Robert Mulligan
Encyclopedia
Robert Mulligan was an American
film and television director best known as the director of humanistic American dramas, including To Kill A Mockingbird
(1962), Summer of '42
(1971), The Other
(1972), Same Time, Next Year
(1978) and The Man in the Moon
(1991). He was also known in the 1960's for his extensive collaborations with producer Alan J. Pakula
.
before serving with the United States Marine Corps
during World War II
. At war's end, he obtained work in the editorial department of The New York Times
, but left to pursue a career in television.
Employed by the CBS
network, Mulligan began his television career at the bottom of the ladder as a messenger boy. He worked his way up, learned the business and by 1948 was directing important dramatic television shows. In 1959 he won an Emmy Award
for directing The Moon and Sixpence
, a made-for-television production that marked the American small-screen debut of Laurence Olivier
.
, starring Anthony Perkins
as tormented baseball player Jimmy Piersall
. The film was the first feature he would direct alongside longtime collaborator Alan J. Pakula
, then a big-time Hollywood producer. Pakula once confessed that "working with Bob set me back in directing several years because I enjoyed working with him, and we were having a good time, and I enjoyed the work." After the release of Fear Strikes Out, Mulligan briefly disbanded with Pakula and made two Tony Curtis vehicles, The Rat Race
and The Great Imposter, as well as two Rock Hudson vehicles, Come September
and The Spiral Road
.
In the early 1960's, Pakula returned to Mulligan with the proposition of directing To Kill A Mockingbird
(1962), based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Harper Lee
. Mulligan accepted the offer despite the awareness that "the other studios didn't want it because what's it about? It's about a middle-aged lawyer with two kids. There's no romance, no violence (except off-screen). There's no action. What is there? Where's the story?" With the help of a screenplay by Horton Foote
as well as the pivotal casting of Gregory Peck
in the role of Atticus Finch, however, the film became a huge hit, and Mulligan was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Director.
Mulligan and Pakula followed To Kill A Mockingbird with five more films: Love With the Proper Stranger
(1963), starring Natalie Wood
and Steve McQueen
; Baby the Rain Must Fall
(1965), starring McQueen; Inside Daisy Clover
(1965), starring Wood; Up the Down Staircase
(1967), based on a humorous novel by Bel Kaufman
and starring Sandy Dennis
as the schoolteacher Ms. Barrett; and The Stalking Moon
(1968), based on a Western novel by T.V. Olsen and reuniting Mulligan and Pakula with Peck, this time in the role of Sam Varner, a scout who attempts to escort a white woman (Eva Marie Saint
) and her half-Indian son to New Mexico after they are pursued by a bloodthirsty Apache. After this film, Pakula broke ties with Mulligan to pursue his own career in directing.
(1971), starring Michael Sarrazin
. That same year he released Summer of '42
(1971), which was based on the coming-of-age novel by Herman Raucher
and starred Gary Grimes
as a teenage stand-in for Raucher who spends a summer vacation in 1942 on Nantucket Island lusting after a young woman (Jennifer O'Neill
) whose husband has shipped off to fight in the war. A box office smash, Summer of '42 went on to gross over $20 million, and Mulligan was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Director
.
Summer of '42 was followed by The Other (1972), a horror film scripted by former Hollywood actor Thomas Tryon
from his own book. It told the story of two 9-year old boys, Niles and Holland Perry (played by real-life twins Chris and Marty Udvarnoky), who get involved in a series of grisly murders at their home on Peaquot Landing in the 1930's. Although the film was not an immediate success at the box office, it has since gone on to gain a steady cult following. Mulligan rounded out the 1970's with three films dominated by performances from A-list Hollywood actors: Jason Miller
as a Los Angeles locksmith threatened by hitmen in The Nickel Ride
(1974); Richard Gere
as an Italian-American youth trying to break from his working-class family in Bloodbrothers
(1978); and Alan Alda
and Ellen Burstyn
portraying George and Doris, a pair of long-term adulterers, in Same Time Next Year
(1978), based on the play by Bernard Slade
.
, James Caan
and Jeff Bridges
, was an attempt at a comedic remake of the Brazilian film Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands
, but was both a critical and commercial failure. Clara's Heart
(1987), starring Whoopi Goldberg
and a young Neil Patrick Harris
, was released five years later to more negative box office numbers and reviews, and was panned on television by Siskel and Ebert. It has, however, received recent praise from film professor Robert Keser.
(1991), starring a young Reese Witherspoon
(in her film debut) as Dani, a 14-year old girl who develops an attraction to an older boy (Jason London
), only to feel betrayed when he falls for her older sister instead. The film was praised by Roger Ebert
, who included it at #8 in his Top 10 list of the best films of 1991, declaring, "Nothing else [Mulligan] has done... approaches the purity and perfection of The Man in the Moon. As the film approached its conclusion without having stepped wrong once, I wondered whether he could do it - whether he could maintain the poetic, bittersweet tone, and avoid the sentimentalism and cheap emotion that could have destroyed this story. Would he maintain the integrity of this material? He would, and he does."
Later in March of 1992, Mulligan made headlines when he angrily took his name off of airline cuts of The Man in the Moon, after he had learned that the film would be heavily censored by American and Delta flights. In an interview with Ebert, Mulligan explained, "The airlines demanded so many excessive and unreasonable cuts and changes that I took my name off the film... it's the first time I've ever done that." Following this incident, Mulligan never made another film.
.
It has been reported than Mulligan suffered from alcoholism
over a period of years. During the making of To Kill A Mockingbird, he and the rest of the crew were also known to be excessive chain-smokers, much to the annoyance of producer Pakula.
at his home in Lyme, Connecticut on December 23, 2008, at the age of 83.
once hailed Mulligan as "one of the only American directors left with a fully achieved style that is commonly (if misleadingly) termed classical... he is a master of carving out dramatic space with liquid camera movements and precise angles, a mastery that’s matched by a special sensitivity in handling adolescents."
Critic and filmmaker Francois Truffaut
also championed the director's work. Truffaut was, in particular, a fan of Fear Strikes Out and was impressed that it was only Mulligan's first feature, writing, "It is rare to see a first film so free of faults and bombast." Summing up Mulligan's talents as a whole, Truffaut concluded, "If there were French directors as lucid as Mulligan, as capable of telling something more than anecdotes, the image of our country on the screen would be a bit less oversimplified."
Another admirer of Mulligan's work was Stanley Kubrick
, who featured a clip from Summer of '42 in The Shining
(1980).
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
film and television director best known as the director of humanistic American dramas, including To Kill A Mockingbird
To Kill a Mockingbird (film)
To Kill a Mockingbird is a 1962 American drama film adaptation of Harper Lee's novel of the same name directed by Robert Mulligan. It stars Mary Badham in the role of Scout and Gregory Peck in the role of Atticus Finch....
(1962), Summer of '42
Summer of '42
Summer of '42 is a 1971 American coming-of-age drama film based on the memoirs of screenwriter Herman Raucher. It tells the story of how Raucher, in his early teens on his 1942 summer vacation on Nantucket Island, off the coast of New England, embarked on a one-sided romance with a woman, Dorothy,...
(1971), The Other
The Other
The Other is a 1972 psychological horror film directed by Robert Mulligan, adapted for film by Tom Tryon, from his bestselling novel. It stars Uta Hagen, Diana Muldaur, and Chris & Martin Udvarnoky.-Plot:...
(1972), Same Time, Next Year
Same Time, Next Year (film)
Same Time, Next Year is a 1978 American romantic comedy-drama film directed by Robert Mulligan. The screenplay by Bernard Slade is based on his 1975 play of the same title.-Plot synopsis:...
(1978) and The Man in the Moon
The Man in the Moon
The Man in the Moon is a 1991 American drama film, directed by Robert Mulligan and starring Sam Waterston, Reese Witherspoon and Jason London...
(1991). He was also known in the 1960's for his extensive collaborations with producer Alan J. Pakula
Alan J. Pakula
Alan Jay Pakula was an American film director, writer and producer noted for his contributions to the conspiracy thriller genre.-Career:...
.
Early life and career
Mulligan studied at Fordham UniversityFordham University
Fordham University is a private, nonprofit, coeducational research university in the United States, with three campuses in and around New York City. It was founded by the Roman Catholic Diocese of New York in 1841 as St...
before serving with the United States Marine Corps
United States Marine Corps
The United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...
during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. At war's end, he obtained work in the editorial department of The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, but left to pursue a career in television.
Employed by the CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
network, Mulligan began his television career at the bottom of the ladder as a messenger boy. He worked his way up, learned the business and by 1948 was directing important dramatic television shows. In 1959 he won an Emmy Award
Emmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
for directing The Moon and Sixpence
The Moon and Sixpence
The Moon and Sixpence is a novel by W. Somerset Maugham, told in episodic form by the first-person narrator as a series of glimpses into the mind and soul of the central character, Charles Strickland, a middle-aged English stockbroker who abandons his wife and children abruptly to pursue his desire...
, a made-for-television production that marked the American small-screen debut of Laurence Olivier
Laurence Olivier
Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier, OM was an English actor, director, and producer. He was one of the most famous and revered actors of the 20th century. He married three times, to fellow actors Jill Esmond, Vivien Leigh, and Joan Plowright...
.
Film Career: 1950's-1960's
In 1957 Mulligan directed his first motion picture, Fear Strikes OutFear Strikes Out
Fear Strikes Out is a dramatic film depicting the life and career of American baseball player Jimmy Piersall. It is based on Piersall's autobiography Fear Strikes Out: The Jim Piersall Story. The film stars Anthony Perkins as Piersall and Karl Malden as his father, and it was directed by Robert...
, starring Anthony Perkins
Anthony Perkins
Anthony Perkins was an American actor, best known for his Oscar-nominated role in Friendly Persuasion and as Norman Bates in Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho , and its three sequels.-Early life:...
as tormented baseball player Jimmy Piersall
Jimmy Piersall
James Anthony Piersall is a former center fielder in Major League Baseball. Between 1950 and 1967, he played for the Boston Red Sox , Cleveland Indians , Washington Senators , New York Mets , and Los Angeles/California Angels .While he had a fairly good professional career as a center...
. The film was the first feature he would direct alongside longtime collaborator Alan J. Pakula
Alan J. Pakula
Alan Jay Pakula was an American film director, writer and producer noted for his contributions to the conspiracy thriller genre.-Career:...
, then a big-time Hollywood producer. Pakula once confessed that "working with Bob set me back in directing several years because I enjoyed working with him, and we were having a good time, and I enjoyed the work." After the release of Fear Strikes Out, Mulligan briefly disbanded with Pakula and made two Tony Curtis vehicles, The Rat Race
The Rat Race
The Rat Race is a 1960 American drama film directed by Robert Mulligan and starring Tony Curtis and Debbie Reynolds as struggling young entertainment professionals in New York City. Filming took place in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.- Plot :...
and The Great Imposter, as well as two Rock Hudson vehicles, Come September
Come September
For the Natalie Imbruglia song, see Come September .Come September is a 1961 romantic comedy film directed by Robert Mulligan, and starring Rock Hudson, Gina Lollobrigida, Sandra Dee and Bobby Darin.-Plot:...
and The Spiral Road
The Spiral Road
The Spiral Road is a 1962 American drama starring Rock Hudson, Gena Rowlands, Burl Ives, Reggie Nalder and Neva Patterson. It was directed by Robert Mulligan with a screenplay by John Lee Mahin and Neil Paterson adapted from the novel by Jan de Hartog. It also featured an early score by composer...
.
In the early 1960's, Pakula returned to Mulligan with the proposition of directing To Kill A Mockingbird
To Kill a Mockingbird (film)
To Kill a Mockingbird is a 1962 American drama film adaptation of Harper Lee's novel of the same name directed by Robert Mulligan. It stars Mary Badham in the role of Scout and Gregory Peck in the role of Atticus Finch....
(1962), based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Harper Lee
Harper Lee
Nelle Harper Lee is an American author known for her 1960 Pulitzer-Prize-winning novel To Kill a Mockingbird, which deals with the issues of racism that were observed by the author as a child in her hometown of Monroeville, Alabama...
. Mulligan accepted the offer despite the awareness that "the other studios didn't want it because what's it about? It's about a middle-aged lawyer with two kids. There's no romance, no violence (except off-screen). There's no action. What is there? Where's the story?" With the help of a screenplay by Horton Foote
Horton Foote
Albert Horton Foote, Jr. was an American playwright and screenwriter, perhaps best known for his Academy Award-winning screenplays for the 1962 film To Kill a Mockingbird and the 1983 film Tender Mercies, and his notable live television dramas during the Golden Age of Television...
as well as the pivotal casting of Gregory Peck
Gregory Peck
Eldred Gregory Peck was an American actor.One of 20th Century Fox's most popular film stars from the 1940s to the 1960s, Peck continued to play important roles well into the 1980s. His notable performances include that of Atticus Finch in the 1962 film To Kill a Mockingbird, for which he won an...
in the role of Atticus Finch, however, the film became a huge hit, and Mulligan was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Director.
Mulligan and Pakula followed To Kill A Mockingbird with five more films: Love With the Proper Stranger
Love with the Proper Stranger
Love with the Proper Stranger is a 1963 romantic comedy drama film made by Pakula-Mulligan Productions and Boardwalk Productions and released by Paramount Pictures. It was directed by Robert Mulligan and produced by Alan J. Pakula from a screenplay by Arnold Schulman.The film stars Natalie Wood,...
(1963), starring Natalie Wood
Natalie Wood
Natalie Wood, born Natalia Nikolaevna Zacharenko was an American film and television actress. After first working in films as a child, Wood became a successful Hollywood star as a young adult, receiving three Academy Award nominations before she was 25 years old.Wood began acting in movies at the...
and Steve McQueen
Steve McQueen
Terrence Steven "Steve" McQueen was an American movie actor. He was nicknamed "The King of Cool." His "anti-hero" persona, which he developed at the height of the Vietnam counterculture, made him one of the top box-office draws of the 1960s and 1970s. McQueen received an Academy Award nomination...
; Baby the Rain Must Fall
Baby the Rain Must Fall
Baby the Rain Must Fall is a 1965 American drama film starring Steve McQueen, directed by Robert Mulligan. Dramatist Horton Foote, who wrote the screenplay, based it on his play The Travelling Lady.-Plot:...
(1965), starring McQueen; Inside Daisy Clover
Inside Daisy Clover
Inside Daisy Clover is a 1965 American drama film based on the 1963 novel by Gavin Lambert. It stars Natalie Wood, Christopher Plummer, Robert Redford, Roddy McDowall and Ruth Gordon in her Academy Award nominated role.- Plot :...
(1965), starring Wood; Up the Down Staircase
Up the Down Staircase
Up the Down Staircase is a humorous novel written by Bel Kaufman, and published in 1965.-Plot summary:The plot revolves around Sylvia Barrett, an idealistic English teacher at an inner-city high school who hopes to nurture her students' interest in classic literature and writing...
(1967), based on a humorous novel by Bel Kaufman
Bel Kaufman
Bella "Bel" Kaufman is an American teacher and author, best known for writing the 1965 bestselling novel Up the Down Staircase.-Early life:...
and starring Sandy Dennis
Sandy Dennis
Sandra Dale “Sandy” Dennis was an American theater and film actress. In 1966, she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?.-Early life:...
as the schoolteacher Ms. Barrett; and The Stalking Moon
The Stalking Moon
The Stalking Moon is a 1968 western film in Technicolor starring Gregory Peck and Eva Marie Saint. It is directed by Robert Mulligan and based on the novel of the same name by T.V. Olsen.-Plot:...
(1968), based on a Western novel by T.V. Olsen and reuniting Mulligan and Pakula with Peck, this time in the role of Sam Varner, a scout who attempts to escort a white woman (Eva Marie Saint
Eva Marie Saint
Eva Marie Saint is an American actress who has starred in films, on Broadway, and on television in a career spanning seven decades. She won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in the drama film On the Waterfront , and later starred in the thriller film North by...
) and her half-Indian son to New Mexico after they are pursued by a bloodthirsty Apache. After this film, Pakula broke ties with Mulligan to pursue his own career in directing.
1970's
Mulligan began the 1970's with The Pursuit of HappinessThe Pursuit of Happiness (1971 film)
The Pursuit of Happiness is a 1971 American drama film about a student who goes on the run to avoid serving his full prison sentence for vehicular manslaughter. The film was directed by Robert Mulligan. The producer was David Susskind and the associate producer, Alan Shayne. The screenplay was...
(1971), starring Michael Sarrazin
Michael Sarrazin
Michael Sarrazin was a Canadian film and television actor who found fame opposite Jane Fonda in the drama film They Shoot Horses, Don't They? .- Early life :...
. That same year he released Summer of '42
Summer of '42
Summer of '42 is a 1971 American coming-of-age drama film based on the memoirs of screenwriter Herman Raucher. It tells the story of how Raucher, in his early teens on his 1942 summer vacation on Nantucket Island, off the coast of New England, embarked on a one-sided romance with a woman, Dorothy,...
(1971), which was based on the coming-of-age novel by Herman Raucher
Herman Raucher
Herman Raucher is an American author who has written several screenplays, among them the popular Summer of '42 and The Great Santini and several novels and plays...
and starred Gary Grimes
Gary Grimes
Gary Grimes is a former American actor.-Biography:Gary Grimes' first major role was in the 1971 motion picture Summer of '42, playing a teenager who has an affair with a beautiful older woman, played by Jennifer O'Neill...
as a teenage stand-in for Raucher who spends a summer vacation in 1942 on Nantucket Island lusting after a young woman (Jennifer O'Neill
Jennifer O'Neill
-Early life:O'Neill was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, the daughter of a famous Spanish-Irish dental supply import/export businessman, Oscar D' O'Neill and his English wife. As a teenager, O'Neill worked as a fashion model and appeared in television commercials and on magazine covers before moving...
) whose husband has shipped off to fight in the war. A box office smash, Summer of '42 went on to gross over $20 million, and Mulligan was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Director
Golden Globe Award for Best Director - Motion Picture
This page lists the winners of and nominees for the Golden Globe Award for Best Director. Since its inception in 1943, it has been presented annually by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, an organization composed of journalists who cover the United States film industry for publications based...
.
Summer of '42 was followed by The Other (1972), a horror film scripted by former Hollywood actor Thomas Tryon
Thomas Tryon
Thomas Tryon was an English merchant, author of popular self-help books, and early advocate of vegetarianism.-Life:...
from his own book. It told the story of two 9-year old boys, Niles and Holland Perry (played by real-life twins Chris and Marty Udvarnoky), who get involved in a series of grisly murders at their home on Peaquot Landing in the 1930's. Although the film was not an immediate success at the box office, it has since gone on to gain a steady cult following. Mulligan rounded out the 1970's with three films dominated by performances from A-list Hollywood actors: Jason Miller
Jason Miller
Jason Miller may refer to:*Jason Miller , Pulitzer Prize winning playwright and actor, known for The Exorcist*Jason Miller , hockey player*Jason Miller , mixed martial arts fighter...
as a Los Angeles locksmith threatened by hitmen in The Nickel Ride
The Nickel Ride
The Nickel Ride is a 1974 crime film directed by Robert Mulligan. It was entered into the 1974 Cannes Film Festival.On December 13, 2011 Shout! Factory released the film on DVD as part of a double feature with 99 and 44/100% Dead.-Cast:...
(1974); Richard Gere
Richard Gere
Richard Tiffany Gere is an American actor. He began acting in the 1970s, playing a supporting role in Looking for Mr. Goodbar, and a starring role in Days of Heaven. He came to prominence in 1980 for his role in the film American Gigolo, which established him as a leading man and a sex symbol...
as an Italian-American youth trying to break from his working-class family in Bloodbrothers
Bloodbrothers (1978 film)
Bloodbrothers is a 1978 coming-of-age film directed by Robert Mulligan. It stars Richard Gere, Paul Sorvino, Tony Lo Bianco and Marilu Henner. The film was also based on the novel of the same title by Richard Price...
(1978); and Alan Alda
Alan Alda
Alphonso Joseph D'Abruzzo , better known as Alan Alda, is an American actor, director, screenwriter, and author. A six-time Emmy Award and Golden Globe Award winner, he is best known for his role as Hawkeye Pierce in the TV series M*A*S*H...
and Ellen Burstyn
Ellen Burstyn
Ellen Burstyn is a leading American actress of film, stage, and television. Burstyn's career began in theatre during the late 1950s, and over the next ten years she appeared in several films and television series before joining the Actors Studio in 1967...
portraying George and Doris, a pair of long-term adulterers, in Same Time Next Year
Same Time, Next Year (film)
Same Time, Next Year is a 1978 American romantic comedy-drama film directed by Robert Mulligan. The screenplay by Bernard Slade is based on his 1975 play of the same title.-Plot synopsis:...
(1978), based on the play by Bernard Slade
Bernard Slade
Bernard Slade is a Canadian playwright and screenwriter.Born in St. Catharines, Ontario, Slade began his career as an actor with the Garden Center Theatre in Vineland, Ontario. In the mid-1960s, he relocated to Hollywood and began to work as a writer for television sitcoms, including Bewitched...
.
1980's
As the 1980's dawned, Mulligan found work harder to come by, succeeding in directing only two films by the end of the decade. Kiss Me Goodbye (1982), starring Sally FieldSally Field
Sally Margaret Field is an American actress, singer, producer, director, and screenwriter. In each decade of her career, she has been known for major roles in American TV/film culture, including: in the 1960s, for Gidget or Sister Bertrille on The Flying Nun ; in the 1970s, for Sybil , Smokey and...
, James Caan
James Caan
James Caan is an American actor. He is best known for his starring roles in The Godfather, Thief, Misery, A Bridge Too Far, Brian's Song, Rollerball, Kiss Me Goodbye, Elf, and El Dorado...
and Jeff Bridges
Jeff Bridges
Jeffrey Leon "Jeff" Bridges is an American actor and musician. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role as Otis "Bad" Blake in the 2009 film Crazy Heart....
, was an attempt at a comedic remake of the Brazilian film Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands
Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands
Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands is a 1976 comedy film directed by Bruno Barreto. Based on the novel of the same name by Jorge Amado, it takes place in 1940s Bahia. It stars Sônia Braga, José Wilker, and Mauro Mendonça in the leading roles...
, but was both a critical and commercial failure. Clara's Heart
Clara's Heart
Clara's Heart is a 1988 American film starring Whoopi Goldberg, Neil Patrick Harris, Kathleen Quinlan and Michael Ontkean. It was directed by Robert Mulligan and written by Mark Medoff, based on the acclaimed novel of the same name by Joseph Olshan.-Plot:...
(1987), starring Whoopi Goldberg
Whoopi Goldberg
Whoopi Goldberg is an American comedian, actress, singer-songwriter, political activist, author and talk show host.Goldberg made her film debut in The Color Purple playing Celie, a mistreated black woman in the Deep South. She received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress and won...
and a young Neil Patrick Harris
Neil Patrick Harris
Neil Patrick Harris is an American actor, singer, director, and magician.Prominent roles of his career include the title role in Doogie Howser, M.D., Colonel Carl Jenkins in Starship Troopers, the womanizing Barney Stinson in How I Met Your Mother, a fictionalized version of himself in the Harold...
, was released five years later to more negative box office numbers and reviews, and was panned on television by Siskel and Ebert. It has, however, received recent praise from film professor Robert Keser.
1990's
In the 1990's, at the age of 66, Mulligan would release his final film, The Man in the MoonThe Man in the Moon
The Man in the Moon is a 1991 American drama film, directed by Robert Mulligan and starring Sam Waterston, Reese Witherspoon and Jason London...
(1991), starring a young Reese Witherspoon
Reese Witherspoon
Laura Jeanne Reese Witherspoon , better known as Reese Witherspoon, is an American actress and film producer. Witherspoon landed her first feature role as the female lead in the film The Man in the Moon in 1991; later that year she made her television acting debut, in the cable movie Wildflower...
(in her film debut) as Dani, a 14-year old girl who develops an attraction to an older boy (Jason London
Jason London
Jason Paul London is an American actor, best known for his role as Randall "Pink" Floyd in director Richard Linklater's film Dazed and Confused.-Personal life:...
), only to feel betrayed when he falls for her older sister instead. The film was praised by Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
, who included it at #8 in his Top 10 list of the best films of 1991, declaring, "Nothing else [Mulligan] has done... approaches the purity and perfection of The Man in the Moon. As the film approached its conclusion without having stepped wrong once, I wondered whether he could do it - whether he could maintain the poetic, bittersweet tone, and avoid the sentimentalism and cheap emotion that could have destroyed this story. Would he maintain the integrity of this material? He would, and he does."
Later in March of 1992, Mulligan made headlines when he angrily took his name off of airline cuts of The Man in the Moon, after he had learned that the film would be heavily censored by American and Delta flights. In an interview with Ebert, Mulligan explained, "The airlines demanded so many excessive and unreasonable cuts and changes that I took my name off the film... it's the first time I've ever done that." Following this incident, Mulligan never made another film.
Personal life
Mulligan's first wife was Jane Lee Sutherland. Their marriage lasted from 1951-1968 and produced three children. His second marriage, to Sandy Mulligan, lasted from 1971 until his death. He was the brother of actor Richard MulliganRichard Mulligan
Richard Mulligan was an American television and film actor best known for his role as Burt Campbell in the 1970s sitcom Soap and later as Dr. Harry Weston on The Golden Girls and its spin-off Empty Nest.-Early life:He was born in New York City, the younger brother of director Robert Mulligan...
.
It has been reported than Mulligan suffered from alcoholism
Alcoholism
Alcoholism is a broad term for problems with alcohol, and is generally used to mean compulsive and uncontrolled consumption of alcoholic beverages, usually to the detriment of the drinker's health, personal relationships, and social standing...
over a period of years. During the making of To Kill A Mockingbird, he and the rest of the crew were also known to be excessive chain-smokers, much to the annoyance of producer Pakula.
Death
Mulligan died of heart diseaseHeart disease
Heart disease, cardiac disease or cardiopathy is an umbrella term for a variety of diseases affecting the heart. , it is the leading cause of death in the United States, England, Canada and Wales, accounting for 25.4% of the total deaths in the United States.-Types:-Coronary heart disease:Coronary...
at his home in Lyme, Connecticut on December 23, 2008, at the age of 83.
Style
In a 1978 interview with the Village Voice, Mulligan told reporters, "I don't know anything about 'the Mulligan style.' If you can find it, well, that's your job." However, Chicago critic Jonathan RosenbaumJonathan Rosenbaum
Jonathan Rosenbaum is an American film critic. Rosenbaum was the head film critic for the Chicago Reader from 1987 until 2008, when he retired at the age of 65...
once hailed Mulligan as "one of the only American directors left with a fully achieved style that is commonly (if misleadingly) termed classical... he is a master of carving out dramatic space with liquid camera movements and precise angles, a mastery that’s matched by a special sensitivity in handling adolescents."
Critic and filmmaker Francois Truffaut
François Truffaut
François Roland Truffaut was an influential film critic and filmmaker and one of the founders of the French New Wave. In a film career lasting over a quarter of a century, he remains an icon of the French film industry. He was also a screenwriter, producer, and actor working on over twenty-five...
also championed the director's work. Truffaut was, in particular, a fan of Fear Strikes Out and was impressed that it was only Mulligan's first feature, writing, "It is rare to see a first film so free of faults and bombast." Summing up Mulligan's talents as a whole, Truffaut concluded, "If there were French directors as lucid as Mulligan, as capable of telling something more than anecdotes, the image of our country on the screen would be a bit less oversimplified."
Another admirer of Mulligan's work was Stanley Kubrick
Stanley Kubrick
Stanley Kubrick was an American film director, writer, producer, and photographer who lived in England during most of the last four decades of his career...
, who featured a clip from Summer of '42 in The Shining
The Shining (film)
The Shining is a 1980 psychological horror film produced and directed by Stanley Kubrick, co-written with novelist Diane Johnson, and starring Jack Nicholson, Shelley Duvall, and Danny Lloyd. The film is based on the novel of the same name by Stephen King. A writer, Jack Torrance, takes a job as an...
(1980).
Filmography
- Fear Strikes OutFear Strikes OutFear Strikes Out is a dramatic film depicting the life and career of American baseball player Jimmy Piersall. It is based on Piersall's autobiography Fear Strikes Out: The Jim Piersall Story. The film stars Anthony Perkins as Piersall and Karl Malden as his father, and it was directed by Robert...
(19571957 in filmThe year 1957 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* October 21 - The movie Jailhouse Rock, starring Elvis Presley, opens.-Top grossing films : After theatrical re-issue-Awards:...
) - The Rat RaceThe Rat RaceThe Rat Race is a 1960 American drama film directed by Robert Mulligan and starring Tony Curtis and Debbie Reynolds as struggling young entertainment professionals in New York City. Filming took place in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.- Plot :...
(19601960 in filmThe year 1960 in film involved some significant events, with Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho the top-grossing release in the U.S.-Events:* April 20 - for the first time since coming home from military service in Germany, Elvis Presley returns to Hollywood, California to film G.I...
) - Come SeptemberCome SeptemberFor the Natalie Imbruglia song, see Come September .Come September is a 1961 romantic comedy film directed by Robert Mulligan, and starring Rock Hudson, Gina Lollobrigida, Sandra Dee and Bobby Darin.-Plot:...
(19611961 in filmThe year 1961 in film involved some significant events, with West Side Story winning 10 Academy Awards.-Top grossing films : After theatrical re-issue- Awards :Academy Awards:* Atlantis, the Lost ContinentB...
) - The Great ImpostorThe Great ImpostorThe Great Impostor is a 1961 movie based on the true story of an impostor named Ferdinand Waldo Demara.Loosely based on Robert Crichton's 1959 biography of the same name, it stars Tony Curtis in the title role, directed by Robert Mulligan....
(1961) - To Kill a MockingbirdTo Kill a Mockingbird (film)To Kill a Mockingbird is a 1962 American drama film adaptation of Harper Lee's novel of the same name directed by Robert Mulligan. It stars Mary Badham in the role of Scout and Gregory Peck in the role of Atticus Finch....
(19621962 in filmThe year 1962 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*May - The Golden Horse Film Festival and Awards are officially founded by the Taiwanese government....
) - The Spiral RoadThe Spiral RoadThe Spiral Road is a 1962 American drama starring Rock Hudson, Gena Rowlands, Burl Ives, Reggie Nalder and Neva Patterson. It was directed by Robert Mulligan with a screenplay by John Lee Mahin and Neil Paterson adapted from the novel by Jan de Hartog. It also featured an early score by composer...
(19621962 in filmThe year 1962 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*May - The Golden Horse Film Festival and Awards are officially founded by the Taiwanese government....
) - Love with the Proper StrangerLove with the Proper StrangerLove with the Proper Stranger is a 1963 romantic comedy drama film made by Pakula-Mulligan Productions and Boardwalk Productions and released by Paramount Pictures. It was directed by Robert Mulligan and produced by Alan J. Pakula from a screenplay by Arnold Schulman.The film stars Natalie Wood,...
(19631963 in filmThe year 1963 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* June 12 - Cleopatra starring Elizabeth Taylor, Rex Harrison and Richard Burton premieres at the Rivoli Theatre in New York City....
) - Inside Daisy CloverInside Daisy CloverInside Daisy Clover is a 1965 American drama film based on the 1963 novel by Gavin Lambert. It stars Natalie Wood, Christopher Plummer, Robert Redford, Roddy McDowall and Ruth Gordon in her Academy Award nominated role.- Plot :...
(19651965 in filmThe year 1965 in film involved some significant events, with The Sound of Music topping the U.S. box office.-Top grossing films : After theatrical re-issue- Awards :Academy Awards:...
) - Baby the Rain Must FallBaby the Rain Must FallBaby the Rain Must Fall is a 1965 American drama film starring Steve McQueen, directed by Robert Mulligan. Dramatist Horton Foote, who wrote the screenplay, based it on his play The Travelling Lady.-Plot:...
(1965) - Up the Down StaircaseUp the Down Staircase (film)Up the Down Staircase is a 1967 drama film about the first, trying assignment for a young, idealistic teacher played by Sandy Dennis. Tad Mosel wrote the screenplay adaptation of the novel of the same name by Bel Kaufman.-Cast:...
(19671967 in filmThe year 1967 in film involved some significant events. It is widely considered as one of the most ground-breaking years in film.-Events:* December 26 - The Beatles Magical Mystery Tour airs on British television....
) - The Stalking MoonThe Stalking MoonThe Stalking Moon is a 1968 western film in Technicolor starring Gregory Peck and Eva Marie Saint. It is directed by Robert Mulligan and based on the novel of the same name by T.V. Olsen.-Plot:...
(19691969 in filmThe year 1969 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* Last year for prize giving at the Venice Film Festival until it is revived in 1980...
) - Summer of '42Summer of '42Summer of '42 is a 1971 American coming-of-age drama film based on the memoirs of screenwriter Herman Raucher. It tells the story of how Raucher, in his early teens on his 1942 summer vacation on Nantucket Island, off the coast of New England, embarked on a one-sided romance with a woman, Dorothy,...
(19711971 in filmThe year 1971 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*February 8 - Bob Dylan's hour long documentary film, Eat the Document, premieres at New York's Academy of Music...
) - The Pursuit of HappinessThe Pursuit of Happiness (1971 film)The Pursuit of Happiness is a 1971 American drama film about a student who goes on the run to avoid serving his full prison sentence for vehicular manslaughter. The film was directed by Robert Mulligan. The producer was David Susskind and the associate producer, Alan Shayne. The screenplay was...
(1971) - The OtherThe OtherThe Other is a 1972 psychological horror film directed by Robert Mulligan, adapted for film by Tom Tryon, from his bestselling novel. It stars Uta Hagen, Diana Muldaur, and Chris & Martin Udvarnoky.-Plot:...
(19721972 in filmThe year 1972 in film involved some significant events.-Top grossing films :- Awards :Academy Awards:*Avanti!, directed by Billy Wilder, starring Jack Lemmon and Juliet MillsB...
) - The Nickel RideThe Nickel RideThe Nickel Ride is a 1974 crime film directed by Robert Mulligan. It was entered into the 1974 Cannes Film Festival.On December 13, 2011 Shout! Factory released the film on DVD as part of a double feature with 99 and 44/100% Dead.-Cast:...
(19741974 in filmThe year 1974 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*February 7 - Blazing Saddles is released in the USA.*August 7 - Peter Wolf, lead singer of The J...
) - BloodbrothersBloodbrothers (1978 film)Bloodbrothers is a 1978 coming-of-age film directed by Robert Mulligan. It stars Richard Gere, Paul Sorvino, Tony Lo Bianco and Marilu Henner. The film was also based on the novel of the same title by Richard Price...
(19781978 in filmThe year 1978 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* February 1 - Bob Dylan's film Renaldo and Clara, a documentary of the "Rolling Thunder Revue" tour premieres in Los Angeles, California....
) - Same Time, Next YearSame Time, Next Year (film)Same Time, Next Year is a 1978 American romantic comedy-drama film directed by Robert Mulligan. The screenplay by Bernard Slade is based on his 1975 play of the same title.-Plot synopsis:...
(1978) - Kiss Me GoodbyeKiss Me Goodbye (film)Kiss Me Goodbye is a 1982 film directed by Robert Mulligan and starring Sally Field in a Golden Globe nominated performance. The movie also stars James Caan and Jeff Bridges.-Plot:...
(19821982 in film-Events:* March 26 = I Ought to Be in Pictures, starring Walter Matthau, Ann-Margret and Dinah Manoff is released. Manoff would not appear in another movie until 1987's Backfire.* June = PG-rated film E.T...
) - Clara's HeartClara's HeartClara's Heart is a 1988 American film starring Whoopi Goldberg, Neil Patrick Harris, Kathleen Quinlan and Michael Ontkean. It was directed by Robert Mulligan and written by Mark Medoff, based on the acclaimed novel of the same name by Joseph Olshan.-Plot:...
(19881988 in film-Top grossing films :- Awards :Academy Awards:* Act of Piracy* Action Jackson, starring Carl Weathers, Craig T. Nelson, Vanity, Sharon Stone* The Adventures of Baron Munchausen* Akira* Alice...
) - The Man in the MoonThe Man in the MoonThe Man in the Moon is a 1991 American drama film, directed by Robert Mulligan and starring Sam Waterston, Reese Witherspoon and Jason London...
(19911991 in filmThe year 1991 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*April 28 - Bonnie Raitt marries actor Michael O'Keefe in New York* Terminator 2: Judgment Day, became one of the landmarks for science fiction action films with its groundbreaking visual effects from Industrial Light & Magic.*November...
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