Drive, He Said

Drive, He Said
Theatrical release poster.
Directed by	Jack Nicholson
Produced by	Steve Blauner Jack Nicholson
Written by	Jeremy Larner Jack Nicholson Terrence Malick (uncredited)
Starring	William Tepper Karen Black Bruce Dern Robert Towne Henry Jaglom
Music by	David Shire
Cinematography	Bill Butler
Editing by	Donn Cambern Christopher Holmes Pat Somerset Robert L. Wolfe
Distributed by	Columbia Pictures
Release date(s)	June 13, 1971 June 30, 1971 July 24, 1971
Running time	90 mins
Country	United States
Language	English

Drive, He Said (1971) is an American motion picture released by Columbia Pictures, based upon the 1964 novel of the same title by Jeremy Larner. The film is mainly notable as the first directorial effort of Jack Nicholson after his success as an actor in Easy Rider (1969) and Five Easy Pieces (1970).

It starred Karen Black, Bruce Dern, and regular Nicholson collaborators Robert Towne and Henry Jaglom in leading roles. Familiar faces such as David Ogden Stiers and Cindy Williams were also featured in small supporting roles. It was filmed on the campus of the University of Oregon and other locations in Eugene, Oregon.

Movie Synopsis

The film is an examination of libidinous basketball star Hector Bloom (William Tepper^[1]), and contrasts his sporting prowess on the court to his bedroom antics. Most notably, Hector has an affair with his favorite professor's wife Olive (Karen Black) that goes nowhere. This, and many other events occur within a heated early 1970s backdrop of university politics, sporting hijinx, and anti-war sentiments.

Cast

• William Tepper as Hector
• Karen Black as Olive
• Michael Margotta as Gabriel
• Bruce Dern as Coach Bullion
• Robert Towne as Richard
• Henry Jaglom as Conrad
• Michael Warren as Easly
• June Fairchild as Sylvie
• Don Hanmer as Director of Athletics
• Lynette Bernay as Dance Instructor
• Joseph Walsh as First Announcer
• Harry Gittes as Second Announcer
• Charles Robinson as Jollop
• Bill Sweek as Finnegan
• David Ogden Stiers as Pro Owner
• B.J. Merholz as Pro Lawyer
• I.J. Jefferson as Secretary
• Kenneth Payne as President Wallop
• Cathy Bradford as Rosemary
• Eric Johnson as Private First Class Johnson

Critical reception

The film was entered into the 1971 Cannes Film Festival.^[2]

Contemporary reviewers of the film were split in their reception of it. Steven Scheuer found the film "utterly downbeat, and unfortunately dated" (Scheuer, 1990: 294) even at the time of its release. Roger Ebert found the film “disorganized”, but also said it was “occasionally brilliant” with the performances being “the best thing in the movie”. ^[3]

In contrast, Leonard Maltin found the film “confusing”, and in spite of fine acting performances still "loses itself in its attempt to cover all the bases". ^[4] Vincent Canby was complimentary when he lauded the film as being "so much better than all of the rest of the campus junk Hollywood has manufactured in the last couple of years" but felt that the lead male performance was a let-down for the film as a whole. ^[5]

References

1. ^ http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0855335/
2. ^ "Festival de Cannes: Drive, He Said". festival-cannes.com. http://www.festival-cannes.com/en/archives/ficheFilm/id/2399/year/1971.html. Retrieved 2009-04-12. 
3. ^ Ebert, 1972
4. ^ Maltin, 1991: 325
5. ^ Canby, 1971

Notes

• Canby, Vincent (1971) Drive, He Said The New York Times, June 14, 1971. (accessed 9 January 2008). [1]

• Ebert, Roger (1972) Drive, He Said Chicago Sun-Times, January 1, 1972. (accessed 9 January 2008). [2]

• Maltin, Leonard (1991) Leonard Maltin's Movie and Video Guide 1992, Signet, New York.

• Scheuer, Steven H. (1990) Movies on TV and Videocassette, Bamtam Books, New York.

External links

• Drive, He Said at the Internet Movie Database