Diana Muldaur-Burt Lancaster "El nadador" (The swimmer) 1968, de Frank Perry.

Burt Lancaster in The Swimmer (1968) dir. Frank Perry

Burt Lancaster in The Swimmer (Frank Perry, 1968)

Cast: Burt Lancaster, Janet Langford, Janice Rule, Joan Rivers, Tony Bickley, Marge Champion, Kim Hunter, Bill Fiore, Rose Gregorio, Charles Drake, House Jameson, Nancy Cushman, Bernie Hamilton. Screenplay: Eleanor Perry, based on a short story by John Cheever. Cinematography: David L. Quaid. Art direction: Peter Dohanos. Film editing: Sidney Katz, Carl Lerner, Pat Somerset. Music: Marvin Hamlisch.

The Swimmer evokes that common anxiety dream in which you're naked or in your underwear in a familiar place like work or school. The people around you don't seem to notice, but you suspect that they're secretly laughing at you. The dream is produced, of course, by something that you don't want other people to know about you. Ned Merrill (Burt Lancaster) isn't naked, but he's exposed, wearing swim trunks and barefoot, when we first see him walking through the woods. He comes upon a group of his neighbors gathered around their swimming pool. They greet him heartily, commenting on how long it's been since they got together, serving drinks and making small talk. Ned suddenly has an idea: All of his neighbors have pools. Why couldn't he swim his way home, moving from pool to pool until he reaches his destination? The group cheers him on. Ned is an athletic middle-aged man (Lancaster was in his mid-50s when the film was made, but looked perhaps ten years younger), and the day is sunny and warm. But as he continues his pool-hopping, he injures himself slightly and the day gets darker and chillier, and so does the reception of the pool-owners he encounters. We begin to discover that Ned is in financial trouble and that the marriage he initially portrayed as happy has fallen apart. The John Cheever story on which the film is based is often read as a fable about suburban hypocrisy and male anxiety, and the movie supports those and other interpretations. Lancaster is perfect casting, not only because of his physical fitness but also because of the signs of aging that the camera inevitably reveals -- camera angles, for example, sometimes show the thinning of the hair at the crown of his head. But the film version lacks the Everyman quality of Cheever's story, missing some of the shock of recognition by the reader, an inevitability in its translation to a visual medium. It also ran into some trouble with producer Sam Spiegel, who had many scenes recast and reshot, firing director Frank Perry and replacing him with Sydney Pollack. It was not a success at the box office, being a little too oblique for audiences and some critics, but it has gained stature with time. 

David and Lisa, Frank Perry, 1962.

Rancho Deluxe (1975, Frank Perry)

5/7/23

David and Lisa (1962)  - Directed by Frank Perry

Photo de Frank Perry / AFP

Hommage à Jerry Lee Lewis," The Killer", pionnier et légende du rock’n’roll 🌹🖤🎈Qu'il repose en paix 🕊

Jerry Lee Lewis 🎶 Great Balls Of Fire, What'd I Say & Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin On

(Live Ed Sullivan Show)

Bonne soirée 🙋‍♀️

David and Lisa (1962, Frank Perry, USA)

The Swimmer de Frank Perry, 1968

Porto Design Biennale 2023

Frank Perry's Last Summer (1969) made the Mayor of Parma, Ohio "so disgusted and so angered" that it turned him into an "anti-smut crusader."

Faye Dunaway-Stacy Keach "Duelo a muerte en O. K. Corral" (Doc) 1971, de Frank Perry.

Currently Watching [Never Actually Seen Before Edition]

MOMMIE DEAREST Frank Perry USA, 1981

29 July 2023

Film: PLAY IT AS IT LAYS (d. Frank Perry, 1972, USA)

Forum: Doc Films   Format: 35mm

Observations: Of the films I saw this week - including the two summer blockbusters - this title will stick with me the longest. It's an adaptation of Joan Didion's novel of the same title, a perfect complement to PUZZLE OF A DOWNFALL CHILD (d. Jerry Schatzberg, 1970, USA), about the unraveling of the central female character. Truly sublime. About 30 folks for this one.