Blaze (1989)

Director:

Ron Shelton

Writers (WGA):

Blaze Starr (book) and
Huey Perry (book) ...

Release Date:

13 December 1989 (USA)

Genre:

Biography | Drama

Plot:

This movie tells the story of the latter years of Earl Long, a flamboyant governor of Louisiana. The aging Earl...

Plot Keywords:

Love | Civil Rights | Governor | 1950s | Louisiana

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

Paul Newman	...	Gov. Earl K. Long
Lolita Davidovich	...	Blaze Starr
Jerry Hardin	...	Thibodeaux
Gailard Sartain	...	LaGrange
Jeffrey DeMunn	...	Eldon Tuck
Garland Bunting	...	Doc Ferriday
Richard Jenkins	...	Picayune
Brandon Smith	...	Arvin Deeter
Jay Chevalier	...	Wiley Braden
Robert Wuhl	...	Red Snyder
Michael Brockman	...	Bobby
Eloy Casados	...	Antoine
James Harper	...	Willie Rainach
Teresa Gilmore	...	Tamara Knight
Dianne Brill	...	Delilah Dough

Runtime:

120 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Chile:14 | Finland:K-12 | Sweden:11 | UK:15 | USA:R | Canada:14A | Iceland:12

Filming Locations:

Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA

Company:

A&M Films

Trivia:

The year this film was shot there was an election in Louisiana. One of the items to vote on was bill that had many different state projects. It was defeated the same day the crew was filming the funeral scene overnight in the Capital Building in Baton Rouge. The crew had to leave before all the props could be removed, including the coffin. The defeated bill was laid in the coffin by someone before the next daily legislative session began.

Quotes:

Earl Long: I want you to meet the finest yes-men in Lousiana and their lovely wives.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Welcome to Hollywood (1998)

Another Loser For Director-Writer Shelton

Mix a flamboyant, famous politician of the late '50s - played by one of Hollywood's most famous actors - having an affair with a famous stripper and what do you have? An interesting story, but a movie that still lacked a lot of spark in a number of areas.

I can't blame the actors so my best guess is Director Ron Shelton. He wrote the screenplay for this and has the distinction of directing the only sports movies I ever disliked - all of his! This guy's resume of bad movies is brutal. Look it up!

You could see Paul Newman really relished playing Louisiana Governor Earl K. "Huey" Long, who was scandalized after it was divulged he was having an affair with the notorious stripper, Blaze Starr, played well by newcomer Lolita Davidovich. Some think Davidovich stole the movie from Newman, but I don't know if I would go that far.

However, to me, this was another Newman movie that was overly profane in the language department, a little over-the-top in a performance and just lacking something that made me care about the characters. Starr was portrayed as someone you liked, admittedly, but when has Hollywood not made a stripper or prostitute look good? Newman's role as the flipped-out governor was overacted. One thing, though: Paul Newman is never boring whoever he's playing.

I like movies about eccentric characters but this film just had too sleazy a look and feel for me to enjoy it. In the end, who better to blame than Shelton? This just wasn't the appealing story it should have been.