A Fuller Life
Couldn’t be made up. Reader’s pick of the week: A Third Face: My Tale of Writing, Fighting and Filmmaking by Samuel Fuller. Booklist reports, via Amazon:
Ebullient and cantankerous, director Sam Fuller probably had more personality than anyone else in the movie business … Fuller’s earlier life was actually more colorful and exciting than his Hollywood years. At 17 he became a crime reporter for a New York tabloid, at which he developed his expertise in sensationalism, and later he took part in the D-Day landing at Omaha Beach. He always saw himself as a storyteller first–he turned to directing to keep his scripts from being butchered–and his final story (he died at 85 in 1997) shows that his own life was the greatest tale he had to tell.
Outrageous tabloid combat vet, what’s not to like? Wikipedia has the short version of a fascinating and controversial career. I like the bits about being condemned by the American Communist Party for being too right wing and condemned by the American Legion for being too left wing. In a later controversial examination of racism, similarly mixed reviews on White Dog, which Paramount ultimately refused to release. Nothing like pissing off everyone.
You’ll know Fuller as director of The Big Red One and Merrill’s Marauders. You’ll know him, indirectly, as a big Tarantino influence. His other big titles are like a weird trip through a WWII tabloid combat vet’s world:
The First Films of Samuel Fuller (The Baron of Arizona / I Shot Jesse James / The Steel Helmet) The latter being the one that ticked off the commies and the American Legion. This is interesting, from Wikipedia:
Fuller had a major argument with the US Army that provided stock footage for the film. When army officials objected to his American characters executing a prisoner of war, Fuller replied he had seen it done during his own military duty. A compromise was reached when the Lieutenant threatens the Sergeant with a court martial.
Shock Corridor Reportedly a view of a psychiatric hospital as a microcosm of American society. Sounds about right.
The Naked Kiss A prostitute’s redemption in a pediatric unit.
Forty Guns Barbara Stanwyck. “The most rampantly sexualized western ever made.”
The Meanest Men in the West Lee J. Cobb and a young Bronson.
Fixed Bayonets Harsh Korean war truth with Richard Basehart, and reportedly an early James Dean spear-holding role.
Noir classic Pickup on South Street with Richard Widmark
House of Bamboo with Robert Ryan and Robrt Stack, different kind of noir, with a gang of ruthless criminal American expats operating in occupied Japan. Public bathhouse murder scene reportedly shocking.
Hell and High Water with Richard Widmark, an early Cold War submarine thriller.
Shark Burt Reynolds. Reportedly unwatchably bad, Fuller tried to distance himself from it.
Street of No Return with Keith Carradine, reportedly a last hammer blow from the master of the genre.
Tigrero A making of a movie that was never made. Fuller revisits the Amazon jungle where he shot the flick that never saw daylight.
Pierrot le Fou Jean-Paul Belmondo, Jean Luc Godard flick includes a Fuller cameo and is reportedly a must-see for full-on film nerds. More cameos in Wim Wenders’ The End of Violence and The American Friend.
Bonus YouTube documentary “The Typewriter, The Rifle & The Movie Camera,” features Fuller’s war diaries, and Fuller himself describing in somewhat melodramatic terms some of the realities of combat, the fact that he wasn’t able to capture them all, and how it stays with you. Melodramatic, except that he is basically being matter-of-fact about it. Tim Robbins is a minor annoying distraction.
Your reviews in comments. In other interesting reader picks this week:
Death on the Prairie: The Thirty Years’ Struggle for the Western Plains Paul I. Wellman
Retribution: The Battle for Japan, 1944-45 Max Hastings
And somewhat out of the usual vein …
You Were Always Mom’s Favorite!: Sisters in Conversation Throughout Their Lives Deborah Tannen
Homer’s Odyssey Gwen Cooper. It’s about a cat. No Greeks, no Trojans.
More on your favorites at A Boutique Warmongery’s Bestseller List. Plus a nod to Patrick Swayze and the great film no one wanted to say anything about last week.
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Posted by Jules Crittenden at 12:45 pm Comments (1) on Sunday, September 20, 2009
One Response to “A Fuller Life”
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September 20th, 2009 at 7:46 pm
I ran across the following post. Do you have any thoughts on the book reviewed:
Eight Bailed Out by Major James M. Inks?
http://serbianna.com/analysis/?p=129