Murray Tribute--Film Details
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DON MURRAY A WEEKEND TRIBUTE PART ONE—UNSUNG HERO Saturday August 6 Lobero Theatre ADVISE & CONSENT (1962) 2:30pm (post-film interview with Don Murray by Foster Hirsch) SPECIAL RECEPTION WITH DON MURRAY AND EVA MARIE SAINT In the Lobero Courtyard 6:00pm Special admission required—food and drink provided A HATFUL OF RAIN (1957) 7:30pm (post-film interview with Don Murray and Eva Marie Saint by Foster Hirsch) PART TWO—DEADLY HERO Sunday August 7 Center Stage Theater Matinee show THE OUTCASTS “The Long Ride” (ABC-TV, originally aired April 28, 1969) 1:00pm FROM HELL TO TEXAS (1958) 2:00pm (Between films interview with Don Murray) DEADLY HERO (1976) 4:15pm Evening show BUS STOP (1956) Don Murray’s Oscar-nominated role 7:00pm …featuring an actress you may have heard of---Marilyn Monroe! (Between films interview with Don Murray by Foster Hirsch) BREATHE (2007) 9:15pm For more information about the screenings, and a compendium of interesting and useful Internet links about Don Murray, please visit the Mid-Century Productions web site at www.midcenturyproductions.com. DON MURRAY—A WEEKEND TRIBUTE THE FILMS Saturday, August 6 ADVISE & CONSENT (1962) 2:30pm Featuring an All-Star cast remarkable even for an Otto Preminger picture, Advise & Consent is both a fascinating time capsule look at the state of the American political system in the early 1960s and a timely reminder of the high stakes that continue to exist in the public arena. Don Murray gives what many feel is his finest performance as Senator Brigham (Brig) Anderson, an idealist who finds himself under attack from all sides during a controversial approval hearing for a prospective appointee for Secretary of State (played with characteristic steely detachment by Henry Fonda). Certain revelations about Brig Anderson’s past—in particular, a youthful homosexual encounter—are surfaced, and they overwhelm the young Senator as he tries to do “the greater good” amongst a nest of Washington vipers. Joining Don Murray in this vast, wide-ranging drama are Henry Fonda, Charles Laughton, Walter Pidgeon, George Grizzard, Gene Tierney, Franchot Tone, Lew Ayres, Peter Lawford, and Inga Swenson (particularly affecting in her role as Mrs. Brig Anderson). Advise & Consent was based on the 1959 best-selling novel by Allen Drury. Directed and produced by Otto Preminger. Running time: 138 minutes, black & white, Cinemascope. Presented in 35mm. A HATFUL OF RAIN (1957) 7:30pm A powerful ensemble drama based on a then-groundbreaking play, A Hatful of Rain features three “Method”-trained actors polishing their performances to a sheen. Don Murray, so boisterous the year before in Bus Stop, turns inward in portraying Johnny Pope, whose heroism in Korea has come at a terrible price: he is now addicted to the morphine he was given in the military hospitals. His brother Polo (played with barely restrained frenzy by Anthony Franciosa, who was nominated for an Oscar for this performance) loans him money to buy drugs and helps him keep his addiction a secret from his wife Celia (Eva Marie Saint). But the money runs out, and the two brothers face a double dilemma when the drug dealers (led by the great cult character actor Henry Silva, as a pusher named “Mother”) come around to collect—and when their father (Lloyd Nolan) comes to town looking for the money that Polo had promised to give him so that he could start a new business. Eva Marie Saint is the “glue” in the film, playing Celia as a young woman eager to have a full-bodied marriage but driven to confusion and anxiety by her husband’s increasingly odd, uncharacteristic behavior. Her performance is filled with superb nuance and a beautifully modulated character arc, as Celia grows from a shy and diffident girl into a woman who can face the facts of life and play the cards dealt to her. A powerful and memorable film that has slipped through the cracks in recent years, now ripe for rediscovery. A Hatful of Rain, written by Michael Gazzo, opened on Broadway November 9, 1955 with Ben Gazzara in the role played by Don Murray in the film. Shelley Winters played Celia; Anthony Franciosa played Polo; Henry Silva played “Mother.” It ran for 398 performances. Directed by Fred Zinnemann. Running time: 100 minutes, black & white, Cinemascope. Presented in 35mm. Sunday, August 7 MATINEE PROGRAM THE OUTCASTS “The Long Ride” (1969) 1:00pm The word “groundbreaking” is often over-used when describing artistic endeavors, but there is no place where the term is more justly applied than with The Outcasts, the first weekly network Western series with interracial lead characters. Don Murray, when approached by ABC-TV, specifically chose this series, set in the “Wild West” in 1869, as a vehicle to explore the social changes that occurred in America as a result of the Civil War, feeling that the story of race relations was highly relevant to what was occurring in America a century later. He also wanted to promote a multi- dimensional, self-sufficient role model for African-American boys who in the late sixties were mostly without heroes to call their own. Don Murray and Otis Young play bounty hunters who have been thrust together under unusual and less-than-ideal circumstances. Don’s character, Earl Corey, was once a Southern aristocrat, a plantation owner who lost his land and his position due to dirty dealings while he was serving in the Confederate Army. Otis Young, a virtual unknown at the time of his being cast in The Outcasts, plays Jemal David—who just happens to be one of the ex-slaves who was once owned by the Corey family! The interactions between these two are, as you might expect, less than cordial and more strained thhan not. Over time, however, a grudging respect develops between them, though the quick-tempered Jemal is especially sensitive to Earl’s race-baiting remarks. (Warning: this is NOT a show that is “politically correct”! After watching this episode, you might wonder how it got on TV at all—which is exactly the point.) Our episode, “The Long Ride,” is especially good in depicting the complex, shifting ground between the two men as they make their way through the anarchy of the Old West. Earl and Jemal have been “on the outs” for awhile, but they team up to take a particularly nasty, manipulative prisoner to justice. Things don’t turn out the way they—or we—expect. After viewing this episode, you just might agree that The Outcasts deserves to be seen again as one of those pivotal but forgotten moments in television history. Sign our petition to have The Outcasts released on DVD! Directed by Emmy-winner Robert Butler. Running time: 50 minutes. Presented via digital reproduction. FROM HELL TO TEXAS (1958) 2:00pm From Jeff Arnold’s review: “Henry Hathaway made only one great Western. It was, of course, True Grit (Paramount, 1969). But he made several very good ones: The Sons of Katie Elder, Garden of Evil and, in particular, From Hell to Texas. In fact Hathaway was something of a specialist in the genre. He started as a child actor in Westerns and the first films he directed were all cowboy movies. Why the film is titled From Hell to Texas is difficult to fathom, as Texas doesn’t come into it. It’s set in New Mexico, between Santa Fe and Soccoro (or Socorrer, as they all call it), well over 300 miles from the nearest bit of Texas. Never mind. It’s a ‘small’ film, by which I mean it has a modest cast and has a confined plot (Robert Buckner and Wendell Mayes wrote the screenplay from a Charles O. Locke novel) about few people. It is also an economical story with a spare, hard plot. It could have been by Luke Short (it’s that good). It is also extremely well directed and finely acted. Johnny Ehrin also edited tightly and effectively. The acting is top notch. You wouldn’t automatically put Don Murray in the highest league of Western actors. Up till then he had been a TV and B-movie character actor. He was later Hickok in The Plainsman and he and played second to Alan Ladd in One Foot in Hell (he seemed to like Hell, at least in his westerns). Here, he is very good. He underplays and succeeds in projecting in a convincing way as a young, rather naive but still courageous loner. R.G. Armstrong, always good, is here very fine. Apart from his curious double gunbelt, which makes him look like Hopalong Cassidy having strayed onto the set of The Wild Bunch, he is severe, single-minded and hard as nails—but when it comes down to it, just. (Savor the final exchange between Armstrong and Murray—two excellent actors bringing their A-stuff.) This might be R.G.’s finest role, though it would be difficult to better his Bob Ollinger in Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid. Dennis Hopper, aged 22, plays R.G.’s youngest son, in only his sixth movie. Jay C. Flippen is excellent as the salty Indian trader Leffertfinger. But the best of the supporting cast is certainly Chill Wills as the rancher Amos Bradley who befriends Don and whose tomboy daughter Nita (Diane Varsi, not bad) will fall for Don (and, eventually, vice versa). Harry Carey, Jr. has a smallish part too. So high class acting all round. According to the Internet Movie Database, the filming locations for this film were different from those of True Grit and the Alabama Hills up at Lone Pine are mentioned.