Thanks to Google Alerts, I just found out that someone posted a tribute to my father on YouTube, "Character Actors: Lionel Stander," a mishmash of scenes from the 1976 disaster pic The Cassandra Crossing. Dad plays a Swiss (!) train conductor named Max (also his character name in "Once Upon a Time in the West" and "Hart to Hart," and maybe others), with no attempt made to disguise or explain his New York accent.
The movie, with a screenplay cowritten by Tom Mankiewicz, is so God-awful that it's comical; "Murder on the Orient Express" it ain't. Even more fun is to be had in spotting the all-star cast: Richard Harris and Sophia Loren as a crime-solving couple named Jonathan and Jennifer (more shades of "Hart to Hart," some episodes of which were directed and written by...Tom Mankiewicz), OJ Simpson, Ava Gardner, Martin Sheen, Lee Strasberg and Burt Lancaster.
Enjoy groaning:
Duh...I never thought to search YouTube for the Old Man. Turns out he has five pages of vidclips (a distressing number of which are from "Hart to Hart"). Here's one that's intentionally funny, the trailer for Polanski's "Cul-de-Sac":
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6 comments:
It was serendipity that I was channel surfing one night and found "Cul-de-Sac" just a minute or two before it started. What a wild cast and a funny movie!
Cassandra Crossing! Wow. Has so much talent ever been so completely wasted? I do love the scene where they airlift the basset hound, though. Cul-de-Sac looks like a MUCH better bet.
Not only was your Dad absolutely darling but I have a special affection for Cul-de-Sac which I saw in a college film class a long time ago. Quirky is an understatement and I loved it. Cul-de-Sac is also useful in playing charades where no one had a clue how to act that one out.
I'll miss you at BEA, my daughter and son-in-law decided to have their first child then. Good luck with your surgery.
Mimi Schroeder
www.maxbookpr.com
Wow, Mimi, you are one serious charades player!
Most inconsiderate of your daughter to have a baby during BEA. Doesn't she know that you're busy in late May to early June? Kids these days...sheesh.
I casually mentioned inducing the child but Liz didn't buy into it. It was a tough choice....
Okay, the movie was really bad, but your dad was still really great, as usual. I've always adored him.
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