Turner Classic Movies has decided to preempt their schedule for tonight to show some Sydney Pollack movies. And they've got some good ones.
Up first, at 8:00 ET, is The Slender Thread, starring Anne Bancroft, Sidney Poitier and Telly Savalas. This is the story of a woman who calls into a crisis clinic after taking an overdose of drugs. Bancroft plays the woman. Poitier is the man who takes the call and tries to keep her talking. Savalas plays the doctor who heads the effort to trace the call and get to the woman before she dies. Not the greatest script in the world, but a nice effort with good performances. This 1965 film is Sydney Pollack's first as director.
Next up, at 10:00 ET, is Three Days of the Condor, starring Robert Redford, Faye Dunaway, Cliff Robertson and Max von Sydow. This is one of those 1970s "you can't trust the government" spy thrillers. Redford plays a member of a small research group for the CIA. He thinks he has stumbled across something important, but he can't quite prove it. When he goes out for lunch, someone kills the entire rest of research group. Needless to say, Redford's character freaks right out. He tries turning to friends, but that doesn't work out so well for the friends. Desperate, he basically kidnaps a woman, Dunaway, and tries to figure out how to survive while he figures out what happened. Cliff Robertson plays the CIA man who tries to get Redford's character to come in. Very good film, imo.
And then, at 12:00 ET, is Tootsie, starring Dustin Hoffman, Jessica Lange, Terry Garr, Dabney Coleman and several other noteables, including Pollack. This is a pretty popular film, so I probably don't have to say much about it. You've probably heard of it even if you haven't seen it. Hoffman plays an out of work and unwanted actor who decides to pretend to be a woman to get work. The idea for the story was Hoffman's, as was the idea to get Pollack to play the agent for Hoffman's character. Pollack had done plenty of acting before, but this was his first big role in a high profile motion picture.
And finally, at 2:00 ET (yes, DVR users, that is 2:00 in the AM), is Jeremiah Johnson, starring mostly Robert Redford. Gran'pa Walton, oops, I mean Will Geer shows up early in the film and there are other actors, but really, the film is called Jeremiah Johnson because it is really about one man. Redford plays Johnson, a man who leaves 1830s East Cost society to live by himself in the mountains. After learning some mountain man ways from Geer's character, Johnson moves on to find a woman and a boy, and ends up, through no fault of his own, accepted by a tribe of American Indians. This is not a romantic film about the west or nature or the pioneering life. This is not a film about a civilized man conquering the wilderness. This is a pretty gritty film. Johnson does not conquer the wilderness or live in harmony with bears. He ends up leaving civilization behind literally and figuratively. That said, this film has a great script by Edward Anhalt and John Milius. I highly recommend it.
