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Awful news - Peter Bogdanovich

So thankful he was able to contribute to the completion of The Other Side Of The Wind before his death.

One of our greatest filmmakers who, on a very personal level, directly inspired me through his art to shift from an obsession with self-pitying narratives of broken people to a celebration for gratitude in life’s offerings: Proof that art can change a life, RIP

Never Cursed wrote: Thu Jan 06, 2022 5:33 pm Awful news - Peter Bogdanovich

Terrible news. I’ve seen him around town a million times doing things as innocuous as paying for parking at a meter, eating at a restaurant, or sitting in the audience for a screening. Some of my earliest memories of teenaged cinephilia were reading his Orson Welles book or seeing all his interviews on a million different DVDs. In my mind, I figured he’d make it to a hundred. I know 82 is a good age to make it to, but this still makes me tremendously sad.

On top of all the wonderful films he himself made, I was only just listening to his commentary on The Lady from Shanghai last week, and had to talk myself into getting rid of Lionsgate's three-disc early Hitchcock DVD yesterday because it contained a Bogdanovich interview. You just expect some people to live forever, especially those whose presence is so often a comfort.

He would laugh spontaneously in the Bringing Up Baby commentary as if he were watching the film for the first time

RIP

Like everyone else has said, he was one of the great filmmakers of the 20th century, and intuitively romantic in a way that connected with me on a level few others have. They All Laughed is cinematic alchemy. I’ve been working on a redux of those missing numbers from At Long Last Love - I may have to post one tonight.

Dreadful news. The WAC BD of What's Up, Doc? arrived yesterday, so I'll be watching that tonight. Thank you, PB, also for The Last Picture Show and Paper Moon. I need to track down They All Laughed, Saint Jack and Daisy Miller.

A great loss. He was fortunate enough to live long enough to see his works rise again in esteem after years of being an industry joke

The strangest thing...I searched his name this morning to see what he'd been up to recently.

I had the pleasure of meeting Peter Bogdanovich years ago at the Cleveland Public Library. I believe his most recent movie at the time was the Pete Rose picture 'Hustle' but he spoke mostly about Old Hollywood and did impersonations of John Ford, Hitchcock, Cary Grant, etc. It was a lot of fun and I had the chance to meet him after he spoke. He signed my copy of This is Orson Welles. Bogdanovich was very cordial and I'm glad I was able to meet him. RIP

He was six degrees of separation with his connection to the old Hollywood guard, Welles, Ford, Hawks, Hitchcock. What a wealth of knowledge about that world. What a shame.

And don't forget Corman and Karloff with his magnificent debut film Targets. If he had just made that he would be a great filmmaker, but he went on to so much more.

colinr0380 wrote: Thu Jan 06, 2022 7:53 pm And don't forget Corman and Karloff with his magnificent debut film Targets. If he had just made that he would be a great filmmaker, but he went on to so much more.

Crazy to think Corman is still around and still producing. As to the man himself, gonna have to take out an ascot in his honor. He’s such a joy to experience especially as he basically became Orson Welles.

When I saw What's Up Doc? first run, the eight-year-old me wanted to live in that world. This was the movie that made me want to know "who the devil made it" and started me on a path of studying film as my principal hobby (and led to a career in video and film production as well).

I noticed that Frank Marshall tweeted today that he and Bogdanovich had worked on ten films together... and were about to start an eleventh! Was this something Marshall was producing that Bogdanovich was cast as an actor in, or something that Bogdanovich would take creative control on?

I’m really shocked, as I only now hear the news (been one of these days running around without end).
I met Bogdanovich once at a Sundance party many many years ago before it became the circus it is today. And to my surprise he was standing on the side without anyone around him and yet he was very approachable and a great conversationalist.
I like many of his movies have seen them numerous times, but especially his stories (often given in commentaries) and books about the old Hollywood really stuck with me. His style brings the characters to life for me and that’s always been enormously enjoyable.

He was a really great screen presence as well, a fantastic foil in The Sopranos and The Other Side of the Wind.

vsski wrote: Thu Jan 06, 2022 11:31 pm I’m really shocked, as I only now hear the news (been one of these days running around without end).
I met Bogdanovich once at a Sundance party many many years ago before it became the circus it is today. And to my surprise he was standing on the side without anyone around him and yet he was very approachable and a great conversationalist.

The first time I saw him give a talk here in NYC, it was at BAM and the audience groaned when he brought up another famous name and Bogdanovich just smiled and said "yeah, I know a lot of famous people...anyway..." I get that name-dropping can be irritating, but JFC, it's not flaunting in every context - they're Hollywood stories, as BAM advertised, and every person involved is a director or actor you'll know, get over it. Anyway, after it was over, there was an open reception but like that Sundance party, he was off on the side by himself.

EDIT: Tom Petty's social media accounts posted a nice tribute:

Peter Bogdanovich was Tom Petty‘s close and personal friend. We are sad to hear of his passing.

Tom was so thrilled when he agreed to be the director for what would become the film about his legacy with the Heartbreakers - Runnin’ Down A Dream. Tom asked him in depth questions about the golden age of Hollywood and his relationship with Orson Welles pretty much nonstop throughout making the film. Over the course of making that film Peter and Tom collaborated closely in the edit, laughed and enjoyed each other‘s company so deeply.

Peter remained a close friend of the family until he passed away last night and we will always be grateful that he was a part of our lives and the legacy of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. God bless Peter Bogdanovich.

So now I've got Tom Petty's voice in my head, asking Orson Welles-related questions in his distinctive drawl.

RIP you charming little devil.

Targets remains one of the greatest debuts in film history, and a perfect nexus of fannish indulgence, professional ambition and genuine subversiveness. Saint Jack? Only Ben Gazzara's finest performance, and a great "hang out" film before such a thing existed.

soundchaser wrote: Thu Jan 06, 2022 6:39 pm They All Laughed is cinematic alchemy. I’ve been working on a redux of those missing numbers from At Long Last Love - I may have to post one tonight.

Which numbers would those be and where were they sourced from? I remember reading about two cut numbers, but not that any had ever surfaced...

Roger Ryan wrote: Thu Jan 06, 2022 10:42 pm I noticed that Frank Marshall tweeted today that he and Bogdanovich had worked on ten films together... and were about to start an eleventh! Was this something Marshall was producing that Bogdanovich was cast as an actor in, or something that Bogdanovich would take creative control on?

Sorry to quote myself, but I've just learned that the "eleventh" film Marshall and Bogdanovich were about to begin work on was called One Lucky Moon; scripted by Bogdanovich who also planned to direct. It certainly seems that he remained as active as his health would allow. I am reminded of a moment during an interview between Welles and Merv Griffin (which I just watched last night from the Citizen Kane set bonus features), where Griffin insists that Welles will never retire and asks him if he wants to have a project he's working on when he passes; Welles responds "yes... and one after".

Wellesnet have a lovely piece by Joe McBride on Peter Bogdanovich though I'll say McBride is too harsh on What's Up Doc? and Paper Moon.

Joseph McBride actually did what was (sort of) suggested in the Passages thread. From his Facebook feed:

I thought the best way to pay respects to Peter Bogdanovich and Sidney Poitier, who died the same day last week, was to watch their 1996 TV movie TO SIR, WITH LOVE II. I have never seen the original film so had no basis for comparison and no idea of what to expect beyond the always-formidable presence of Poitier. Oh my, what an actor. And such a powerful story this sequel is, showing how this teacher takes on the challenge of helping a Chicago class of supposedly "uneducable" young people, mostly minority group members, amount to something rather than being cast aside. Poitier's immense intelligence as an actor and his sophistication in navigating complex emotions and balancing tenderness with toughness makes this as memorable as any other role I have seen him play, and he has many great ones in his record.

As a teacher I directly related to this film because I found it addressing many of my concerns about the neglect of education in our country, the damaging effects that has had, the way our school system puts some kids into the lower track based purely on bias, and the way teachers have to do our best to help repair the damage. We often face opposition in doing so; many of my junior and senior university students have never been taught to read and write on an adult level, and soon after I arrived, I heard a colleague say by the time students are university juniors, it's too late for them to learn (!), and another colleague in a faculty meeting said it was "insane" for me to teach these students how to write with the help of THE ELEMENTS OF STYLE. I walked out of that meeting and keep teaching writing with the help of that book every semester with successful results.

Peter Tonguette, who did a fine interview book with Peter Bogdanovich, notes that the director's largely unheralded (indeed, largely unwatched by critics) work in TV movies always shows commitment and a serious approach to the subject matter, even if the scripts may not always have been up to the standard of some of his earlier features. Some, though, are better than the scripts of some of his theatrical features. This script by Philip Rosenberg, from the book by E. R. Braithwaite, is a solid piece of work. And it is exciting to see how the young cast members quite clearly are inspired by acting with Poitier, who must have been mightily influential in their lives. Bogdanovich was always good with actors, and his exceptional sensitivity to young performers, long ago demonstrated in THE LAST PICTURE SHOW, is keenly evident here as well.

I also kept thinking that as good as the new version of WEST SIDE STORY is in dealing with similar issues in a musical format, TO SIR, WITH LOVE II is better at depicting the gritty, seemingly insurmountable challenges faced by kids tossed aside by the educational system because they are assumed to be hopeless and too often forced into lives of crime. I love this film, as I do Bogdanovich's 1997 TV movie BLESSED ASSURANCE, which also deals with race relations in an honest and moving way (and in that film another major star, Cicely Tyson, gives a magnificent performance). In TO SIR, WITH LOVE II, Peter Bogdanovich takes on the thankless task of directing another TV movie the critics would routinely ignore, despite the towering presence of one of America's greatest actors, who trusted him to handle a role he had made iconic. Bogdanovich and Poitier both were shunted aside into television when that medium was not fashionable and they were out of favor with the increasingly juvenile feature film market. Kudos to both of them. Ave atque vale.

So for the record, McBride dislikes They All Laughed, Paper Moon, and What’s Up, Doc? but praises a TV sequel to a movie he’s never even seen

It seems rather a shame to undermine Joseph McBride's nice appreciation of the film, but didn't To Sir With Love II come out around the same time as Sister Act 2: Back In The Habit? Although I'm open to that being the 'juvenilisation of the feature film market' that he is talking about.