STACK #144 Oct 2016

visit stack.net.au

EXTRAS

Hollywood studios did not once seriously consider producing a major theatrical film about the Vietnam conflict. But in 1978 that view changed dramatically The Movie That A Hollywood Film Company Destroyed

Heaven's Gate (1980) Directed by Michael Cimino Part 1 of 2

I n the summer of 1978, the hot topic around Hollywood was Vietnam. Not the war itself - which had ended three years earlier in an ignominious American defeat that had scarred the national psyche - but a major motion picture with a Vietnam war theme, scheduled for release later that year. War movies, and in particular those with a WWII theme, had always been big money spinners for the Hollywood studios. But the political factors of the controversial and hugely unpopular Vietnam conflict was a subject fraught with disaster for US filmmakers George C. Scott’s oft quoted line from Patton  (1970), that “Americans love a winner and will not tolerate a loser”, served as a perfect

Hunter,  helmed by a young director named Michael Cimino. The film had been financed by the British production company EMI. Universal Studios, who owned the US

domestic distribution rights, were extremely apprehensive about some of the scenes in

Michael Cimino

Wayne’s clumsy and outdated film, movies based on the Vietnam war became taboo for Hollywood and perceived as not financially viable. Throughout the proceeding decade, none of the Hollywood studios would seriously consider producing a major theatrical film about the Vietnam conflict. But in 1978, that view changed dramatically. The film everyone in

directing Robert De Niro in a scene from The Deer Hunter

truism for the American public’s attitude to the war film genre. John Wayne discovered this to his cost when he injected a WWII masculine gung-ho theme into his Vietnam-based The Green Berets  (1968); the popular actor was stunned by the vitriolic backlash the film received from both critics and the public when it was released. As a direct consequence of

the film that dealt with the torture inflicted on American POWs by the Viet Cong. Following long and bitter discussions with Cimino, Universal’s executive made a decision: the film would open in December at just one theatre in New York and one in Los

Tinseltown was talking about that summer was  The Deer

OCTOBER 2016

24

jbhifi.com.au