Paint It Black (1989 film)

Last updated

Paint It Black
Paint-it-black-movie-poster-1989.jpg
Directed by Tim Hunter
Written byMichael Drexler
A.H. Zacharias
Starring Rick Rossovich
Sally Kirkland
Doug Savant
Julie Carmen
Martin Landau
Cinematography Mark Irwin
Edited byCurtiss Clayton
Music by Jürgen Knieper
Production
company
Distributed by Avid Home Entertainment
Vestron Video
Release dates
  • May 1989 (1989-05)(Cannes Film Festival)
  • March 28, 1990 (1990-03-28)(video)
[1]
Running time
104 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Paint It Black is a 1989 American thriller film directed by Tim Hunter and starring Rick Rossovich, Sally Kirkland, Doug Savant, Julie Carmen, and Martin Landau. [2] The film is about a struggling California artist who becomes a suspect after a serial killer murders his gallery-owner lover. It was released to Vestron Video and is one of the company's last titles before it folded. [1]

Contents

The film had a troubled production history, as the original director Roger Holzberg was replaced by Hunter following his work on the acclaimed River's Edge . [3] The script underwent so many changes that writers Timothy Harris and Herschel Weingrod chose to be credited in the finished film under the pseudonyms Michael Drexler and A.H. Zacharias. [3]

Plot

Jonathan Dunbar is a metal sculptor who works at a Santa Barbara art gallery. He is involved with the gallery owner Marion Easton, who keeps the sole rights to his work and promises to give him a one-man show for his art. Jonathan meets Eric Hinsley, a wealthy but psychotic art collector who is responsible for a string of burglaries and assaults. Eric becomes obsessed with Jonathan's creations and murders Marion in order to help him. Jonathan, however, becomes the suspect in the crime, due to him breaking into Marion's office on the night of her murder and scrutinizing her ledgers to confirm that she'd been cheating him. Marion's associate Gregory Paul has an incriminating business card that Jonathan dropped during his break-in, and he manages to successfully blackmail Jonathan with it. Soon, Gregory ends up dead too.

Meanwhile, art-broker Daniel Lambert takes a serious interest in Jonathan and sells one of his sculptures to a business magnate. Eric, wanting the piece for himself, tries to kill Lambert, but Jonathan foils the murder attempt. Knowing now that Eric is guilty but fearing the killer will frame him with the incriminating business card, Jonathan doesn't go to the police. Instead, he and his girlfriend, Gina Bayworth, go to Eric's mansion to look for the card.

Cast

Critical reception

TV Guide wrote the film is "a retrograde attempt to revive the Alfred Hitchcock thrillers of yore (especially Strangers on a Train ), with an unfortunate emphasis on artifice and contrivance". [3] It criticized the technical aspects and plot elements, while noting Rossovich isn't given much to do. [3] John Hartl of The Seattle Times said, "While it's no 'Strangers on a Train,' I thought 'Paint It Black' succeeded on Hunter's terms - it's an entertaining potboiler - and it's full of eccentric dark-comedy touches and good performances (as well as a couple of gratuitously gruesome touches). Kirkland is watchable as always, and Savant really takes off, fulfilling the promise he showed in 'Masquerade.'" [1]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jackson Pollock</span> American painter (1912–1956)

Paul Jackson Pollock was an American painter. A major figure in the abstract expressionist movement, Pollock was widely noticed for his "drip technique" of pouring or splashing liquid household paint onto a horizontal surface, enabling him to view and paint his canvases from all angles. It was called all-over painting and action painting, since he covered the entire canvas and used the force of his whole body to paint, often in a frenetic dancing style. This extreme form of abstraction divided critics: some praised the immediacy of the creation, while others derided the random effects.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Augustus John</span> Welsh painter (1878–1961)

Augustus Edwin John was a Welsh painter, draughtsman, and etcher. For a time he was considered the most important artist at work in Britain: Virginia Woolf remarked that by 1908 the era of John Singer Sargent and Charles Wellington Furse "... was over. The age of Augustus John was dawning." He was the younger brother of the painter Gwen John.

<i>Police Academy 2: Their First Assignment</i> 1985 film directed by Jerry Paris

Police Academy 2: Their First Assignment is a 1985 American comedy film directed by Jerry Paris. It is the second installment in the Police Academy franchise and the sequel to Police Academy.

<i>5 Card Stud</i> 1968 film by Henry Hathaway

5 Card Stud is a 1968 American Western mystery film directed by Henry Hathaway and starring Dean Martin and Robert Mitchum. The script is based on a novel by Ray Gaulden and was written by Marguerite Roberts, who also wrote the screenplay of True Grit for Hathaway the following year.

<i>The Crow</i> Comic book series created by James OBarr

The Crow is a supernatural superhero comic book series created by James O'Barr revolving around the titular character of the same name. The series, which was originally created by O'Barr as a means of dealing with the death of his fiancée at the hands of a drunk driver, was first published by Caliber Comics in 1989. It became an underground success and was later adapted into a film of the same name in 1994. It was followed by three standalone sequels and a television series. A second adaptation was released in 2024. Numerous books and comic books have also been produced, albeit published by various different companies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rick Rossovich</span> American actor

Frederic Enrico Rossovich is an American actor. Rossovich began acting in the early 1980s, first gaining recognition for portraying Ron "Slider" Kerner in the 1986 film Top Gun. Rossovich's other movies include the thriller-drama The Lords of Discipline (1983), the sex comedy Losin' It (1983), the science fiction film The Terminator (1984), the romantic comedy Roxanne (1987), the witchcraft-themed thriller Spellbinder (1988), the thriller Paint It Black (1989), the military action film Navy SEALs (1990), and the Disney Channel Original Movie Miracle in Lane 2 (2002). Rossovich is also recognized for his lead role in the TV-series Pacific Blue, often described as a "Baywatch on bikes," which ran on the USA Network for five seasons between March 1996 and April 2000, and also gained popularity abroad. He also portrayed Dr. John Taglieri in the first season of ER, and Spud Lincoln in the CBS series Sons and Daughters (1991).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pierre Bismuth</span> French artist and filmmaker

Pierre Bismuth is a French artist and filmmaker based in Brussels. His practice can be placed in the tradition of conceptual art and appropriation art. His work uses a variety of media and materials, including painting, sculpture, collage, video, architecture, performance, music, and film. He is best known for being among the authors of the story for Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004), for which he won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay alongside Michel Gondry and Charlie Kaufman. Bismuth made his directorial debut with the 2016 feature film Where is Rocky II?.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Savant (DC Comics)</span> DC Comics character

Savant is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, depicted as a member of the Birds of Prey and the Suicide Squad.

Alex Norton is a Scottish actor. He is known for his roles as DCI Matt Burke in the STV detective drama series Taggart, Eric Baird in BBC Two sitcom Two Doors Down, DCS Wallace in Extremely Dangerous, Gerard Findlay in Waterloo Road and Eddie in the Renford Rejects. He has also had roles in internationally successful films including Braveheart, Local Hero and Les Misérables.

<i>Three Studies for Figures at the Base of a Crucifixion</i> 1944 triptych by Francis Bacon

Three Studies for Figures at the Base of a Crucifixion is a 1944 triptych painted by the Irish-born British artist Francis Bacon. The canvasses are based on the Eumenides—or Furies—of Aeschylus's Oresteia, and depict three writhing anthropomorphic creatures set against a flat burnt orange background. It was executed in oil paint and pastel on Sundeala fibre board and completed within two weeks. The triptych summarises themes explored in Bacon's previous work, including his examination of Picasso's biomorphs and his interpretations of the Crucifixion and the Greek Furies. Bacon did not realise his original intention to paint a large crucifixion scene and place the figures at the foot of the cross.

<i>Waxwork</i> (film) 1988 film by Anthony Hickox

Waxwork is a 1988 American comedy horror film written and directed by Anthony Hickox in his directorial film debut and starring Zach Galligan, Deborah Foreman, Michelle Johnson, David Warner, Dana Ashbrook, and Patrick Macnee. It is partially inspired by the 1924 German silent film Waxworks.

<i>The Loved One</i> (film) 1965 black-and-white satirical comedy film

The Loved One is a 1965 black-and-white black comedy film directed by British filmmaker Tony Richardson. A satirical look at the funeral business in Los Angeles, it is based on Evelyn Waugh's 1948 short novel The Loved One: An Anglo-American Tragedy, though the screenplay by noted American satirical novelist Terry Southern and British author Christopher Isherwood also incorporates elements from Jessica Mitford's 1963 nonfiction book The American Way of Death. The film stars Robert Morse, Jonathan Winters, Anjanette Comer, and Rod Steiger, with Dana Andrews, Milton Berle, James Coburn, John Gielgud, Tab Hunter, Margaret Leighton, Liberace, Roddy McDowall, Robert Morley, Barbara Nichols, and Lionel Stander credited as "cameo guest stars", and features the debut acting performance of songwriter Paul Williams.

<i>The Unholy</i> (1988 film) 1988 American film

The Unholy is a 1988 American horror film directed by Camilo Vila and starring Ben Cross, Ned Beatty, Hal Holbrook, and Trevor Howard in his final role. The film follows a Roman Catholic priest in New Orleans who finds himself battling a demonic force after being appointed to a new parish.

<i>Pool of London</i> (film) 1951 British film by Basil Dearden

Pool of London is a 1951 British noir crime film directed by Basil Dearden. It stars Bonar Colleano, Earl Cameron and Susan Shaw. Set in post-war London, the film is of note for portraying the first interracial relationship in a British film.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomas Watling</span> Australian artist (1762–1814)

Thomas Watling, was an early Australian painter and illustrator, notable for his natural history drawings and landscapes.

<i>The Late Edwina Black</i> 1951 British film by Maurice Elvey

The Late Edwina Black is a 1951 British crime film, directed by Maurice Elvey and starring David Farrar, Geraldine Fitzgerald and Roland Culver. The film is a melodramatic murder mystery set in the Victorian era and was adapted from a stage play by William Dinner and William Morum.

Catherine Hunter is an Australian filmmaker, journalist, television producer and director.

The Madonna's Secret is a 1946 American film noir crime film directed by Wilhelm Thiele and starring Francis Lederer, Gail Patrick, Ann Rutherford and Edward Ashley.

<i>The Legend of Cool "Disco" Dan</i> 2013 American film

The Legend of Cool "Disco" Dan is a 2013 American documentary film written and directed by Joseph Pattisall. The film was released on April 15, 2013 in conjunction with the release of the book Pump Me Up: DC Subculture in the 1980s. The documentary was narrated by Washington, D.C.-native Henry Rollins. The Legend of Cool "Disco" Dan provides a documentation of Washington, D.C. during the 1970s and 1980s from the perspective of Cool "Disco" Dan, and blends commentary by local Washingtonians combined with archival footage, forming a comprehensive portrait of this time period.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gregory Blackstock</span> American artist (1946–2023)

Gregory Lee Blackstock was an American self-taught artist. Regarded as an autistic savant, Blackstock created drawings featuring orderly categories of types of objects. A feature article on the artist by the Seattle Weekly described him as an "anthropologist of the everyday." An exhibit review by Seattle Times art critic Robert Ayers described his impact by declaring "Gregory Blackstock is one of our city's greatest artists."

References

  1. 1 2 3 Hartl, John (March 18, 1990). "Vestron Film-Fest Entry, 'Paint It Black,' Goes Straight To Videotape". The Seattle Times. Retrieved September 2, 2024.
  2. Brennan, Sandra. "Paint It Black (1989) - Tim Hunter - Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related". AllMovie.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Paint It Black". TV Guide. Retrieved September 2, 2024.