Remembering director Sydney Pollack

Here’s a piece that originally appeared in the now-defunct VCB blog.

FILM NOTES

REMEMBERING DIRECTOR SYDNEY POLLACK

Original publication date: May 27, 2008

Director Sydney Pollack, one of Hollywood’s more versatile and well-spoken elder statesmen, has just passed away. (Read the full story in The Hollywood Reporter.)

Even if you don’t know Pollack as a director, you may know him from one of his many screen appearances as an actor. He acted with George Clooney in the 2007 film Michael Clayton and was also seen in such varied productions as Eyes Wide Shut, Husbands and Wives, A Civil Action and The Majestic. On occasion he also acted for television, appearing in recent series, such as The Sopranos and Will and Grace, and also in such vintage shows as The Twilight Zone and Have Gun Will Travel.

Although he was an actor and producer, it was in his work as a director that Pollack made his biggest mark. He is perhaps best known for Out of Africa, but the scope of his work was rich and varied. His first directing experiences were for television, with episodes of such shows as Ben Casey, The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, and many others in the early 196Os. Making the switch to movies, he first came to widespread notice with a 1969 movie having the unusual title of They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?

As a director, Pollack’s films — some of which are Tootsie, Random Hearts, Absence of Malice, and The Firm — reflected wide-ranging interests and hinted at a director who wouldn’t settle for making just one type of film. His movies were clearly molded in the tradition of Hollywood, for which he had a clear affection. In fact, Pollack never seemed to tire of talking about the important place of cinema in American culture and about the films he loved. Indeed, he had a thorough knowledge of film history and liked films from many eras. (In a Sight and Sound interview, he said some of his favorites were Casablanca, Citizen Kane, Grand Illusion, The Godfather Part II, The Seventh Seal and Raging Bull.)

In keeping with Hollywood traditions, Pollack was never shy about trying to reach for a mass audience with his own work. Yet, his films surely reflect a personal vision.

If you don’t know his films, I recommend having a look. You can find a complete listing at the always useful Imdb.com.

• UPDATE — If you have a favorite Pollack film or performance, feel free to share it with others by posting a comment to this post. Thanks!

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Postscript – By the way one of my personal favorites, which I recently wrote about, is Pollack’s Three Days of the Condor, a conspiracy thriller from the post-Watergate era.