wa lt e r hill
HILL’S LIFE “I wanted to work and be around films. I certainly took my duties fairly seriously and all that. I didn’t see it as a long term kind of commitment.”
Hill was born in Long Beach, CA, on January 10, 1942. He briefly followed in his father’s blue-collar footsteps, earning his living in oil drilling and construction, before focusing his career on the arts. Hill studied drawing for a spell in Mexico, and later enrolled at Michigan State University, where he received a degree in Journalism. In time, he developed a passion for filmmaking and moved back to California, where he earned his first movie credits as an assistant director on such pictures as The Thomas Crown Affair and Take the Money and Run. Hill next worked as a screenwriter; two films were based on his scripts in 1972: the dark crime drama Hickey and Boggs and Sam Peckinpah’s adaptation of Jim Thompson’s novel The Getaway.
Hill’s taut, muscular screenplays, sometimes written in blank verse, earned him a potent reputation in the industry, and, in 1975, he landed his first assignment as a director when he brought his own script, Hard Times, to the screen with Charles Bronson and James Coburn in the leads. While his next project as a writer/director, The Driver, earned a cult following, Hill’s third feature really put him on the map. The Warriors earned both rave reviews and controversy; the tale of a New York street gang making its way home through unfriendly territory was accused of inspiring a number of violent incidents at theaters showing the film. However, it also earned a handsome profit, allowing Hill to take on two more ambitious projects: The Long Riders, a period Western in which a number of criminal siblings join for-
ces, and Southern Comfort, an atmospheric suspense film about men on Army Reserve exercises who discover they’re fighting a real war. The director then scored a blockbuster with the Eddie Murphy/Nick Nolte comedy 48 Hours. His subsequent movies tended to be more cult-oriented than bona fide hits, but Hill’s sharp visual style and tough, street-smart scripts kept him in demand, and he earned some of his strongest reviews in years for his 2002 boxing-behind-bars drama Undisputed. In 1979, Hill moved into producing, working behind the scenes on the scifi smash Alien, and helped produce most of his own films, as well as the successful HBO series Tales From the Crypt. He also helped end the career of the infamous and imaginary director Alan Smithee; Hill was hired to step in as director on the troubled sci-fi epic Supernova shortly before shooting began, but opted out of the project before editing was completed, and requested that his name be removed from the film. Since the Director’s Guild of America’s registered pseudonym for dissatisfied filmmakers, Alan Smithee, had become common knowledge in the wake of the comedy An Alan Smithee Film: Burn, Hollywood, Burn.
Assistant director After this contract to make historical documentaries finished, Hill worked for a time in the mail room at Universal (“Somebody told me that was a good way to meet people”). He then got into in the training program of the Directors Guild of America, which enabled him to work in television as an apprentice. He observed and worked for over a year on such shows as Gunsmoke, Wild Wild West, Bonanza and Warning Shot. “I did a lot of shows for a couple of weeks, they would rotate you through,” he says. Hill wound up as second assistant director on The Thomas Crown Affair in 1968. He then went on to work as the uncredited second assistant director on Bullitt—”It was my job to set background and also to set it up with the police. We had to organise every shot so people wouldn’t wander out into the middle of the street and be hit... Every time we did a shot I was scared to death.” In 1969, he was the second assistant director on a Woody Allen film, Take the Money and Run, but said he remembers doing very little except passing out the call sheets and filling out time cards. He also worked as a first assistant director on some TV commercials. “I didn’t have a shred of desire in those areas,” says Hill of assistant directing. “I wanted to work and be around films. I certainly took my duties fairly seriously and all that. I didn’t see it as a long term kind of commitment.”
products
Hard times 1975 “L’ eroe della strada” A street-fighter looking for a better way of life takes a chance. Charles Bronson stars as Chaney, a Depression-era bare-knuckles fighter who teams up with a slick promoter named Speed (James Coburn) to make it in the big-time world of New Orleans prize-fighting. Genre: Action & Adventure, Classics, Drama Directed By: Walter Hill Written By: Walter Hill, Bryan Gindoff, Bruce Henstell, Bryan Gindorff Runtime: 93 minutes Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
the driver 1978 “Driver l’imprendibile” In this oddly haunting action thriller, a man known only as “The Driver” (Ryan O’Neal) is a master getaway specialist for a thieves’ organization. He receives word of his jobs from “The Connection” (Ronee Blakely) and gets his alibis from “The Gambler” (Isabelle Adjani). He is followed by a high-strung police detective (Bruce Dern), who really wants to nail him. Many spectacular car chases are one of the highlights of this movie, which paradoxically has a quiet, reflective tone. This is Isabelle Adjani’s first American film. Genre: Drama, Mystery & Suspense Directed By: Walter Hill Written By: Walter Hill Runtime: 91 minutes Studio: Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment
t h e wa r r i o r s 1 9 7 9 “I guerrieri della notte” Walter Hill’s hip, super-stylized action film unfurls in a dystopian near-future, when various gangs control New York City. Each gang sports a unique moniker (‘The Warriors,’ ‘The Baseball Furies,’ ‘The Rogues’), with a costume underscoring its “theme”; each, in turn, is also responsible for one geographic area. Hill sets up the landscape as a massive, violent playground - replete with bridges, vacant subway tunnels, parks, abandoned buildings and the like, all ripe for exploration and adventure. As the tale opens, the titular Coney Island has traveled to the Bronx to attend a city-wide meeting of all gangs; at that event, however, the psychotic leader of a rival gang, The Rogues (David Patrick Kelly of Dreamscape) assassinates the head of the city’s foremost gang, but The Warriors are pegged as culpable. This sends the gang fleeing through the labyrinthine city. With every thug in Manhattan in vicious, homicidal pursuit, they must also overcome all obstacles in their way. Throughout, Hill keeps the onscreen violence absurd, exaggerated and unrealistic, downplaying death to an extreme degree; despite this fact, the film sparked a massive amount of controversy and an ugly backlash for allegedly inciting violence and destruction in several theaters where it initially played. James Remar, Michael Beck and Deborah Van Valkenburgh lead the ensemble cast. Genre: Action & Adventure, Cult Movies, Drama Directed By: Walter Hill Written By: David Shaber, Walter Hill Runtime: 93 minutes Studio: Paramount Pictures
t h e lo n g r i d e r s 1 9 8 0 “I cavalieri dalle lunghe ombre” The hook in Walter Hill’s mythic retelling of the James-Younger outlaw legend is in the casting; the James, Younger, Miller, and Ford Brothers are played by a string of acting brothers, the Keachs, the Carradines, the Quaids and the Guests. The film begins as outlaws are robbing a bank. After the robbery, Ed Miller (Dennis Quaid) finds himself kicked out of the gang for needlessly killing a man during the robbery. Jesse James (James Keach) hands over Ed’s share of the money and tells him to leave, a feeling held mutually by Ed’s brother Clell (Randy Quaid). After the killing the gang decides to split up for awhile. The James boys return to their wives and farms, while Cole Younger (David Carradine) travels to Texas with his prostitute girlfriend Belle Starr (Pamela Reed). After the brief respite, the gang reunites to rob a well-stocked bank in Northfield, Minnesota. The robbery turns out disastrously, with most of the gang either wounded or dying. The James boys are the only ones not seriously hurt, and they leave the rest of the gang behind, escaping while they can. After the James boys leave, the remnants of the gang are captured. But trailing the Jameses is a relentless posse. Frank and Jesse manage to keep one step ahead until the Ford brothers (Christopher Guest and Nicholas Guest) make a deal with the Pinkerton detectives trailing the outlaws. Genre: Action & Adventure, Western Directed By: Walter Hill Written By: Bill Bryden, Steven Smith, Stacy Keach, James Keach, Walter Hill, Steven Phillip Smith On Disc/Streaming: Mar 20, 2001 Runtime: 100 minutes Studio: MGM Home Entertainment
s o u t h e r n co m f o r t 1 9 8 1 “I guerrieri della palude silenziosa” A handful of part time soldiers unwittingly turn a field exercise into a miniature war in this offbeat action drama from writer and director Walter Hill. A group of National Guard reservists are sent to Louisiana on a chilly weekend for war games exercises. None of these weekend warriors seem especially happy to be there, especially laid-back Spencer (Keith Carradine), tightly-wound macho man Reece (Fred Ward) and transplanted Texan Hardin (Powers Booth). While making their way through swamp country, the reservists discover their maps are out of date and they’ve become lost. Rather than march back to camp and start over, they decide to “borrow” several canoes they’ve found by the banks of the bayou, which should put them back on track. When a Cajun local catches the soldiers stealing his canoes, Stuckey (Lewis Smith) fires a few rounds in his direction; for the purposes of their exercises, the Guardsmen have been given blank shells, so Stuckey imagines this is a harmless way to scare the man off. However, the Cajun soon returns fire -- with real bullets. After Poole (Peter Coyote) is killed by a shotgun blast, the Guardsmen find themselves lost in a place they do not understand, surrounded by angry men determined to drive the unwelcome visitors off their land at all costs. A taut and atmospheric action film which is also serves as an intelligent and evocative metaphor for America’s role in the Vietnam war, Southern Comfort also features an excellent score by guitarist (and frequent Walter Hill collaborator) Ry Cooder. Genre: Action & Adventure, Drama, Mystery & Suspense Directed By: Walter Hill Written By: Michael Kane, Walter Hill, David Giler Runtime: 105 minutes Studio: 20th Century Fox Film Corporation
48 hrs 1982 “48 ore” A variation on the “buddy-cop” hybridized genre, 48 HRS. greatly bolstered the career of Nick Nolte and made comedian Eddie Murphy a bonafide box-office sensation. When a pair of reckless cop-killers break out of prison, grizzled detective Jack Cates (Nolte) is left no alternative but to spring fast-talking hustler Reggie Hammond (Murphy) from the penitentiary in order to find the criminals. The catch: the pair only have 48 hours to complete their assignment before Hammond must return to prison. Naturally, the two despise each other and even engage in fisticuffs, but eventually the danger facing them proves a strong enough common bond for them to play on the same team, and even achieve a little mutual admiration. Genre: Action & Adventure, Comedy Directed By: Walter Hill Written By: Walter Hill, Larry Gross, Steven E. de Souza, Roger Spottiswoode, Christopher De Vore Runtime: 96 minutes Studio: Paramount Home Video
streets of fire 1984 “Strade di fuoco “ More like a series of MTV sequences than a long-term narration, this super-thin story line focuses on a kidnapped singer (Diane Lane) and her ex-boyfriend (Michael Pare) who goes forth to save her through rainy streets, the roar of elevated subways, several alleys, and the usual warehouses. Each thrust of the story has rock music that follows along with the narration. Genre: Action & Adventure, Drama, Musical & Performing Arts Directed By: Walter Hill Written By: Walter Hill, Larry Gross, Mardik Martin Runtime: 94 minutes Studio: MCA Universal Home Video
r e d h e at 1 9 8 8 “Danko” Arnold Schwarzenegger plays a taciturn law-enforcement officer from Russia. James Belushi co-stars as a wise-lipped Chicago cop. Though they go together like caviar and White Castles, they are forced to team up to collar the Soviet Union’s most notorious drug lord. Thus does director Walter Hill recycle his 48 Hours formula for another unlikely star team. Unfortunately, Red Heat isn’t half as enjoyable as the earlier film, owing to a lack of rapport between the two leading men and an overall lack of inspiration infecting the whole project. The one notable aspect of Red Heat is that it was the first commercial American film to stage scenes in Moscow’s Red Square. Watch for Laurence Fishburne (still billed as “Larry”) in a secondary role. Genre: Action & Adventure, Classics, Drama Directed By: Walter Hill Written By: Harry Kleiner, Walter Hill, Troy Kennedy Martin Runtime: 106 minutes Studio: Live Home Video
geronimo 1993 “Geronimo” Walter Hill directs John Milius’s script (co-written by Larry Gross) depicting a revisionist perspective on the “Geronimo Campaign” and how Geronimo, with 34 men, managed to elude 5000 U.S. cavalry men between 1885 and 1886 before his surrender at the Canyon of the Skeletons in September 1886. The film centers upon Charles Gatewood (Jason Patric), the U.S. Cavalry lieutenant who is charged with capturing the elusive Apache leader. Gatewood is torn by a grudging respect for Geronimo and his people and his duty to his country. But then all the white men in the film have a respect for Geronimo, even as they are trying to hunt him down and kill him. General Charles Crook (Gene Hackman), charged with overseeing the forced settlement of the Apaches on reservations, has nothing but admiration for Geronimo. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi Genre: Action & Adventure, Drama, Western Directed By: Walter Hill Written By: John Milius, Larry Gross Runtime: 115 minutes Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
l as t m a n s ta n d i n g 1 9 9 3 “Ancora vivo� A drifting gunslinger-for-hire finds himself in the middle of an ongoing war between the Irish and Italian mafia in a Prohibition era ghost town. Genre: Action & Adventure, Drama, Mystery & Suspense Directed By: Walter Hill Written By: Walter Hill Runtime: 101 minutes Studio: New Line Cinema
t h e as s i g n m e n t 2 0 1 7 “Nemesi”
“Nemesi”Legendary director Walter Hill (The Warriors) gives the revenge film a modern neo-noir twist with this electrifying thriller. Hitman Frank Kitchen (Michelle Rodriguez) is given a lethal assignment, but after being double-crossed, he discovers he’s not the man he thought he was-he’s been surgically altered and now has the body of a woman. Seeking vengeance, Frank heads for a showdown with the person (Sigourney Weaver) who transformed him, a brilliant surgeon with a chilling agenda of her own. Genre: Action & Adventure, Drama, Mystery & Suspense Directed By: Walter Hill Written By: Denis Hamill, Walter Hill Runtime: 95 minutes Studio: Saban Films, Lionsgate
r e tl aw llih