Dick Cavett was astute enough to feature icons of the arts. Directors, actors, writers, musicians... the creative creme de la creme. Thanks to his quick- witted questions, we have these time capsules of anecdotes and remembrances. God bless him!
It's fantastic how it's a talk show and it all looks natural, they're just there, talking, smoking and having fun without all modern bullshit and screaming and posing and forced jokes.
(5 years ago) Notice Altman's comment at 2:10... "Now we're making movies that imitate cartoons," or something to that effect. His film "Popeye" was less than ten years in the future from the night this show aired. Addendum, 5 years later: (Left to right) Robert Alltman, Mel Brooks, Peter Bogdanovich (Dick Cavett), Frank Capra... This was late-night talk, especially on Cavett, in the early '70's. Try to imagine Spielberg, Lucas, Scorsese, and Eastwood, just sittin' around on network TV, shootin' the sh*t with... Jimmy Fallon. Never happen.
There isn't one. Cavett was a conversationalist. Nowadays talk show hosts interview people for five minutes and ask prescreened questions that the stars already know the answer to about their latest movie that's coming out this Friday.
awesome tv!! great interviews,,,great stories...fun to watch....wish i could a been there....i was ten, and only got a brief glimpse of some of these shows!
From left to right-Robert Altman (directed M*A*S*H), Mel Brooks (Young Frankenstein), Peter Bogdanovich (directed Last Picture Show, What's Up Doc? And played Dr. Melfi's psychiatrist on Sopranos), Dick Cavett, Frank Capra (directed "It's a Wonderful Life")
I was glad to see and hear Frank Capra talking about his movies especially burning the first two reels of Lost Horizon from the original three hour length.I have read Frank Capra's book many years ago when I was unemployed with plenty of time to read up on a few biographies from famous celebrities from the Golden Years of Hollywood.
I wish I could remember who it was, but someone in show business once told Groucho Marx that Bugs Bunny started out as an imitator of Groucho, his carrot being a substitute for Groucho's cigar, etc. Groucho, upon hearing this, exclaimed, "I'll sue him!" The anecdote is in Charlotte Chandler's book, "Hello, I Must Be Going".
Frank Capra's take on the cartoon as talkie's co-conspirator in the demise of the silent film or the silent film's gesture is such an insight. The again, I read that Bugs Bunny was mistreated by Keaton during Bugs' salad days and would hire him for fear of being upstaged! On the other hand, I don't believe a word of it--Bugs would never stoop to such showbizzy bitchiness; he was above all that, in spite of Elmer Fudd's contwawy opinion in that wondewful autobiogwaphy--Witten By Own Hand.
@NGS712 The reason they can't bring together directors like this today is that directors today have no personalities, nor do their films, nor do the committees that screw up their films. (Sigh)
Not according to actor James Karen..when Mr.Karen narrated a TCM documentary about Buster's years at MGM..the studio refused to let him sing in musicals like"Free & Easy" and "The Hollywood Revue Of 1929"..they also forced him to play a dumbbell character in farces..and they refused to give any creative control over his work.
Nataloff: I sort of disagree. I'll admit, I haven't seen alot of the best from this decade, but there are a number of directors I find interesting. If anything, maybe part of the problem is that there aren't shows like this anymore so that directors [and musicians, actors, etc.] talk seriously about their work with such wide exposure, imo.
Chaplin was a huge influence on absolutely everyone in movies for a great many decades! Only much later, when Hitchcock went to America, was there another influence as strong. To this day, they're both still the most influential diectors that there has ever been. A few have come close, like Lean, Ford, Lucas, Scorcese, Speilburg, and a few others, but they're not as influential as Chaplin and Hitchcock once were.
What a line-up! Christ, all this Cavett stuff on here is a buff's wet-dream. Can anyone tell me - I'm from the UK - was Cavett primetime like Carson or did he go on at another time of day?
Tradução de comentário crítico de David Thomson a respeito de Leo McCarey: magiadoreal.blogspot.com/2020/11/o-dicionario-biografico-de-cinema52-leo.html
great to see this. In an earlier clip, Cavett asks Mel Brooks if he would had have the nerve to make a film in b/w. 3 years later came young frankenstein. I wonder if he did any consulting with bogdanovitch about it. Just opinion, but in order of best-to not quite in the same league. I would go Altman capra Boganovitch Brooks.
irish66 well...orson welles was asked who the best three directors were...he said john ford, john ford, and john ford. hitchcock was no slouch. De MIlle knew how to DIRECT. literally direct. he was the boss.
genius mchaggis I know that quote. I've never been a big fan of Ford's; I like Wagonmaster though, and How Green was my valley is one of my favourite movies. Sometimes I lump a director in with another director. I put Ford Along with Hawk's, and I much prefer Hawks.
irish66 how can you say youve "never been a big fan of ford's" and then say how green was my valley was one of your favourite movies? why are you NOT a "big fan"?
genius mchaggis Hmm, so did I just contradict myself there. Anyway, looking at his list of movies through imdb, the only other one I like there is Mogambo. Look, I recognise that many people in the movie business bow to him as the foremost american director. I don't dislike his movies. I've watched quiet a few including all the more famous ones. Maybe I find him too sentimental. As for How Green was my valley being one of my favourites. That's just one, wheras with Hawks, there are 4. These days, i am more interessted in foreign language movies, in particular asian cinema, Note. I prefer Keaton to Chaplin for the same reason ie less sentiment.
irish66 you dont know ford. the searchers, the grapes of wrath, the quiet man, the list goes on believe me. ford is in the top five of great directors of all time. a weird fella yes..... but in the highest echelon.
genius mchaggis Yeah it probably happened precisely the way he told it - with EVERYONE in the entire nightclub having their tie undone and tuxedo ripped.
