ALTMAN ON ALTMAN’S FILMS

Filmmaker Robert Altman discusses some of his triumphs and failures--and how they got that way. Countdown (1968): “Countdown” was a book I tried to option called “The Pilgrim Project.” I thought it’d make a great film. . . . Jack Warner looked at that picture and fired me, locked me out of the gates of the studio. And they put my things out in a cardboard box and left them by the policeman’s station. He said: “That fool has actors talking at the same time.”

MASH (1970): The success was a shock for me, because I had no experience of it up to that time, whatsoever. It suddenly blew up and exploded in front of my eyes. . . . Ted Knight came up to me at the end of the first screening, looked at me and said, “You’ve done something that . . .” and he just broke into tears. (Composer) Johnny Williams came to me after seeing it and said, “I don’t think you know how important this film is.” So, I knew it was good. I knew we had something.”

McCabe and Mrs. Miller (1971): “McCabe” was a rank failure when it first opened. It had very mixed reviews and it did no business . . . Julie Christie was just great to work with. And (Warren) Beatty was a very serious contributor, a real heavy collaborator, and deserves a lot of credit for it. But he’s kind of a pain in the ass. I think he’s very talented, I think his acting in “McCabe” is great. But I feel about Warren the same way I feel about Sam Shepard. They’re not guys I can spend any time with.

Images (1972): The only thing I don’t like about “Images” is the fact that I let Susannah York do her own wardrobe. The short skirt and high boots dated the film. . . . After “Images” I was asked to speak at national--I mean national --psychiatric organizations as an expert on the psychology of schizophrenia. And I’m gonna tell you, I didn’t study any of those things.

The Long Goodbye (1973): I cast (director) Mark Rydell as the gang boss Marty Augustine because he was a friend. Why not? The girl that got hit with the Coke bottle was actually the waitress when Mark and I were discussing the scene in a bar in Malibu. We were a little drunk and we’d just had dinner and this waitress came over, with this beautiful nose. My God, what a nose! I said, “Listen, you’re not going to believe this, but we’re doing this movie and we want you to do a part.” She said, “Aw, yeah, yeah, yeah.” But we talked some more and she went for it (her name was Jo Ann Brody and she did play the part). Then it came time to pay for the dinner and (we) didn’t have any money or credit cards. I said to her, “You’re not going to believe this , either. . . .”

Thieves Like Us (1974)and Nashville (1975): Nobody wanted to make “Thieves Like Us,” but United Artists said that they’d make it if I would do a film for them about Nashville. They had a script; I think they wanted to use Tom Jones. I said: “Well, I can’t do this script, but if you make ‘Thieves Like Us,’ I’ll make some other film about Nashville.”

Joan Tewkesbury, who was the script supervisor on “McCabe,” wrote “Thieves Like Us,” and I said, “I want this book; I don’t want anything of your own.” So, I sent Joan to Nashville while we made “Thieves” in Mississippi. I said, “Go to Nashville and keep a diary.” And she went. She spent 11 days; she’d never been there. The first thing that happened to her was a wreck on the freeway outside the airport; she was trapped for something like two hours. She kept this diary and made these characters up. That was “Nashville.” And, when UA saw the script, they were so horrified, they threw it out and it went into turnaround. Immediately.

A Wedding (1978): I was shooting “Three Women’ in Palm Springs. It was about 118 degrees. I had a terrible hangover. I had a wet towel on my head (when this journalist on the set came up and asked) “What’s your next film going to be?” I said “Oh, the next film, we’re going to do a wedding.” She said, “Oh, is that a novel?” I said, “No, no, we’re just going to take the crew and we’re going to go and do a wedding. You know, somebody gets married and they want to have a film of their wedding? We’re going to go and shoot it.” (Later) we were in the office--Scottie, Tommy Thompson and about five or six of us--and I said, “You know, that’s a pretty good idea. We should do that.”

Quintet (1979)and Popeye (1980): You know, I am actually shocked when somebody says “Popeye” is a failure. I have this review from Rolling Stone and he lists my failures: “Secret Honor,” “Quintet” and “Popeye.” Well, “Quintet” I can understand, but “Popeye” is a highly successful piece of work, especially in its afterlife. (The film grossed $60 million, despite mixed to bad reviews, and has been a consistent seller over the past decade on home video.)

Secret Honor (1984): It’s one of my favorites. It will have more longevity than most of the others. The longer it sits on the shelf, the more power it will have. It’s unusual because it’s actually about the people who hire our leaders . . . and what happens when they decide to get rid of them.

Beyond Therapy (1987): I wanted to make a pure, unabashed romantic comedy--about bisexuality. Unfortunately, we had terrible synchronicity. It came out right when the AIDS issue hit the public, and the critics just went ape.

Tanner ‘88(1988): I think “Tanner” is the most important work I’ve done. I think it’s the best work I’ve done, the most creative, in terms of its form. That was Garry Trudeau and myself. And the actors. And the way we did it. It’s really fresh, and it will be copied a lot. Unfortunately, we can’t sell the show in Europe, because they think it’s news. By the way, we want to run Tanner (for president) again in ’92.