Hayden. But more than half a century later, "Killer's Kiss" remains a watchable work of raw energy.
Rarely shown on the big screen, the black-and-white noir will unreel tomorrow and Saturday at midnight at...
- 6/18/2009
- by By V.A. MUSETTO
- NYPost.com
AFI Fest
Actress LisaGay Hamilton's first foray behind the camera is an intimate portrait of Beah Richardson (1920-2000), with whom she worked on "Beloved". Best known as an actress, Richardson was a prolific multitalent and a fearless firebrand as Hamilton's film makes amply clear. Set to air on HBO in February, "Beah: A Black Woman Speaks" is an inspiring chronicle as well as a touching glimpse of the friendship between an accomplished woman and the young black actress who initially was intimidated by her legend. It won the award for best documentary at the recent AFI Fest. For younger viewers, it might serve as an eye-opening introduction to the social struggles of midcentury America.
A playwright, poet, choreographer, director, teacher, journalist and political activist, Richardson is passionate, wise and funny in the interviews the director conducted during the last year of her life when she was suffering from emphysema. She was nothing if not a self-created artist. Despite being relegated to playing old women and maids from the time she first took the New York stage at age 36, she made her mark. While establishing a career as an actress, she also was accruing a thick FBI file. For the Mississippi girl, hobnobbing with such leading black artists and intellectuals as Langston Hughes, Paul Robeson and WEB DuBois and, later, working with Los Angeles theater director Frank Silvera was "like being born."
The well-researched docu includes powerful excerpts from a one-woman show and clips of her films, from lesser-known titles to her Oscar-nominated turn in "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner", which her hometown of Vicksburg, Miss., banned. Actors Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee and Bill Cobbs and former Old Globe artistic director Craig Noel are among the friends and colleagues offering insights, as are Vicksburg residents and Hugh Harrell, the artist to whom Richardson was briefly married.
But the driving force of "Beah" is the interview sessions with Richardson, brimming with heart. In the den of her L.A. home, attached to an oxygen concentrator and surrounded by African art and medicine bottles, she's seen still reading sides and looking for parts. She found one -- her final role -- in a guest spot on "The Practice" that garnered an Emmy just months before she died.
Actress LisaGay Hamilton's first foray behind the camera is an intimate portrait of Beah Richardson (1920-2000), with whom she worked on "Beloved". Best known as an actress, Richardson was a prolific multitalent and a fearless firebrand as Hamilton's film makes amply clear. Set to air on HBO in February, "Beah: A Black Woman Speaks" is an inspiring chronicle as well as a touching glimpse of the friendship between an accomplished woman and the young black actress who initially was intimidated by her legend. It won the award for best documentary at the recent AFI Fest. For younger viewers, it might serve as an eye-opening introduction to the social struggles of midcentury America.
A playwright, poet, choreographer, director, teacher, journalist and political activist, Richardson is passionate, wise and funny in the interviews the director conducted during the last year of her life when she was suffering from emphysema. She was nothing if not a self-created artist. Despite being relegated to playing old women and maids from the time she first took the New York stage at age 36, she made her mark. While establishing a career as an actress, she also was accruing a thick FBI file. For the Mississippi girl, hobnobbing with such leading black artists and intellectuals as Langston Hughes, Paul Robeson and WEB DuBois and, later, working with Los Angeles theater director Frank Silvera was "like being born."
The well-researched docu includes powerful excerpts from a one-woman show and clips of her films, from lesser-known titles to her Oscar-nominated turn in "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner", which her hometown of Vicksburg, Miss., banned. Actors Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee and Bill Cobbs and former Old Globe artistic director Craig Noel are among the friends and colleagues offering insights, as are Vicksburg residents and Hugh Harrell, the artist to whom Richardson was briefly married.
But the driving force of "Beah" is the interview sessions with Richardson, brimming with heart. In the den of her L.A. home, attached to an oxygen concentrator and surrounded by African art and medicine bottles, she's seen still reading sides and looking for parts. She found one -- her final role -- in a guest spot on "The Practice" that garnered an Emmy just months before she died.
AFI Fest
Actress LisaGay Hamilton's first foray behind the camera is an intimate portrait of Beah Richardson (1920-2000), with whom she worked on "Beloved". Best known as an actress, Richardson was a prolific multitalent and a fearless firebrand as Hamilton's film makes amply clear. Set to air on HBO in February, "Beah: A Black Woman Speaks" is an inspiring chronicle as well as a touching glimpse of the friendship between an accomplished woman and the young black actress who initially was intimidated by her legend. It won the award for best documentary at the recent AFI Fest. For younger viewers, it might serve as an eye-opening introduction to the social struggles of midcentury America.
A playwright, poet, choreographer, director, teacher, journalist and political activist, Richardson is passionate, wise and funny in the interviews the director conducted during the last year of her life when she was suffering from emphysema. She was nothing if not a self-created artist. Despite being relegated to playing old women and maids from the time she first took the New York stage at age 36, she made her mark. While establishing a career as an actress, she also was accruing a thick FBI file. For the Mississippi girl, hobnobbing with such leading black artists and intellectuals as Langston Hughes, Paul Robeson and WEB DuBois and, later, working with Los Angeles theater director Frank Silvera was "like being born."
The well-researched docu includes powerful excerpts from a one-woman show and clips of her films, from lesser-known titles to her Oscar-nominated turn in "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner", which her hometown of Vicksburg, Miss., banned. Actors Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee and Bill Cobbs and former Old Globe artistic director Craig Noel are among the friends and colleagues offering insights, as are Vicksburg residents and Hugh Harrell, the artist to whom Richardson was briefly married.
But the driving force of "Beah" is the interview sessions with Richardson, brimming with heart. In the den of her L.A. home, attached to an oxygen concentrator and surrounded by African art and medicine bottles, she's seen still reading sides and looking for parts. She found one -- her final role -- in a guest spot on "The Practice" that garnered an Emmy just months before she died.
Actress LisaGay Hamilton's first foray behind the camera is an intimate portrait of Beah Richardson (1920-2000), with whom she worked on "Beloved". Best known as an actress, Richardson was a prolific multitalent and a fearless firebrand as Hamilton's film makes amply clear. Set to air on HBO in February, "Beah: A Black Woman Speaks" is an inspiring chronicle as well as a touching glimpse of the friendship between an accomplished woman and the young black actress who initially was intimidated by her legend. It won the award for best documentary at the recent AFI Fest. For younger viewers, it might serve as an eye-opening introduction to the social struggles of midcentury America.
A playwright, poet, choreographer, director, teacher, journalist and political activist, Richardson is passionate, wise and funny in the interviews the director conducted during the last year of her life when she was suffering from emphysema. She was nothing if not a self-created artist. Despite being relegated to playing old women and maids from the time she first took the New York stage at age 36, she made her mark. While establishing a career as an actress, she also was accruing a thick FBI file. For the Mississippi girl, hobnobbing with such leading black artists and intellectuals as Langston Hughes, Paul Robeson and WEB DuBois and, later, working with Los Angeles theater director Frank Silvera was "like being born."
The well-researched docu includes powerful excerpts from a one-woman show and clips of her films, from lesser-known titles to her Oscar-nominated turn in "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner", which her hometown of Vicksburg, Miss., banned. Actors Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee and Bill Cobbs and former Old Globe artistic director Craig Noel are among the friends and colleagues offering insights, as are Vicksburg residents and Hugh Harrell, the artist to whom Richardson was briefly married.
But the driving force of "Beah" is the interview sessions with Richardson, brimming with heart. In the den of her L.A. home, attached to an oxygen concentrator and surrounded by African art and medicine bottles, she's seen still reading sides and looking for parts. She found one -- her final role -- in a guest spot on "The Practice" that garnered an Emmy just months before she died.
- 12/10/2003
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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