Okay. We know Cannon's character is based on Sue Mengers. But in the DVD's commentary, Richard Benjamin states that the others are based on others in the Hollywood community. In his review, Roger Ebert says Welch could be playing herself. Who are the others playing?
"Be sure you're right, then go ahead."
Davy Crockett
I think Richard Benjamin's character (Tom) is based on Perkins himself.
I think James Coburn could be based on John Huston
I think James Mason could be based on David Lean
How many syllables Mario?
I think James Coburn could be based on John Huston
I think James Mason could be based on David Lean
Polanski had never occurred to me, but with Mason's character being a 'little child molester', it makes sense.
"Be sure you're right, then go ahead."
Davy Crockett
[deleted]
"The Last of Sheila" was released in 1973. Polanski's alleged rape of a minor occurred in 1977. So no, I don't think it was him.
shareCasting Mason as a child molester is a joke reference to 'Lolita'.
shareCasting Mason as a child molester is a joke reference to 'Lolita'.
Not trying to start a big debate on the issue, BUT this film was released in 1973, so most likely filmed in 1972. That was well before the incident(s) Polanski gained notoriety over (1976ish). Plus, it would take at least couple years to write the script and get the film made, so it's probably about possible incidents and/or based on individuals around 1969-70. At that time, Polanski was grieving the loss of his wife and unborn child (Sharon Tate - one of the Manson victims in 1968).
And at the time, referring to a child molester almost always referred to a man and boy. The term used at the time for a man and a girl was someone going after jailbait.
A thought occurs - if we're saying Richard Benjamin=Tony Perkins (one of the writers), so far nobody has suggested someone is playing the Stephen Sondheim part (the other writer of the movie). Sondheim would have been late 30s/40ish at the time.
But it IS fun thinking, "Hmmmmm, I wonder if so-and-so is REALLY -------!"
As Sondheim himself was the master of crafting elaborate mystery party games, I think that Clinton is a self-critical portrait of himself.
shareDavid Lean is an interesting guess - at the time the film was made he might have been considered a "has-been" as his last film, "Ryan's Daughter", had met with some critical derision and according to some reports this was why he didn't another film for more than a decade ("A Passage to India").
For the James Coburn character, who I believe was a producer, a contemporary example of a producer would have been Robert Evans.
Robert Evans was head of Paramount Studios at the time and by 1973 had produced pictures such as Rosemary's Baby, True Grit, Love Story and The Godfather.
That's interesting. I saw this movie before and liked it, but I had no clue the characters were based on real people.
shareSooo weird seeing this film pop up on trending as I've been thinking about it a lot lately and have been wanting to rewatch it! It's way too unknown and underrated, and I love it, and that's about all I got for this message...but yeah, this film rocks.
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