Catchfire

Last updated
Catchfire
Film Poster for Catchfire.jpg
Video poster for Catchfire as Backtrack: Director's Cut
Directed by Dennis Hopper
(as Alan Smithee)
Screenplay byRachel Kronstadt Mann
Ann Louise Bardach
Uncredited:
Alex Cox
Tod Davies
Story byRachel Kronstadt Mann
Produced by Dick Clark
Starring Dennis Hopper
Jodie Foster
Dean Stockwell
Vincent Price
John Turturro
Fred Ward
CinematographyEdward Lachman
Edited byDavid Rawlins
Music by Curt Sobel
Production
companies
Vestron Pictures
Precision Films
Mack-Taylor Productions
Dick Clark Cinema
Distributed byVestron Pictures
Release date
  • April 3, 1990 (1990-04-03)
Running time
99 minutes
(theatrical)
116 minutes
(director's cut)
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$10 million
Box office$5 million

Catchfire is a 1990 American romantic action thriller film directed by Dennis Hopper and starring Jodie Foster, Hopper, Fred Ward and Vincent Price, with cameo appearances by several notable actors, including Charlie Sheen, Joe Pesci, Catherine Keener and Bob Dylan. The film was disowned by Hopper before release and he is therefore credited under the pseudonym Alan Smithee. [1] The film underperformed at the box office and received overwhelmingly negative reviews by film critics.

Contents

In 1992, a Director's Cut of the film was released under the new title Backtrack. It runs 18 minutes longer than the theatrical version and restores Hopper's directorial credit. In additional to cable TV airings it has been released on VHS, DVD and Blu-ray. [2] Backtrack has received important praise from specialized critics, being hailed as a total improvement over the theatrical version, while also being widely considered as Hopper's true vision of the film's story.[ citation needed ]

Plot

Conceptual artist Anne Benton creates electronic pieces that flash evocative statements. Her work has begun to attract major media attention. Driving home one night, Anne suffers a blowout on a road near some isolated industrial factories and, while looking for help, witnesses a mafia hit supervised by Leo Carelli, who kills another mobster and his bodyguard. Leo spots Anne, but she escapes and goes to the police.

Two of the mobsters, Greek and Pinella, go to Anne's house to silence her, but manage only to kill her boyfriend, Bob. FBI agent Pauling -who's been after Carelli for some time- offers Anne a place in the United States Federal Witness Protection Program, but when she sees another mobster, Carelli's lawyer John Luponi, at the police station, she disguises herself with another woman's wig and raincoat and flees. Meanwhile, mob boss Lino Avoca, Carelli's boss, summons top-of-the-line hitman Milo to silence Anne. Milo purchases one of Anne's artworks and ransacks her house, discovering intimate Polaroids taken of her.

Months pass. Anne has severed all ties with her past and re-established herself in Seattle as an advertising copywriter. Milo, who never gives up, recognizes the tagline of a lipstick ad as one of Anne's catchphrases, and tracks her down. Pauling and the police also track Anne down, but she manages to once again elude all the men who are pursuing her. Shortly after, Milo tracks Anne to New Mexico. There, he is followed by Pinella, who is tracking Milo's whereabouts for Carelli, and whom Milo quickly kills. This time, Milo corners Anne and offers her a deal: he'll let her live, if she'll do anything and everything he asks. Milo's interest in Anne, it turns out, is more than professional, but not exactly what she thinks; he doesn't want her to be his sex slave, though sex is part of the equation.

A man obsessed, Milo has fallen in love with Anne. And he has no idea how to cope with the unfamiliar emotion. Astonishingly, after a rocky start, Anne realizes that she has also fallen for him. At the same time, when failing to kill Anne as he was hired to do, Milo has marked himself for death. Anne and Milo flee together to an isolated farm that Milo owns. Avoca's men track them there, and they narrowly escape.

Milo and Anne realize that in order to be free, they must return and confront their pursuers. They concoct a plan leaving Avoca, Carelli and all of their men dead. Anne and Milo escape together to a new life, presumably in France.

Alternative ending (Backtrack)

Milo and Anne return together to the refinery by the side of the road where Anne witnessed the mob hit that made her run. The refinery in fact belongs to Mr. Avoca and bears its name. Milo contacts Leo Carelli, tells him that he killed Anne and wants to "make peace" with Carelli, whom he asks to meet in the Avoca factory. Pauling, who has a wiretap on Carelli's house, spies on the conversation and travels there with the police.

Avoca and his men wait near the factory. Pauling and the police also wait in another sector of the same zone. Carelli, his henchman Greek and Luponi go inside and find Milo waiting for them. When Luponi tries to shoot Milo in the back, Anne shoots from far away and wounds him with a scoped rifle. She reveals to be clothed in a special fire proximity suit, as well as Milo. They seem to let Carelli and Greek get away in order for them to run and trip on a wire connected to explosives. The refinery is blown to pieces, and Carelli, Greek, and Luponi die while Anne and Milo escape. Avoca sends his men after Anne and Milo but the police surround and arrest them. Nevertheless, Avoca escapes in a helicopter, and Pauling goes after Anne and Milo in his car, but misses them as they move in the sewer system nearby.

Milo and Anne move away and start a new life, presumably in France. The end credits show one of Anne's electronic signs spelling THE END in several fonts.

Cast

Cameos

Production

The production was marred with difficulties between Foster and Hopper. The differences began on the first day of filming of Foster in the shower scene. Foster, dissatisfied with the scene yelled "cut" which angered Hopper, who informed her to never do that again. Later, according to Hopper in an interview with Charlie Rose, Foster warned Meryl Streep by phone several times to avoid Hopper who was very keen on working with her. Streep never returned his calls. Hopper stated:

"It blew what I thought at the time was a go project a few years ago. Cause Meryl suddenly said no. She [Foster] thought that I had this AA mentality where I was really just doing this sober drunk or something, and I just couldn’t possibly understand women. But she didn’t say that, confront me with that on the set, so I didn’t know where that was coming from, ’cause I thought I treated her rather well " [3] -Dennis Hopper, March 28, 1996 appearance on The Charlie Rose Show . [4]

Anne Benton's text-based art in the film is the work of conceptual artist Jenny Holzer. [5]

The original screenplay was written by Rachel Kronstadt Mann, then re-written by Ann Louise Bardach, who was hired by Hopper and producer Steven Reuther. During the 1988 Writers Guild of America strike, Hopper hired Alex Cox to do another polish on the script while the film was shooting. Hopper released a director's cut of the film in the United States on cable television titled Backtrack, which runs 18 minutes longer than the theatrical version. [3]

Reception

The film was not well received by critics. Variety wrote: "Somewhere in here is a dark, sassy picture, but the final product is more like a jigsaw with half the pieces. Apart from Foster who's strong, shrewd and sexy, thesping is vaudeville all the way. Pesci rants and raves, Stockwell shows a nice line in a low-key comedy, Ward looks like he hasn't been shown the whole script, and Hopper has a go at Humphrey Bogart in shades". [6] Greg Wroblewski wrote: "It's a mediocre film, with often illogical, even incomprehensible plot twists and poor character development." [3] [7] [ better source needed ]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dennis Hopper</span> American actor and director (1936–2010)

Dennis Lee Hopper was an American actor and film director. He is known for his roles as mentally disturbed outsiders and rebels. He earned prizes from the Cannes Film Festival and Venice International Film Festival as well as nominations for two Academy Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award and two Golden Globe Awards. Hopper studied acting at the Old Globe Theatre in San Diego and the Actors Studio in New York. Hopper also began a prolific and acclaimed photography career in the 1960s.

<i>Ticker</i> (2001 film) 2001 film by Albert Pyun

Ticker is a 2001 American action film directed by Albert Pyun and starring Tom Sizemore, Jaime Pressly, Dennis Hopper, Steven Seagal, Ice-T, Kevin Gage, and Nas.

<i>Joe Dirt</i> 2001 film by Dennie Gordon

Joe Dirt is a 2001 American adventure comedy film, directed by Dennie Gordon, starring David Spade, Dennis Miller, Christopher Walken, Adam Beach, Brian Thompson, Brittany Daniel, Jaime Pressly, Erik Per Sullivan, and Kid Rock. The film was written by Spade and Fred Wolf, and produced by Robert Simonds. The plot revolves around a "white trash" young man, Joe Dirt, who at first seems to be a "loser", a failure, an antihero. As he travels in search of his parents, his finer qualities are increasingly revealed. He ends up with a new "family" of close friends, people he has helped and who respect him. While critical reception was mostly negative, the film was a modest financial success, eventually becoming a cult favorite. A sequel, Joe Dirt 2: Beautiful Loser, premiered on Crackle on July 16, 2015.

<i>Contraband</i> (1940 film) 1940 film by Michael Powell

Contraband (1940) is a wartime spy film by the British director-writer team of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, which reunited stars Conrad Veidt and Valerie Hobson after their earlier appearance in The Spy in Black the previous year. On this occasion, Veidt plays a hero, something he did not do very often, and there is also an early (uncredited) performance by Leo Genn.

<i>Gone Fishin</i> (film) 1997 American film

Gone Fishin' is a 1997 American comedy film starring Joe Pesci and Danny Glover as two bumbling fishing enthusiasts. Nick Brimble, Rosanna Arquette, Lynn Whitfield, and Willie Nelson co-star. It is the only collaboration between Glover and Pesci outside of the Lethal Weapon series. Christopher Cain directed the film. J. J. Abrams and Jill Mazursky wrote the film's script.

<i>Romeo Is Bleeding</i> 1993 film

Romeo Is Bleeding is a 1993 neo-noir crime thriller film directed by Peter Medak, written and produced by Hilary Henkin, and starring Gary Oldman, Lena Olin, Annabella Sciorra, Juliette Lewis, and Roy Scheider. It follows a psychosexual cat-and-mouse game between a corrupt cop (Oldman), and a ruthless mob assassin (Olin) who begins to unravel his carefully constructed double life. The film's title was taken from a song by Tom Waits.

<i>Innocent Blood</i> (film) 1992 film by John Landis

Innocent Blood is a 1992 American black comedy horror film directed by John Landis and written by Michael Wolk. The film stars Anne Parillaud as a beautiful French vampire who finds herself pitted against a gang of mobsters led by Salvatore Macelli who eventually becomes a vampire and schemes to build a criminal syndicate of vampires.

<i>Cast a Deadly Spell</i> 1991 American TV series or program

Cast a Deadly Spell (1991) is a horror fantasy detective television film with Fred Ward, Julianne Moore, David Warner, and Clancy Brown. It was directed by Martin Campbell, produced by Gale Anne Hurd, and written by Joseph Dougherty. The original music score was composed by Curt Sobel.

<i>Scandal Sheet</i> (1952 film) 1952 film by Phil Karlson

Scandal Sheet is a 1952 American film noir directed by Phil Karlson. The film is based on the novel The Dark Page by Samuel Fuller, who himself was a newspaper reporter before his career in film. The drama features Broderick Crawford, Donna Reed and John Derek.

<i>The Stud</i> (film) 1978 British film

The Stud is a 1978 British drama film directed by Quentin Masters and starring Joan Collins and Oliver Tobias. It is based on the 1969 novel of the same name by Collins' younger sister Jackie Collins.

<i>Bluebeard</i> (1944 film) 1944 film by Edgar George Ulmer

Bluebeard is a 1944 film noir directed by Edgar G. Ulmer, starring John Carradine in the title role. The film also stars Jean Parker. The film is based on the famous French tale Barbe bleue that tells the story of a violent nobleman in the habit of murdering his wives and the attempts of one wife to avoid the fate of her predecessors. The film is registered in the public domain.

<i>Get Shorty</i> (film) 1995 comedy film directed by Barry Sonnenfeld

Get Shorty is a 1995 American gangster comedy film directed by Barry Sonnenfeld and written by Scott Frank, based on Elmore Leonard's novel of the same name. The film stars John Travolta, Gene Hackman, Rene Russo, Delroy Lindo, James Gandolfini, Dennis Farina, and Danny DeVito. It follows Chili Palmer (Travolta), a Miami mobster and loan shark who inadvertently gets involved in Hollywood feature film production.

<i>The Pick-up Artist</i> (1987 film) 1987 film by James Toback

The Pick-up Artist is a 1987 American romantic comedy-drama film produced and distributed by 20th Century Fox, written and directed by James Toback, starring Molly Ringwald and Robert Downey Jr. in the lead roles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sno Balls</span> Cream-filled chocolate cakes covered with marshmallow frosting and colored coconut flakes

Sno Balls are cream-filled chocolate cakes covered with marshmallow frosting and coconut flakes formerly produced and distributed by Hostess and currently owned by private equity firms Apollo Global Management and Metropoulos & Co. Sno Balls are usually pink; however, they are also available in chocolate, lemon, white, green, blue and other colors for specific holidays and times of year. They come in packages of two and are sold at many convenience and grocery stores in the United States.

<i>Night Tide</i> 1961 film by Curtis Harrington

Night Tide is a 1961 American independent fantasy film sometimes considered to be a horror film, written and directed by Curtis Harrington and featuring Dennis Hopper in his first starring role. It was filmed in 1960, premiered in 1961, but was held up from general release until 1963. The film's title was inspired by some lines from Edgar Allan Poe's poem "Annabel Lee". The film was released by American International Pictures as a double feature with The Raven.

<i>Tell It to the Judge</i> 1949 film by Norman Foster

Tell It to the Judge is a 1949 American romantic comedy film directed by Norman Foster and starring Rosalind Russell as a divorcee who tries to get back her ex-husband, played by Robert Cummings.

<i>Queen of the Mob</i> 1940 film by James P. Hogan

Queen of the Mob is a 1940 American film, directed by James P. Hogan.

<i>Registered Nurse</i> (film) 1934 film

Registered Nurse is a 1934 American Pre-Code drama film produced by First National Pictures and released through its parent company Warner Bros. The film was directed by Robert Florey and stars Bebe Daniels in her final role for Warner Bros.

<i>Secret of Deep Harbor</i> 1961 film by Edward L. Cahn

The Secret of Deep Harbor is a 1961 film directed by Edward L. Cahn, and starring Ron Foster and Merry Anders.

<i>Friends and Romans</i> 2014 American comedy film

Friends and Romans is a 2014 American independent comedy film written and directed by Christopher Kublan and starring Michael Rispoli, Annabella Sciorra, Paul Ben-Victor and Tony Sirico. It was awarded Best Narrative Feature and Best Cinematography at the 2014 Boston International Film Festival and Favorite Narrative Feature at the Napa Valley Film Festival.

References

  1. Jeremy Braddock; Stephen Hock (2001). Directed by Allen Smithee. University of Minnesota Press. p. 155. ISBN   978-0-8166-3534-4.
  2. "Backtrack a.k.a Catchfire de Dennis Hopper". Carlotta Films (in French). Retrieved 2022-03-13.
  3. 1 2 3 Winkler, Peter L (2012). Dennis Hopper: The Wild Ride of a Hollywood Rebel. Biteback. pp. 263–4. ISBN   978-1-84954-522-8.
  4. Rose, Charlie (March 28, 1996). "PATRICIA SCHROEDER; DENNIS HOPPER; BRYAN SINGER". The Charlie Rose Show. Retrieved October 6, 2023.
  5. "Jenny Holzer". IMDB.
  6. Variety Staff (1991-01-01). "Catchfire". Variety. Archived from the original on 2018-04-18. Retrieved 2021-09-25.
  7. "Backtrack". www.scoopy.com. Retrieved 2021-09-25.