STAR-MAKING IN THE SEVENTIES
If last year’s hit movies proved anything, it’s that the New Hollywood is the Old Hollywood—except that now John Travolta doesn’t have to change his name to Tab Hudson. Dave Kehr finds that the studios may be dead, but the star-making machine is as well-greased as ever. Still, something’s missing: the mystical combustion of actor, persona and role—into Star.
‘BODY SNATCHERS’: TAKE 2
Treated as just another s-f programmer in 1956, Invasion of the Body Snatchers went on to become a cult and auteur classic. Can the new version establish its own eerie identity? Charles Freund reports from the San Francisco location. Stephen Farber talks with director Philip Kaufman and ponders the career of a maverick who’s finally making it big.
BILLY WILDER: TWILIGHT TIME
To the cognoscenti, Billy Wilder is a genuine Hollywood Old Master. To the moguls, though, he’s just a guy who hasn’t had a hit in fifteen years. George Morris appraises—and praises—Wilder’s mature output, from the misunderstood Kiss Me, Stupid to the upcoming Fedora. And in a rare extended interview with Joseph McBride and Todd McCarthy, Wilder talks with candor and charm about his half-century making movies.
NUTSY ABOUT THE NAZIS
During World War II, Hollywood portrayed Nazis as the scum of the earth. But post-war uncertainty and a search for antiheroes triggered an interest in the Good German. In a lavishly illustrated article, John Mariani surveys Hollywood’s cosmetic job on the Third Reich.
JOURNALS
Jeff Coven stands on a Manhattan movie line, and it was like a Woody Allen film. Working title: Exteriors.
‘PINOCCHIO’
It was Disney’s most expensive and complex early film. Steve Hulett talks with the animators involved, and decides Pinocchio was worth it.
MICHEL DEVILLE
An interview with the director of Dossier 51, by Dan Yakir.
3 BIRDS OF PARADISE
Growing up in the Fifties, in Alabama, and in the movies. A critical memoir by Jonathan Rosenbaum.
SCHRADER’S GUILTY PLEASURES
In which the noted writer-director asks: Aren’t all pleasures guilty?
TELEVISION
Three wild and crazy guys break through the tube. By Daniel Menaker.
INDUSTRY
Coming Soon to Your Local Theater: Commercials. By Sam Lasoff.
INDEPENDENTS
Amos Vogel’s survey of magazines.
LETTERS
P. Adams Sitney and Mitch Tuchman tangle over the Avant Garde.
1978 FILM COMMENT INDEX
BACK TALK
Oscars: the morning line. Godard: the latest word. By Todd McCarthy.
BULLETIN BOARD
