Author needs help; writing Hutton's Biography
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Archived from the IMDb Discussion Forums — Jim Hutton
ccurts2319 — 18 years ago(August 18, 2007 02:37 PM)
I am writing Jim Hutton's biography, and I want to contact anyone who has had a personal experience with him or anyone in his family. If I use your story, we will sign an agreement.
Seems that in the Midwest the baby boomers remember Jim, but the current youth don't even remember Tim. Is it this way in your area?
I will appreciate your comments. Thank you. -
ccurts2319 — 14 years ago(May 04, 2011 06:08 PM)
Regarding contacting for interview, background info, and so forth, I contacted agents for all persons you named, and about 40 more. Those who knew him bets either spoke much or would not comment, little in between. Vickers unreliable.
Motto for bios: verify, verify, verify.
Learned information I deem better left unwritten. Some info unable to verify.
I liked the EQ portrayal, which had very subtle humor intertwined, yet I did not care for his non-comedy parts. Researched long, long list of bios (multiple bios for some individuals), original articles, transcripts of interviews, period history, industry history, and archives through a few organizations. After 2+ yrs interviewing and researching, concluded it's better left unwritten. -
MsELLERYqueen2 — 14 years ago(November 02, 2011 09:30 PM)
"Seems that in the Midwest the baby boomers remember Jim, but the current youth don't even remember Tim. Is it this way in your area?"
I'm 35 yrs old (live in Canada), and I discovered him in April when I came across the Ellery Queen series in the local video store. If it weren't for that, I would probably have never come across him. His movies are quite hard to find. I have seen some of them, but I had trouble getting a hold of them.
Ellery Queen(Jim Hutton)G E O R G E O U S
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ccurts2319 — 14 years ago(November 03, 2011 04:09 PM)
I find the same thing true in the U.S. Midwest and Southwest. They don't know who Jim or Tim are. Same thing with Tony Curtis and Jamie Lee Curtis. Today's youth know neither, yet all four had parts that really meant something, got a point across to the audience, and required an expansive ability for intense emotion to play various parts. Today's actors have less degree of intensity on any emotional extreme. Movies rely on sex scenes, car chases, fist/gun fights, and special effectsNOT acting. Sad to see many actors overlooked or put to pasture too soon and unappreciated for their (in Tim and Tony's cases) award-winning performances.
Check out EBay for some CDs of Jim Hutton's movies. I suggest you find "Period of Adjustment," an early Black and White movie written by Tennessee Williams. A great social commentary acted with innocence, irony, surprise, humor, and juxtaposition. No foul language, sex scenes, car chases, etc. Just darn good acting by actors Hutton, Lois Nettleton, John Glover, Tony Franscioso, and Jane Fonda. I think you will enjoy it. Lois had just won a Tony Award for her broadway performance the year before, and the entire cast, including the bit players, you will recognize as having gone on to play character actors in a multitude of movies. Each actor became well known and a box office hit at one time or another.
Good luck finding more of his movies! -
MsELLERYqueen2 — 14 years ago(November 03, 2011 06:04 PM)
I agree with you about most modern movies. That's probably why, about seven years ago, I started watching pre-1970 movies. Those movies are so much better than most contemporary stuff! I'm very fond of 1940s film noir.
Most people my age wouldn't have heard of Jim and Timothy Hutton, probably because their work is so obscure. I'm sure that people my age have at least heard of Tony Curtis, and I'm positive that people my age know Jamie Lee Curtis. She was in some popular movies in the nineties. I remember people talking about her back in high school (early 90s).
So far, I have seen & enjoyed the following movies starring (or co-starring) Jim Hutton (I call him Jim Hottie now):
-Where the Boys Are - he and Paula Prentiss were good at doing the "comic relief" scenes here. His outfits were adorable!!!
-Looking for Love - Connie Francis really made this movie what it is. Jim was great at playing a guy who was NOT compatible with her!
-Bachelor in Paradise - charming movie! I wish that Jim and Paula had more screen time.By the way, the scene with the overflowing washerI'm sure that I have seen that one in some Bob Hope special (in the eighties).
-The Honeymoon Machine - very funny movie!!!
-Who's Minding the Mint - probably one of the funniest movies ever made. The theme of that movie (someone in a situation and everything goes wrong) was used quite a bit in the eighties comedies which I watched when I was a kid (ex. The Money Pit, Christmas Vacation, The Great Outdoors).
-Walk Don't Run - a charming comedy, better than the original (The More the Merrier, 1940s). Walk Don't Run had a much lighter feel to it than the original.
-Don't be Afraid of the Dark - good horror, though it would have had more of an effect on me if I had seen it when I was a child. I liked the part where Jim has his shirt unbuttoned. The movie would have been more effective if we didn't actually get to see those creatures!
The ones I didn't enjoy were: Major Dundee, The Hallelujah Trail. I think that westerns just weren't meant to be funny! I don't blame Jim; he was doing the best he could with a lousy script in each case.
I still want to see: The Horizontal Lieutenant, Period of Adjustment, Never Too Late. I also wouldn't mind seeing him in some of the guest spots on various TV shows, like the four-part episode of "One Day at a Time" and an episode of "The Twilight Zone" (apparently a very good episode, I've heard).
As for Timothy Hutton, I'm going to search for "Ordinary People", and the episode of "Leverage" where he is dressed up like Ellery Queen. I was thinking of finding the Nero Wolfe series, but I have tried to read the Rex Stout novels and I didn't care for them. I'm not sure how I would enjoy the series.
Ellery Queen(Jim Hutton)G E O R G E O U S
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ccurts2319 — 14 years ago(November 04, 2011 06:06 PM)
In Walk Don't Run, another of my favorites, Cary Grant specifically asked for Jim Hutton because5b4 Hutton was tall and lanky as Grant had been in his younger years, and Grant once said that Hutton reminded him of himself. Hutton said that Grant gave Hutton a lot of tips on how to use his long limbs and height to add to humor or seriousness when acting. Grant also asked for Quincy Jones to do the music for that movie. I really get a kick out of the movie.
The Twightlight Zone WAS very good. His mother's hometown newspaper even had a writeup about him being in the 'upcoming' episode.
In Major Dundee, it was the first time Hutton ever rode a horse, and he had a few problems at first. That movie had many changes in the direction and scripts, causing difficulty for the lead actors, let alone the supporting cast. If you look carefully, though, Hutton did a good job transforming a young inexperienced officer into a good take-charge officer who does well; it is an underappreciated accomplishment. The producers, director, and script writers had 3 different visions. The director's vision eventually appeared years later in the movie the Wild Bunch (Hutton was not in that).
Who's minding the mint is a GREAT CAPER and all situational. I truly enjoy it, especially the dog.
FYIEllery Queen's outfits were selected by Jim Hutton. Hutton defined the character's style and mannerisms. He and David Green defined the father-son relationship, too, and the director(s) let them go with it. It worked successfully 2000for audiences, but because they did not make the top 10 (I think they missed by 2 or 3), they were cancelled, much to the dissatisfaction of MILLIONS of viewers. Ellery Queen series has been shown in UK and US multiple times since, and is on DVD in both countries. I don't know about elsewhere. TV moguls had no common sense; they went strictly by 'top ten.'
Although Psychic Killer was not well written, Hutton's acting enabled him to use his facial expressions more, in one section changing his look of passive innocence to evil intent in an instant (and behind another character's back to maintain his innocent appearance). His acting revealed the character, and since the script had him Telling his background instead of showing it, you see and hear how he makes an impression on you with such limited means. Overall he did a good job for an average movie. The photography was very good in some parts.
I hope you find several of his movies to enjoy. -
MsELLERYqueen2 — 14 years ago(November 04, 2011 06:57 PM)
Funny that Cary Grant said that Jim Hutton reminded him of himself! He said that in the movie as wellseveral times! He said something like, "you remind me of what I was like years ago, only I was much taller" (something along those lines).
I didn't realize that he really felt like that.
Jim Hutton did an amazing job as Ellery Queen. Some people say that he didn't stick to the way the literary character was portrayed, but the literary character went through various changes over the years. I've read some of the books, and the Ellery Queen of the thirties was not the Ellery Queen of the forties. Jim Hutton really brought Ellery Queen to life. He and David Wayne had excellent chemistry together. I especially love the way he sneezed in the episode called "The Blunt Instrument". He used one hand for holding the tissue, and he raised his other arm when he sneezed. (Ellery had a cold in that episode.) That is really the most adorable thing I've ever seen. The fact that Jim Hutton came up with that really says something about his talents. A pity that the show didn't go on for another year or two. A pity that Jim had to die at such a young age.
I'm not sure about "Psychic Killer". I saw the trailer on youtube and it doeesn't look like my kind of movie. I'd rather find the other movies which I mentioned. I'm also not sure about "The Green Berets". Sounds too political and I know what happens to Jim's character at the end!!!
By the way, have you seen any of the movies which he did with Paula Prentiss?Ellery Queen(Jim Hutton)
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ccurts2319 — 14 years ago(November 05, 2011 03:08 PM)
Give Green Beret a try. He goes from humor in a serious environment to serious in the same environment, and really brings the dichotomy of the war to life. Yes, you know the end, but he did a really good acting job there. Only the beginning of the show (when a couple of people are talking to the press and visitors) is the political part, which sets the stage for why the troops were still in the war. After that, you just see the troops in the given situations, and the complex contradictory situations, where you don't know who your enemies are. It has a tenderness, too, with Hutton and a little boy. Hutton was against the war, while John Wayne was for the war, yet their differences still came out with a wonderfully made movie. I, for one, see it as a non-political movie. It tells the story for the troops, which is the promise that Wayne made on his many visits to the troops. Try it. I really think you will be impressed.
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MsELLERYqueen2 — 14 years ago(November 05, 2011 07:18 PM)
Hmmmmthanks. Maybe I will give "The Green Berets" a chance. I would like to see Jim in uniform.
Do you mean that the actors (Jim Hutton and John Wayne) were against/for the war, or are you talking about the characters in your post? Personally, when actors voice their opinions about things like politics and war, I simply don't pay attention. I suspect that most of them are just saying what they think will promote their movies. And since westerns are seen as being right-wing entertainment, there was only one viewpoint for John Wayne to take in "the real world". (I suspect that a lot of today's so-called left-wing actors are doing a similar thing because their movies are seen as "liberal".) Maybe I'm way off-base here, but it does seem to me that these actors' first priority is to fill the seats in the theaters.
Ellery Queen(Jim Hutton)G E O R G E O U S
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ccurts2319 — 14 years ago(November 05, 2011 07:43 PM)
I'm talkiing in real life, their opinions differed, but it did not interfere with their professionalism. John Wayne selected Hutton for the part because Wayne thought he was right for the part. Wayne believed in supporting the troops, and that small bit in the beginning of the movie explains it in 5 minutes or less. Hutton opposed the war, per one of Wayne's biographies/ autobiographies written with his second wife, but Hutton was not one to go around talking politics to people. He kept it close to the vest. Wayne did visit the troops on his own nickle, and he made it a point to shake as many of their hands as he could, telling them that there are people at home who really do appreciate what they are doing there. And Wayne did promise to make a movie telling the troops' side of the story. Basically, it is how they were caught in the middle. This is why, in my opinion, the movie still has many fans after so many years, regardless of which side of the war the viewers were on. It was, however, tauted as being the first pro-war movie ever made. After watching it I don't think it is pro war or anti war. I think it tells the story of a no-win situation that our men in battle were stuck in, and the dilemma facing us, namelyhow do we get out of this mess.
The movie filled a lot of seats in some areas, and hardly filled any seats in other areas. John Wayne produced the movie with his own money, payrolling the entire crew, and he even got the military to provide one of the training camps in Georgia to help him cut costs sb68o he could make the movie. He had tried for along time (I think almost 2 years) to get anyone in hollywood to do the movie, but no one would budge because it was too controversial. Over the years, it became a sleeper of a hit.
In the movies, the characters were doing their jobs. Oh, and the reason you will really like this movie is that Jim Hutton is the Scrounge, which he plays VERY WELL. Try it. There are no arguments in the movie about whether the war is right or wrong or who belongs where. It's about being there, orders come down, jobs need to be done, handling civilian casualties, and the unexpected enemies from within. It tells the story the way it really was for the troops, which is why our men came hoome with PTSD and tremendous distrust of people. -
MsELLERYqueen2 — 14 years ago(November 05, 2011 08:58 PM)
Hmmm.now I'm beginning to be interested in this movie! Maybe I will see it after all
First I would like to know why Jim's cha5b4racter was
hung upside down
at the end of the movie. Please spoil this for me.
Canada didn't play a big part in the Vietnam War. In fact, I heard that some people who wanted to dodge the draft came over here (to Canada). (All this happened before I was born, by the way. I was born in 1976.)
Ellery Queen(Jim Hutton)G E O R G E O U S
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ccurts2319 — 14 years ago(November 06, 2011 05:57 AM)
He wasn't just "hung upside down." He dies in a manner that really happened in the war. Booby trap lines hidden in the ground foliage that would trigger a sling that grabs a person, usually by one or both legs, drags them at great speed with no opportunity to grasp anything to stop the inevitable. then the rope(s) jerk the person upside down while swinging them into extremely sharp spikes (e.g. carved wood or bamboo spikes), and the soldier dies instantly). This is not portrayed as graphic as it could be, and it is shown only about 2 seconds so as stun the audience but not shock them with the horrible shock of movies made in the 70s and 80s. In the 60s, they let the imagination fill in the details of knowing what the end was and knowing from the beginning that it was not a pretty site. This was part of the realism, and by having it done to the character that the audience comes to love is the juxtaposition of love and the horrible emotions of war that gets the point across that no one wants to be there. But if you watch the movie carefully, you see that Wayne's character coach's Hutton's to 'mature' into the responsibilities of his rank, and in the end, Hutton's character volunteers to take 'point' (i.e. to lead the group, which my 1st husband did a lot, and never expected to come home alive, but he did with major PTSD and distrust problems, as did many VietNam vets).
The Green Berets is the type of movie that you want to watch twice, and probably three time to get the full details of the story. The acting is good each time, which actually helps you see/understand more details each time you watch it. I highly recommend the movie. It is definitely not like the war movies made in the 70s, 80s, 90s, or even now. Not made for shock factor, not made for blood and guts display. It was made to tell the story of what the troops lived likenot the mentally off troops, but the average troops.
The only other movie that tells the story of the troops, in my opinion, is Platoon. It tells the story of what troops went through toward the end of the war, because the bad situation escalated, and some troops were mentally off or abused power and got away with it. My ex was up north at the DMZ most of his two tours in Nam, and Platoon had him and several other men in the movie theater in tears, and many of us couples just sat there silentlywomen waiting for our men to be able to compose themselves, and the ushers gave us clearly more than 5 minutes alone. Green Beret made in the 60s, Platoon made in the 80s. Big difference in the situation for the troops, big difference in the acceptability and desirability of a movie that tells what the troops survived. Big comparison for social commentary. -
MsELLERYqueen2 — 14 years ago(November 06, 2011 08:17 AM)
Oh, I see. Thank you very much, and I appreciate the personal touch which you put into your post! Generally I don't go for war movies, but I think that I'll give this one a chance. Usually the only war movies which I watch are movies like "The Best Years of Our Lives" (1946) and "A League of Their Own" (1990s), which deal with a war indirectly. I haven't seen "Platoon", "Schindler's List", and the "Band of Brothers" miniseries. I saw "Good Morning Vietnam" as an adult, but I don't remember it at all.
By the way, sorry about the "post deleted" message which you probably got last night. I was having some trouble posting what I had written, so I tried it again, and realized that my post had been posted the first time around. I just deleted the duplicate.Ellery Queen(Jim Hutton)
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williwaw — 13 years ago(May 26, 2012 07:27 AM)
I would like to know what Paula Prentiss thought of Hutton, as they made 4 films together. Also what his fellow MGM contractees and co stars thought of Hutton such as Yvette Mimieux, and George Hamilton. Richard Chamberlain who did not work with Hutton had to know Hutton as they were both under contract to MGM at the same time and would see each other around the Culver City lot.
Hutton supposedly asked Jack Warner to test for WB's 'Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf', for the George Segal role.True? Jack Warner refused Hutton's request.
Jim Hutton's major co stars such as Cary Grant, Lana Turner, Bob Hope, George Peppard, Steve McQueen, John Wayne, Roz Russell, Charlton Heston, Lee Remick, Burt Lancaster, Dorothy Provine, Paul Ford, Maureen O'Sullivan are all dead. As are Hutton's major Directors such as Sam Peckinpah, and MGM director Richard Thorpe, and the MGM brass who headed up that studio during its glory days as the #1 Studio in Hollywood, so the the Author needs to get a hold of Paula Prentiss who would be a major source, (Paula notes that they were co starred at MGM because they were both tall which that is cute but not true, they were paired because they were great together. Other co stars still alive are Jane Fonda, Samantha Eggar, Connie Stevens, Connie Francis, Katharine Ross,and Mother Dolores Hart
Peter O Toole famously commented to Tim Hutton after Tim's great ( and deserved) Oscar win " I Miss Daddy too!" Were O'Toole and Jim Hutton friends?
Cary Grant supposedly personally recruited Hutton for the great role in 'Walk Don't Run'. John Wayne cast Hutton in two of Hutton's now most often seen films shown on cable, 'Hellfighter's' and 'Green Berets'. That two of the screen's greatest legends cast Hutton in their films counts for Hutton's appeal and fine work.
Maybe a book on the above mentioned MGM Stars called Studio Club with sections devoted to Peppard, Prentiss, Mimieux, Chamberlain, Hamilton and of course Hutton has more commercial appeal?