The Last Tycoon (1976)

Director:

Elia Kazan

Writers:

F. Scott Fitzgerald (novel)
Harold Pinter (writer)

Release Date:

19 November 1976 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Tagline:

He has the power to make anyone's dream come true... except his own.

Plot:

F.Scott Fitzgerald's novel is brought to life in this story of a movie producer slowly working himself to death. |

Plot Keywords:

Sound Stage | Earthquake | Based On Unfinished Work | Melodrama | Telegram

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 1 win

Cast

Robert De Niro	...	Monroe Stahr
Tony Curtis	...	Rodriguez
Robert Mitchum	...	Pat Brady
Jeanne Moreau	...	Didi
Jack Nicholson	...	Brimmer
Donald Pleasence	...	Boxley
Ray Milland	...	Fleishacker
Dana Andrews	...	Red Ridingwood
Ingrid Boulting	...	Kathleen Moore
Peter Strauss	...	Wylie
Theresa Russell	...	Cecilia Brady
Tige Andrews	...	Popolos
Morgan Farley	...	Marcus
John Carradine	...	Tour guide
Jeff Corey	...	Doctor

Runtime:

123 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White | Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:L | Australia:M | Netherlands:6 | Sweden:11 | USA:PG (certificate #24458) | Argentina:16 | Finland:K-16 | UK:15

Company:

Academy Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

Anjelica Huston tried out the lead of Kathleen, but Spiegal preferred Susan Sarandon. But Ingrid Boulting got the role.

Quotes:

Pat Brady: You know who first told him you were a genius? Guess.
Monroe Stahr: You.
Pat Brady: Right.
Monroe Stahr: Damn good of you, Pat.
Pat Brady: Oh, no. If I admire a man, I say so. I want the whole world to know. Perhaps that's because I'm Irish. The Irish are a very warm-hearted people.
Popolos: The Greeks are warm, too. I mean, try to find me a Greek communist. You couldn't find one.

Movie Connections:

References San Francisco (1936)

Misunderstood masterpiece

De Niro was an unexpected surprise as Monroe Starr in this brilliant adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's unfinished last novel. He gives a thoughtful, sensitive, and intelligent performance as this character, who was modeled on MGM producer, Irving Thalberg. Fitzgerald wrote about Hollywood from the inside, and from the perspective of someone who was destroying himself by being inside. He could ask for nothing better than to have English playwright Harold Pinter create this stark, human screenplay and then have Elia Kazan realize it.

In addition to De Niro's definitive performance, we get a series of perfect cameos (usually an impossibility) from Tony Curtis, Jeanne Moreau, Robert Mitchum, and others. We also get two screen debuts of merit -- Angelica Huston (in a small, but memorable scene) and an excellent Teresa Russell as Starr's would-be sweetheart. The critics hated the movie, and it did poorly in box offices, but it was truly, like Fitzgerald himself, an American masterpiece.