Tucker: The Man and His Dream
Encyclopedia
Tucker: The Man and His Dream is a 1988
biographical film
directed by Francis Ford Coppola
and starring Jeff Bridges
. The film recounts the story of Preston Tucker
and his attempt to produce and market the 1948 Tucker Sedan
, which was met with scandal between the "Big Three automobile manufacturers" and accusations of stock fraud from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Joan Allen
, Martin Landau
, Elias Koteas
, Frederic Forrest
and Christian Slater
appear in supporting roles.
In 1973, Coppola began development of a film based on the life of Tucker, originally with Marlon Brando
in the lead role. Starting in 1976, Coppola planned Tucker to be both a musical and an experimental film
with music and lyrics written by Leonard Bernstein
, Betty Comden
and Adolph Green
. The project eventually collapsed when Coppola's American Zoetrope
experienced financial problems. Tucker was revived in 1986 when Coppola's friend, George Lucas
, joined as a producer.
Principal photography
, shot mostly in Marin County, California
, started in April 1987 and finished the following July. Development and production for Tucker: The Man and His Dream included the involvement of Tucker's children and grandchildren. The film received critical praise, but was a box office bomb
. Nonetheless, Tucker: The Man and His Dream produced a spike in prices of Tucker Sedans, as well as a renewed appreciation for Tucker and his automobiles.
At war's end, with the proceeds from the turret bankrolling a new automotive project, Tucker hires young designer Alex Tremulis
(Elias Koteas) to help him create a radical new car design, the 1948 Tucker Torpedo. Tucker's dream of manufacturing a revolutionary automobile with futuristic features will pit him against the oppressive Detroit-based Big Three automakers. With the support of his long-time New York financier Abe Karatz (Martin Landau), Tucker creates nation-wide interest by advertising the "Tucker Torpedo" in Pic magazine. Raising the money through a stock issue, Tucker and Karatz acquire the enormous Dodge Chicago Plant
to begin manufacturing. Despite ground-breaking features on the first hand-built prototype such as disc brakes, seat belts, a fuel-injected engine in the rear, a padded dashboard, and a front windshield that pops out in severe collisions, the new car is beset with problems.
Launching "The car of tomorrow" in a spectacular way, the Tucker Corporation is met with enthusiasm from both shareholder
s and the general public. However, the Tucker company board of directors, unsure of his ability to overcome the technical and financial obstacles ahead, send Tucker off on a publicity campaign, and attempt to take complete control of the company. At the same time, Tucker faces animosity from the Big Three and the authorities led by Michigan Senator Homer S. Ferguson
(Lloyd Bridges). While the manufacturing of the Tucker Torpedo continues, Tucker is confronted with allegations of stock fraud. Ferguson's investigation with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), causes Karatz, once convicted of bank fraud, to resign, fearful that his criminal record will prejudice the hearings. Yellow journalism
also starts ruining Tucker's public image even though the ultimate courtroom battle is resolved when he parades his entire production run of 51 Tucker Torpedoes, proving that he has reached production status.
After giving a speech to the jurors on how capitalism
in the United States is harmed by efforts of large corporations against small entrepreneurs like himself, Tucker is acquitted on all charges. Nevertheless, Tucker's company falls into bankruptcy and Preston Tucker succumbs to a heart attack seven years later, never able to realize his dream.
Tucker: The Man and His Dream marked comic and actor Michael McShane
's film debut.
From childhood, Coppola envisioned a film about the Tucker automobile and while attending the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television in the early 1960s, further refined a film concept based on the life of Preston Tucker. In June 1973, during the filming of The Godfather Part II
(1974), Coppola announced his intention to start development at American Zoetrope as writer, producer and director. He had already approached Marlon Brando for the lead role. He then purchased the rights from the Tucker Estate in 1976, and, in addition to Brando, discussed the leading role with Jack Nicholson
and also considered Burt Reynolds
. Taking inspiration from Citizen Kane
(1941), Kabuki
theater and the work of Bertolt Brecht
, Coppola initially planned to make Tucker as a "dark kind of musical." He later said that the idea approximated the style of an experimental film, similar to Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters
(1985), which he produced.
The musical would have featured Tucker predominantly, but storylines would have interwoven Thomas Edison
, Henry Ford
, Harvey Samuel Firestone and Andrew Carnegie
as supporting characters. Leonard Bernstein agreed to write the music, and Betty Comden and Adolph Green were hired to write the lyrics. They all spent a week at Coppola's home in California, planning the musical which resulted in Bernstein writing one song. Coppola also approached Gene Kelly
as a consultant for the dance choreography. However, financing for Tucker fell through when Coppola's production company, American Zoetrope, filed for bankruptcy after the box office failures of One from the Heart
(1982) and The Cotton Club
(1984). Coppola abandoned Tucker for the time being and went to work on Peggy Sue Got Married
(1986).
In 1986, during the production of Captain EO
(1986), Coppola's friend George Lucas encouraged him to revive development for Tucker, believing it to be "the best film Francis had ever been involved with." In addition, Lucas agreed to serve as executive producer
and offered the use of his filmmaking companies, Lucasfilm
and Industrial Light & Magic. He also convinced Coppola to drop the musical idea in favor of doing a homage
to the films of Frank Capra
, especially Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
(1939). Coppola became interested in the American Dream
aspect of the storyline, as well as post-World War II capitalism and politics. At one point, Coppola approached Capra to produce the film with Lucas, however, Capra thought Tucker was a failure and Coppola dropped that plan.
Coppola originally intended to write the screenplay himself, but due to his commitment to the filming of Gardens of Stone
(1987), engaged Arnold Schulman
who scripted Capra's A Hole in the Head
(1959). Schulman eventually collaborated with David Seidler
on the Tucker project. Subsequently, Coppola rewrote the Schulman and Seidler scripts, providing major additions, but his co-writing credit was overruled by the Writers Guild of America
. The filmmakers devised a $24 million production budget, but Universal Pictures
, Walt Disney Pictures
, TriStar Pictures
and Paramount Pictures
wanted Coppola and Lucas to lower it to $15 million. Distributors were also dubious about working with Lucas after the 1986 commercial and critical failures of both Labyrinth
and Howard the Duck
. Lucas decided to cover the $24 million budget himself, and pre-production
proceeded.
. The construct of family values played a crucial role in the Tucker's life and Coppola studiously selected Joan Allen for the part of Vera, Tucker's devoted wife while Christian Slater and Elias Koteas fill in the other central roles of eldest son and Tucker's friend and confederate, Alex Tremulis. Coppola's family was undergoing a stressful time during the production and he dedicated the film to Gio, his eldest son, who died before filming began.
Principal photography commenced on April 13, 1987 with the Ford Motor Company Assembly Plant
in Richmond, California
doubling for the Dodge Chicago Plant
although the majority of outdoor filming took place in Marin County, California as well as various locations including Oakland
, Novato
, and San Francisco. Forty-seven of the original 52 Tucker Torpedoes still exist, and many are in excellent condition. Twenty-one of the cars were borrowed from members of the Tucker Automobile Club of America and were extensively used as both "set dressing" and in starring roles. The production is notable as the first film to have audio mixing
work done at Lucas's Skywalker Ranch
. Production wrapped on July 17, 1987, and in the following month, Lucas convinced Paramount Pictures to distribute the film and cover the majority of the budget. He was helped by the fact that the studio was courting Coppola to direct The Godfather Part III
(1990). Prior to final editing, the studio insisted on amplifying the title to Tucker: The Man and His Dream.
Anahid Nazarian, Coppola's librarian, spoke of the historical inaccuracies. "Preston Tucker didn't really have an assembly line; there's one in the film. He actually had five kids; there are only four in the film. Our story takes place in one year; the real story took place over four years. People who know the story will find a lot of what they call errors. I'm sure I'll be deluged with letters." Nazarian's research, collected over several years, consisted of books, some 350 articles, interviews with the Tucker family, hundreds of photographs, home movies and information from the Tucker Automobile Club of America who the production company considered important arbiters of the Tucker mystique. "We knew the facts," she continued, "but to fit the spirit of the story in a film that is exciting and has characters you love and characters you hate - that made us change a lot of things. Things like the president of the Tucker Company was a good guy really, but we needed a villain, so we made him a villain." Alex Tremulis who served as one of the historical consultants during production, is depicted as the chief car designer of the Tucker Torpedo rather than as the stylist, and the film ignores the involvement of designer Philip Egan. An article on the authenticity of the movie can be found at the Tucker Car Club of America website at: http://www.tuckerclub.org/html/movieinfo.html
because it did not reimburse its $24 million production budget, despite positive reviews. Pocket Books
published a novelization
written by Robert Tine to coincide with the release of the film. Paramount Home Video released Tucker: The Man and His Dream on DVD in October 2000, which included audio commentary
by Coppola, the 1948 promotional film Tucker: The Man and the Car (with optional commentary by Coppola), as well as a making-of
featurette, Under the Hood: Making Tucker.
Critical reaction was mainly positive. Based on 35 reviews collected by Rotten Tomatoes
, 86% of the critics enjoyed the film with an average score of 7.2/10. By comparison Metacritic
calculated an average score of 74/100, based on 13 reviews. Richard Schickel
of Time magazine
praised the film for its exaggerated kitsch
style. He also believed the role of Preston Tucker to be Jeff Bridges' best performance. Janet Maslin
from The New York Times
agreed, writing that Coppola, known for his dark approach on his previous films, "found the directorial range to actually make a feel-good movie." In addition, Desson Thomson
, writing in The Washington Post
, called the film a "satisfying commercial breakthrough for Coppola," and praised the cinematography of Vittorio Storaro
, as well as the ubiquitous approach for Dean Stockwell's cameo appearance
as Howard Hughes. Roger Ebert
gave a mixed review. "Preston Tucker lacks an ounce of common sense or any notion of the real odds against him. And since the movie never really deals with that - never really comes to grips with Tucker's character - it begins as a saga but ends in whimsy."
Although Coppola enjoyed his working relationship with Lucas, he commented in a July 1988 The New York Times
interview with Robert Lindsey
that "I think it's a good movie - it's eccentric, a little wacky, like the Tucker car - but it's not the movie I would have made at the height of my power." Coppola was able to stoically accept the critical and commercial reaction to Tucker: The Man and His Dream. "Every time in my career I tried to make, dare I say it, an art film, it never did well."
Despite helming his "labor of love," Coppola was insistent that Tucker: The Man and His Dream would be his last Hollywood project. He reiterated a long-held dream of his own, embarking on a "period of amateurism and experimentation as a Hollywood dropout." One of the unexpected benefits of the film's release was a renewed interest in the Tucker automobile and a boost in the collector's value of the Tucker 48; a recent auction of a low-mileage example topped the $1 million mark.
, Martin Landau was nominated for Best Supporting Actor
, while production and set designers Dean Tavoularis
and Armin Ganz
(Art Direction
) and Milena Canonero
(Costume Design) were also nominated for their work. Landau did end up winning the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture, while Tavoularis won the BAFTA Award for Best Production Design
. Casting directors Jane Jenkins and Janet Hirshenson received a nomination for Feature Film Casting- Drama by the Casting Society of America
. Music composer Joe Jackson
received a Grammy Award
nomination.
1988 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...
biographical film
Biographical film
A biographical film, or biopic , is a film that dramatizes the life of an actual person or people. They differ from films “based on a true story” or “historical films” in that they attempt to comprehensively tell a person’s life story or at least the most historically important years of their...
directed by Francis Ford Coppola
Francis Ford Coppola
Francis Ford Coppola is an American film director, producer and screenwriter. He is widely acclaimed as one of Hollywood's most innovative and influential film directors...
and starring 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....
. The film recounts the story of Preston Tucker
Preston Tucker
Preston Thomas Tucker was an American automobile designer and entrepreneur.He is most remembered for his 1948 Tucker Sedan , an automobile which introduced many features that have since become widely used in modern cars...
and his attempt to produce and market the 1948 Tucker Sedan
1948 Tucker Sedan
The 1948 Tucker Sedan or Tucker '48 Sedan was an advanced automobile conceived by Preston Tucker and briefly produced in Chicago in 1948...
, which was met with scandal between the "Big Three automobile manufacturers" and accusations of stock fraud from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Joan Allen
Joan Allen
Joan Allen is an American actress. She worked in theatre, television and film during her early career, and achieved recognition for her Broadway debut in Burn This, winning a Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play in 1989.She has received three Academy Award nominations;...
, Martin Landau
Martin Landau
Martin Landau is an American film and television actor. Landau began his career in the 1950s. His early films include a supporting role in Alfred Hitchcock's North by Northwest . He played continuing roles in the television series Mission: Impossible and Space:1999...
, Elias Koteas
Elias Koteas
Elias Koteas is a Canadian actor of film and television, best known for his roles in The Prophecy, Fallen and the live-action Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles films.-Early life:...
, Frederic Forrest
Frederic Forrest
-Life:Forrest was born in Waxahachie, Texas, the son of Virginia Allie and Frederic Fenimore Forrest, a furniture store owner. He is known for his roles as Chef in Apocalypse Now, When The Legends Die, It Lives Again, the neo-Nazi surplus store owner in Falling Down, Right to Kill? and for playing...
and Christian Slater
Christian Slater
Christian Michael Leonard Slater is an American actor. He made his film debut with a small role in The Postman Always Rings Twice before playing a leading role in the 1985 film The Legend of Billie Jean...
appear in supporting roles.
In 1973, Coppola began development of a film based on the life of Tucker, originally with Marlon Brando
Marlon Brando
Marlon Brando, Jr. was an American movie star and political activist. "Unchallenged as the most important actor in modern American Cinema" according to the St...
in the lead role. Starting in 1976, Coppola planned Tucker to be both a musical and an experimental film
Experimental film
Experimental film or experimental cinema is a type of cinema. Experimental film is an artistic practice relieving both of visual arts and cinema. Its origins can be found in European avant-garde movements of the twenties. Experimental cinema has built its history through the texts of theoreticians...
with music and lyrics written by Leonard Bernstein
Leonard Bernstein
Leonard Bernstein August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, author, music lecturer and pianist. He was among the first conductors born and educated in the United States of America to receive worldwide acclaim...
, Betty Comden
Betty Comden
Betty Comden was one-half of the musical-comedy duo Comden and Green, who provided lyrics, libretti, and screenplays to some of the most beloved and successful Hollywood musicals and Broadway shows of the mid-20th century...
and Adolph Green
Adolph Green
Adolph Green was an American lyricist and playwright who, with long-time collaborator Betty Comden, penned the screenplays and songs for some of the most beloved movie musicals, particularly as part of Arthur Freed's production unit at MGM, during the genre's heyday...
. The project eventually collapsed when Coppola's American Zoetrope
American Zoetrope
American Zoetrope is a studio founded by Francis Ford Coppola and George Lucas. Founded on December 12, 1969, American Zoetrope was an early adopter of digital filmmaking, including some of the earliest uses of HDTV...
experienced financial problems. Tucker was revived in 1986 when Coppola's friend, George Lucas
George Lucas
George Walton Lucas, Jr. is an American film producer, screenwriter, and director, and entrepreneur. He is the founder, chairman and chief executive of Lucasfilm. He is best known as the creator of the space opera franchise Star Wars and the archaeologist-adventurer character Indiana Jones...
, joined as a producer.
Principal photography
Principal photography
thumb|300px|Film production on location in [[Newark, New Jersey]].Principal photography is the phase of film production in which the movie is filmed, with actors on set and cameras rolling, as distinct from pre-production and post-production....
, shot mostly in Marin County, California
Marin County, California
Marin County is a county located in the North San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California, across the Golden Gate Bridge from San Francisco. As of 2010, the population was 252,409. The county seat is San Rafael and the largest employer is the county government. Marin County is well...
, started in April 1987 and finished the following July. Development and production for Tucker: The Man and His Dream included the involvement of Tucker's children and grandchildren. The film received critical praise, but was a box office bomb
Box office bomb
The phrase box office bomb refers to a film for which the production and marketing costs greatly exceeded the revenue regained by the movie studio. This should not be confused with Hollywood accounting when official figures show large losses, yet the movie is a financial success.A film's financial...
. Nonetheless, Tucker: The Man and His Dream produced a spike in prices of Tucker Sedans, as well as a renewed appreciation for Tucker and his automobiles.
Plot
A 1940s promotional film by the Tucker Automobile Company introduces Preston Tucker (Jeff Bridges) and a new automobile filled with technological innovations. Flashing back to an earlier start as an inventor and entrepreneur, Tucker is revealed as a staunch family man. His loyal wife (Joan Allen) and children, headed by his namesake, Preston Tucker Jr. (Christian Slater), support his efforts. Tucker's passion for automobiles began as a child and by 1935 he had started a successful partnership with racing car innovator Harry Miller. In World War II, Tucker designed an armored car for the United States military, rejected for being too fast. However, the car's gun turret was put into production.At war's end, with the proceeds from the turret bankrolling a new automotive project, Tucker hires young designer Alex Tremulis
Alex Tremulis
Alexander Sarantos Tremulis was an industrial designer in the North American automotive industry...
(Elias Koteas) to help him create a radical new car design, the 1948 Tucker Torpedo. Tucker's dream of manufacturing a revolutionary automobile with futuristic features will pit him against the oppressive Detroit-based Big Three automakers. With the support of his long-time New York financier Abe Karatz (Martin Landau), Tucker creates nation-wide interest by advertising the "Tucker Torpedo" in Pic magazine. Raising the money through a stock issue, Tucker and Karatz acquire the enormous Dodge Chicago Plant
Dodge Chicago Plant
The main building of the Dodge Chicago plant covered eighty-two acres and occupied over 30 city blocks and at the time it was the largest building in the world. Although Mr...
to begin manufacturing. Despite ground-breaking features on the first hand-built prototype such as disc brakes, seat belts, a fuel-injected engine in the rear, a padded dashboard, and a front windshield that pops out in severe collisions, the new car is beset with problems.
Launching "The car of tomorrow" in a spectacular way, the Tucker Corporation is met with enthusiasm from both shareholder
Shareholder
A shareholder or stockholder is an individual or institution that legally owns one or more shares of stock in a public or private corporation. Shareholders own the stock, but not the corporation itself ....
s and the general public. However, the Tucker company board of directors, unsure of his ability to overcome the technical and financial obstacles ahead, send Tucker off on a publicity campaign, and attempt to take complete control of the company. At the same time, Tucker faces animosity from the Big Three and the authorities led by Michigan Senator Homer S. Ferguson
Homer S. Ferguson
Homer Samuel Ferguson was a United States Senator from Michigan. He was born in the Pittsburgh suburb of Harrison City, Pennsylvania to parents Samuel Ferguson and Margaret Bush Homer Samuel Ferguson (February 25, 1889 December 17, 1982) was a United States Senator from Michigan. He was born in...
(Lloyd Bridges). While the manufacturing of the Tucker Torpedo continues, Tucker is confronted with allegations of stock fraud. Ferguson's investigation with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), causes Karatz, once convicted of bank fraud, to resign, fearful that his criminal record will prejudice the hearings. Yellow journalism
Yellow journalism
Yellow journalism or the yellow press is a type of journalism that presents little or no legitimate well-researched news and instead uses eye-catching headlines to sell more newspapers. Techniques may include exaggerations of news events, scandal-mongering, or sensationalism...
also starts ruining Tucker's public image even though the ultimate courtroom battle is resolved when he parades his entire production run of 51 Tucker Torpedoes, proving that he has reached production status.
After giving a speech to the jurors on how capitalism
Capitalism
Capitalism is an economic system that became dominant in the Western world following the demise of feudalism. There is no consensus on the precise definition nor on how the term should be used as a historical category...
in the United States is harmed by efforts of large corporations against small entrepreneurs like himself, Tucker is acquitted on all charges. Nevertheless, Tucker's company falls into bankruptcy and Preston Tucker succumbs to a heart attack seven years later, never able to realize his dream.
Cast
- Jeff BridgesJeff BridgesJeffrey 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....
as Preston Tucker - Joan AllenJoan AllenJoan Allen is an American actress. She worked in theatre, television and film during her early career, and achieved recognition for her Broadway debut in Burn This, winning a Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play in 1989.She has received three Academy Award nominations;...
as Vera Tucker - Martin LandauMartin LandauMartin Landau is an American film and television actor. Landau began his career in the 1950s. His early films include a supporting role in Alfred Hitchcock's North by Northwest . He played continuing roles in the television series Mission: Impossible and Space:1999...
as Abe Karatz - Elias KoteasElias KoteasElias Koteas is a Canadian actor of film and television, best known for his roles in The Prophecy, Fallen and the live-action Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles films.-Early life:...
as Alex Tremulis - Frederic ForrestFrederic Forrest-Life:Forrest was born in Waxahachie, Texas, the son of Virginia Allie and Frederic Fenimore Forrest, a furniture store owner. He is known for his roles as Chef in Apocalypse Now, When The Legends Die, It Lives Again, the neo-Nazi surplus store owner in Falling Down, Right to Kill? and for playing...
as Eddie Dean - Christian SlaterChristian SlaterChristian Michael Leonard Slater is an American actor. He made his film debut with a small role in The Postman Always Rings Twice before playing a leading role in the 1985 film The Legend of Billie Jean...
as Preston Tucker, Jr. - Don NovelloDon NovelloDon Novello is an American writer, film director, producer, actor, singer, and comedian. Novello is best known for his work on NBC's Saturday Night Live, from 1977 until 1980, and then 1985 until 1986, often as the character "Father Guido Sarducci". Novello has appeared as "Sarducci" on many...
as Stan - Nina SiemaszkoNina SiemaszkoNina Siemaszko is an American film and television actress.-Biography:Siemaszko was born Antonina Jadwiga Siemaszko in Chicago, Illinois to a Polish American father, a fighter in the Polish Underground who survived the Sachsenhausen concentration camp and an English mother...
as Marilyn Lee Tucker - MakoMako (actor), born , was an Oscar- and Tony-nominated Japanese actor. Many of his acting roles credited him simply as Mako, omitting his surname. -Early life:...
as Jimmy Sakuyama - Lloyd BridgesLloyd BridgesLloyd Vernet Bridges, Jr. was an American actor who starred in a number of television series and appeared in more than 150 feature films. Bridges is best known for his role of Mike Nelson in Sea Hunt, the most-popular syndicated American TV series in 1958...
as Senator Homer Ferguson (uncredited) - Dean StockwellDean StockwellDean Stockwell is an American actor of film and television, with a career spanning over 65 years. As a child actor under contract to MGM he first came to the public's attention in films such as Anchors Aweigh and The Green Years; as a young adult he played a lead role in the 1957 Broadway and...
as Howard HughesHoward HughesHoward Robard Hughes, Jr. was an American business magnate, investor, aviator, engineer, film producer, director, and philanthropist. He was one of the wealthiest people in the world...
(uncredited)
Tucker: The Man and His Dream marked comic and actor Michael McShane
Mike McShane
Michael "Mike" McShane is an American actor, singer, and improvisational comedian who first became known through his appearances in the early 1990s on the British version of the television show Whose Line Is It Anyway?-Biography:...
's film debut.
Background
The Godfather Part II
The Godfather Part II is a 1974 American gangster film directed by Francis Ford Coppola from a script co-written with Mario Puzo. The film is both a sequel and a prequel to The Godfather, chronicling the story of the Corleone family following the events of the first film while also depicting the...
(1974), Coppola announced his intention to start development at American Zoetrope as writer, producer and director. He had already approached Marlon Brando for the lead role. He then purchased the rights from the Tucker Estate in 1976, and, in addition to Brando, discussed the leading role with Jack Nicholson
Jack Nicholson
John Joseph "Jack" Nicholson is an American actor, film director, producer and writer. He is renowned for his often dark portrayals of neurotic characters. Nicholson has been nominated for an Academy Award twelve times, and has won the Academy Award for Best Actor twice: for One Flew Over the...
and also considered Burt Reynolds
Burt Reynolds
Burton Leon "Burt" Reynolds, Jr. is an American actor. Some of his memorable roles include Bo 'Bandit' Darville in Smokey and the Bandit, Lewis Medlock in Deliverance, Bobby "Gator" McCluskey in White Lightning and sequel Gator, Paul Crewe and Coach Nate Scarborough in The Longest Yard and its...
. Taking inspiration from Citizen Kane
Citizen Kane
Citizen Kane is a 1941 American drama film, directed by and starring Orson Welles. Many critics consider it the greatest American film of all time, especially for its innovative cinematography, music and narrative structure. Citizen Kane was Welles' first feature film...
(1941), Kabuki
Kabuki
is classical Japanese dance-drama. Kabuki theatre is known for the stylization of its drama and for the elaborate make-up worn by some of its performers.The individual kanji characters, from left to right, mean sing , dance , and skill...
theater and the work of Bertolt Brecht
Bertolt Brecht
Bertolt Brecht was a German poet, playwright, and theatre director.An influential theatre practitioner of the 20th century, Brecht made equally significant contributions to dramaturgy and theatrical production, the latter particularly through the seismic impact of the tours undertaken by the...
, Coppola initially planned to make Tucker as a "dark kind of musical." He later said that the idea approximated the style of an experimental film, similar to Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters
Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters
Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters is an American/Japanese film co-written and directed by Paul Schrader in 1985. It was co-produced by Francis Ford Coppola and George Lucas....
(1985), which he produced.
The musical would have featured Tucker predominantly, but storylines would have interwoven Thomas Edison
Thomas Edison
Thomas Alva Edison was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices that greatly influenced life around the world, including the phonograph, the motion picture camera, and a long-lasting, practical electric light bulb. In addition, he created the world’s first industrial...
, Henry Ford
Henry Ford
Henry Ford was an American industrialist, the founder of the Ford Motor Company, and sponsor of the development of the assembly line technique of mass production. His introduction of the Model T automobile revolutionized transportation and American industry...
, Harvey Samuel Firestone and Andrew Carnegie
Andrew Carnegie
Andrew Carnegie was a Scottish-American industrialist, businessman, and entrepreneur who led the enormous expansion of the American steel industry in the late 19th century...
as supporting characters. Leonard Bernstein agreed to write the music, and Betty Comden and Adolph Green were hired to write the lyrics. They all spent a week at Coppola's home in California, planning the musical which resulted in Bernstein writing one song. Coppola also approached Gene Kelly
Gene Kelly
Eugene Curran "Gene" Kelly was an American dancer, actor, singer, film director and producer, and choreographer...
as a consultant for the dance choreography. However, financing for Tucker fell through when Coppola's production company, American Zoetrope, filed for bankruptcy after the box office failures of One from the Heart
One from the Heart
One from the Heart is a 1982 musical film directed by Francis Ford Coppola. The characters themselves do not actually sing but the powerful score dominates the movie. It is set entirely in Las Vegas, on the Las Vegas Strip and the desert surrounding the city...
(1982) and The Cotton Club
The Cotton Club (film)
The Cotton Club is a 1984 crime-drama, centered on a famed Harlem jazz club of the 1930s, the Cotton Club.The movie was co-written and directed by Francis Ford Coppola, choreographed by Henry LeTang, and starred Richard Gere, Diane Lane, and Gregory Hines...
(1984). Coppola abandoned Tucker for the time being and went to work on Peggy Sue Got Married
Peggy Sue Got Married
Peggy Sue Got Married is a 1986 American comedy-drama film directed by Francis Ford Coppola and starring Kathleen Turner as a woman on the verge of a divorce, who finds herself transported back to the days of her senior year in high school...
(1986).
In 1986, during the production of Captain EO
Captain EO
Captain EO is a 3-D science fiction film starring Michael Jackson and directed by Francis Ford Coppola that was shown at Disney theme parks from 1986 through the 1990s...
(1986), Coppola's friend George Lucas encouraged him to revive development for Tucker, believing it to be "the best film Francis had ever been involved with." In addition, Lucas agreed to serve as executive producer
Executive producer
An executive producer is a producer who is not involved in any technical aspects of the film making or music process, but who is still responsible for the overall production...
and offered the use of his filmmaking companies, Lucasfilm
Lucasfilm
Lucasfilm Limited is an American film production company founded by George Lucas in 1971, based in San Francisco, California. Lucas is the company's current chairman and CEO, and Micheline Chau is the president and COO....
and Industrial Light & Magic. He also convinced Coppola to drop the musical idea in favor of doing a homage
Homage
Homage is a show or demonstration of respect or dedication to someone or something, sometimes by simple declaration but often by some more oblique reference, artistic or poetic....
to the films of Frank Capra
Frank Capra
Frank Russell Capra was a Sicilian-born American film director. He emigrated to the U.S. when he was six, and eventually became a creative force behind major award-winning films during the 1930s and 1940s...
, especially Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington is a 1939 American drama film starring Jean Arthur and James Stewart about one man's effect on American politics. It was directed by Frank Capra and written by Sidney Buchman, based on Lewis R. Foster's unpublished story. Mr...
(1939). Coppola became interested in the American Dream
American Dream
The American Dream is a national ethos of the United States in which freedom includes a promise of the possibility of prosperity and success. In the definition of the American Dream by James Truslow Adams in 1931, "life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each...
aspect of the storyline, as well as post-World War II capitalism and politics. At one point, Coppola approached Capra to produce the film with Lucas, however, Capra thought Tucker was a failure and Coppola dropped that plan.
Coppola originally intended to write the screenplay himself, but due to his commitment to the filming of Gardens of Stone
Gardens of Stone
Gardens of Stone is a 1987 film by Francis Ford Coppola, based on the novel of the same title by Nicholas Proffitt.A drama, it stars James Caan, Anjelica Huston, James Earl Jones and D. B. Sweeney.-Plot:...
(1987), engaged Arnold Schulman
Arnold Schulman
Arnold Schulman is an American playwright, screenwriter, producer, a songwriter and novelist. He was a stage actor long associated with the American Theatre Wing and the Actors Studio....
who scripted Capra's A Hole in the Head
A Hole in the Head
A Hole in the Head is a comedy film released by United Artists. It was directed by Frank Capra and featured Frank Sinatra, Edward G. Robinson, Eleanor Parker, Keenan Wynn, Carolyn Jones, Thelma Ritter, Dub Taylor and Joi Lansing. The film introduced the song "High Hopes", a Sinatra standard used...
(1959). Schulman eventually collaborated with David Seidler
David Seidler
David Seidler is a British-American playwright and film and television writer. He was most successful for writing the play and the screenplay for the film The King's Speech, for which he won the Academy Award and a BAFTA for Best Original Screenplay.-Early life and family:Seidler was born in...
on the Tucker project. Subsequently, Coppola rewrote the Schulman and Seidler scripts, providing major additions, but his co-writing credit was overruled by the Writers Guild of America
Writers Guild of America
The Writers Guild of America is a generic term referring to the joint efforts of two different US labor unions:* The Writers Guild of America, East , representing TV and film writers East of the Mississippi....
. The filmmakers devised a $24 million production budget, but Universal Pictures
Universal Studios
Universal Pictures , a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, is one of the six major movie studios....
, Walt Disney Pictures
Walt Disney Pictures
Walt Disney Pictures is an American film studio owned by The Walt Disney Company. Walt Disney Pictures and Television, a subsidiary of the Walt Disney Studios and the main production company for live-action feature films within the Walt Disney Motion Pictures Group, based at the Walt Disney...
, TriStar Pictures
TriStar Pictures
TriStar Pictures, Inc. is an American film production/distribution studio and subsidiary of Columbia Pictures, itself a subdivision of the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, which is owned by Sony Pictures...
and Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...
wanted Coppola and Lucas to lower it to $15 million. Distributors were also dubious about working with Lucas after the 1986 commercial and critical failures of both Labyrinth
Labyrinth (film)
Labyrinth is a 1986 British/American fantasy film directed by Jim Henson, produced by George Lucas, and designed by Brian Froud. Henson collaborated on the screenwriting with children's author Dennis Lee, Terry Jones from Monty Python, and Elaine May .The film stars David Bowie as Jareth the Goblin...
and Howard the Duck
Howard the Duck (film)
Howard the Duck is a 1986 American science fiction comedy film directed by Willard Huyck and produced by George Lucas. It is loosely based on the Marvel comic book of the same name, created by Steve Gerber and quoting scripts by Bill Mantlo, the film focuses on Howard, an alien from a planet...
. Lucas decided to cover the $24 million budget himself, and pre-production
Pre-production
Pre-production or In Production is the process of preparing all the elements involved in a film, play, or other performance.- In film :...
proceeded.
Production
Jeff Bridges was cast in the title role and, for research, studied Preston Tucker's mannerisms and movements through home movies. Tucker's descendants also granted Bridges the opportunity to sport the man's black pearl ring and cuff links for his wardrobe. Preston's son, John Tucker, said that Bridges has "got it all in the mannerisms and the look. My father was very positive, always thinking of what came next. Jeff captures that." Martin Landau was enthusiastic about accepting the pivotal role of Abe Karatz as a means to avoid typecastingTypecasting (acting)
In TV, film, and theatre, typecasting is the process by which a particular actor becomes strongly identified with a specific character; one or more particular roles; or, characters having the same traits or coming from the same social or ethnic groups...
. The construct of family values played a crucial role in the Tucker's life and Coppola studiously selected Joan Allen for the part of Vera, Tucker's devoted wife while Christian Slater and Elias Koteas fill in the other central roles of eldest son and Tucker's friend and confederate, Alex Tremulis. Coppola's family was undergoing a stressful time during the production and he dedicated the film to Gio, his eldest son, who died before filming began.
Principal photography commenced on April 13, 1987 with the Ford Motor Company Assembly Plant
Ford Motor Company Assembly Plant
The Ford Richmond Plant, formally the Ford Motor Company Assembly Plant, in Richmond, California, was the largest assembly plant to be built on the West Coast and its conversion to wartime production during World War II aided the United States' war effort...
in Richmond, California
Richmond, California
Richmond is a city in western Contra Costa County, California, United States. The city was incorporated on August 7, 1905. It is located in the East Bay, part of the San Francisco Bay Area. It is a residential inner suburb of San Francisco, as well as the site of heavy industry, which has been...
doubling for the Dodge Chicago Plant
Dodge Chicago Plant
The main building of the Dodge Chicago plant covered eighty-two acres and occupied over 30 city blocks and at the time it was the largest building in the world. Although Mr...
although the majority of outdoor filming took place in Marin County, California as well as various locations including Oakland
Oakland, California
Oakland is a major West Coast port city on San Francisco Bay in the U.S. state of California. It is the eighth-largest city in the state with a 2010 population of 390,724...
, Novato
Novato, California
Novato is a city located in the North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, in northern Marin County. Novato is located about north-northwest of San Rafael, at an elevation of 30 feet above sea level . The 2010 U.S. Census estimated the city population to be about 51,904. Novato is about ...
, and San Francisco. Forty-seven of the original 52 Tucker Torpedoes still exist, and many are in excellent condition. Twenty-one of the cars were borrowed from members of the Tucker Automobile Club of America and were extensively used as both "set dressing" and in starring roles. The production is notable as the first film to have audio mixing
Audio mixing (film and television)
Audio mixing for film and television is a process during the post-production stage of a moving image program by which a multitude of recorded sounds are combined into one or more channels...
work done at Lucas's Skywalker Ranch
Skywalker Ranch
Skywalker Ranch is the name of the workplace of film director and producer George Lucas. It is located in a secluded, but open area near Nicasio, California, in Marin County. The ranch is located on Lucas Valley Road, although Lucas is not related to the road's namesake, who was a...
. Production wrapped on July 17, 1987, and in the following month, Lucas convinced Paramount Pictures to distribute the film and cover the majority of the budget. He was helped by the fact that the studio was courting Coppola to direct The Godfather Part III
The Godfather Part III
The Godfather Part III is a 1990 American gangster film written by Mario Puzo and Francis Ford Coppola, and directed by Coppola. It completes the story of Michael Corleone, a Mafia kingpin who tries to legitimize his criminal empire...
(1990). Prior to final editing, the studio insisted on amplifying the title to Tucker: The Man and His Dream.
Historical accuracy
Coppola had a certain amount of personal affinity with the short-lived legacy of Preston Tucker. His father, Carmine Coppola, had been one of the original investors in Tucker stock and purchased one of the cars off the production line. Coppola included the involvement of Preston Tucker's children, grandchildren and members of the Tucker Estate during the development of Tucker in the late-1970s, as well as during filming in 1987. Coppola and Lucas acknowledged that they purposely intended to portray Tucker in an entirely sympathetic way. Both filmmakers each owned two Tuckers, although Lucas eventually sold one of his cars in September 2005 for $385,500. The Tucker Automobile Club made up of a legion of Tucker owners and collectors pronounced in their trade journal, TACA, that the "basic theme of the movie is quite accurate..." although "the film compresses time and often takes artistic license with facts in order to more effectively present the story."Anahid Nazarian, Coppola's librarian, spoke of the historical inaccuracies. "Preston Tucker didn't really have an assembly line; there's one in the film. He actually had five kids; there are only four in the film. Our story takes place in one year; the real story took place over four years. People who know the story will find a lot of what they call errors. I'm sure I'll be deluged with letters." Nazarian's research, collected over several years, consisted of books, some 350 articles, interviews with the Tucker family, hundreds of photographs, home movies and information from the Tucker Automobile Club of America who the production company considered important arbiters of the Tucker mystique. "We knew the facts," she continued, "but to fit the spirit of the story in a film that is exciting and has characters you love and characters you hate - that made us change a lot of things. Things like the president of the Tucker Company was a good guy really, but we needed a villain, so we made him a villain." Alex Tremulis who served as one of the historical consultants during production, is depicted as the chief car designer of the Tucker Torpedo rather than as the stylist, and the film ignores the involvement of designer Philip Egan. An article on the authenticity of the movie can be found at the Tucker Car Club of America website at: http://www.tuckerclub.org/html/movieinfo.html
Release
Tucker: The Man and His Dream was released in the United States on August 12, 1988, earning $3,709,562 in its opening weekend in 720 theaters. The film eventually grossed $19.65 million in US totals and was declared a box office bombBox office bomb
The phrase box office bomb refers to a film for which the production and marketing costs greatly exceeded the revenue regained by the movie studio. This should not be confused with Hollywood accounting when official figures show large losses, yet the movie is a financial success.A film's financial...
because it did not reimburse its $24 million production budget, despite positive reviews. Pocket Books
Pocket Books
Pocket Books is a division of Simon & Schuster that primarily publishes paperback books.- History :Pocket produced the first mass-market, pocket-sized paperback books in America in early 1939 and revolutionized the publishing industry...
published a novelization
Novelization
A novelization is a novel that is written based on some other media story form rather than as an original work.Novelizations of films usually add background material not found in the original work to flesh out the story, because novels are generally longer than screenplays...
written by Robert Tine to coincide with the release of the film. Paramount Home Video released Tucker: The Man and His Dream on DVD in October 2000, which included audio commentary
Audio commentary
On disc-based video formats, an audio commentary is an additional audio track consisting of a lecture or comments by one or more speakers, that plays in real time with video...
by Coppola, the 1948 promotional film Tucker: The Man and the Car (with optional commentary by Coppola), as well as a making-of
Making-of
In cinema, a making-of, also known as behind-the-scenes, is a documentary film that features the production of a film or television program...
featurette, Under the Hood: Making Tucker.
Critical reaction was mainly positive. Based on 35 reviews collected by Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
, 86% of the critics enjoyed the film with an average score of 7.2/10. By comparison Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
calculated an average score of 74/100, based on 13 reviews. Richard Schickel
Richard Schickel
Richard Warren Schickel is an American author, journalist, and documentary filmmaker. He is a film critic for Time magazine, having also written for Life magazine and the Los Angeles Times Book Review....
of Time magazine
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
praised the film for its exaggerated kitsch
Kitsch
Kitsch is a form of art that is considered an inferior, tasteless copy of an extant style of art or a worthless imitation of art of recognized value. The concept is associated with the deliberate use of elements that may be thought of as cultural icons while making cheap mass-produced objects that...
style. He also believed the role of Preston Tucker to be Jeff Bridges' best performance. Janet Maslin
Janet Maslin
Janet Maslin is an American journalist, best known as a film and literary critic for The New York Times. She served as the Times film critic from 1977–1999.- Biography :...
from 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...
agreed, writing that Coppola, known for his dark approach on his previous films, "found the directorial range to actually make a feel-good movie." In addition, Desson Thomson
Desson Thomson
Desson Patrick Thomson is a speechwriter in the Obama Administration and a former movie critic for The Washington Post.-Biography:Thomson attended boarding schools in England from the age of 7 until 17. He went to the Abbey School in East Grinstead, Sussex, and the City of London Freemen's School...
, writing in The Washington Post
The Washington Post
The Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...
, called the film a "satisfying commercial breakthrough for Coppola," and praised the cinematography of Vittorio Storaro
Vittorio Storaro
Vittorio Storaro, A.S.C., A.I.C. is an Italian cinematographer.In 2003, a survey conducted by the International Cinematographers Guild judged Storaro one of history's ten most influential cinematographers.-Biography:...
, as well as the ubiquitous approach for Dean Stockwell's cameo appearance
Cameo appearance
A cameo role or cameo appearance is a brief appearance of a known person in a work of the performing arts, such as plays, films, video games and television...
as Howard Hughes. 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...
gave a mixed review. "Preston Tucker lacks an ounce of common sense or any notion of the real odds against him. And since the movie never really deals with that - never really comes to grips with Tucker's character - it begins as a saga but ends in whimsy."
Although Coppola enjoyed his working relationship with Lucas, he commented in a July 1988 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...
interview with Robert Lindsey
Robert Lindsey (journalist)
Robert Lindsey is a journalist and author of several true crime books, including The Falcon and the Snowman: A True Story of Friendship and Espionage , the story of Christopher John Boyce and Andrew Daulton Lee, who were both convicted of selling information to the Soviets...
that "I think it's a good movie - it's eccentric, a little wacky, like the Tucker car - but it's not the movie I would have made at the height of my power." Coppola was able to stoically accept the critical and commercial reaction to Tucker: The Man and His Dream. "Every time in my career I tried to make, dare I say it, an art film, it never did well."
Despite helming his "labor of love," Coppola was insistent that Tucker: The Man and His Dream would be his last Hollywood project. He reiterated a long-held dream of his own, embarking on a "period of amateurism and experimentation as a Hollywood dropout." One of the unexpected benefits of the film's release was a renewed interest in the Tucker automobile and a boost in the collector's value of the Tucker 48; a recent auction of a low-mileage example topped the $1 million mark.
Awards
At the 61st Academy Awards61st Academy Awards
The 61st Academy Awards were presented on March 29, 1989 at the Shrine Auditorium, Los Angeles. The date had been moved from its usual Monday telecast due to Easter, which was on March 26. For this show, there was no "official" host as the show opened with a stage-show featuring Merv Griffin, Snow...
, Martin Landau was nominated for Best Supporting Actor
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry. Since its inception, however, the...
, while production and set designers Dean Tavoularis
Dean Tavoularis
Dean Tavoularis is an American motion picture production designer whose work appeared in numerous box office hits such as The Godfather films, Apocalypse Now, The Brink's Job, One from the Heart and Bonnie and Clyde.-Biography:...
and Armin Ganz
Armin Ganz
Armin Ganz was an American production designer. He was nominated for an Academy Award in the category Best Art Direction for the film Tucker: The Man and His Dream.-External links:...
(Art Direction
Academy Award for Best Art Direction
The Academy Awards are the oldest awards ceremony for achievements in motion pictures. The Academy Award for Best Art Direction recognizes achievement in art direction on a film. The films below are listed with their production year, so the Oscar 2000 for best art direction went to a film from 1999...
) and Milena Canonero
Milena Canonero
Milena Canonero is an Italian costume designer, working both for films and stage productions. She has won three Academy Awards for Best Costume design, and been nominated for it eight times.-Career:...
(Costume Design) were also nominated for their work. Landau did end up winning the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture, while Tavoularis won the BAFTA Award for Best Production Design
BAFTA Award for Best Production Design
List of winners of the BAFTA Awards from 1964 to the present in the category "Best Production Design".-1960s:Best British Production Design - Black and White1964: Dr...
. Casting directors Jane Jenkins and Janet Hirshenson received a nomination for Feature Film Casting- Drama by the Casting Society of America
Casting Society of America
Founded in Los Angeles, California in 1982, the Casting Society of America is a professional society of about 350 casting directors for film, television, and theatre in Australia, Canada, Italy, the United Kingdom and the United States. The society is not to be confused with an industry union. The...
. Music composer Joe Jackson
Joe Jackson (musician)
Joe Jackson is an English musician and singer-songwriter now living in Berlin, whose five Grammy Award nominations span from 1979 to 2001...
received a Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
nomination.