Steven Hale
May 29, 2024

This may be the most revealing Hollywood portrait I've ever seen (Huston’s refusal to reveal anything is of course the revelation). There's a tell that informs most (or maybe even all) of Huston's film stories: the protagonist(s) experience a moment of failure near the end of the film and then overcome it but not through any will or activity on their part (e.g. African Queen). The result is a unique combination of futilism and optimism. He simultaneously challenged the Hollywood system and strengthened it (maybe something he learned from growing up with his father). Just about every other auteur I'm familiar with lands on one side or the other (Polanski: futilism; Hawks: optimism; Wilder: optimism but a bit ironic; et al.). Please keep publishing these images and memoirs.

Steven Hale
Steven Hale

Written by Steven Hale

Music: Discovering the lost and forgotten. Politics: Exposing injustice. Screenwriting: Emotional storytelling.

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