Sydney Pollack

Jeremiah Johnson, The Way We Were, Absence of Malice, Out of Africa, Tootsie, The Firm, Searching for Bobby Fischer—Sydney Pollack has produced, directed or appeared in some of the biggest and most influential films of the last quarter century. His emergence in Hollywood coincided with those of such other innovative directors as John Frankenheimer, George Roy Hill and Sidney Lumet, and with them he helped develop a contemplative style of filmmaking that was almost European in its approach but retained its commercial viability.
Film-by-film, this work examines the directorial career of Sydney Pollack. One finds that his style is marked by deliberate pacing, ambiguous endings and metaphorical love stories. Topically, Pollack’s films reflect social, culture and political dilemmas that hold some fascination for him, with multidimensional characters in place that generally break the stereotypical molds of the situations. Pollack’s directing efforts on television are also detailed, as are his production and acting credits.

Janet L. Meyer lives in Palmetto, Florida.

Janet L. Meyer
Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 248
Bibliographic Info: 32 photos, chronology, appendices, notes, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2008 [1998]
pISBN: 978-0-7864-3752-8
eISBN: 978-1-4766-0979-9
Imprint: McFarland

Acknowledgments      vii
Preface      1
Introduction      3
Chronology      9

1. A Brief Biography      15
2. Pollack as Producer and Actor      22
3. The Slender Thread (1965)      30
4. This Property Is Condemned (1966)      36
5. The Scalphunters (1968)      42
6. Castle Keep (1969)      48
7. They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? (1969)      55
8. Jeremiah Johnson (1972)      62
9. The Way We Were (1973)      67
10. The Yakuza (1975)      73
11. Three Days of the Condor (1975)      80
12. Bobby Deerfield (1977)      86
13. The Electric Horseman (1979)      91
14. Absence of Malice (1981)      97
15. Tootsie (1982)      104
16. Out of Africa (1985)      110
17. Havana (1990)      119
18. The Firm (1993)      125
19. Sabrina (1995)      131

Appendix A. Filmography      137
Appendix B. Television Credits      199
Appendix C. Theater Credits      213
Appendix D. Film Awards      215
Notes      221
Bibliography      227
Index      233

• “A very thorough investigation of a top filmmaker”—Library Journal
• “The most detailed filmography of Pollack’s films available…very useful”—Choice
• “A solid reference work…the most detailed filmography I have ever come across”—Classic Images