Winchell (1998) (TV)

User Rating:

6.7/10   

Director:

Paul Mazursky

Writers (WGA):

Herman Klurfeld (book)
Scott Abbott (teleplay)

Release Date:

21 November 1998 (USA)

Genre:

Biography | Drama | History | News

Plot:

The true story of the influential and controversial columnist, Walter Winchell.

Plot Keywords:

Columnist | 1950s | Radio | Ghost Writer | Writer

Awards:

Won Golden Globe. Another 5 wins & 6 nominations

Cast

Stanley Tucci	...	Walter Winchell
Glenne Headly	...	Dallas Wayne
Paul Giamatti	...	Herman Kurfeld
Christopher Plummer	...	Franklin D. Roosevelt
Xander Berkeley	...	Gavreau
Kevin Tighe	...	William Randolph Hearst
Frank Medrano	...	Melvin Diamond
Vic Polizos	...	Sam Hague
John F. O'Donohue	...	Harry the Doorman (as John O'Donohue)
Michael Greene	...	Bellamy
Rod McCary	...	Emcee
Victoria Gabrielle Platt	...	Josephine Baker
Rabbi Jonathan Aaron	...	Rabbi
Pat Asanti	...	Vaudeville Magician
Sean Michael Allen	...	Mirror Reporter (as Sean Barnes)

MPAA:

Rated R for language and a scene of strong sexuality.

Runtime:

105 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Argentina:16 | Iceland:12 | Germany:6 | UK:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Fried Films

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: Near the end of the film there is a shot of two newspaper headlines: one saying Winchell lost his radio show and the other that the Stork Club was closing. The articles under the headlines do not refer to either subject, and most of the wording in one article is repeated exactly in the other.

Quotes:

Walter Winchell: Hitler hates me. He hates me!
Newstand Operator: Yeah, well, Joe Stalin hasn't sent me a Christmas card either.

Movie Connections:

Featured in The 56th Annual Golden Globe Awards (1999) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Rain

They Want To Be In Winchell's Column, They Don't Want To Go To His Funeral!!

This HBO presentation was a somber and bittersweet depiction of famous columnist, Walter Winchell. Director, Pat Mazursky, illustrates this biography through the eyes of Walter Winchell's key assistant!! This assistant viewed Winchell as someone for whom he had an ardent admiration of!! My association with Walter Winchell was that he use to narrate episodes of "The Untouchables". In the zenith of Winchell's career, he was an uncompromising columnist who exemplified the phrase "The power of the pen is mightier than the sword". Anybody who was anybody in Hollywood during the late thirties through the early fifties was interviewed and featured in Walter Winchell's column! Winchell's quip about how "Hollywood has to be seen to be disbelieved" was a witty one liner which described Hollywood to be a tenuous hotbed of raw capitalism! Walter Winchell had many commentaries which gave him a political prowess during World War II !! He was always greeted as a recognizably formidable foe, even by the prominent paragons at the pinnacle of national power, such as William Randolph Hearst and President Franklin Deleno Roosevelt!! Walter Winchell possessed many qualities which made him successful.. The facts that he went after the truth, and acquired a cunning and creative stranglehold on the American News media, can be attributed to Winchell's basic egotistical nature which made him vicariously ruthless by virtue of adhering to some simple journalistic procedures!! While this hacked out, made for TV movie, by HBO, cannot really be considered one of the best efforts of movie making, it definitely served it's purpose!! What I conceptualized with "Winchell" was that he was driven to make a difference in the American News media world!! Making a difference in the news media hence translated to Winchell making a difference in the whole world altogether. This movie gave you an effectively brief synopsis of the type of life Walter Winchell engaged in!! As well as the life he wound up with!! So!! What was the scoop on his personal life? He died a lonely widower, his son committed suicide, and his mentally disturbed daughter was the only one who attended his funeral!! Such a grim scenario suggests that Winchell's national prominence manufactured a personal life of domestic alienation!! The fact that nobody attended his funeral is painstakingly ironic for Winchell, as a newspaper columnist views the most heinous emotion to be afflicted with is the emotion of being deluged with disinterest!! The knifing acrimony to Winchell's deteriorating fame manifested itself most convincingly when people talked about him in past tense!! When his assistant heard of his passing away, the obituary served as a platitude consisting of mere mention of the bygone era in which Walter Winchell was somebody!! Time erosion relegated Walter Winchell to callous anonymity!! The utterly insidious monster of death reduces even the most famous people to faint memories. Walter Winchell's tumultuous life epitomized his philosophy which was expressed with his famous quote of "America,love it or leave it". I enjoyed this HBO production, and I definitely feel that Walter Winchell is without question!! a noteworthy element of historical importance!! See this movie if you can!!