A child of the 70s (and early 80s), here are a few top Paramount wants:
THE FRIENDS OF EDDIE COYLE - The Robert Mitchum gem that has sadly never been available in any format on video.
SAVE THE TIGER - Jack Lemmon’s Oscar-winning role; still considered by many to be the most dead-on look at a mid-life breakdown in American movies.
HUSTLE - Robert Aldrich and Burt Reynolds’ The Longest Yard was a bigger boxoffice draw, but this underrated effort, one of the last true (if sunbaked) film noir, is ripe for reevaluation.
RAGTIME - James Cagney’s final screen role in Milos Forman’s most underrated masterpiece.
REDS - Another stunner from the one/two punch of the Christmas ‘81 season with the above.
LOOKING FOR MR. GOODBAR - Considered by many the movie that Diane Keaton won the Oscar for (if Annie Hall was on the ballot); still blistering adaptation of bestseller with earliest significant roles for Richard Gere and Tom Berenger.
JACQUELINE SUSANN’S ONCE IS NOT ENOUGH - Better than any of the other adaptations of the popular author’s bestsellers, this one melodramatically tapped her style perfectly.
1900 - A staple of want lists everywhere, particularly in Bertolucci’s years-later issued director’s cut.
ISLANDS IN THE STREAM - An underrated Hemingway with a great George C. Scott essay and stunning photography.
THE KLANSMAN - Can this one be said to be good? Honestly, no, but an irresistible curiosity, with O.J. Simpson debuting, shown in the movie and some ads, life-imitates-art style 20 years before, in the back of Richard Burton’s Ford Bronco with a gun! And in a perfect world, every Lee Marvin DVD is available.
LADY SINGS THE BLUES - Underseen in recent years, Diana Ross still stuns as Billie Holliday, and the occasional fullframe TV prints do no justice.
MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS - The most successful of the Agatha Christies, and curiously the last available.
ORCA - The dark killer whale adventure with the late, great Richard Harris.
ROUGH CUT - Burt Reynolds caper comedy from his top boxoffice draw period.
STARTING OVER - Another good Reynolds piece; change of pace romantic comedy that netted his costars Clayburgh and Bergen Oscar nominations while he was shut out in 1979.
SIDNEY SHELDON’S BLOODLINE - Another big budget soaper adaptation with Audrey Hepburn’s last true lead; the reviews were not kind but many remember it fondly in the gloss/trash beach read style.
