Looking for More Lange

Most of Jessica Lange’s films are available on video, so after watching her brave the wilds of the Midwest in “O Pioneers!” you may want to check out these Lange flicks at a local video store:

Critics and audiences alike didn’t go ape over Lange’s film debut in King Kong (Paramount), the 1976 overblown, campy remake of the 1933 classic about a gigantic Africa gorilla who quite literally falls head over heels for a beautiful blond ingenue. A scantily clad Lange spends most of her time in this bore screaming in a big, hairy, fake gorilla hand. Jeff Bridges and Charles Grodin star; look for a young Joe Piscopo in a small role.

Three years later, Lange resurfaced in Bob Fosse’s brilliant semi-autobiographical movie All That Jazz (CBS/Fox). Lange, who was romantically linked at one point with the late Fosse, has a small but pivotal part as Angelique, the angel of death who visits the dying choreographer/director (Roy Scheider).

Hollywood really began to take Lange seriously as an actress with her performance in 1981’s The Postman Always Rings Twice (CBS/Fox), based on James M. Cain’s taut novel of love, lust, murder and greed, Lange portrays Cora, the unhappy wife of a middle-aged Greek cafe/gas station owner. When she falls for a sexy drifter (Jack Nicholson) who works in their cafe, the two plot her hubby’s murder. Though Lange shines, the 1946 original with John Garfield and Lana Turner is superior.

A watershed year for Lange was 1982. She fought tooth and nail to win the part of troubled actress Frances Farmer in Frances (HBO Video) and she ended up giving a remarkably mature, poignant performance. Not only did she garner her first best actress Oscar nomination, she fell in love with her co-star, Sam Shepard, who is the father of two of her children. Look for Kevin Costner in one of his first roles.

Though Lange lost the best actress Oscar to Meryl Streep for “Sophie’s Choice,” she took home the best supporting Academy Award for her sweet performance in the blockbuster comedy Tootsie. Dustin Hoffman stars as an obnoxious New York actor who disguises himself as a middle-aged actress and finds himself the hit of a daytime TV soap opera. He also finds himself in a big dilemma when he falls in love with the soap’s lovely ingenue (Lange).

Two years after her triumphs in “Frances” and “Tootsie,” Lange received another best actress Oscar nomination for Country (Touchstone Home Video), one of three “farm” movies that were released in 1984. (“Places in the Heart” and “The River” were the others). Lange gives a vibrant portrayal of a strong-willed wife and mother who struggles to keep her family together when the government threatens to foreclose on a loan and take their land away. Shepard co-stars; Lange also co-produced.

“O Pioneers!” isn’t the first time Lange has appeared on the small screen. But she was less than successful in her first attempt, the 1984 Showtime/American Playhouse production of Tennessee Williams’ Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. Though she dons a believable Southern accent as Maggie the Cat, Lange seems miscast. Tommy Lee Jones co-stars as her husband, Brick.

Another Oscar nomination came Lange’s way for 1985’s Sweet Dreams (HBO), in which she vividly plays the famed country-Western singer Patsy Cline, whose career was cut short by a fatal plane crash.

One of 1990’s, and Lange’s, most underrated films is Men Don’t Leave (Warner Home Video). Directed by Paul Brickman of “Risky Business” fame, “Men Don’t Leave” is a charming, sweet comedy-drama based on the French film “La Vie Continue.” Lange stars as a widow with two sons who is forced to sell the family home in a small Maryland town and move to a sterile high-rise in Baltimore and begin life anew. Kathy Bates, Joan Cusack and Arliss Howard co-star.