The Iceman Cometh (1973 film)

The Iceman Cometh
Directed by	John Frankenheimer
Produced by	Ely Landau
Written by	Eugene O'Neill (play) Thomas Quinn Curtiss (screenplay)
Starring	Lee Marvin Fredric March Robert Ryan Jeff Bridges
Cinematography	Ralph Woolsey
Edited by	Harold F. Kress
Distributed by	American Film Theatre
Release dates	November 10, 1973
Running time	239 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$800,000[1]

The Iceman Cometh is a 1973 American drama film directed by John Frankenheimer. The screenplay was written by Thomas Quinn Curtiss, based on Eugene O'Neill's 1939 play of the same name. The film was screened at the 1976 Cannes Film Festival, but wasn't entered into the main competition.^[2]

This was the last film for both Robert Ryan and Fredric March. March developed prostate cancer in 1970, causing him to retire from acting, while Ryan died before the film's release. It was a minute short of four hours in length, and became the first film to have two intermissions.

Cast

• Lee Marvin – Theodore 'Hickey' Hickman
• Fredric March – Harry Hope
• Robert Ryan – Larry Slade
• Jeff Bridges – Don Parritt
• Bradford Dillman – Willie Oban
• Sorrell Booke – Hugo Kalmar
• Hildy Brooks – Margie
• Juno Dawson – Pearl (as Nancy Juno Dawson)
• Evans Evans – Cora
• Martyn Green – Cecil Lewis
• Moses Gunn – Joe Mott
• Clifton James – Pat McGloin
• John McLiam – Jimmy Tomorrow
• Stephen Pearlman – Chuck Morelo
• Tom Pedi – Rocky Pioggi
• George Voskovec – Piet Wetjoen

Production

Frankenheimer later said:

We found the most difficult thing was to cut it. We cut one hour and 20 minutes out of the original, but by the time we'd finished it we'd put back in an hour. It was a marvelous movie - up til now (1974) my best experience. We were like a repertory company; we never wanted it to end. I tried to show Hickey as sane and not the way I've seen him interpreted, as insane. I think you have to live your life without illusions, not with them. Pauline Kael said in her review that you only have to look at photos of O'Neill to see this was a face with no illusions.^[3]

Awards

• Robert Ryan won a Kansas City Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actor, National Board of Review Award for Best Actor and a Special Award from the National Society of Film Critics for his performance as Larry Slade.

Production credits

• Associate producer – Les Landau
• Supervising producer – Robert A. Goldston
• Casting – Lynn Stalmaster
• Production Design – Jack Martin Smith
• Set Decoration – Raphael Bretton
• Costume Design – Dorothy Jeakins
• Production executive – Jonathan Burrows

See also

• List of American films of 1973

References

1. Kilday, G. (1973, Oct 21). Movies. Los Angeles Times (1923-Current File) Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/157474126
2. "Festival de Cannes: The Iceman Cometh". festival-cannes.com. Retrieved 2009-05-10.
3. Fathering a 'Connection' Offspring Blume, Mary. Los Angeles Times (1923-Current File) [Los Angeles, Calif] 01 Sep 1974: m20.

External links

• The Iceman Cometh at the Internet Movie Database
• The Iceman Cometh at Rotten Tomatoes
• The Iceman Cometh at AllMovie