Published Jan. 16, 1991|Updated Oct. 12, 2005
The best movie directors had to start somewhere. Bernardo Bertolucci (The Sheltering Sky), Francis Ford Coppola (The Godfather Part III), Brian De Palma (The Bonfire of the Vanities), Woody Allen (Alice), Martin Scorsese (GoodFellas), Clint Eastwood (The Rookie) and Richard Benjamin (Mermaids) all have major motion pictures out now.
But they all started their movie-making careers from about 1966 to 1971, a ripe time for new film makers.
We take a look at the freshmen efforts, as well as one or two overlooked films during their careers (all available on video), that might shed some light on their most recent movies.
BRIAN DE PALMA, 50. Greetings (1968), with Jonathan Warden, Robert De Niro, Allen Garfield, Gerrit Graham. Before his reputation for making films of suspense, violence and horror, De Palma was a funny guy. In the late '60s he created this loose, improvisational countercultural comedy about the draft, sex and life in the '60s.
Hi, Mom! (1970), with Robert De Niro, Allen Garfield, Gerrit Graham, Lara Parker, Jennifer Salt, Charles Durning. Sequel to Greetings, with De Niro playing a Vietnam vet who makes dirty movies and bombs apartment houses. It can be found on video under the title Confessions of a Peeping John.
Wise Guys (1986). It wasn't that long ago, but who remembers this dumb little comedy starring Danny DeVito, Joe Piscopo, Patti LuPone, Harvey Keitel, Ray Sharkey, Dan Hedaya and Capt. Lou Albano? Two guys who are also best pals work for small-time hoods and are hired to kill each other. Not to be confused with the television series Wiseguy or the book on which Scorsese's GoodFellas is based.
FRANCIS FORD COPPOLA, 51. You're a Big Boy Now (1966), with Peter Kastner, Elizabeth Hartman, Geraldine Page, Julie Harris, Rip Torn, Tony Bill, Karen Black, Michael Dunn, Dolph Sweet. Before he started hiring so many relatives for his films, Coppola made his first commercial film, about a lad with domineering parents.
Finian's Rainbow (1968), with Fred Astaire, Petula Clark, Tommy Steele, Keenan Wynn, Al Freeman Jr., Barbara Hanco*ck, Don Francks. You don't associate The Godfather director with musicals, but Coppola directed Astaire's dancing swan song and did a pretty good job at transferring the Broadway musical to the screen.
MARTIN SCORSESE, 48. Boxcar Bertha (1972), featuring Barbara Hershey, David Carradine, Barry Primus, Bernie Casey, John Carradine. This was Scorsese's first studio film, a rather undistinguished Bonnie and Clyde ripoff.
Mean Streets (1973), with Robert De Niro, Harvey Keitel, Richard Romanus, David Carradine, David Proval. It's about a small-time hood (Keitel) and his pal (De Niro) and their life in Little Italy. This was the film that made Scorsese's early reputation and is a terrific accompaniment to GoodFellas.
BERNARDO BERTOLUCCI, 50. The Conformist (1971), with Jean-Louis Trintignant, Stefania Sandrelli, Dominique Sanda, Pierre Clementi. Bertolucci created a tense portrait of man who strives for an acceptable life as a member of the Italian Fascist secret service in the 1930s.
1900 (1977), featuring Robert De Niro, Gerard Depardieu, Donald Sutherland, Burt Lancaster, Dominique Sanda, Sterling Hayden, Stefania Sandrelli. This is the Italian director's epic tale of 20th-century Italy, focusing on two contrasting families.
WOODY ALLEN, 55. What's Up, Tiger Lily? (1966). This is a weird little one-joke film as Allen takes a cheesy Japanese imitation James Bond film (Kagi No Kag) and redubs it to sometimes silly, often hilarious effect.
A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy (1982), with Woody Allen, Mia Farrow, Jose Ferrer, Mary Steenburgen, Tony Roberts and Julie Hagerty. This is Allen's takeoff on Ingmar Bergman's Smiles of a Summer Night and Farrow's first film with Allen. The sense of mystical romance is a nice match for Alice, Farrow's 11th Allen film.
CLINT EASTWOOD, 60. Play Misty for Me (1971), with Clint Eastwood, Jessica Walter, Donna Mills, Cannonball Adderly Quintet and Don Siegel, about a late-night radio disc jockey stalked by an obsessive listener. Suddenly Eastwood received credibility with this.
Bronco Billy (1980), with Clint Eastwood, Sondra Locke, Scatman Crothers, Sam Bottoms, Bill McKinney. A quirky tale about a self-styled cowboy hero and his less-than-top-rate Wild West show and their tangles with a spoiled heiress. Though not a huge hit, it showed Eastwood as a director who would take chances, and one to take seriously.
RICHARD BENJAMIN, 52. My Favorite Year (1982), featuring Peter O'Toole, Mark Linn-Baker, Jessica Harper, Lainie Kazan, Selma Diamond, Adolph Green, Joseph Bologna, Bill Macy, Anne DeSalvo. Actor Benjamin makes an impressive directoral debut with this sweet-natured film that also gave Linn-Baker his first big exposure. Besides the great cast, there is a wonderfully hammy performance by O'Toole.
Racing With the Moon (1984), with Sean Penn, Elizabeth McGovern, Nicolas Cage, Carol Kane, Crispin Glover, about teens in love, World War II style. The film has nice details, is sweetly done and gives Benjamin a reputation as a sensitive "actor's director."
