The Last Tycoon, 1976.
Directed by Elia Kazan.
Starring Robert De Niro, Tony Curtis, Robert Mitchum, Jeanne Moreau, Jack Nicholson, Donald Pleasence, Ray Milland, Dana Andrews, Ingrid Boulting, and Theresa Russell.
SYNOPSIS:
Elia Kazan’s 1976 film The Last Tycoon, with Robert De Niro leading a talented cast, arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber, which commissioned a remastered print of the film and an excellent commentary track by Joseph McBride. Fans will undoubtedly want this one, while those who are curious about it based on the talent involved will still want to check it out.
I’m always fascinated by movies that seem like they should receive widespread acclaim and box office success but instead land with a thud. In some ways, they’re similar to sports teams that amass a bunch of star players but end up with a losing record.
In the end, I suppose you just file those things under “Shit happens.” Case in point: Elia Kazan’s 1976 film The Last Tycoon. Based on F. Scott Fitzgerald’s unfinished novel, it tells the story of mogul Monroe Stahr (Robert De Niro playing a thinly veiled Irving Thalberg) and the way he navigates intense studio politics during the 1930s, including the formation of the nascent Screenwriters Guild.
The supporting cast, which includes Tony Curtis, Robert Mitchum, Jack Nicholson, and Donald Pleasence, seems like it would shore up this movie’s performance, but it was a box office dud destined to be one of those “Oh, yeah, and [fill in star’s name here] was also in this one” kind of films. Ah well.
So what went wrong? In my view, it’s not a bad film. It’s well-acted, the set design and costumes are great, and it does a competent job of telling an interesting story from a turbulent time in Hollywood history. (But is any time in Hollywood’s history not turbulent?)
It just feels, well, flat. Many of the story’s relationships, such as Stahr’s pursuit of a woman who reminds him of a love who died tragically young and the rival executive’s daughter who has a thing for him, have the potential to chew up the scenery with some passionate scenes, but they just don’t. It’s almost as if we’re watching a rehearsal, rather than final performances committed to film.
I’ll admit I haven’t read the source material, which was left unfinished when Fitzgerald died and later completed and published posthumously. Perhaps, in an alternate universe, Fitzgerald did complete the book and Kazan’s movie rose to the level of its promise, thanks to some plot twist that died with the author.
In the end, all one can do is just shrug and say “That’s the way it goes.” Obviously, there was enough interest in The Last Tycoon for Kino Lorber to release this Blu-ray disc, which features remastered video. I haven’t owned this one on home video before, but my understanding is that the previous edition was a DVD, so just on that fact alone, I’m sure the image quality here is a major upgrade. It certainly looked very nice on my setup.
That previous DVD was also a bare bones release, a failing that Kino Lorber rectifies here with a commentary track by film historian Joseph McBride. As you might imagine, he doesn’t seem to leave any stone unturned here as he covers all aspects of the movie, from the source material to the cast to the real person at the heart of the narrative, who tragically died young.
In the end, if you’re a fan of The Last Tycoon, this is a must-have disc for you. If you’re curious to check it out based on the level of talent involved in the movie, as I was, then it’s probably worth a blind buy at a discount price.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★
Brad Cook
Originally published December 4, 2023. Updated April 22, 2024.
