#Murray Schisgal

[genevieveetguy]

. - I'm just an untalented old has-been. - Were you ever famous? - No. - Then how can you be a has-been?

Tootsie, Sydney Pollack (1982)

[theoscarsproject]

Tootsie (1982). Michael Dorsey, an unsuccessful actor, disguises himself as a woman in order to get a role on a trashy hospital soap.

This is one of the movies that really feels like a product of its time, and needs to be viewed that way. Is it messy with its approach to gender and sexuality? Definitely, but it's also well-intentioned and I think wanted to explore gender, sexuality and companionship in a way that must've felt exciting in '82. Plus the performances are genuinely pretty great, so looking at it as a bit of a time capsule isn't a bad way to spend two hours. 7/10,

[thebuzztrack]

Alan Arkin, Comic Actor With a Serious Side, Dies at 89

Alan Arkin, a versatile and acclaimed actor who won an Oscar for his supporting role in Little Miss Sunshine, died at age 89. Arkin was known for his comedic and dramatic skills, alongside his ability to play a wide range of characters, from a Russian submarine captain in The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming, to a con artist in The In-Laws, to a grumpy grandfather in Little Miss Sunshine. He was also a director, writer, musician, and singer who performed with the folk group The Tarriers and composed songs for movies and Broadway shows.

He was born in Brooklyn, New York, on March 26, 1934, to Jewish parents who were immigrants from Ukraine and Germany. He developed his interest in acting at a young age and joined a children's theater group. He studied drama at Los Angeles City College and Bennington College and joined the Second City improv troupe in Chicago. In 1963 he made his Broadway debut in the musical From the Second City, which earned him a Tony Award nomination. He also starred in the original Broadway production of Luv, a comedy by Murray Schisgal.

Arkin made his film debut in 1966 in The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming, a satire about the Cold War that earned him an Oscar nomination for best actor. He received another nomination for his role as a deaf mute in The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter in 1968. He also appeared in films such as Wait Until Dark, Catch-22, The Seven-Per-Cent Solution, Edward Scissorhands, Glengarry Glen Ross, Grosse Pointe Blank, and Argo. He won his only Oscar for his performance as Edwin Hoover, a heroin-addicted grandfather who coaches his granddaughter for a beauty pageant in Little Miss Sunshine in 2006.

He was married three times and had three sons: Adam, Matthew, and Anthony, all are now actors. He also had four grandchildren and one great-grandchild. He was known for his wit, warmth, generosity, and ardent support for social justice and human rights. He supported causes such as Amnesty International, Greenpeace, and UNICEF. He was also an avid reader, painter, and chess player.

His death was announced by his family on Friday. He died of natural causes at his home in Los Angeles. His family said he was surrounded by love and laughter until the end. They also thanked his fans for their support and admiration over the years.

His legacy will live on through his work and influence on generations of actors and comedians. He was one of the pioneers of improvisational comedy and satire in film and theater. He brought humor and humanity to every role he played, regardless as a hero or a villain. He challenged stereotypes and conventions with his unconventional choices and performances. Arkin inspired many of his peers and successors with his talent, courage, and integrity. He will be greatly missed by his family, friends, and colleagues.

[movienation]

Classic Film Review: Co-stars' marriage survives the Debacle of "The Tiger Makes Out" (1967)

Eli Wallach and Anne Jackson had one of the most enduring actor marriages in Hollywood, a union that lasted some 56 years and only ended with Wallach’s death in 2014. Jackson died two years later. The talented master craftsman and craftswoman often worked together on and off Broadway, most famously in the 1964 romantic comedy “Luv,” written by Murray Schisgal. Their chemistry on stage and blunt…

[annettebrooklyn]

Three Elephant paintings with no connection at all to the text.  If you don’t like the painting perhaps you will appreciate the quote.

[adamwatchesmovies]

Tootsie (1982)

Tootsie has been imitated and ripped off so often that in a way, you’ve seen this story before. You're also going to have to keep in mind the decade this film was set in. Do this, and you'll be in stitches. The film holds up thanks to its ideas and the incredible performances.

Michael Dorsey (Dustin Hoffman) is a talented, but difficult actor whose reputation now makes it impossible for him to find work. Desperate, he disguises himself as "Dorothy Michaels" and auditions for the part of a female hospital administrator on a new soap opera. To his agent’s bewilderment, he gets the part.

This cross-dressing comedic thing has been done so many times since and, unfortunately, this makes some of the plot points in Tootsie familiar. What has endured are the actors, who deliver performances far beyond what you'd expect from this type of comedy. The genius is that Dorothy Michaels is not just Michael Dorsey in a dress; she’s a real character. As a method actor Michael fully embraces the part and Dorothy takes on a life of her own. Her insistence on changing her swooning female role to that of a stubborn feminist is a striking contrast to the real-life Michael, who is a weak man. Dustin Hoffman shows true vulnerability in both parts and they inherently make for many terrific comedic scenarios. As a bonus, he plays both parts so well you believe the outlandish scenario. Edit out some key scenes from the film and you'd never believe that Michael and Dorothy are played by the same person, it's that good.

At first, Dorothy's kind of a sad woman. Created from desperation, unattractive and unsure of herself, how could she not be? As time passes, she grows. She recognizes the unfair workplace treatments women receive and puts her foot down. In a way, the film is about a man who comes in and "rescues" the women around him, but there’s more to it. Dorothy does as much for the man (Michael) as she does for her female co-workers. The people in this film (and in real life) are so used to their environment, to being treated, or treating others in a certain way they don’t give a second thought to it. Michael isn’t consciously hurting the feelings of his friend Sandy (Teri Garr) but he’s so stuck in his role of being a man that he can’t manage to put himself in his female friend’s shoes and actually think about her feelings... until Dorothy comes along. In the same way, the female leads in the soap know they’re not being treated fairly by the sexist director, but they’ve forgotten that an alternative could exist until Dorothy shakes things up. I say the movie is about someone who suddenly gets a new viewpoint and realizes the world isn’t as rosy as they thought it was.

I’m making it sound like Tootsie is a heavy drama with deep messages and it is, partially. Elements of it are touching, but you'll also laugh a lot. This farcical scenario is a goldmine of jokes. If Michael isn’t scrambling to come up elaborate lies to hide his secret, he's desperately trying to get away from a man that’s started to fall in love with Dorothy... not because of her appearance, but because of her feisty attitude and her refusal to get close to him. 

I urge you to see Tootsie. Despite some familiar plot points, it's a riot that also manages to be touching. The performances are outstanding and give extra life to the premise. An actor so desperate for work he decides to pretend to be a woman in order to get a role on a soap opera? So we’ve got an actor (Dustin Hoffman) playing an actor (Michael Dorsey) playing an actress (Dorothy Michaels) while everyone else is completely unaware of what is going on. Get past the familiar elements and what you might perceive as a sinister undertone of deception. It ends on the perfect note, that right mix of hilarity and tender sweetness. (On DVD, July 18, 2014)

[daveinediting]

I ran across an interview with Larry Gelbart, a writer who, along with Gene Reynolds, developed M.A.S.H. for television where it ran for 11 seasons.

And that’s how I know of him.

Outside of my somewhat restricted view of his work, Gelbart was also a playwright (the musical “A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum”, writing with Burt Shevelove and Stephen Sondheim). He was also a screenwriter (”Tootsie”, writing with Murray Schisgal). And his full resume actually stretches all the way back into the Golden Age of Television.

So.

Suffice it to say there’s plenty of experience here writing. And not only that... but writing to a deadline. With high stakes.

And lots of pressure.

And blank page after blank page to fill.

And always more expectation, never less.

Anyway, the interview I ran across was an interesting, serendipitous discovery. What caught my eye most, though, was this advice near the end.

“When you're writing and come to a rough spot and the ideas just aren't flowing, put down dummy text and keep on moving—especially if it's at the end of the day and you're going to stop. Your brain will never stop for the day, even if you have stopped working, and there's a very good chance you'll come up with something better.”

Keep on moving.

That probably speaks to me most because I actually do that on those occasions when I’m writing music for broadcast television. When there’s a hard deadline and an overwhelming amount of work to do, I take the ideas that I have at the time I need them and put them in play. A lot of the time they work out pretty well... and all I end up doing is tweaking performance or arrangement or mix. Some of the time, though, the music’s just Godawful. Or at least it doesn’t work. Really doesn’t work.

So two things about that:

The first is that having a crappy piece of work with your name on it that might actually make it to air if you don’t do something about it is a pretty effective motivation for doing something about it.

The second thing, though, is this:

I don’t always have the right ideas at the times that I want them. They might come later, of course. But they can also grow out of something I put into a show that isn’t right to begin with.

Think of it as a puzzle piece.

Think of it as a missing puzzle piece.

Now the thing about doing puzzles is that the more of the puzzle you finish, the more it becomes obvious what the missing pieces must look like. And with the music I compose on a deadline, it very much works out that way. The more music I set in place that works, the more obvious it is what the remaining pieces I’m struggling with must sound like.

That’s even happened with music I thought already worked. You see, based on the work I subsequently did, suddenly I realized how an earlier piece really should sound. So I scrapped what worked and created this new piece both from scratch and with great ease.

And it was better. Much, much better.

“Your brain will never stop for the day, even if you have stopped working...”

That’s completely true, by the way. With one condition: that you are already fully engaged with the project on which you’re working. It’s the key, you see, to letting your brain know exactly what it should be working on while you...

Are off the clock.

:-)

[billscheft]

Anna and I are doing our scene from Murray Schisgal’s “Luv” tomorrow for Larry Moss’ Master Class. Here is a recording of the original Broadway version with Eli Wallach, Anne Jackson and Alan Arkin. Our scene begins 4:17 and ends with Milt (me) saying, “Harry Berlin....”

[larryland]

84 Productions Plans Murray Schisgal Festival in Sheffield

84 Productions Plans Murray Schisgal Festival in Sheffield

This September, 84 Productions is happy to present a Murray Schisgal festival in Sheffield, MA! We will be performing The Typists and The Tiger in repertory. The ensemble will be rehearsing throughout the glorious Berkshire summer and performing Labor Day Weekend in Dewey Hall, 91 Main Street, in downtown Sheffield. Murray Schisgal is an American playwright, producer, and screenwriter born in…

[fangirlsdilemma]

104 New To Me Movies: Tootsie(1992)

I watched Tootsie with my family for Easter. They are very nice to indulge me

Stats Title: TootsieRelease Year: 1992Directed By: Sydney PollackWritten By: Larry Gelbart & Murray Schisgal (Uncredited rewrites by Barry Levinson and Elaine May)Recommended By: AFI 100Star Rating: 4 Review What happens when an actor who’s been branded difficult takes on the role of a lifetime? A WOMAN! I had some expectations going into this movie, I expect madcap shenanigans, a lot of…

[seattlemysterybooks]

philsp.com

August 1937 issue

Oscar Schisgall, “The Voice of Mr. Omega"

Frank Gruber, “Trailer Town” (Oliver Quade)

Hal Murray Bonnett, “The City of Fear"

Bernard Breslauer, “Bad Medicine"

Terry Gilkison, “Famous Crimes"

K. Krausse, “Diamonds of Death"

William Donald Bray, “Four Bits a Week” (River Joe)

Westmoreland Gray, “The Wrath of the Goffs"

Seattle Mystery Bookshop 

[newyorktheater]

February 2021 Theater Openings Final Week: De Shields as Frederick Douglass. Baryshnikov in a Computer Chekhov. A New Labyrinth Play Every Day

February 2021 Theater Openings Final Week: De Shields as Frederick Douglass. Baryshnikov in a Computer Chekhov. A New Labyrinth Play Every Day

Below are the day-by-day listings of online theater that is opening between February 22 and February 28. In this final week of the month, Labyrinth Theater is offering an original new play each day as part of its 2021 Barn Series, André De Shields performs as Frederick Douglass, married couple Michael McKean and  Annette O’Toole play a pair of office workers in an old Murray Schisgal comedy,…

[auskultu]

The Ten Best Films of 1967

Bosley Crowther, The New York Times, 24 December 1967

THIS was the year in which Hollywood—or the home-grown film, if you please—made a remarkable emergence from the shadow of eclipse into which it had been cast by foreign imports and the weakness of its own energies in the past several years. Suddenly, against a record that showed a consistent decline in numerical representation since 1961, the Hollywood moviemakers have landed on my “10 best" list this year with no less than four solid entries, and with a respectable sprinkling on the honorable mention list.

Unstinting credit for this rebound to critical respectability must be given to those producers and directors who have finally responded to the cry for pregnant themes in the contemporary span of social tensions, rather than drift with a flat escapist tide. But it must also be acknowledged that a certain lessening was evident this year in the quality of foreign-language pictures, punctuated only by the emergence of individual, isolated surprises from young directors scattered from Sweden to Spain.

This was a year marked by ugly explosions of violence and sadism in many films, much of it meritricious and generated merely to shock. There are some elements of violence in films on the forthcoming list. But they are artfully restrained and developed to make valid and socially meaningful points. I am happy to conclude that the entries on this last year-end balance that I’ll draw up are as brilliant in their way and as impressive as those on the first I ever did.

So here they are, put down in the order in which they opened in New York:

La Guerre Est Finie (The War Is Over), screenplay by Jorge Semprun; directed by Alain Resnais; produced by Sofracime of Paris and Eu-ropa-Film of Stockholm; released by Brandon Films. This reflection of two days in the life of an aging Spanish left-wing agitator on a secret trip to Paris to visit his mistress and make contact with the Communist leaders there embraces a complex of emotions, memories, loyalties, and is ono of the finest comprehensions of growing old in today’s world yet filmed. Yves Montand, Ingrid Thulin and Genevieve Bujold play it beautifully.

Ulysses, screenplay by Joseph Strick and Fred Haines, based on the novel by James Joyce; directed by Mr. Strick; a Walter Reade, Jr.-Joseph Strick Production, released by Continental. A faithful and brilliant screen translation of Joyce’s classic novel, done with taste, imagination and cinema artistry. Most notable and commendable are the candor and clarity with which Joyce’s ribald language and erotic images are presented to achieve understanding and the rhythm and ring of poetry. Maurice Roeves as Stephen Dedalus, Milo O’Shea as Leopold Bloom and Barbara Jefford as his wife, Molly, are superior in an excellent cast.

The Hunt, screenplay by Angelino Fons and Carlos Saura; directed by Mr. Saura; an Elias Querejeta Production, released by Trans-Lux. In this brilliantly expanding drama of four men on a seemingly innocent rabbit-hunting trip in a barren area fought over in the Spanish Civil War, Mr. Saura vividly presents us with a bitter and horrifying expose of the spiritual poverty and frustration of middle-aged men who were involved in that war—on the side of the Falangists. One of the rare Spanish films released here, it acquaints us with a strong young directorial talent and new, bold spirit in Spain.

In the Heat of the Night, screenplay by Stirling Silli-phant, based on the novel by John Ball; directed by Norman Jewison; produced by Waller Mirisch of the Mirisch Company for United Artists. The hot surge of racial hate and tension as it has been displayed in many communities this year is fictionally isolated and put forth with realism and point in this strong drama of a Northern Negro detective up against a mystifying murder and an antagonistic white sheriff in the South. Sidney Poitier and Rod Steiger give Oscar-worthy performances.

Father, screenplay by Istvan Szabo; directed by Mr. Szabo and produced by Ma-film Studio III of Budapest, Hungary; released by Continental. Again, an exciting creation from a fresh talent on the European scene is manifest in this study of a young Hungarian's heroic fantasies of his dead father, wherein are reflected his emotional insecurity and his need for a sense of heritage in a changing world. Fine performances by several young people and a fluid, forceful cinematic style distinguish what might be considered a significant achievement of a Hungarian “new wave.”

Elvira Madigan, screenplay by Bo Widerberg; directed by Mr. Widerberg, and produced by Janco/Europa Film; released by Cinema V. A new, young Swedish director swims impressively into our ken with this pictorially exquisite and dramatically absorbing story of a pathetically doomed love affair between a young married Swedish cavalry officer and a beautiful circus girl, all in the serene long ago. Thommy Berggren and Pia Degermark fairly break one’s heart in the principal roles. The creative use of color and of Mozart’s music is memorable.

Closely Watched Trains, screenplay by Bohumil Hrabal and Jiri Menzel, based on a story by Mr. Hrabal; directed by'Mr. Menzel, and produced by Film Studio Bar-randov of Prague, Czechoslovakia; a Sigma III release. In the naturalistic tradition of several recent fine Czechoslovak films, this humorous, revealing and poignant drama of a hopeful, immature young railway-station attendant at a country station in World War II is richly cinematic and full of humanity and tenderness. Vaclav Neckar as the young hero and Jitka Bendova as an older attendant are delightful in a fine cast.

Cool Hand Luke, screenplay by Donn Pearce and Frank R. Pierson, based on a novel by Mr. Pearce; directed by Stuart Rosenberg, and produced by Gordon Carroll for Warner Brothers-Seven Arts. This tough convict-camp melodrama about a cryptic, alienated young chap, caught between the heroization of his fellow prisoners and the ruthless deflating of the guards, is a good, solid chunk of raw meat, cinematically and otherwise, in a year in which films of brutality and violence have too often been overdone. Paul Newman as the hero, George Kennedy as a fellow con and Jo Van Fleet in a small role do especially well.

In Cold Blood, screenplay by Richard Brooks, based on the novel by Truman Capote; directed and produced by Mr. Brooks for Columbia. Here, in this starkly realistic and electrifyingly illuminating film, based on the classic in-depth study of an actual Kansas quadruple murder case, Mr. Brooks brilliantly provides us with a comprehension beyond the scope of this one case of the harrowing hazard of random crime and senseless violence in our communities. Excellent performances by two comparative newcomers, Scott Wilson and Robert Blake, in the roles of the neurotic killers, and a strong, expressive musical-sound score by Quincy Jones are among the several Oscar-worthy efforts in this film.

The Graduate, screenplay by Calder Willingham and Buck Henry, based on a novel by Charles Webb; directed by Mike Nichols, and produced by Lawrence Turman for Embassy Pictures. This sharply incisive and funny picture about the social and amorous problems of a young man fresh out of college is thematically and cinematically one of the best American social satires that has come along in years, and it offers in the title role a new young actor, Dustin Hoffman, who is nothing short of superb. Anne Bancroft as a restless older woman and Katharine Ross as her daughter also shine.

There are my ”10 best” selections. But I would like, as I did last year, to note several films that were contenders for places on this list. They may be classed as Honorable Mentions, with no gradation among them—and here they are:

Persona — Ingmar Bergman’s superb, disturbing study of a clashing dual personality, beautifully played by Bibi Andersson and Liv Uilmann.

Marat/Sade — A brilliant cinematic enactment of the powerful Peter Weiss stage play about insanity and revolution, directed by Peter Brook.

The War Game — A hypothetical study, done in tele-vision-documentary style, of a nuclear bombing of Britain, directed by Peter Watkins.

Up the Down Staircase — The “blackboard jungle” broadened, with particular emphasis upon the devotion of a new high school teacher, played exceedingly well by Sandy Dennis.

Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner — A delightful, icebreaking drawing-room comedy about mixed marriage, charmingly played—and talked—by Spencer Tracy, Katharine Hepburn and Sidney Poitier.

The Battle of Algiers — Here is a scorching example of the old reenacted documentary-type film, directed with new vitality by Gillo Pontecorvo and played by a first-rate cast.

Privilege — What happens when a British “pop” singer is exploited for the benefit of The Establishment; highly suppositional but strong, also by Peter Watkins.

The Jokers — New British director Michael Winner satirizes the impatience and recklessness of younger members of the upper class.

The Tiger Makes Out — Murray Schisgal’s comedy-satire on New York loners, played delightfully by Eli Wallach and Arne Jackson.

There, that’s enough.

Here’s hoping for even better in 1968!

[slimlastforskolins]

Broadway Producer Adela Holzer Dead At 90-Something – ArtsJournal PEOPLE Posted: January 9, 20207:34 am She had two hits onstage (Murray Schisgal’s All About Town…