Saturday, February 11, 2023

Mass Appeal, by Glenn Jordan (1984)

A popular Connecticut priest shields a seminary rebel from the wrath of a stern monsignor.

Stars

Jack Lemmon, Zeljko Ivanek, Charles Durning.

Music by Bill Conti.

Subs only in English.

YOUTUBE LINK FOR THE MOVIE: https://youtu.be/WQZO8OuLwCw

This channel posted this movie on YouTube  a few days ago and YT informed that there was no copyright restrictions. 

As the YouTube copyright verification system is flawed, I decided to post the film on my blog and then offer the link.


According to actor Zeljko Ivanek, the fish sermon scene was shot 15 times from three different angles. Although Ivanek considers the last take the best, most of it didn't make the final cut because it was too emotionally jarring for the audience.

The movie is based on a play originally produced by the Manhattan Theatre Club, directed by Jack Dolgen and starring Milo O'Shea as Tim Farley and Eric Roberts as Mark Dolson. It opened at the off-Broadway Stage 73 on April 22, 1980 and ran for 104 performances. O'Shea was nominated for a Tony for his role.

Third and final cinema movie of director Glenn Jordan. The other two theatrical feature films were Carência de Amor (1984) and O Doce Sabor de um Sorriso (1981). Jordan predominantly worked in television.

Second of three films that actors Jack Lemmon and Charles Durning both worked on. The other movies were A Primeira Página (1974) and Ensina-me a Viver (1995). The three pictures were each separated by around a decade.

Some movie posters for this film featured a long text preamble that read: "Father Timothy Farley has always preached about miracles. Now he has to perform one. For years, he had everything he could ever ask for. The love of his parishioners. The respect of his superiors. And the smoothest golf swing in his district. Then, the Church sent him someone he didn't ask for - a rebellious young deacon named Dolson. And he's been given just one month to whip him into shape. MASS APPEAL. Somewhere between laughter and tears, they found something to believe in".

Two major supporting roles for the film were added to the story which were not in the "Mass Appeal" stage play. These were the housekeeper and monsignor characters, played by Louise Latham and Charles Durning respectively.

The film's executive producer was Joan B. Kroc who was the widow of Ray Kroc, the CEO of McDonalds and owner of the San Diego Padres. This was her own film credit.

The movie's source "Mass Appeal" play by Bill C. Davis was a two-hander i.e. it featured only two characters, Father Farley and Deacon Dolson, played in the film by Jack Lemmon and Zeljko Ivanek respectively. The movie also features a number of other characters in the opening up of the stage play for the big screen.

The picture finished filming around August 1984. It debuted stateside about two-three months later around November/December 1984.

This picture was the next film that actor Jack Lemmon appeared in after Costa-Gavras' Desaparecido: Um Grande Mistério (1982) for which Lemmon had won the Best Actor Award at Cannes.

Thanks to IMDb  for all the trivia.

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