Players (1979 film): Difference between revisions

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==Production==
==Production==
The film was a passion project of producer Robert Evans, who was an enthusiastic tennis player. He made it under his independent deal with Paramount.<ref name="new">At the Movies: 'Star Wars' pilot throttles down after four films.
⚫
It was known during production as ''Getting Off''. The film was shot in London and [[Wimbledon, London|Wimbledon]] and includes a scene shot during the [[1978 Wimbledon Championships]]: prior to the start of the ladies' final between [[Martina Navratilova]] and [[Chris Evert]], the production filmed Dean Paul Martin and Guillermo Vilas walking onto Centre Court and bowing to [[Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon|Princess Margaret]] and the [[Katharine, Duchess of Kent|Duchess of Kent]] in the Royal Box.<ref>Buckley, T. (1978, Jun 09). At the movies. New York Times (1923-Current File) Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/123678275</ref><ref name="afi history">{{cite web |url=http://catalog.afi.com/Film/56145-PLAYERS?sid=8d0e8ad6-f783-4bb4-acbc-011724abad29&sr=0.8563489&cp=1&pos=3#1 |title=Players - History |website=[[AFI Catalog of Feature Films]] |publisher=[[American Film Institute]] |accessdate=May 21, 2019 }}</ref> Additional filming took place in Mexico, Las Vegas, Monte Carlo and Los Angeles.<ref name="afi history" /> Shooting had to be suspended at one point when Dean Paul Martin fell ill.<ref>RODERICK MANN. (1979, Jan 18). Los Angeles Times (1923-Current File) Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/158832861</ref>
Buckley, Tom. New York Times 9 June 1978: C8. </ref>

It was known during production as ''Getting Off''. Anthony Harvey and Robert Evans began scouting locations in Mexico in April 1978.<ref>FILM CLIPS: Harvey: Movies Back to Back
KILDAY, GREEGG. Los Angeles Times 12 Apr 1978: f8. </ref>

Evans wanted the male lead to be played by someone who was a top level tennis player and could act. In May 1978 Evans announced that the role would be played by Dean-Paul Martin Martin. "He's the next Robert Redford," said Evans. "It's one of the best screen tests I've ever seen."<ref name="up">Serving Up the Next Redford
Los Angeles Times 30 May 1978: g7. </ref> Martin was reluctant to act and only agreed to screen test because the movie was about tennis. Evans signed him to a six picture contract. He learned about camera technique over several weeks with [[Tony Franciosa]]. <ref name="up"/>

MacGraw's fee was $500,000.<ref name="up"/> She had only appeared in four movies but they had all been hits. She was Evans' ex wife and the two, who shared a son, had remained close.<ref>Ali in Wonderland After 5-Year Hiatus
Los Angeles Times 18 June 1978: o39. </ref>

⚫
Filming began shooting in London on 29 June 1979. It includes a scene shot during the [[1978 Wimbledon Championships]]: prior to the start of the ladies' final between [[Martina Navratilova]] and [[Chris Evert]], the production filmed Dean Paul Martin and Guillermo Vilas walking onto Centre Court and bowing to [[Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon|Princess Margaret]] and the [[Katharine, Duchess of Kent|Duchess of Kent]] in the Royal Box.<ref>Buckley, T. (1978, Jun 09). At the movies. New York Times (1923-Current File) Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/123678275</ref><ref name="afi history">{{cite web |url=http://catalog.afi.com/Film/56145-PLAYERS?sid=8d0e8ad6-f783-4bb4-acbc-011724abad29&sr=0.8563489&cp=1&pos=3#1 |title=Players - History |website=[[AFI Catalog of Feature Films]] |publisher=[[American Film Institute]] |accessdate=May 21, 2019 }}</ref> Additional filming took place in Mexico, Las Vegas, Monte Carlo and Los Angeles.<ref name="afi history" /> Shooting had to be suspended at one point when Dean Paul Martin fell ill.<ref>RODERICK MANN. (1979, Jan 18). Los Angeles Times (1923-Current File) Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/158832861</ref>

By July the title was changed to ''Players''.<ref>What to Do for an Encore: CRITIC AT LARGE
Champlin, Charles. Los Angeles Times 7 July 1978: h1.</ref>

"I honestly believe no one's ever made a more realistic film about a sport," said Evans.<ref>MOVIES: PRODUCER BOB EVANS: ALL ALONE AND LOVING IT
Mann, Roderick. Los Angeles Times 13 May 1979: n38. </ref>


==Reception==
==Reception==

Revision as of 06:20, 29 October 2019

Players
Directed byAnthony Harvey
Written byArnold Schulman
Produced byRobert Evans
StarringAli MacGraw
Dean Paul Martin
Maximilian Schell
Pancho Gonzalez
CinematographyJames Crabe
Edited byRandy Roberts
Music byJerry Goldsmith
Distributed byParamount Pictures
Release dates
  • June 8, 1979 (1979-06-08)
(New York and L.A.)[1]
Running time
120 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Box office$7.2 million (US rentals)[2]

Players is a 1979 American romance drama film directed by Anthony Harvey and starring Ali MacGraw and Dean Paul Martin, about a young tennis player who has an affair with an older woman.

Premise

A rising tennis star falls in love with an older woman, a jet-setter who's involved with a millionaire, while playing in the Wimbledon championships.

Cast

Production

The film was a passion project of producer Robert Evans, who was an enthusiastic tennis player. He made it under his independent deal with Paramount.[3]

It was known during production as Getting Off. Anthony Harvey and Robert Evans began scouting locations in Mexico in April 1978.[4]

Evans wanted the male lead to be played by someone who was a top level tennis player and could act. In May 1978 Evans announced that the role would be played by Dean-Paul Martin Martin. "He's the next Robert Redford," said Evans. "It's one of the best screen tests I've ever seen."[5] Martin was reluctant to act and only agreed to screen test because the movie was about tennis. Evans signed him to a six picture contract. He learned about camera technique over several weeks with Tony Franciosa. [5]

MacGraw's fee was $500,000.[5] She had only appeared in four movies but they had all been hits. She was Evans' ex wife and the two, who shared a son, had remained close.[6]

Filming began shooting in London on 29 June 1979. It includes a scene shot during the 1978 Wimbledon Championships: prior to the start of the ladies' final between Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert, the production filmed Dean Paul Martin and Guillermo Vilas walking onto Centre Court and bowing to Princess Margaret and the Duchess of Kent in the Royal Box.[7][8] Additional filming took place in Mexico, Las Vegas, Monte Carlo and Los Angeles.[8] Shooting had to be suspended at one point when Dean Paul Martin fell ill.[9]

By July the title was changed to Players.[10]

"I honestly believe no one's ever made a more realistic film about a sport," said Evans.[11]

Reception

Vincent Canby of The New York Times called it "the sort of movie in which the actors serve the function of scenery. They are nice to look at but it's not really possible to identify with a tree or even a lilac bush. Mr. Schulman's dialogue doesn't help, nor does the direction by Anthony Harvey ('A Lion in Winter'), who never discovers a source of narrative energy to compensate for the emptiness of the characters."[12] Dale Pollock of Variety wrote, "Another love story in disguise, this time backgrounded against the tennis world, 'Players' is disqualified by exec producer Arnold Schulman's wobbly script, a simpering performance by Ali MacGraw, and a preponderance of tennis footage."[13] Gene Siskel of the Chicago Tribune gave the film 2.5 stars out of 4 and wrote, "The problem with the script is that both characters are totally unlikable. These are the sort of selfish, me-centered characters we suspect populate Beverly Hills and environs, people interested only in cars, clothes, sex, and money."[14] Charles Champlin of the Los Angeles Times wrote, "Unfortunately, it is much better on court than on courtship ... After one amusing scene when they meet, there is scarcely a line that does not sound as if it were something being read aloud, rather than thought or felt and said."[15] Brendan Gill of The New Yorker wrote, "Verisimilitude is achieved during the tennis sequences by furnishing them with people borrowed from real life; those sequences aside, there is little real life to be found in 'Players,' thanks in part to an ill-written script by Arnold Schulman and in part to the incompetence of its star, Ali MacGraw, who is very good-looking and is unable to recite even the simplest lines with conviction."[16] Gary Arnold of The Washington Post wrote, "As certain to be laughed off the screen and written off financially as 'Hurricane,' another Paramount loser, 'Players' should clinch MacGraw's reputation as the most ridiculous leading lady of the '70s. But the folly is not hers alone. What prompted producer Robert Evans, director Anthony Harvey and screenwriter Arnold Schulman to foist on anyone a love story as unformed and uninteresting as 'Players' (definitely not to be confused with the Don De Lillo novel of the same title)?"[17]

References

  1. ^ "Players - Details". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. American Film Institute. Retrieved May 21, 2019.
  2. ^ THE BIG THUDS OF 1979--FILMS THAT FLOPPED, BADLY Epstein, Andrew. Los Angeles Times 27 Apr 1980: o6.
  3. ^ At the Movies: 'Star Wars' pilot throttles down after four films. Buckley, Tom. New York Times 9 June 1978: C8.
  4. ^ FILM CLIPS: Harvey: Movies Back to Back KILDAY, GREEGG. Los Angeles Times 12 Apr 1978: f8.
  5. ^ a b c Serving Up the Next Redford Los Angeles Times 30 May 1978: g7.
  6. ^ Ali in Wonderland After 5-Year Hiatus Los Angeles Times 18 June 1978: o39.
  7. ^ Buckley, T. (1978, Jun 09). At the movies. New York Times (1923-Current File) Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/123678275
  8. ^ a b "Players - History". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. American Film Institute. Retrieved May 21, 2019.
  9. ^ RODERICK MANN. (1979, Jan 18). Los Angeles Times (1923-Current File) Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/158832861
  10. ^ What to Do for an Encore: CRITIC AT LARGE Champlin, Charles. Los Angeles Times 7 July 1978: h1.
  11. ^ MOVIES: PRODUCER BOB EVANS: ALL ALONE AND LOVING IT Mann, Roderick. Los Angeles Times 13 May 1979: n38.
  12. ^ Canby, Vincent (June 8, 1979). "Screen: 'Players' Takes World Tennis Tour". The New York Times. C9.
  13. ^ Pollock, Dale (June 13, 1979). "Film Reviews: Players". Variety. 15.
  14. ^ Siskel, Gene (June 8, 1979). "'Players' plays cold and distant". Chicago Tribune. Section 3, p. 3.
  15. ^ Champlin, Charles (June 8, 1979). "'Players': Just a Passing Shot". Los Angeles Times. Part IV, p. 1.
  16. ^ Gill, Brendan (June 18, 1979). "The Current Cinema". The New Yorker. 96.
  17. ^ Arnold, Gary (June 9, 1979). "Players". The Washington Post. C5.

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Players_(1979_film)&oldid=923545413"