Blade Runners, Deer Hunters, & Blowing the Bloody Doors Off - Hardcover

Deeley, Michael

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1605980382 ISBN 13: 9781605980386

Publisher: Pegasus Books, 2009

Synopsis

One man links The Deer Hunter, Blade Runner, The Italian Job, Don’t Look Now, The Wicker Man and The Man Who Fell To Earth. Producer Michael Deeley, an urbane Englishman in Hollywood, had to fight wars to get these movies made, from defending the legendary sex scene of Don’t Look Now from a disapproving Warren Beatty to seizing control of Convoy from a cocaine- ridden Sam Peckinpah. This is a no-holds-barred look at the true stories behind some of the greatest cult movies ever made.

About this title

About the Author

Michael Deeley is a world famous producer whose work includes The Italian Job, The Man Who Fell to Earth, The Deer Hunter (for which he won an Academy Award), and Blade Runner. He was the president of EMI Films Inc. and has a founding member and Deputy Chairman of The British Screen Advisory Council. He lives in Santa Barbara, California.

Reviews

Starred Review. Like buried treasure for cult movie enthusiasts, this memoir from British film producer Deeley is rich with the star-studded backstories and day-to-day drudge work of making major, if unconventional, Hollywood product. Frequently the glue that holds a project together, Deeley's job is, largely, to keep the peace among anxious investors, prima donna talent, and overworked, underpaid crews; in his own words, "a producer doesn't really make films, he causes them to be made." Deeley's account of making 1969's The Italian Job ("the ultimate cinematic indulgence for car junkies across the globe") is as riveting and suspenseful as the film; with the enthusiastic approval of Turin, Italy's own Mafia, a traffic jam scene was filmed in the middle of the city using unwitting citizens, essentially held hostage by blocked-off highway exits. Deeley isn't shy about discussing big-name associates, including Robert DeNiro, Dustin Hoffman and Harrison Ford as actors new to the game. Though this older, wiser Deeley puts his world in wry perspective ("all of us who work on pictures expect the last month to be frantic"), the grizzled movie vet also gives fanboys exactly the kinds of stories they're looking for: "As Ridley Scott famously said, every movie is like going into battle. But Blade Runner was World War I and II combined."

Edition details

• Publisher: Pegasus Books
• Publication date: 2009
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1605980382
• ISBN 13: 9781605980386
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 288