Aug 05 2008
Going for the Gould
Looking back at Hollywood movies from the ’70s, I’m often left wondering if half of the actors who became big names at the time — Dustin Hoffman, Meryl Streep, and Faye Dunaway, for example — would’ve ever made it had they started out in today’s market. Sure, they’re talented, but do any of today’s Megawatt Stars look like those folks? Everyone now is uniformly pretty/handsome, and very few of our contemporary top-billed performers have the unique looks or personalities of the aforementioned talents.
Another name to add to that list of truly unique actors is Elliott Gould. Robert Altman’s original war satire hit M*A*S*H made him a household name, but his nuanced, sometimes neurotic, performances in a slew of ’70s classics canonized him as a thespian who could personify and reflect the confusion and insecurities that were fueling that tumultuous decade.
The wonderful programmers at Brooklyn’s BAMcinématek repertory house/theater are currently paying tribute to the Gould’s amazing talents with a series entitled “Elliot Gould: Star for an Uptight Age”. It began on August 1, but continues through August 21. And it’s okay if you’re just hearing/reading about the series now because the only film that’s played so far is M*A*S*H, a movie that’s not hard to find or see. The rest of the list is filled with some underseen gems (like the terrific Alan Arkin-directed black comedy Little Murders, which will feature a post-screening Q&A with Mr. Gould on Friday, August 8 at 6:30pm) and a lot of treasures that aren’t readily available on DVD, such as Peter Hyams’s gritty 1974 cop flick Busting (showing on Sunday, August 10).
I wish that the intense white-knuckle thriller The Silent Partner, which was brilliantly scripted by L.A. Confidential writer-director Curtis Hanson, were part of the series. It’s one of the best heist movies I’ve ever seen, with Gould and a psychotic Christopher Plummer trying to outwit each other at every twist of the plot. You’ve seen movies with cat-and-mouse type narratives, but this one’s more like “cat and cat”; the two leads take turns pursuing and trapping each other with nail-biting results. I figure a viable print for the film just wasn’t available. Alas, alas….
Regardless of my missing fave, you should do yourself a favor and check out some of these films if you’re in the area. We’re lucky to have works like these in American cinema, and we’re equally lucky to have a true actor like Elliot Gould.
The full schedule of films is here, including details of screenings which will be followed by a Q&A with the performer. A feature article about Gould from The New York Times can be read here.
