As
we did in 2021 and 2023, we're attempting to again increase book coverage in the
community. This go round, we're talking to Jess about "THE FRIEDKIN CONNECTION (Jess)" -- his review of the late William Friedkin's 2013 THE FRIEDKIN CONNECTION: A MEMOIR. So you did not care for the book?
Jess:
I hated it. What a liar William Friedkin was. And what a little bitch
as well. He is such a little bitch to George Lucas, to Peter Bogdanovich,
to Cybill Shepherd, it just never ends. His book reveals him to have
been a miserable creep who never appreciated anything or anyone. He
tanked SORCERER by refusing Steve McQueen's request to create a role for
Ali MacGraw (one of the biggest stars at the time) or to make her an
associate professor. They had just made THE GETAWAY (1972) and she'd
left Robert Evans for Steve. He did not want to go on location without
her and, as he pointed out to Friedkin, she was a big star -- based on
ticket sales to her films, she was declared the biggest box office
female of 1972. And, let's be honest, if Steve had been asking for a
man to be given a role in the film, Friedkin would have done it, but
Friedkin hated women.
He
tended to hate everyone. You noted how he didn't want Gene Hackman in
THE FRENCH CONNECTION and how, in his book, he wasn't impressed with
Hackman's acting.
Jess:
Right. In the book, he insists Hackman was awful in the role and that
he had to create the performance in editing. He also attack Al Pacino.
And insists Pacino wasn't giving a performance.
This is in CRUISING. And Friedkin nots how Al is furious when he sees the first screening of the film.
Jess:
Yeah. That's when Al learns that the character he's playing may be a
killer. Friedkin tries to justify it by saying that he didn't realize
until after filming that the character could be the killer. He wrote
the script. He directed the film. But he didn't realize that until
after the editing started? He wasn't an artist, he wasn't anything but a
bad film director.
You noted that he disowned the man his first documentary was about.
Jess:
Right. You know, he made a documentary about a man on death row. All
the appeals through the legal system were exhausted. The only thing
that could save him, after this, was the governor granting him a stay of
execution. That did happen. And Freidkin was considered a hero. When
he passed in 2023, you saw that from some of the stupid YOUTUBERS who
insisted he was so great. What they didn't know was ten years before he
died, he published the book and he said the guy was guilty and did
commit the murder and he also wrote that he, Friedkin, no longer opposed
the death penalty. There were five YOUTUBERS on the left that I saw
praise him and talk about how great he was and specifically cite the
documentary I'm talking about. They look like idiots and looked like
idiots in real time.
And how do you evaluate Friedkin himself?
Jess: Highly
overrated as a director. The only two films he made that stand up are
THE BOYS IN THE BAND, based on a play that really didn't get changed
when made into a film, and THE EXORCIST based on William Peter Blatty's
book with William Peter Blatty also writing the screenplay. He left no
real mark but with those two properties, so strong in the writing, he
did okay. Otherwise, his filmography is forgettable garbage -- over and
over.
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Previous book discussions:
"Books (Dona, Ava and C.I.)"
"Book Talk (Ty, Ava and C.I.)"
"Book Talk (Stan, Rebecca, Ava and C.I.)"
"Book Talk (Trina, Ava and C.I.)"
"Books (Kat, Ava and C.I.)"
"Books (Ruth, Jim, Ava and C.I.)"
"Books (Ty, Ava and C.I.)"
"Books (Kat, Ava and C.I.)"
"Books (Ann, Ava and C.I.)"
"Book Talk (Stan, Ava and C.I.)"
"Book Talk (Dona, Ava and C.I.)"
"Book Talk (Ty, Ava and C.I.)"
"Book Talk (Mike, Ava and C.I.)"
"Book Talk (Stan, Rebecca, Ava and C.I.)"
"Book Talk (Mike, Ava and C.I.)"
"Book Talk (Ann, Marcia, Trina, Ava and C.I.)"
"Book Talk (Elaine, Ava and C.I.)"
"Books (Marcia, Rebecca, Ava and C.I.)"
"
Book Talk (Kat, Ava and C.I.)"