Hello!
Jack Kelly played movie critic in 1961, expressing his candid opinions about a cinematic epic and film award campaigns to columnist Lee Belser:
"Jack Kelly shot what may be his last Maverick the other day and then trundled off with his wife to a neighborhood theater to see The Alamo.
"'But, it is a good picture,' he added, 'and interesting from a money standpoint. It's fascinating to see what can happen when there's an unlimited bank account handy.'
"Jack concluded that, in his opinion, the film would have sold itself without the publicity campaign conducted by John Wayne's press agent, Russell Birdwell.
"'Birdwell,' he said, "reminds me of an Orry-Kelly with a typewriter. If I had a million-dollar publicity budget, I could be a star tomorrow morning.
"Kelly had some kind things to say about Wayne's possibilities as a director.
'"'If he's responsible for any of the direction of that picture,' he said, 'he never should have become an actor. Even Laurence Harvey was superb in it and I can't stand Laurence Harvey.'"
"Kelly, a non-joiner (and if he joins, he doesn't attend), says that, for once, he'd like to voice an opinion--as a member of the Motion Picture Academy.
"'I wish,' he said, 'that they would classify pictures according to type. They should even have an award based on cost.
"'There should be no publicity campaigns,' he added, 'and nominees should be prohibited from displaying pictures of themselves and rundowns on their accomplishments, other than what is handed them by the free press.
"'I feel also', Jack went on, 'that voters should be forced into seeing every picture that's up for an award, and every voter should be forced to register and to see the picture only under the auspices of the Academy.'
After setting the record straight on the Academy Awards, Jack admitted he's pretty much in the dark on the future of Maverick.
"'I don't know what will happen,' he said. 'We'll go into reruns for the summer, but then we just finished shooting 32 segments and we're supposed to start shooting again in June or July.'
"'I'm gonna ride the bandwagon as long as I can,' he added. 'I'm taking 99% of my salary and investing it in real estate and land, so when the magic lantern burns out I won't have to end up on the street.
"'I own real estate,' he confided, 'from Puget Sound to San Diego.'
"There may be a motion picture coming up for Jack--The Devil in Bucks County with Simone Signoret, last year's best-actress award winner. "
As you can see, JK wasn't shy about speaking his mind!
Incidentally, The Alamo was infamous at the time for its over-the-top award campaign, especially when supporting actor Chill Wills' agent went overboard in seeking a golden statuette for his client.
And, despite gossip columnists proclaiming this or that actor (JK, Henry Fonda, Robert Taylor, Jackie Gleason, Dick Shawn, Shirley Knight, etc.) would be co-starring with Ms. Signoret in The Devil in Bucks County for Warner Bros., the movie was never made.
It's probably just as well. The 1959 novel on which the film was to have been based was considered daring in its day. However, more contemporary reviews I found described the book as "trashy", "campy" and "unreadable".
Statistician-turned-novelist Edmund Schiddel set the story in a thinly-disguised version of a real-life artists' colony called New Hope in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, and peopled it with characters whom those "in the know" would recognize. As one reviewer on Amazon said, "Fun book if you live in Bucks County. More fun if you know the characters. Dull reading if you don't."
What will JK sound off on next? Please stay tuned to TDS and find out! :)
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