1972: Oversharing with "The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie"

TFE will be periodically looking back at the 1972 film year before we hit the Supporting Actress Smackdown next Sunday. Here's Paolo. 

This is going to sound like I’m overestimating my writing power but here goes. The symbolism within Luis Buñuel’s The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie, Oscar's Best Foreign Film winner of 1972, is easy to write about. Up to interpretation, as they say. What isn’t easy is writing about the feelings the movie evokes. In short, I might be explaining jokes, which slightly offends me as a fan of comedy. But I’m going to do it anyway, since the humor is the first thing that comes to mind in writing about what is arguably Buñuel’s most personal movie. 

The film is about six white bourgeois people who just want to eat but someone or something keeps interrupting them. (I have the same dream... but it's not about food.)

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Vote on the '72 Smackdown

The 1972 Smackdown was long delayed but it's finally happening a week from this Sunday on April 28th with this awesome panel. If you still want to play along you have time to vote...

• Jeannie Berlin, The Heartbreak Kid 
• Eileen Heckart, Butterflies are Free [iTunes | Amazon]
• Geraldine Page, Pete N' Tillie
• Susan Tyrrel, Fat City [iTunes | Amazon]
• Shelley Winters, The Poseidon Adventure  [iTunes | Amazon]

YOU (the collective you) are the final panelist for each smackdown so your votes count toward the outcome. To vote e-mail us with 1972 in the subject line by Friday April 26th. Give each performance that you've seen a 1-5 heart rating.

OTHER SUPPORTING WOMEN OF 1972 THAT WEREN'T NOMINATED ARE AFTER THE JUMP...

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1972: The founding fathers musical "1776"

We're looking back at the 1972 film year before the Smackdown.

by Anna

Peter H Hunt's 1776, based on the stage musical of the same name, chronicles the many woes that went into the Declaration of Independence’s creation. At the forefront of its writing are the “obnoxious and disliked” John Adams (William Daniels), the dry-witted Benjamin Franklin (Howard Da Silva), and the homesick Thomas Jefferson (Ken Howard). Amid the clash of words and egos of the other delegates of Congress, will they succeed?

Recruiting many of the names involved with the original Broadway production (Producer Jack L. Warner’s attempt to atone for casting Audrey Hepburn over Julie Andrews for My Fair Lady), 1776 had the misfortune of being released the same year as another period piece musical. 

Would 1776 have won more acclaim had it been released a different year?

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Smackdown '72: Meet the Panelists!

Our summer series "Supporting Actress Smackdown" returns on Sunday April 28th with a deep dive into the 1972 Oscar lineup:

• Jeannie Berlin, The Heartbreak Kid
• Eileen Heckart, Butterflies Are Free
• Geraldine Page, Pete N' Tillie
• Susan Tyrrell, Fat City
• Shelley Winters, The Poseidon Adventure

That's just two weeks away! So make sure to get your votes in (1 to 5 hearts for each of those performances that you've seen) since readers are the final collective panelist.

Want to meet the other panelists? Yeah, you do! 

PLEASE WELCOME...

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1972: Soaked in Booze with "The Ruling Class"

TFE will be periodically looking back at the 1972 film year before we hit the Supporting Actress Smackdown at month's end. Here's Anna from Defiant Success

Adapted from the play of the same name by Peter Barnes (who also serves the film’s writer), Peter Medak’s The Ruling Class establishes its bizarre nature early on. The plot kicks off after Ralph Gurney, the 13th Earl of Gurney (Harry Andrews) accidentally hangs himself while performing autoerotic asphyxiation. Upon his death, his only surviving son Jack (Peter O’Toole) becomes the 14th Earl of Gurney. One problem with this new arrangement: Jack firmly believes that he’s Jesus Christ...

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