...ever see the movie “Sorcerer,” based on the French film “Wages of Fear,” directed by William Friedkin, and starring Roy Scheider?
Friedkin, who had just made The French Connection and the Exorcist and was riding higher than a kite in Hollywood, supposedly acted like a complete prick during production of Sorcerer. So much so that when the film was released (on the week of June 24, 1977, the same week as another little film called “Star Wars”) and bombed, he was ruined as a director. Everyone who he had been a horrible monster to on the way up, made sure he crash landed on the way down.
Originally set to star Steve McQueen (and also turned down by Clint Eastwood, Gene Hackman, Paul Newman, and Jack Nicholson), Friedkin eventually ‘settled’ on the “lesser” star, Roy Scheider.
Oddly, even though it’s considered one of the biggest flops in Hollywood history, it’s one of my favorite films, starrring one of my favorite actors. Scheider is awesome (as he is in Marathon Man, Jaws, The French Connection, and The Seven-Ups), so I did the (below) sketch of him...
I LOVE Sorcerer! It's one of those gems that not many people know about and is way better than its reputation. Awesome.
ReplyDeleteI agree, it's a fantastic film, and the Tangerine Dream soundtrack is totally hypnotic and amazing.
ReplyDeleteI love Roy Scheider! I'll have to look this one up.
ReplyDeleteI bought the soundtrack album immediately after seeing Sorceror. Everything about that film was amazing! Took 20 years for me to finally see Wages of Fear, and I love it as well, for entirely different reasons!
ReplyDeleteLOL, I remember watching the movie and thinking, omigod, Scheider IS Nick Fury!
I think I might still have that 78 rpm somewhere...
I love that movie. It's tense as hell and the direction is nicely understated in the beginning as they introduce that disparate cast of characters.
ReplyDeleteOpening up the same weekend as Star Wars and being forever overlooked, tough break. Guess that's why people always advise against burning bridges like that, yikes.
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I've got great memories of it. I've looked with no luck at the library and netflix. Guess I've got to purchase it. I recently watched Wages of Fear, and that movie is totally awesome.
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