I’ve always liked Robert Altman’s movies so this oral biography was a must-read. Zuckoff’s approach is to let the people who worked with Altman tell their stories. Lauren Bacall, Warren Beatty, Kenneth Branagh, James Caan, Neve Campbell, Keith Caradine, Cher, Leonard Cohen, Robert Duvall, Henry Gibson, Jeff Goldblum, Elliot Gould, Buck Henry, Lauren Hutton, Sally Kellerman, Kevin Kline, Malcolm McDowell, Paul Newman, Tim Robbins, George Segal, Sissy Spacek, Meryl Streep, Lily Tomlin, and dozens more celebrate one of the great film makers. The minute I finished this book, I wanted to watch Altman’s movies all over again! GRADE: A
I love his movies. Nearly all except Pret a Porter.
Some mystery fans hate what Altman did to THE LONG GOODBYE, Patti.
I’m torn as regards Altman. His idea of allowing all the actors to talk at once for a more realistic sound was, I think, ill advised. But he was also capable of some fine work despite his garbled approach. I wish he’d been a more disciplined director.
I know what you mean, Bob. Sometimes his movies have chaotic moments. But when he was on, Altman was one of the best.
I spent most of 1970 at Ft. Bragg, NC (courtesy of Uncle Sam) and well remember seeing Altman’s Mash at a theater on the base. Back in those days, the public was not bombarded with movie ads nor had there been any publicity at that point about Mash (none anyway that reached our little outpost). So the audience, mostly guys from 82nd Airborne and Green Berets, had utterly no idea going in that Mash was anything other than a typical war movie. Fairly soon there was an undercurrent of conversations along the lines of “What the…???! Soon the laughter began to roll through the theater punctuated by cheers and hoots and shouts. It was a great evening.
What a great story, Richard! MASH is a classic.