To date, this is the only film adaptation of one of john macdonalds travis mcgee novels. Churchill dangerous lies star jamie chungs dream role jamie chung, star of new netflix film dangerous lies, recommends her favorite korean film, and wants to get bloody playing a certain iconic tarantino character. Hes a generic sort of tough guy hero with little of mcgees true flavor. Darker than amber and the empty copper sea adapted as the 1983 film travis mcgee starring sam. The latter relocates mcgee in california, eliminating the florida locales central to the novels. Travis mcgee is a korean war veteran, a former college football player and a dropout from conventional society. Weve just about exhausted the spymovie binge of the late 1960s, and now maybe a trend is beginning back toward detective movies.
The affair was hosted by the films producer jack reeves and he invited macdonald, macdonalds wife dorothy, and the films star rod taylor. In 1967, author macdonald refused permission for a television series about travis mcgee and his cases, feeling people would stop reading the novels were travis mcgee regularly on television. The performance of rod taylor as mcgee is bland and forgettable. Here because of rod taylors passing, but also because this was recommended by a friend, as one of the best portrayals of travis mcgee on. His middle name comes from his greatgreat grand uncle, captain charles sturt, a british explorer of the.
Let us know what you think of this incredible movie mayhem. There is much background on the film in hugh merrills jdm biography the red hot typewriter if one is interested. Travis mcgee has twice been translated to cinema and television, unsuccessfully. Mcgee discoverers the murderer is none other than william smith who plays terry bartell. In the latter film, the location was changed to california which cut out most of the florida locals that were essential to the novel. Rod taylor celebrity profile check out the latest rod taylor photo gallery, biography, pics, pictures, interviews, news, forums and blogs at rotten tomatoes. Rod taylor, suzy kendall, theodre bikel, william smith, ahna capri, janet maclachlan, jane russell, robert phillips, james booth based on the novel by john d.
Rod taylor played our hero in darker than amber, while sam elliot portrayed him in the tv movie, travis mcgee. The man who writes those travis mcgee stories blogger. He appeared in more than 50 feature films, including the time machine 1960, the birds 1963, one hundred and one dalmatians 1961, 36 hours 1965, the glass bottom boat 1966, hotel 1967, chuka 1967, and the hell with heroes 1968. There was a made for tv travis mcgee movie in 1983. Born rodney sturt taylor, his father was a construction contractor, his mother wrote childrens books and plays, rod was. Rod taylor simple english wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. With rod taylor, theodore bikel, suzy kendall, ahna capri. But, rod taylor played mcgee in darker than amber 1970.
Starring rod taylor as travis mcgee and theodore bikel as meyer also starring suzy kendall, oswaldo calvo, jane russell television. Mar 25, 2011 before leonardo dicaprio ruins the revival of the travis mcgee series, look back at the 1970 adaptation of darker than amber, starring a real man in the mcgee role. That film is the only theatricallyreleased mcgee film thus far, directed by robert clouse enter the dragon and featuring the. Last years marlowe, based on the raymond chandler characters, was a pale shadow of the big sleep 1946 or the lady in the lake. Apr 18, 2016 to date, this is the only film adaptation of one of john macdonalds travis mcgee novels. Christian bale in talks to be the new travis mcgee. He has a face that looks lived in, and he projects a masculinity that can glaze the young female eye at seventy paces. James mangold to direct travis mcgee movie deep blue goodby. The clothing company arrow created a special shirt design called the mcgee for taylor to wear in the film.
They likely thought they were starting a franchise of films based on john d. He appeared in over 50 movies, including leading roles in the time machine, seven seas to calais, the birds, sunday in new york, young cassidy, dark of the sun, the liquidator, and the train robbers taylor suffered a heart attack and died on 7 january 2015. The empty copper sea 1983 madefortelevision filmpilot based on the empty copper sea by john d. Rod taylor is perfect as the rugged sympathetic vulnerable.
It was directed by robert clouse from a screenplay by macdonald and ed waters the film starred rod taylor as travis mcgee, the protagonist of a series of successful novels by macdonald. There are plenty of people who have been waiting for a complete version of this movie and i hope we can get one soon. Before leonardo dicaprio ruins the revival of the travis mcgee series, look back at the 1970 adaptation of darker than amber, starring a real man in the mcgee role. Australian actor rod taylor on the big screen and laconic actor sam elliott on television have both played the beach bum with a penchant for women who are broken birds. Rodney sturt rod taylor 11 january 1930 7 january 2015 was an australian actor of movie and television. Rodney sturt taylor 11 january 1930 7 january 2015 was an australianamerican actor. Brutal fight scene between travis mcgee rod taylor and terry bartell william smith from the rare 1970 movie darker than amber, currently unavailable on dvd. Darker than amber 1970 rod taylor plays travis mcgee in the only bigscreen adaptation of one of john d. Rod taylor is just fine as mcgee with the busted flush and miss agnes as i pictured them. In short the story is of travis mcgee, a private detective hired to investigate the death of a woman whos sister has been murdered. Travis mcgee is a worldweary private investigator trying to help boat skipper friend van harder salvage his reputation that sank when his boat ran aground, resulting in a death that might have been faked.
A handsome, rugged leading man who played in a wide range of motion pictures, he may be best remembered by movie audiences for the films the time machine 1960, the birds 1963 and darker than amber 1970. Ill watch the movie sometime, but at the moment its nowhere near the top of the queue. It is one of the tightest written books in the series and truly focuses like a laser beam on the problem at hand. He achieved fame in the early 1960s with the time machine and the birds. The film stars rod taylor as mcgee and theodore bikel as meyer.
A couple of minor, peripheral characters are highlighted, and the opening titles starts with the oddlyordered travis mcgee is rod taylor. Rod taylor theodore bikel suzy kendall william smith. Rod taylor, the australianborn film and television actor who appeared in inglourious basterds and alfred hitchcocks 1963 classic the. He was ruggedly handsome, the stuff of movie stardom, but he had a gentle demeanor and soft, cultured voice that made him much more accessible and also somewaht difficult to categorize. Darker than amber is a 1970 film adaptation of john d. The travis mcgee series, with its colorcoded titles, is one of the phenomenally popular. Rod taylor played mcgee in darker than amber 1970, and sam elliott played him in the television movie of the empty copper sea, titled travis mcgee 1983. Macdonalds novels, from the way some actors were billed. With the buzz on the blogosphere about a cinematic revival of travis mcgee i thought it was worth revisiting rod taylors darker than amber. Rod taylor began his hollywood career in the 1950s and paid his dues with numerous supporting roles. Nov 07, 2016 in 1967, author macdonald refused permission for a television series about travis mcgee and his cases, feeling people would stop reading the novels were travis mcgee regularly on television. Creator of travis mcgee in 1964 hes written a dozen mcgee books since then, creator of mathematicalminded meyer at the same time to travel south florida, mexico, elsewhere with mcgee, the two quite probably macdonalds alter egos, the writer is becoming goodnaturedly impatient at the delay of their movie debut.
Mar 04, 2014 rod taylor did an excellent job with the character in his darker. Easygoing florida salvage consultant travis mcgee rod taylor goes. Rod taylor full list of movies and tv shows in theaters, in production and upcoming films. The oregon trail is an american western television series that aired on nbc from september 21 until october 26, 1977, starring rod taylor as widower evan thorpe who leaves his illinois farm in 1842 to take the oregon trail to the pacific northwest. Oct 07, 2012 brutal fight scene between travis mcgee rod taylor and terry bartell william smith from the rare 1970 movie darker than amber, currently unavailable on dvd.
In august of 1970, two days prior to the public release of the film version of john d macdonalds 1966 travis mcgee novel darker than amber, a private screening for vips and selected members of the local press was held in miami. Jul 15, 2014 rod taylor was travis mcgee in the cult film darker than amber. But now comes darker than amber with rod taylor playing travis mcgee, and its a surprisingly good movie. Professional beach bum and knight errant travis mcgee goes up. He appeared in over 50 movies, including leading roles in the time machine, seven seas to calais, the birds, sunday in new york, young cassidy, dark of the sun, the liquidator, and the train robbers. Mcgee pulls out all the stops when he joins a carribean cruise to bring the killer to justice. I envy the generation of readers just discovering travis mcgee and count myself among the many readers savoring his adventures again. Jun 23, 2014 the film stars rod taylor as mcgee and theodore bikel as meyer.
Sue grafton 19402017 perhaps more than any other book within the travis mcgee series, dress her in indigo holds up a mirror to elements in society that were not nearly so pleasant as those wearing rosecolored. Travis mcgee has twice been translated to cinema and television. Macdonalds mysterysuspense novel, darker than amber. Travis mcgee project gutenberg selfpublishing ebooks. For reasons that escape me, taylor is usually cast as a taciturn, pokerfaced strongman whose big acting task is to look calm behind a machinegun. Darker than amber, like bright orange, centers on a group of con men and womenbut in this case, their game is deadly.
Rod taylor, the australianborn film and television actor who appeared in inglourious basterds and. Mcgee and his close friend are moored under a bridge. Rod taylor was travis mcgee in the cult film darker than amber. Professional beach bum and knight errant travis mcgee goes up against psychotic bodybuilder terry bartell. Jan 07, 2015 rod taylor full list of movies and tv shows in theaters, in production and upcoming films.
His darker than amber was the best travis mcgee movie. Rod taylor plays travis mcgee in the only bigscreen adaptation of one of john d. Darker than amber and the empty copper sea adapted as the 1983 film travis mcgee starring sam elliott remain the only mcgee novels adapted to the big screen to date. Mcgee, if you are unfamiliar with the series, lives on a 52foot houseboat, the busted flush. At least twice travis mcgee and his best friend meyer an economist have been portrayed on film.
A couple of minor, peripheral characters are highlighted, and the opening titles starts with the oddlyordered travis mcgee. The film also marked the final onscreen appearance of actress jane. Rod taylor played mcgee in darker than amber 1970, and sam elliott played him in the television movie of the empty copper sea, entitled travis mcgee 1983. Stay in the know with the latest movie news and cast interviews at. But it allows you to see the film in all its cheesy, cheap, late60s glory. Inexplicably, the latter film locates mcgee in california. Macdonalds travis mcgee series of mystery novels is one of the greatest achievements in 20th century crime fiction. As travis mcgee, he doesnt match macdonalds description of mcgees 6feet 4inch height or have his sandy. Aug 23, 2010 even so, as you say, i cant picture rod taylor as travis mcgee, no matter how hard i try.
Darker than amber has a place in cinematic history, though probably not the sort its producers intended. James mangold to direct travis mcgee movie deep blue good. In the movie, mcgee and his pal meyer a perfectly cast theodore bikel. Robert clouse directed the film and it features rod taylor is the starring role. Stay in the know with the latest movie news and cast interviews at movies. Christian bale considering a deep blue goodby as travis mcgee. By middecade, starring roles in movies like young cassidy and hotel solidified his star status. Darker than amber travis mcgee 1970 the man who had power over women peter reaney 1970.
The film starred rod taylor as travis mcgee, the protagonist of a series of successful novels by macdonald. Its hard to imagine how they could have made a movie more truthful to the travis mcgee books. With sam elliott, gene evans, barry corbin, richard farnsworth. That film is the only theatricallyreleased mcgee film thus far, directed by robert clouse. The movie mirrors the book and the fact leading man rod taylor has the role is no surprise as he is perfect for the part. Christian bale is considering the role of travis mcgee in the upcoming adaptation of a deep blue goodby the first title in a 21 book series. National general, 1970 with rod taylor as travis mcgee, theodore bikel as meyer, and suzy kendall as vangie. Upcoming, new, and past rod taylor movies, tv shows, tv movies, appearances, specials, and more plus, a biography, news, awards, and nominations. The books opening, with mcgee and meyer pleasantly fishing for snook when a girl with her feet wired to a cement block drops into the water beside them fouling mcgee s line is a classic. The show also stars andrew stevens, tony becker, and gina marie smika as thorpes children. When sam peckinpah chose the title straw dogs for his 1971 film. I should note i saw the movie version with rod taylor on tv in the early 80s with a trimmed version of the famous fight scene between taylor as mcgee and william smith as the terry character sans the ans. An interesting bit of film trivia is that film that jane russell appeared in.
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