The Last Tycoon (1976 Elia Kazan)

Dream cast - late appearances for example of Donald Pleasance, Robert Mitchum and Ray Milland - plus de Niro in his astonishing seventies period and Nicholson together in the same film, plus the debut of Theresa Russell!

F Scott Fitzgerald story of Hollywood producer (based perhaps on Thalberg or Selznick or a combination of real Hollywood moguls) and his involvement with a frankly annoying young woman (Ingrid Boulting, annoying accent too) and the studio execs. Also with Jeanne Moreau, Tony Curtis, Dana Andrews (who I did not recognise at all but was the film director), Peter Strauss, John Carradine, Anjelica Huston.

So that lot makes it worth the price of admission alone, but something misfires in the adaptation, perhaps because it's by the enigmatic Harold Pinter. For example, in de Niro's (enjoyable) enactment of a good movie scene he says 'there's another man in the room' when there is only one man. It's only at the end, where he repeats the sequence, that we make sense of the 'other man' reference, but it is somewhat contrived (unless I have completely missed something).

Film set and production stuff is great (though why on earth didn't they create the mock thirties film clips in 4x3??) but the irony of the film is that we need de Niro's producer to do what he is good at, step out of this film, and give directions: "Where are the likeable characters? This bit doesn't make sense. It's too long" etc.

Well shot by Victor J Kemper, extremely well edited by Richard Marks, music by Maurice Jarre. Produced by legendary shit Sam Spiegel.

Q had been hoping it would be a sort of Hotel in the thirties film world: not a bad idea.

I later learned that producer Sam Spiegel kindly asked 18 year old Theresa Russell to sleep with him or he'd ruin her acting career. I'm glad to report that she politely told him to fuck off.