Posted on 08/17/2016 12:06:10 PM PDT by Borges
Canadian-born director Arthur Hiller, who spent more than a decade mostly working in television before a career in feature helming that included “Love Story,” “The Americanization of Emily” and comedy “Silver Streak,” died Wednesday. He was 92.
“Love Story,” based on the bestseller by Erich Segal, was an enormous box office hit in 1970 and was nominated for seven Oscars, including best picture. Though many critics dismissed the movie as too sentimental, it is No. 9 on the AFI’s list of the most romantic films of all time.
Hiller served as president of the Directors Guild of America from 1989-93 and of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences from 1993-97. He received the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award at the 2002 Academy Awards ceremony.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences issued a statement. “We are deeply saddened by the passing of our beloved friend Arthur Hiller,” said Academy president Cheryl Boone Isaacs. “I was a member of the Board during his presidency and fortunate enough to witness firsthand his dedication to the Academy and his lifelong passion for visual storytelling.”
The helmer went on a hot streak in 1970 and 1971 with Neil Simon’s “The Out of Towners”; “Love Story”; much-lauded black comedy “The Hospital,” for which Paddy Chayefsky won best screenplay and George C. Scott received an actor nom; and “Plaza Suite,” a Simon adaptation of his own play.
The streak ended with 1972’s “Man of La Mancha,” starring Peter O’Toole and Sophia Loren, which drew neither critical acclaim nor significant box office. Hiller continued to direct until 2006 but never achieved the same level of success again.
Hiller directed a number of high-profile films in the ’60s, including “The Wheeler Dealers,” with James Garner and Lee Remick and, in 1964, well-received big-budget “The Americanization of Emily,” with Garner and Julie Andrews.
He made “Promise Her Anything,” with Warren Beatty and Leslie Caron, in 1965, and the light-hearted “Penelope,” with Natalie Wood, in 1966. The next year Hiller directed his only war movie, “Tobruk,” with Rock Hudson and George Peppard.
In 1976 Hiller helmed the biopic “W.C. Fields and Me,” starring Rod Steiger, and the popular comedy “Silver Streak,” with Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor. Also successful was his 1979 action-comedy “The In-Laws,” with Peter Falk and Alan Arkin, although his foray into horror that year, “Nightwing,” was a dud.
Hiller’s 1982 romantic-triangle drama “Making Love” wasn’t a hit but courageously addressed homosexual themes. He followed it up with “Author! Author!” with Al Pacino. His other films of the ’80s included Steve Martin’s “The Lonely Guy,”; “Outrageous Fortune,” with Shelley Long and Bette Midler; and 1989’s “See No Evil, Hear No Evil,” which reunited Wilder and Pryor but failed to live up to its high concept (Wilder’s character is deaf, Pryor’s blind).
Hiller continued with comedies, making “Take Care of Business” in 1990 and “Married to It” in 1991.
He switched genres and made historical sports pic “The Babe,” with John Goodman, in 1992, then returned to comedy with “Carpool,” in 1996.
In 1997 came the complicated, Joe Eszterhas-scripted mess known as “An Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn,” a movie about making a bad movie that was as bad as its pic-within-a-pic.
Hiller’s last film was the similarly unsuccessful “National Lampoon’s Pucked.”
Born in Edmonton, Alberta, he served in the Royal Canadian Air Force from 1942-45, graduated from University College, U. of Toronto, in 1947 and received a Master of Arts degree in psychology in 1950. He began his show business career working for the CBC in Toronto in the early ’50s but eventually left for American television.
Hiller was kept busy as a director working in the episodic anthology series of the ’50s and early ’60s beginning with four episodes of “Matinee Theatre” in 1955-56. He also did six episodes of “Playhouse 90” from 1956-58 and three episodes of “Telephone Time” from 1957-58.
During this time he made his feature directorial debut with 1957’s “The Careless Years,” a story of teen love that starred Dean Stockwell and Natalie Trundy.
He directed seven episodes of “The Third Man” series in 1959. He also worked on “Perry Mason,” “The Rifleman” and “Gunsmoke” and many other shows.
He made the Disney film “Miracle of the White Stallions” in 1963, after which he became a director of high-profile films.
Hiller is survived by his daughter, Erica Hiller Carpenter, his son, Henryk, and five grandchildren. Gwen Hiller, his wife of 68 years, died in June.
The project was initiated and produced by a former military man. And Omar Bradley was an advisor.
There was a great spoof of Love Story on the Carol Burnett Show called “Lovely Story”, with Carol and Harvey Korman as the leads.
“Also successful was his 1979 action-comedy “The In-Laws,” with Peter Falk and Alan Arkin”
One of the funniest comedies ever!
“Serpentine, Shel!”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2_w-QCWpS0
Your post is very sensible.
When the line “Love is never to have to say you’re sorry” in “Love Story” was spoken he had the girl slap the guy but it was edited out...... Well that is what I would have filmed.
So it was Hiller who gave us “SERPENTINE SERPENTINE”! My 6 yr old son and I run like mad and yell that every time we cross any traffic thoroughfare.
Nah, it's crap.
Had forgotten that or never realized it. So the original chicken s#!+ was the screenplay and not the book. I remember girls at my high school swooning over both and me just shaking my head in wonder. Then again, I was the only person in my high school theater field trip to NYC who thought that the Broadway production of “Jesus Christ Superstar” (except for a spectacular Ben Vereen as Judas Iscariot) was awful and “The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man in the Moon Marigolds” was brilliant. I got used to being the minority opinion early on.
Even several years before that you had elephantine pre-Fab fodder like ‘The Agony and the Ecstasy’ which, to be fair, prompted a great blurb review by Dave Kehr...
“The agony is Charlton Heston as Michelangelo trying to complete the Sistine Chapel before the pope’s money and the audience’s patience run out; the ecstatic element is somewhat slighted.”
We saw the stage play in a tiny off Broadway theater with a cast I later recognized whenever they showed up in films. Our group probably made up a quarter of the audience. It won the Tony for best play later that same year. How our advisors picked out that show I’ll never know.
would be nice if cable TV would show some of these movies that i have just read instead of endless repeats of Law and Order...
Lucky you! What a wonderful experience that must have been.
Nothing older than about twenty years gets shown on TV anymore unless you’re watching a specialty channel like TCM or Me-TV.
One of my favorite Gene Wilder/Richard Pryor movies.
Since it’s a train movie, It’s a surprise that Moonbeam isn’t a 1000% for a remake.
I can’t see anyone in the shoes of Gene Wilder, Richard Pryor, Patrick McGoohan or Jill Clayburgh (?) today.
Carol Burnett had some great stuff on her show.
I like my L&O binge-a-thons of the early years.
There are channels like El Rey, Antenna, and Comet.
I saw the sequel not too long ago. It was bad. An hour and a half of a suicidally depressed Oliver. What was the point ?
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