Garry Marshall Passes On

Garry Marshall, producer of the classic TV show The Odd Couple and creator of such shows as Happy Days and Laverne and Shirley, died on July 19 2016 at the age of 81. The cause was complications from pneumonia following a stroke.

Garry Marshall was born on November 13 1934 in The Bronx, New York. His father was a director of industrial films while his mother taught tap dancing. His younger sister is Penny Marshall, an actress and director in her own right who starred in Mr. Marshall's show Laverne and Shirley. Garry Marshall attended Northwestern University where he received a degree in journalism.

Mr. Marshall began his career as a gag writer for such comedians as Joey Bishop. His first work on television was on The Jack Paar Tonight Show in 1960. As a television writer he went on to write for such shows as The Danny Thomas Show, The Bill Dana Show, The Joey Bishop Show, The Lucy Show, and The Dick Van Dyke Show. He created and produced the short lived sitcom Hey, Landlord.

While Hey, Landlord is largely forgotten, Mr. Marshall's next sitcom would become a classic. He developed Neil Simon's play The Odd Couple for television. While the sitcom, starring Jack Klugman and Tony Randall, was not a smash hit in the ratings, it managed to last five seasons and has went on to a highly successful run as a syndicated rerun. Mr. Marshall followed The Odd Couple with the hit sitcom Happy Days. Created and produced by Mr. Marshall, Happy Days was a hit from which the hit shows Laverne and Shirley and Mork and Mindy were spun off. Like Happy Days, Laverne and Shirley and Mork and Mindy were created and produced by Garry Marshall. Garry Marshall also created and produced the sitcoms Blansky's Beauties and Angie.

Not only did Garry Marshall write, produce, and direct for television, but he also had an acting career. He made his acting debut in a a bit part as a United States recruiting officer in the film The Phoney American in 1961. In the Sixties he appeared on the TV shows The Dick Van Dyke Show; That Girl, Hey, Landlord; Good Morning, World; and The Odd Couple. He appeared in small parts in the films Maryjane (1968) and Psych-Out (1968). In the Seventies he appeared on Laverne and Shirley Happy Days, and Vegas$ as well as a bit part in the film Grand Theft Auto. In the Nineties he had a recurring role of Stan Lansing on the TV show Murphy Brown and guest starred on the sitcom A League of Their Own  and Pinky and the Brain. He appeared in such films as Soapdish (1991), his sister's film A League of Their Own (1992), The Twilight of the Golds (1996), With Friends Like These... (1998), Never Been Kissed (1999), This Space Between Us (1999), and It's a Shame About Ray (2000). In the Naughts he appeared in such films as Orange County (2002), Mother Ghost (2002), The Long Ride Home (2003), and Race to Witch Mountain (2009). He guest starred on Monk, Brothers and Sisters, ER, According to Jim, and The Simpsons. In the Teens he guest starred on such shows as Two and a Half Men, Hot in Cleveland, and the revival of The Odd Couple.

Of course, today, in addition to his work in television, Garry Marshall may be best known as a director of feature films. He broke into directing with an episode of his show Hey, Landlord in 1967. Afterwards he directed episodes of The Odd Couple, Happy Days, and Laverne and Shirley. His first screenplay was the 1968 film How Sweet It Is. It was followed by the 1970 film The Grasshopper. The first feature film he directed was the comedy Young Doctors in Love (1982). He followed Young Doctors in Love with the hit Flamingo Kid in 1984. In the Eighties Mr. Marshall directed the films Nothing in Common (1986), Overboard (1987), Beaches (1988), The Lottery (1989), and Pretty Woman (1990). In the Nineties Mr. Marshall directed Frankie and Johnny (1991), Exit to Eden (1994), Dear God (1996), The Other Sister (1999), and Runaway Bride (1999). In the Naughts he directed The Princess Diaries (2001), Raising Helen (2004), The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement (2004), Georgia Rule (2007), and Valentine's Day (2010). In the Teens he directed New Year's Eve (2011) and Mother's Day (2016).

Even if Garry Marshall had never directed a single film he would have an impact on American pop culture. In fact, it seems possible that his work in television may be his greatest legacy. The Odd Couple, Happy Days, Laverne and Shirley, and Mork and Mindy all proved to be very successful and all four have remained on television since their debuts. Most television producers are lucky to have one hit show. The fact that Garry Marshall had a highly successful film career as well as his work in television is nothing short of remarkable.

As to why Garry Marshall had success in both television and film, it is perhaps because he not only treated his subjects with humour, but with warmth as well. Mr. Marshall's work was often very funny, particularly with his work on The Odd Couple, but he never lost sight that his characters were human beings with their own thoughts and feelings. What is more, he could find humour in nearly any situation. Indeed, his first film, Young Doctors in Love, was set in a hospital.

Garry Marshall was not only a man who did a good deal in his career, but he was also a man who was universally loved. His death has seen a number of tributes from those who worked with him over the years. Those fans lucky enough to have met him have all said the same thing. He was a warm and funny man who always had a kind word to say. Garry Marshall was remarkable given his multiple successes in both film and television. What is more, he was also a truly nice guy.

Lisa Gaye Passes On

Lisa Gaye, who appeared in the cult film Rock Around the Clock (1956) and made numerous guest appearances on television, died on January 14 2016 at the age of 81.  She is survived by her sister Debra Paget, her brother Frank Griffin, and several grandchildren.

Lisa Gaye was born  Leslie Gaye Griffin in Denver, Colorado on March 6 1935. Her family moved to Los Angeles after her oldest sister,  Marcia Eloise Griffin, signed a contract with Paramount. Marcia Eloise Griffin would act under the name "Teala Loring". Her sister Debralee Griffin would later sign with 20th Century Fox and became famous as Debra Paget. Her older brother, Frank Griffin, would act under the name Ruell Shayne before going onto become a makeup artist.

It was because of a recommendation from her older sister Debra that Leslie Griffin was given a screen test by Universal-International. The studio signed her and gave her the stage name "Lisa Gaye". Her first appearance on film was in an uncredited role as a bobbysoxer in The Glenn Miller Story in 1954. Her first major role came later that year, in Drums Across the River (1954). In the Fifties she appeared in the films Rock Around the Clock (1956), Shake, Rattle & Rock! (1956), Ten Thousand Bedrooms (1957), and Sweethearts (1957).

While Miss Gaye's film career never quite took off, she had a very healthy career in television. She played the recurring role of Collette DuBois on The Bob Cummings Show and was a regular on the second season of How to Marry a Millionaire. She guest starred on numerous shows in the Fifties, including Passport to Danger, The Great Gildersleeve, The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show, Science Fiction Theatre, Zorro, Mike Hammer, Have Gun--Will Travel, Black Saddle, Sea Hunt, Perry Mason, Death Valley Days, Have Gun--Will Travel, Wanted Dead or Alive, Cheyenne, Rawhide, and many others.

In the Sixties Lisa Gaye guest starred on such shows as Wagon Train, Bat Masterson, Bachelor Father, Laramie, Maverick, Hawaiian Eye, 77 Sunset Strip, Burke's Law, My Living Doll, Perry Mason, Get Smart, The Wild Wild West, Death Valley Days, I Dream of Jeannie, The Flying Nun, and Mod Squad. She appeared in the films Night of Evil (1962), Face of Terror (1962), Castle of Evil (1966), and The Violent Ones (1967).  In 1970 Lisa Gaye retired to raise her family.

Like her sisters Teala Loring and Debra Paget, Lisa Gaye was a very beautiful woman. That alone would explain much of her success as a guest star on numerous TV shows. That having been said, she was also fairly talented and capable of playing a number of different roles. Indeed, she was cast in a number of different ethnic roles over the years: Native Americans on Have Gun--Will Travel, Death Valley Days, and many other Westerns; a gypsy on Death Valley Days; Latinas on Zorro and various Westerns; a foreign princes on Hawaiian Eye; and so on. It wasn't simply a case that Miss Gaye's looks allowed her to be somewhat convincing in many roles, but she was able to do a wide variety of accents somewhat well. What is more, she could play a wide variety of different sorts of roles as well. She was a murderer on Perry Mason, a gambler on Mr. Lucky; and a prisoner on Wanted Dead or Alive. While Lisa Gaye was very pretty and gifted with both a rather adaptable look and a rather adaptable voice, she was also quite versatile.

My Review of Margaret Lockwood--Queen of the Silver Screen by Lyndsy Spence

Margaret Lockwood--Queen of the Silver Screen and author
Lyndsy Spence

In the mid to late Forties in the United Kingdom there was no bigger star than Margaret Lockwood. She ranked in the Motion Picture Herald's polls of the top ten most popular British stars seven years in a row, and often she was the top ranked actress in the polls. She won three Daily Mail National Film Awards (one for Most Outstanding British actress during the war years in 1946, one for Best Film Actress of the year in 1947, and one for Best Film Actress of the year for Jassy in 1948).  Her film The Wicked Lady (1945) remains one of the highest grossing British films in the United Kingdom of all time. To this day she maintains a following across the English speaking world, not only in Britain, but in Canada, the United States, and elsewhere.

Amazingly enough given her popularity, there have been very few books written about her life. Two autobiographies were published while Miss Lockwood's career was still ongoing: My Life and Films in 1948 and Lucky Star: The Autobiography of Margaret Lockwood in 1955. Once a Wicked Lady: A Biography of Margaret Lockwood by Hilton Tims was first published in 1989, a full 27 years ago. Fortunately for Margaret Lockwood fans a new biography has just been published in time for the centennial anniversary of Margaret Lockwood's birth. Margaret Lockwood--Queen of the Silver Screen was published July 11 of this year.

In Margaret Lockwood-Queen of the Silver Screen author Lyndsy Spence provides readers with a wealth of detail. Miss Spence covers Margaret Lockwood's life in much more depth than it ever has been before. We learn never before revealed details of Miss Lockwood's genealogy, as well as much more about her parents. We also learn much more about the various important relationships in her life, including her marriage to husband Rupert Leon (a British Army Intelligence officer who wrote the book Memoirs of an Intelligence Officer). Miss Spence discusses Margaret Lockwood's films, plays, and TV appearances in detail, including the censorship battles many of Miss Lockwood's movies (The Wicked Lady in particular) faced in the United States. There are also many photos, including several that have been rarely seen before.

Lyndsy Spence is clearly a fan of Margaret Lockwood, but she writes about Miss Lockwood's life and career objectively, discussing both the good and the bad. Lyndsy Spence's prose is also very readable. Margaret Lockwood--Queen of the Silver Screen is written in a concise style that still remains lively and enjoyable to read. That having been said, those of you who are looking for a bit of scandal will be disappointed. Despite her screen image, Margaret Lockwood was very much a down to earth lady who lived a down to earth life.

Margaret Lockwood's fans will be very pleased with Margaret Lockwood--Queen of the Silver Screen. It is a loving look at one of the greatest film stars of Britain in the 20th Century. It is not only well written and informative, but highly entertaining as well. It is a fine gift for the 100th anniversary of Margaret Lockwood's birth (September 15), and easily the best book on the star ever written.

(Margaret Lockwood--Queen of the Silver Screen can be purchased at Fantom Films, Amazon, and other fine book selling establishments)

"Summer in the City" by The Lovin' Spoonful

Many of you know that summer is my least favourite season of them all. It is hot. It is muggy. It is uncomfortable. I would really be happy if we simply skipped summer and went straight from spring to autumn. It is for that reason that I have always been mystified as to why so many songs about summer portray the season as some kind of joyous time full of fun. I have to disagree with George Gershwin. In summertime, the livin' isn't easy.

That having been said, there is one song I believe does capture something of the reality of the season, at least as it is here in Missouri. In "Summer in the City" by The Lovin' Spoonful the singer describes the back of his neck as getting "dirty and gritty". He refers to the sidewalk as "hotter than a match head". The first stanza, at least, sums up summer perfectly for me. Now it is true the song's portrayal of summer nights are a bit more pleasant than I've experienced, but then The Lovin' Spoonful were from New York City, where I assume it is cooler than it is here in Missouri. At the very least "Summer in the City" is more accurate than 99% of the other songs about the summer.

Anyhow, without further ado, here is "Summer in the City" by The Lovin' Spoonful.

Why I Don't Like Hulu's Watchlist

For years now the shows and movies any given Hulu user wanted to watch were sorted into one of three sections: there was Shows You Watch for shows one is currently watching; there was the Queue, for movies one wants to watch; and there was Favourites, for one's favourite shows and movies. Unfortunately last week Hulu rolled out its new Watchlist to all of its users. Watchlist consolidates the functions of Shows You Watch, the Queue, and Favourites into one list. Allegedly Watchlist is supposed to make watching shows and movies on Hulu easier. According to Ben Smith of Hulu, "Watchlist dynamically tailors the order of your content to match how you watch TV and suggests actions for you."

Unfortunately for Hulu, a quick search on Twitter and on Google reveals that there are a lot of users who not only dislike Watchlist, they absolutely loathe it. In fact, looking at the various tweets I would say that reaction to Watchlist has been overwhelmingly negative. Many users have made it clear that they want the Shows You Watch, the Queue, and Favourites back. There is even a hashtag, #bringbackthequeue. There is also a petition on Care 2 Petitions demanding that Shows You Watch, the Queue, and Favourites be restored, although it only has 167 signatures so far.  It seems fairly clear to me that Hulu users really don't like Watchlist. What is more, I have to say that I believe their complaints are legitimate.

Indeed, while I don't necessarily hate Watchlist, I do dislike it and I much preferred using Shows You Watch, the Queue, and Favourites. The problem with Watchlist is that it actually makes it more difficult to watch shows While the shows I am currently watching are at the start of the queue, to watch something I'm not currently watching I have to scroll through several movies and even shows I haven't watched in a while. This is not nearly as handy as having three different sections, each with its own function. I wanted to watch a movie? I went to the Queue. I wanted to watch something new, I went to Favourites. I wanted to continue watching a show I have been watching for a while, I went to Shows You Watch. It's hard for me to understand how Hulu thought Watchlist would be easier to use than that. Indeed, the fact that Watchlist is harder to use than Shows You Watch, the Queue, and Favourites is the major complaint many users have about it.

Of course, users might not be quite so angry about Watchlist if it wasn't rather buggy. I seem to be unable to add shows to my Watchlist as I am supposed to be able to. I suspect the only way I will be able to add a show is to actually watch it. This makes it very hard for me to plan ahead and add shows I want to watch in the future, as I would with the old Favourites section.

Other people have had the exact opposite problem. Reading various tweets on Twitter and complaints elsewhere on the internet, it seems that some people found their Watchlists filled with shows they had never watched and had no intention of watching. Yet others discovered many of the shows they regularly watch and many of their Favourites were missing from Watchlist, even though the shows were still available on Hulu. It seems in many cases that Watchlist does not function the way that it is supposed to.

The outrage with regards to Watchlist has been so great that I do feel sorry for Hulu Support. In my experience Hulu has some of the best customer service around. Hulu Support has always been polite and helpful to me, and they have always solved any problem I might have. Sadly, right now they taking the brunt of anger over a decision to change Hulu in which they had no say whatsoever. 

I can only guess that in creating Watchlist Hulu was was trying to do something similar to Netflix's "My List" or Amazon Prime's own "Watchlist". That having been said, one thing I always preferred about Hulu to Netflix and Amazon Prime is the fact that it was so much easier to organise shows and movies with Shows You Watch, the Queue, and Favourites. Both Netflix's My List and Amazon Prime's Watchlist are difficult to navigate and are much less easily organised than Hulu's Shows You Watch, Quene, and Favourites were. Sadly, Hulu's Watchlist is a hot mess like Netflix and Amazon Prime's lists.

It should be little wonder, then, that many Hulu users are angry. While I have no plans to cancel my account any time soon, I have seen many state on Twitter and elsewhere that they plan to do so. I really think Hulu ought to do something before they lose very many customers. In fact, I think they really have only two choices available to them. One is to entirely forget about making improvements to Watchlist and simply restoring Shows You Watch, the Queue, and Favourites. The other is to make Watchlist something into which one must opt in. If you don't opt in, then you have Shows You Watch, the Queue, and Favourites instead. At this point I think the worst thing for Hulu to do is to force users to keep a Watchlist they loathe.

The Valley of Gwangi (1969)

 (This post is part of the Ray Harryhausen Blogathon hosted by Wolffian Classics Movies Digest)

When most people think of Ray Harryhausen's films, they most often think of his various fantasy movies, classics such as the Sinbad movies, Jason and the Argonauts (1963), and Clash of the Titans (1981).  If they think of one of his other movies, it is generally going to be one of his early sci-fi films, such as The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (1953) or Earth vs. the Flying Saucers (1956). Unless he or she is a classic movie buff or a Ray Harryhausen fan it is not often that a person will mention The Valley of Gwangi (1969). This is a shame, as The Valley of Gwangi is one of Ray Harryhausen's more enjoyable films.

The Valley of Gwangi was a bit of an anachronism when it was released. It was an old time monster movie with a unique twist. Like earlier films such as The Lost World (1925) and The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms it involved a dinosaur. Like King Kong (1933) it involved the capture of a rare and dangerous animal who then gets loose to terrorise civilisation. Unlike many earlier monster movies it was set in the American West at the turn of the 20th Century, pitting cowboys against an Allosaurus (although it resembles a Tyrannosaurus a great deal). While The Valley of Gwangi was in many respects an old time monster movie, it was also a Western, one of the first examples of the Western blended with a fantastic genre.

While Ray Harryhausen conceived most of the films on which he worked, the original idea for The Valley of Gwangi originated with someone else. Ray Harryhausen's mentor was legendary special effects and stop motion pioneer Willis O'Brien, the man responsible for the effects in the classics The Lost World and King Kong. Mr. O'Brien conceived a scenario originally called The Valley of the Mists, in which cowboys capture an Allosaurus in the Grand Canyon. The cowboys place the dinosaur in a Wild West show, where it is billed under the name "Gwangi" Gwangi eventually escapes and terrorises the town, before finally being forced off a cliff by at truck. Most of Willis O'Brien's original scenario would find its way into The Valley of Gwangi, although the time frame was moved from  contemporary times to the turn of the 20th Century. Willis O'Brien's scenario referred to the dinosaur as an Allosaurus, although Willis O'Brien's storyboards for the scenario appear to have drawn upon Charles R. Knight's famous painting of a Tyrannosaurus Rex. Ray Harryhausen remained faithful to Willis O'Brien's vision of Gwangi in making his own Gwangi more resemble a Tyrannosaurus.

Sadly Willis O'Brien was unable to sell Gwangi (as the project was eventually renamed) to any studios before his death in 1962. Willis O'Brien's scenario would inspire a similar film that involved dinosaurs and cowboys. Mr. O'Brien wrote the screenplay for The Beast of Hollow Mountain (1956), but for some reason did not provide the stop motion special effects for the film. The Beast of Hollow Mountain was set in Mexico at the Turn of the 20th Century and involved cowboys who investigate the disappearance of cattle and farmers in the region, only to learn an Allosaurus is to blame. The film was made on a very low budget, and in both English and Spanish. Although largely forgotten now, The Beast of Hollow Mountain was the first film with stop motion effects to be shot in colour, as well as the first to be shot in wide-screen format.

After having created stop motion effects for Hammer Films' One Million Years B.C. (1966), Ray Harryhausen reunited with Charles H. Schneer, the producer with whom he had made everything from It Came from Beneath the Sea (1955) to First Men in the Moon (1964). All of Messrs. Harryhausen and Schneer's films had been released through Columbia Pictures, but they were not able to interest the studio in The Valley of Gwangi. Charles H. Schneer then turned to Warner Bros., who had distributed One Million Years B.C. in the United States. Fortunately Warner Bros. agreed to the project.

The Valley of the Gwangi would prove to be one of the most complicated films that Ray Harryhausen ever made. In fact, The Valley of Gwangi would set the record for the most stop-motion animation cuts in any Ray Harryhausen film, 335 stop-motion cuts. The most complicated effect in the film (and perhaps in any Ray Harryhausen film) is perhaps where the cowboys lasso Gwangi. The lassoing sequence alone took four months to complete. It took Ray Harryhausen around two years to complete the stop-motion effects for The Valley of Gwangi.

Unfortunately, while Ray Harryhausen was working on the stop-motion effects for The Valley of Gwangi, changes were taking place that would have a overall negative impact on the film's future. Charles H. Schneer had made the deal for The Valley of Gwangi not long after Warner Bros. had merged with Seven Arts Productions. In 1969 Warner Bros.-Seven Arts was sold to Kinney National Company for more than $64 million. This naturally meant a change in management at Warner Bros. Sadly, the new management were not enthusiastic about The Valley of Gwangi. Upon its release on September 3 1969 they gave the film almost no promotion. It often played on double bills with films for which the audience was often hardly the sort to  appreciate a cross between an old fashioned monster movie and a Western.

Worse yet, reviews for The Valley of Gwangi often were not kind. Ann Guarino of The New York Daily News wrote, "The Valley of Gwangi is just ho-hum..." In The New York Times, Howard Thompson described The Valley of Gwangi as a "run-of-the-mill monster rally" and wrote, "The first half is strictly standard, filled with human intrigue and mischief. Only when the obviously animated beasts from the past get into the act, about midway through, does the picture perk up, in a craggy wasteland."

Between the lack of promotion from Warner Bros. and the generally mediocre reviews from critics, it should come as no surprise that The Valley of Gwangi was a failure at the box office. As a movie that at its core is about a dinosaur who is captured and then escapes it was in many respects a relic of another era. Monster movies of its sort were out of fashion for much of the Sixties. As a movie that blended Westerns and science fiction it was in some respects a bit ahead of its time. The 1935 Gene Autry serial The Phantom Empire and the classic Sixties TV show The Wild Wild West were very nearly the only examples of the "Weird Western" subgenre at the time. In the late Sixties movies were expected to have sex and relevance, neither of which The Valley of Gwangi had.

Fortunately The Valley of Gwangi would be redeemed in the end. The film resurfaced at matinees in the Seventies and also began appearing regularly on television. The film finally found its audience, people who could appreciate a film in which cowboys fight dinosaurs. To wit, Ian Nathan's review of Valley of Gwangi in Empire Magazine from 2006  is glowing compared to those from 1969. While no one today would necessarily place The Valley of Gwangi on the same level as such Ray Harryhausen classics as The 7th Voyage of Sinbad or Jason and the Argonauts, it is not the mediocre film critics in 1969 would have one believe it to be.

Indeed, The Valley of Gwangi contains some of Ray Harryhausen's best work. The sequence in which the cowboys attempt to rope the Allosaurus is one of the most memorable sequences he ever created, right up there with the fight with the Children of the Hydra's Teeth in Jason and the Argonauts and the fight between the cyclops and the dragon in The 7th Voyage of Sinbad. What is more, it is not the only great sequence in the film. We get to see Gwangi fight lions. We get to see Gwangi fight an elephant. As mentioned earlier, The Valley of Gwangi had more stop-motion cuts than any other Ray Harryhausen movie.

And while The Valley of Gwangi may have been derided upon its release in 1969, seen today it has a charm that many better reviewed movies released that year wholly lack. It is true that the film's story owes a good deal to The Lost World, King Kong, and other monster movies of years gone by. It is true that, other being set in the American West at the turn of the 20th Century, in many respects The Valley of Gwangi is not particularly original. That having been said, it is still a very entertaining film with some interesting characters (indeed, James Franciscus plays a fairly unlikeable character) and plenty of action.

While The Valley of Gwangi is hardly as good as The 7th Voyage of Sinbad or Jason and Argonauts (let's face it, few films are), it is still a thoroughly entertaining movie with some of Ray Harryhausen's best work. And, honestly, how many people (at least Ray Harryhausen fans) can resist the lure of cowboys fighting dinosaurs? The Valley of Gwangi may be one of Ray Harryhausen's lesser known films, but it deserves to be better known.

Michael Cimino Passes On

Michael Cimino, director of the Oscar winning film The Deer Hunter (1978) and the notorious Heaven's Gate (1980), died on July 2 2016. A cause has yet to be determined.

There is very little known for certain about Michael Cimino's early life. He varied in the dates he gave for his birth, including February 3 1943, November 16, 1943, and even February 3 1952. Many sources give his date of birth as February 3 1939. He grew up in Long Island, New York. Michael Cimino attended Michigan State University, where he earned a degree in graphic arts. He then went to Yale where he earned  a bachelor of fine arts degree and then a graduate degree.

After graduating from Yale, Michael Cimino went into advertising. In 1965 he shot an ad for Pepsi set at Disneyland, using the then current "Pepsi Generation" slogan. He shot a rather famous ad for United Airlines with the tag line "Take Me Along" in 1967.  He also shot commercials for Eastman Kodak, Kool Cigarettes, and L’Eggs.

After several years in advertising he left to take up screenwriting. He co-wrote the science fiction classic Silent Running (1972) with Deric Washburn and Steve Bochco and the Dirty Harry movie Magnum Force (1973) with John Milius. He wrote the screenplay for Thunderbolt and Lightfoot (1974), which also marked his directorial debut. He followed Thunderbolt and Lightfoot with the Vietnam War film The Deer Hunter. The Deer Hunter won five Academy Awards, including Beset Picture Best Director, Best Actor in a Supporting Role (for Christopher Walken), Best Editing (for Peter Zinner), and Best Sound.

Unfortunately, Michael Cimino's next film would very nearly end his career. Heaven's Gate ran over its shooting schedule by a year and ultimately cost four times its allotted budget. Worse yet, upon its release Heaven's Gate was almost universally panned by critics and proved to be a disaster at the box office. Costing $44 million, it only took in $3.5 million.

Michael Cimino's career never quite recovered from Heaven's Gate. He only directed a few more movies in his career. Year of the Dragon (1985), The Sicilian (1987), Desperate Hours (1990), and The Sunchaser (1996) were released to negative reviews and largely indifferent audiences. His last work as a director was the segment in the portmanteau film Chacun son cinéma ou Ce petit coup au coeur quand la lumière s'éteint et que le film commence (2007).

Following the failure of Heaven's Gate Michael Cimino's reputation never recovered. Some critics even questioned whether The Deer Hunter deserved the Oscars it won. That having been said, I think in some respects Michael Cimino may have been judged too harshly. Oh, there is no doubt that Year of the Dragon, The Sicilian, Desperate Hours, and The Sunchaser are rather poor movies, to say the least, but then I think The Deer Hunter is still a fine movie and Heaven's Gate, for all its faults, has its good points. Quite simply, Michael Cimino had a gift for visuals. Even at his absolute worst, Michael Cimino's films are beautiful to look at. And while it does not seem quite so apparent in his later films, Mr Cimino had some talent as a screenwriter. He co-wrote Silent Running and Magnum Force, and wrote Thunderbolt and Lightfoot and The Deer Hunter. All four films could be considered classics in their genres. While Michael Cimino will probably always be remembered for Heaven's Gate, it was not the sum total of his career.