The Last Tycoon (1976)
Robert De Niro, Robert Mitchum, Ingrid Boulting, Theresa Russell; d. Elia Kazan; A-

If you've done some research on this film you might already know that The Last Tycoon is based on an unfinished novel by F. Scott Fitzgearld (author of The Great Gatsby). Fitzgerald died of a heart attack while writing this novel in Hollywood in 1940, and for some odd reason, when this unfinished book was discovered, somebody somewhere thought it was neccessary to publish it, complete with notes on the book by Fitzgerald and other short stories by the author to fill in the rest. It struck me as odd that not only would someone go and publish an unfinished novel, but then someone would have the idea in their head to adapt the book into a movie, considering that there wouldn't be much material to deal with, the story would definatley need to have any plot holes filled in, and would need to be finished so that the film was complete. Ironically, The Last Tycoon turned out to be a more complete film than another Fitzgerald book to movie adaption that I had seen only a day before.

The movie takes place in the 1930's, when the movie industry and studio system was flourishing in spite of an economic depression in the United States. The men who were able to make such an ironic boom in the movie industry were the Hollywood producers who knew how to draw the American public into the theaters no matter how much money they might have had. Of these men included "boy wonder" producer Irving Thalberg of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (the studio that Fitzgerald himself was contracted to during the 1930's as a screenwriter), who was the inspiration for The Last Tycoon's main character, Monroe Stahr (Robert De Niro). Like Thalberg, Stahr is the considerably young producer whose sheer talent for knowing what works and what doesn't has brought his studio, and himself, a great deal of money. However, he's a man who is purely money-driven and won't hesitate to fire a friend or make last-minute changes to the film if it means winning an audience. He's also single. Love at first sight strikes Stahr when he sees Kathleen Moore (Ingrid Boulting), a beautiful, quiet woman from London who has no interest in being in the movies. The pair start a heated but private romance together, but as usual, the romance can't last, in spite of Stahr's best wishes. Meanwhile, Stahr has to deal with a film that is going disasterously, an upcoming meeting with a writer's union representative (Jack Nicholson in a small role), and the daughter (Theresa Russell) of a fellow producer (Robert Mitchum) in the same studio who won't stop persuing Stahr even though he's obviously not interested.

Despite a few flaws, The Last Tycoon is a wonderfully directed, written, and acted film that does an adequite job of finishing an unfinished story. The film's major flaw is that the script does seem to be filling in holes that were left because of the novel being unfinished. The plot is very fragmented and not fully developed, many of the scenes lag on for too long and need explaining. However, the smooth direction, great dialouge, and fine performances (by most of the cast) are able to make up for the flaws. Elia Kazan knows how to pace the movie by not filling it up with too much non-stop chatter and often letting the visuals speak for themselves, even though sometimes this results in dead air. The cinematography is great, especially during the ping-pong scene near the end of the film. The lighting really emphasises on the psychology and downfall of Stahr, especially towards the end as the lighting gets darker and darker until finally Stahr dissapears completely in a darkened studio lot. Of course the movie isn't all doom and gloom, the script also has a great deal of humor (one of the most humorous scenes involves Stahr questioning who says "Nor I you" in real life, another involves him and a trained seal). The sets and costumes are wonderful but thankfully they don't steal the show. The score, which I correctly guessed as being done by Marrice Jarre (Laurence of Arabia, Topaz), is another great thing about this movie. It doesn't have anything to do with the action of the movie but it certainly is beautiful and doesn't take away from, but adds to, the film.

As I said before the performances in this movie are good. As usual Robert De Niro gives the film's greatest performance as Monroe Stahr. De Niro did seem a bit uncomfortable and stiff in his role at times, and he lacks chemistry with the other actors, but still is able to give a great performance. Robert Mitchum, who usually gives great performances, also seems a bit uncomfortable but likewise gives a good performance. Other notable performances come from Nicholson, Boulting, and Jeanne Moreau as a tempremental, middle-aged French actress. I have heard praises for Theresa Russell's performance but she failed to dazzle me. She may have gotten the attitude down but her voice is flat. I think that many of the characters do suffer from the incomplete storyline as some of them do seem a little underwritten, but again with the strong performances and great direction, that is not a problem.

I don't know if my opinion counts since I have only seen two, but this is the best adaption of a Fitzgerald novel that I have seen so far. Definatley reccomended.

© Vert A Go Go Reviews 2001