Monday, February 26, 2018

Today's Blind Items - One And Done

This foreign born director probably reached A- list in his career. He also did many other things in media, including writing for newspapers and magazines, but is probably best known for directing. He liked to present one face in public, but when making movies, is probably in the top 5 most evil directors when it came to working with women. It has been said that he would only agree to take on a movie if there was a rape scene, preferably more than one. The rape scenes were as graphic and as violent as he could get past censors. What he couldn't get past censors was even worse. He is remembered for one franchise in particular where the rapes were generally gang rapes. The actresses who filmed them never worked again. The scenes often involved beatings and knives and the director encouraged the actors to make everything as realistic as possible. Instead of multiple takes of a scene he would try and do it all in one scene which would often last 30-45 minutes of which he would use 2 or 3 minutes. The actresses were generally cast based on their willingness to sleep with the director where he would tell them how bad they were in bed and degrading them as much as possible. In the second film in the famous franchise he yelled at the actors raping the woman for not being violent enough and personally went up to the actress and punched her in the face saying something to the effect of that is how it's done. The lead actor in all these movies never said anything. He had his own kink involving teen Asian girls so was not going to say anything about rape scenes, especially since he was not one of the rapists and really never had feelings one way or the other for most of his female co-stars including his long time wife. 

65 comments:

MKL said...

Would Gaspar Noe be considered A-List?

ZantiMissKnit said...

Alejandro Jodorowsky, maybe. I mean, he claimed to have really raped a woman in one of his films.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alejandro_Jodorowsky#Criticism_and_controversy

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said...

I thought of Gaspar Noe... Who could forget Irreversible..

MontanaMarriott said...

Michael Winner director of Death WIsh, actor would be Charles Bronson?

sandybrook said...

Thank goodness Alfred Hitchcock is permanent A list because besides that, he wrote for newspapers and magazines before entering film career

sukusa said...

Michael Winner Death Wish Charles Bronson

Palooza said...

Death Wish dir. Michael Winner
Charles Bronson’s wife was in Death Wish II
?

jessorella said...

Jesus, I'll be shocked if this is Michael Winner. In the years before he died he was known in the UK for being a but of a bumbling old man who did car insurance adverts.

Brayson87 said...

Winner fits

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Winner#Career

MsDrtMover said...

Michael Winner was my first guess also...All the Death Wish movies were considered violent.

SteveD said...

I'm not sure how many Winner films had rapes but I remember Wicked Lady did, the victim being Marina Sirtis pre-Star Trek.

Bronson also did a Death Wish knockoff film that was about a Japanese child sex ring which could have been a chance to live out the preferences mentioned.

jessorella said...

Having skim-read the summary of the movies on Wikipedia, all I have to say is BLECH. I've never watched any of them and now I never will. Those poor women.

Sara, Making It Work said...

I think it is Michael Winner/ Charles Bronson/ Jill Ireland for wife.
The Death Wish franchise was chock full of violent gang rape.
Early Winner films featured gratuitous sex. I guess he had to establish himself before delving into rape movies. 😕

filmfanb said...

Im shocked its Michael Winner...always seemed like a nations grandpa

Kendrick Schroder said...

The daughter of the actor - the one with the end-of-alphabet first name - graduated from the same k-12 school as me (in the few years before). One fact about that is that the school has/had a large, foreign-born student pop - including lots of Asian kids.

SteveD said...

My bad, Wicked Lady was the one where Marina was whipped while topless. Death Wish 3 she was gang raped. Poor woman had an unpleasant start to her career.

The other Bronson film I was thinking of is Kinjite: Forbidden subjects. Nicole Eggert was one of the child prostitutes. Bronson catches a businessman using sex toys on her. He grabs the biggest dildo and shoves it up the John's ass.

ZantiMissKnit said...

Ew, yeah, it looks like Winner/Bronson are the winners here.

Brayson87 said...

Where is the Oscar category for Best POS Director? There's never any shortage of nominees.

ImmodestyBlaise said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
pkelly491 said...

Robin Sherwood as one of the rape victim actresses who ever worked again

SteveD said...

Remember, this guy's only "probably" top 5 worst.

ImmodestyBlaise said...

The 2018 remake of Death Wish with Bruce Willis opens on Friday, so I'm sure the timing of this blind is confirmation.

A dumb idiot said...

Micheal Winner for sure. Precious Jeff Goldblum in his first film role: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WepSpYTU1F0

amused bush said...
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ViraxoLeader said...

Michael Winner, director of Death Wish 1, 2, and 3! It reminds me of a quote from Menahem Golan of Cannon, talking about Death Wish 3 (which I read in the book Bronson's Loose!)
"It has a rape scene in it like you've never seen before! But don't misunderstand me- its very much an anti violence film!"

ardleighstreet said...

Jonathan Kaplan

SteveD said...

It said the the rape victims never worked again, not every actress in every film. Of course Marina worked again eventually, but she had a 7 year gap after Death Wish 3.

D Brown said...

Gratuitous fact: Michael Winner in his biography claimed to have slept with Jill Ireland before she married Charles Bronson (and she only married David McCallum because MW refused to marry her).

NE peanut gallery said...

I'm still leaning Gaspar Noe.

Irreversible as the film most would remember, and the married couple being Vincent Cassel and Monica Belluci.....

moussemaker said...

Robin Sherwood did not work against after being raped in Death Wish II.

amused bush said...

Ahh, you’re right, you’re right. I incorrectly interpreted that sentence.

Ronaldus Magnus said...

+1 suk usa - Bronson, Deathwish, Winner

IanPhlegming said...

There was always something cold and distant about Charles Bronson. He made a couple good movies, that one on the train in the old west was pretty cool, but mostly they were forgettable. The first "Death Wish" movie is actually decent, I've not seen any of the others because everybody told me they were cruel and terrible.

Otherwise, I'm rooting real (die) hard for the "Death Wish" remake to flop big. Eli Roth is a misanthropic psycho, like QT only with a lot less talent. He should not be allowed to make movies. He is a hateful cancer who wants to traumatize the audience. The trajectory of Bruce Willis's career is just sad. Is he even trying anymore?

Sal Salington said...

Yeah, Goldblum was one of the home invaders in Death Wish.

Sal Salington said...

Annapurna is distributing Death Wish 2018 internationally. Wouldn't have expected that.

Count Jerkula said...

My fave gang rape scenes are in the I Spit On Your Grave remakes. When that broad is face down in the mud and the sheriff tells her he's an ass man, it top notch cinema, as is the scene where she's on her knees and the guy has her fellate a beer bottle.

totaji said...

Noe doesn’t have a franchise.

SkittleKitty said...

Winner / Bronson was my guess, too.

Enty included this now likely because there's a remake starring Bruce Willis coming out soon. Let's hope the actresses in it didn't have to experience this BS.

Don Kieballs said...

Reading the blind made me think of The Accused, which is not the answer. But I remembered a similar scene in that movie of gang rape/witnesses doing nothing and went to look up an article about the scene, since this blind seems solved already. It's a completely different picture being painted about how they shot the scene in that movie, and a nice read about the cast/crew being so careful, concerned and affected by it. Kind of a quick break from all the disgusting gossip (much of which we've seen become truth).

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/features/accused-oral-history-a-brutal-rape-scene-traumatized-actors-producers-fights-make-movie-952

Unknown said...

My First thought was the death wish movies - the rape scenes where too horrid to watch. Fun fact - Jeff Goldblum played a rapist in, I think, the first death wish. or maybe the 2nd - I cant remember.

Unknown said...

My First thought was the death wish movies - the rape scenes where too horrid to watch. Fun fact - Jeff Goldblum played a rapist in, I think, the first death wish. or maybe the 2nd - I cant remember.

Himmmm said...

Sounds exactly like Winner. What a winner, eh? When Ernest Borgnine and James Coburn call someone a "twisted bastard" you know it's true. Both said that about Winner, so yeah. Go figure. And Count? You ever see the first original Last House On The Left? Craven's? Sheesh. Makes your skin crawl.

JrSlims said...

Looks like Death Wish was produced by Dino De Laurentiis, who also seems to be a sexual deviant.

Himmmm said...

Yes, JrSlims, Dino maybe was a deviant (depends on each person's definition I guess) as far as couching and affairs, sure. But Dino wasn't a kiddie diddler or a rapist. He had actresses throwing themselves at him in multiple countries and languages. Seemed to be an okay guy in his era, and when I saw him socially he was never obtuse or aggressive to women in his old age. Martha kept him pretty heeled in his old age. But he had a rep as a philanderer, but not violent or abusive. Compared to many, today and back then? He may have been called "normal" (again - whatever that entails). Like a garden variety horny producer vs. being a predator or abuser. Kinda of like old Charlie Feldman - perpetual horn dog. Certainly nowhere near the league of Winner, Ray Stark, David O. Russell, Singer, Harvey, Toback, and others.

PapayaSF said...

Does Michael Winner fit? "Probably best known for directing"? He's absolutely best known for directing, isn't he?

bollybiy said...

I'm a little surprised to see Bronson roped into this one. I used to be friends with a young actress who co-starred in one of Bronson's later movies. She was at the beginning of her career, and spent virtually the entire shoot literally handcuffed to him. She told me he was extremely polite, quietly friendly, and unfailingly respectful in his dealings with her, which I found surpising in light of his tough guy image and the harsh nature of much of his oeuvre.

plot said...

"The daughter of the actor - the one with the end-of-alphabet first name - graduated from the same k-12 school as me (in the few years before)"

Say what now? Looking it up, damn, that's interesting. Egads, I hope none of her school mates were affected.



Bronson was also in The Great Escape, one of the pleasures of childhood, watching late night movies like that, with the audio as low as possible, covered by a blanket, so the parents wouldn't wake up and bust you.

Tigercat said...

@A dumb idiot Your comment reminded me of this clip - see the ending.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=gEyP4Q8igQY

Although in light of this blind, the sarcasm of the clip is no longer quite as humorous. 😕

Picklet said...

He was also a restaurant critic and TV presenter in the UK.

Picklet said...

Himmmm, of one of the names you mention here, I can say this: I was working as a production assistant and had to escort him to the office of the head of the company where I worked. He said he was claustrophobic and would I mind if we took the stairs. I said it was okay. I was wearing a leather mini-skirt. A few flights up, I felt some heat near the back of my legs and heard some mumbling. I turned round just as his hands went up my skirt. I pushed him and he fell down a few steps and then into the wall. He said sorry. I said he could find his own fucking way.

I told my boss but he said to leave it because I pushed him and I would be in more trouble him.

Picklet said...

*more trouble than him*

Rosenthal said...

Nations grandpa??? What nation was that. Winner has been mainly hated here in the UK. He was a foul mouthed alcoholic who wrote horrible articles for horrible newspapers. Grandpa... You re having a laugh

Sara, Making It Work said...

Rachael Kelly never made any movies after "Scream For Help".

Anonymous said...

Death Wish 3 is easily the best of the Death Wish movies

AIP said...

If you only ever saw him on those adverts, then perhaps Winner could be the nation’s sneering, patronising grandfather, but I’m very glad the arsehole wasn’t mine. Him and Ken Russell always seemed to make these depraved, wretched films in the late 60s and 70s, but I know which of them I’d rather be stuck in a lift with.

Bogan said...

"I'm still leaning Gaspar Noe.

Irreversible as the film most would remember, and the married couple being Vincent Cassel and Monica Belluci."

Belluci discussed the assault scene from that movie, said that afterwords she sat and had a cup of tea and just thought of other things. Cassel (though he's obviously in the movie) was surfing in Australia when they filmed that part.

I know nothing about Winner, but DEATH WISH 2 has a far nastier rape scene than part one, and his movie THE NIGHTCOMERS was frequently cut. Silvana Gallardo, the victim in the former movie, worked for another couple of decades on TV.

This whole blind could be crap though to be honest. I think if Winner was punching actresses in the face, the story would have come out earlier. And his cameraman, and the lab, and the sound guy, and the assistant director, and the make up person, and the people who did the lights, and the producers at the studio might have all had a few words if Winner decided to shoot a gang rape for 45 minutes with the actress suffering rather than just shooting things shot-by-shot like normal filmmakers do. Maybe this site needs the clicks, I dunno.

Count Jerkula said...

Never saw that, Himmmm, will chexk it out.

Kerry said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Ligeia said...

When I was a little girl and a Charles Bronson movie came on tv I would cry because he scared me lol Now I can see I had good reason... I think this is Death wish/Bronson/Winner esp since the remake is about to be released

jessorella said...

Aaaaaaand I had Death Wish-inspired nightmares last night :( :(

bootsy said...

Apologies if it has been mentioned already, but to back up the Michael Winner guess, he also wrote restaurant reviews for newspapers in the UK towards the end of his life. Hence the blind: " He also did many other things in media, including writing for newspapers and magazines."

Unknown said...

Holy shit. Maybe I am late to the party, but has anyone linked Winner with Alex Winter? He's in DW3. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y7RGDdoq350

Clarisse McClellan said...

Definitely Winner.

The Death Wish series is just one example. The majority of his films are about rape or assaulting women.

There is a documentary on NetFlix now called "Electric Boogaloo: The Wild, Untold Story of Cannon Films" and he is one of the directors discussed.

Faye Dunaway talks about filming The Wicked Lady, and how she had to whip that Star Trek lady. She, and other actors/crew, said they had no idea what was going on during that scene, and that Winner would just add things in. Like whipping a nude woman.

kitibo said...

https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/news/michael-winner-naked-breasts-allegations-debbie-arnold-cindy-marshall-day-a8015516.html

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