Creator (film)

Last updated
Creator
Creatorposter.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Ivan Passer
Screenplay by Jeremy Leven
Based onCreator (novel)
by Jeremy Leven
Produced by Stephen J. Friedman
Starring
Cinematography Robbie Greenberg
Edited by Richard Chew
Music by Sylvester Levay
Production
company
Distributed by Universal Pictures
Release date
  • September 20, 1985 (1985-09-20)
Running time
107 minutes
CountryUnited States
Language English
Box office$5,349,607 [1]

Creator is a 1985 American comedy film directed by Ivan Passer, starring Peter O'Toole, Vincent Spano, Mariel Hemingway, and Virginia Madsen. It is based on the 1980 novel of the same title by Jeremy Leven, who also wrote the screenplay adaptation.

Contents

Plot

Dr. Harry Wolper is an eccentric medical professor teaching at a small Southern California college who is obsessed with making a clone of his wife Lucy who died in childbirth 30 years earlier. Harry hires Boris Lafkin, a struggling pre-med student as his personal assistant to help him with his experiments by obtaining lab equipment and working in his backyard shed in exchange for which Harry gives Boris love life advice in courting an attractive student named Barbara who slowly becomes smitten with Boris. To continue his research into cloning, Harry meets and employs a young woman, named Meli, who practically moves in with him on an agreement to contribute her ovary sample as part of the cloning progress. Meli slowly falls for the much older Harry who begins to question his ethics and vision of true love. Meanwhile, a rival of Harry's, fellow medical professor Dr. Sid Kuhlenbeck, tries to investigate and hinder Harry's cloning plans as part of a ploy to remove Harry from the university to take over Harry's lab for himself. Dr. Kuhlenbeck's plan is to have Harry reassigned to Northfield, an outlying branch of the university where no actual research is conducted, and which apparently serves as little more than a place to send older scientists. Kuhlenbeck's plan backfires after Harry successfully earns a sizable research grant. Because grants are given to individuals, and not institutions, the grant money follows Harry to Northfield, much to Kuhlenbeck's chagrin.

Barbara suffers an aneurysm and is hospitalised by Sid. Her parents welcome Boris into their hearts, but are advised to turn off her life support despite his protestations. Harry gains some time for Boris to talk to Barbara in her coma, and eventually she wakes up. Harry pours his dead wife’s cells into the sea and marries Meli. Everyone chooses to follow him to Northfield.

Cast

Related Research Articles

<i>Framley Parsonage</i> 1861 novel by Anthony Trollope

Framley Parsonage is a novel by English author Anthony Trollope. It was first published in serial form in the Cornhill Magazine in 1860, then in book form in April 1861. It is the fourth book in the Chronicles of Barsetshire series, preceded by Doctor Thorne and followed by The Small House at Allington.

<i>Star 80</i> 1983 film by Bob Fosse

Star 80 is a 1983 American biographical drama film written and directed by Bob Fosse. It was adapted from the Pulitzer Prize-winning Village Voice article "Death of a Playmate" by Teresa Carpenter and is based on Canadian Playboy model Dorothy Stratten, who was murdered by her husband Paul Snider in 1980. The film's title is taken from one of Snider's vanity license plates. The film was Fosse's final film before his death in 1987.

<i>Carry On Again Doctor</i> 1969 British comedy film by Gerald Thomas

Carry On Again Doctor is a 1969 British comedy film, the 18th release in the series of 31 Carry On films (1958–1992). It was released in December 1969 and was the third to feature a medical theme. The film features series regulars Sid James, Kenneth Williams, Charles Hawtrey, Joan Sims, Barbara Windsor and Hattie Jacques. This was Jim Dale's last Carry On appearance for 23 years until his return in Carry On Columbus. It also marks the debut of Patsy Rowlands to the series in her first of 9 appearances. The film was followed by Carry On Up the Jungle 1970.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Denning</span> American actor (1914–1998)

Richard Denning was an American actor who starred in science fiction films of the 1950s, including Unknown Island (1948), Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954), Target Earth (1954), Day the World Ended (1955), Creature with the Atom Brain (1955), and The Black Scorpion (1957). Denning also appeared in the film An Affair to Remember (1957) with Cary Grant and on radio with Lucille Ball in My Favorite Husband (1948–1951), the forerunner of television's I Love Lucy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Virginia Madsen</span> American actress and film producer

Virginia Gayle Madsen is an American actress. She is the recipient of two Critics' Choice Awards, an Independent Spirit Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Award, in addition to nominations for one Academy Award and one Golden Globe Award.

<i>Werewolf of London</i> 1935 film by Stuart Walker

Werewolf of London is a 1935 horror film directed by Stuart Walker and starring Henry Hull as the titular werewolf. The supporting cast includes Warner Oland, Valerie Hobson, Lester Matthews, and Spring Byington. Jack Pierce, who is best known for creating the iconic makeup worn by Boris Karloff in the 1931 film Frankenstein, created the film's werewolf makeup. Produced by Universal Pictures, Werewolf of London was the first feature-length werewolf film.

Vincent M. Spano Jr. is an American film, stage and television actor; he is also a film director and producer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joseph William Drexel</span> American banker, philanthropist, and book collector

Joseph William Drexel was a banker, philanthropist, and book collector.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joe Spano</span> American actor (born 1946)

Joseph Peter Spano is an American actor known best for his roles as Lt. Henry Goldblume on Hill Street Blues and FBI Special Agent Tobias C. Fornell on NCIS. He also voiced the Chuck E. Cheese character, Pasqually the Chef, from 1977–1983.

<i>Carry On Matron</i> 1972 British comedy film by Gerald Thomas

Carry On Matron is a 1972 British comedy film, the 23rd release in the series of 31 Carry On films (1958–1992). It was released in May 1972. It features series regulars Sid James, Kenneth Williams, Charles Hawtrey, Joan Sims, Hattie Jacques, Bernard Bresslaw, Barbara Windsor and Kenneth Connor. This was the last Carry on... film for Terry Scott after appearing in seven films. Carry On Matron was the second and last Carry On... for Kenneth Cope.

<i>Jaane Hoga Kya</i> 2006 Indian film

Jaane Hoga Kya is a 2006 Indian Hindi-language science fiction thriller film directed by Glen Barretto & Ankush Mohla. The film stars Aftab Shivdasani and Bipasha Basu, Rahul Dev, Paresh Rawal, Tinnu Anand and Preeti Jhangiani. The film which began production in 2003 was released on 1 September 2006 in India. It features Aftab in a double role, as a scientist who aims to clone human life.

<i>The Canterville Ghost</i> (1986 film) American TV series or program

The Canterville Ghost is a 1986 American-British made-for-television syndicated comedy fantasy horror film based on the 1887 short story "The Canterville Ghost" by Oscar Wilde, directed by Paul Bogart. It was shot at Eastnor Castle in England and stars John Gielgud, Ted Wass, Andrea Marcovicci and Alyssa Milano.

<i>Rosebud</i> (1975 film) 1975 American film

Rosebud is a 1975 American action thriller film directed by Otto Preminger, and starring Peter O'Toole, Richard Attenborough, and Peter Lawford. The script was by Otto's son, Erik Lee Preminger, based on the novel by Joan Hemingway and Paul Bonnecarrère. Originally the film was set to star Robert Mitchum, but he left after disagreements with Preminger. Kim Cattrall made her film debut as a teenager.

A creator is someone who brings something into being.

<i>Malice Aforethought</i> (film) 2005 television film

Malice Aforethought is a 2005 ITV drama based on Anthony Berkeley Cox’s 1931 novel of the same name, made by Granada Television. There was an earlier BBC television adaptation of this novel in 1979.

<i>Irene</i> (1940 film) 1940 American film

Irene is a 1940 American musical film produced and directed by Herbert Wilcox. The screenplay by Alice Duer Miller is based on the libretto of the 1919 stage musical Irene by James Montgomery, who had adapted it from his play Irene O'Dare. The score features songs with music by Harry Tierney and lyrics by Joseph McCarthy.

Clone is a BBC Three comedy series starring Jonathan Pryce and Mark Gatiss, centered on the creation and education of the world's first human clone. Its first series of six 30-minute episodes premiered on 17 November 2008. After a planned second series was vetoed by BBC Three, Gatiss hinted at plans for a big-screen version, however this failed to materialize.

<i>First Lady</i> (film) 1937 film by Stanley Logan

First Lady is a 1937 film about behind-the-scenes political maneuverings in Washington, D.C. directed by Stanley Logan and starring Kay Francis, Preston Foster, Anita Louise, Walter Connolly and Verree Teasdale. Francis and Teasdale portray bitter rivals in their pursuit of the title role of First Lady. The picture is based on the 1935 play of the same name by George S. Kaufman and Katharine Dayton.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ashley Kafka</span> Comic book character

Dr. Ashley Kafka is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, usually in stories revolving around the superhero Spider-Man. Introduced in The Spectacular Spider-Man #178, she was created by writer J. M. DeMatteis and artist Sal Buscema. The character was inspired by therapeutic hypnotist Frayda Kafka. In the comics, Dr. Kafka is a psychiatrist at the Ravencroft Institute for the Criminally Insane, and an occasional ally of Spider-Man. After having been killed by Massacre, Dr. Kafka was twice "reanimated" with her soul intact in a cloned body by Ben Reilly and Norman Osborn, dying again in the former body to the Carrion Virus before going on to become the Queen Goblin in the latter body after being magically corrupted by Osborn's "sins" by the Beyond Corporation.

<i>The Photographer</i> (1974 film) 1974 American thriller film

The Photographer is a 1974 American thriller film written and directed by William Byron Hillman. The film stars Michael Callan, Barbara Nichols, Harold J. Stone, Edward Andrews, Jed Allan and Spencer Milligan. The film was released on December 5, 1974, by Embassy Pictures.

References

  1. "Creator".