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Donald Sutherland

Five Great Flicks Featuring Con Artists

03/31/2017

April Fool’s Day is upon us where we all get free reign to play pranks on one another and lie with impunity. In the spirit of this holiday, here are five note-worthy films celebrating hoaxsters, tricksters, and plain old flim-flam men. Enjoy! (But watch your wallet.)

The Music Man (1962) Based on the Broadway musical of the same name, Robert Preston’s performance of slick tongued salesman Harold Hill and how he transforms and is transformed in turn by River City, Iowa is one of the most iconic of all time. Also starring Buddy Hackett, Shirley Jones, and Paul Ford it was one of the highest grossing films of the year. It won the Academy Award for Best Musical Score and was nominated for five more including Best Picture. It later holds up as one of the best and most beloved movie musicals of all time and indeed ‘Harold Hill’ has now become cultural shorthand for swindlers everywhere!

The Sting (1973) Directed by the legendary George Roy Hill (Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid) and starring Paul Newman and Robert Redford as two professional grifter’s in the Depression era, who pull on a complicated confidence scam on a mob boss played by Robert Shaw. A box office smash, The Sting was nominated for 10 Oscar Awards and won seven including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Original Screenplay.

Six Degrees of Separation (1993)  Directed by Frank Schepesi and adapted from the Pulitzer Prize nominated John Guare play of the same name and based on the true story of David Hampton. Fifth Avenue Socialite Ouisa Kittredge (Stockard Channing) and her husband Flan (Donald Sutherland) get taken in by slick young hustler Paul (Will Smith in his first major film debut) who convinces them that he’s the son of Sidney Poitier. Stockard Channing’s performance was nominated for both a Golden Globe and an Academy Award.

Catch Me If You Can (2002) Steven Spielburg directed this biographical crime film based on the life of Frank Abagnale who successfully impersonated a pilot, a doctor, a lawyer and made off with huge sums of cash-while he was still a teenager. Leonardo DiCaprio gives an astonishing performance as Frank, Christopher Walken plays his father Frank Sr., and Tom Hanks is Carl Hanratty, the FBI agent assigned to take him down. It was a financial and critical success with a 96% fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes and Christopher Walken was nominated for an Academy Award.

The Hoax (2006) Directed by Lasse Halstrom (The Cider House Rules, What’s Eating Gilbert Grape?) and starring Richard Gere as Clifford Irving. It tells the story of Irving’s elaborate hoax of writing and publishing the autobiography of Howard Hughes – without ever even speaking to Howard Hughes himself. Anchored by Gere’s performance the movie also sports an all star cast including Al Molina, Hope Davis, Marcia Gay Harden, and Stanley Tucci. Which helps explain why it made the Top 10 Films lists for both the Los Angeles Times and Newsweek.

Even More Reason to Observe Bastille Day – Pray for Nice

07/14/2016

On Thursday, July 14th a terrorist drove a monster truck into crowds celebrating Bastille Day in Nice, France. More than 80 people died. The holiday celebrates the storming of the Bastille which is commonly considered to have kicked off the French Revolution. (Even if only seven prisoners were actually released.)  In honor of this historic event, and remembering those who died during what should have been a joyous celebration, consider watching one of the following films. We stand with France.

A Tale of Two Cities (1935)  Eighty years later, director Jack Conway’s (Northwest Passage, A Star is Born) adaption of the Charles Dickens masterpiece is generally regarded as the best cinematic version of the classic saga. Ronald Colman plays the famous dissipated misanthrope Sydney Carton, Donald Woods the gallant Frenchman Charles Darnay, Elizabeth Allen in the ingénue role of Lucy Manet, and the late great Basil Rathbone as the villainous aristocrat Marquis St. Evremonde.

Start the Revolution Without Me (1970) Directed by Bud Yorkin (Divorce American Style, Inspector Clouseau) this screwball comedy stars Gene Wilder and Donald Sutherland as two sets of identical twins switched at birth. One set is haughty and aristocratic while the other are poor and dim-witted and they find themselves involved in palace intrigue and wacky hijinks right on the eve of the French Revolution. Also starring Hugh Griffith (Ben-Hur, Tom Jones) as King Louis and Orson Welles serving as Narrator.

The Scarlet Pimpernel (1982) Based on the classic swashbuckler of the same name by Baroness Orczy and directed by Clive Donner (What’s New Pussycat?  Vampira)  In 1792, during the reign of terror, the Scarlet Pimpernel saves French aristocrats from the guillotine while posing as foppish dandy Sir Perceval Blakeney (Anthony Andrews). Percy marries the stunning French actress Marguerite St. Just (Jane Seymour) but her past relationship with Robespierre’s agent Paul Chauvelin (Ian McKellan!) endangers his plans to save the young Dauphin, eldest son of the late King of France. Also starring James Villiers, Eleanor David, and Richard Morant.

Ridicule (1996) Directed by Patrick Leconte (The Hairdresser’s Husband, Girl on a Bridge) and set in Versailles in the late 18th century, and shown primarily through the eyes of minor aristocrat and engineer Ponceludon (Charles Berling), Ridicule shows a corrupt and decadent French court, where social status can rise and fall based on the ability to dole out witty (and cruel) insults while avoiding being the object of ridicule oneself. In one extreme example a nobleman is forced to leave court for the loss of a single shoe and is so distraught he hangs himself. The film won four Cesar Awards including best director and best film.

Farewell My Queen (2012)  Directed by Benoit Jacquot (The Wings of the Dove), we see the routines of palace life at Versailles through the eyes of Sidonie Laborde (Lea Seydoux of Blue is the Warmest Color and Spectre) maid to Queen Antoinette (Diane Kruger of Inglorious Bastards and National Treasure). Taking place over three days from the storming of the Bastille to the Royal Family’s (failed) attempt to flee Versailles for Switzerland.  It won three Cesar Awards including best cinematography and was nominated for seven more including best actress, best director, and best film.

Top photo: Paris France Palace of Justice, Palais de Justice, is the center of the French legal system. Bigstock photo.