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25 years ago - September 21, 1990

Goodfellas
Based on real-life mobster Henry Hill, Martin Scorsese’s epic crime drama stars Ray Liotta, Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci, and Lorraine Bracco. It’s arguably the best of Scorsese’s career. Most audiences would probably pick the tense “I amuse you?” scene as the film’s most memorable scene. For me, it’s the way the climax is shot that is masterful in portraying the frenetic paranoia Liotta’s character feels as his life closes in on him. The movie was a home run among critics and audiences, and the list of awards it received are as epic as the movie itself. The short list: six Oscar nominations, a win for Joe Pesci in his role as Tommy DeVito, and preservation in the Library of Congress’s National Film Registry. Goodfellas opened at #1 with $6.3 million on 1,070 screens, narrowly beating last week’s Postcards from the Edge, which had more screens. Goodfellas eventually earned over $46 million domestically, almost doubling its budget.

Narrow Margin
This one is a road trip thriller starring Gene Hackman as a deputy district attorney trying to protect a murder witness played by Anne Archer. Harris Yulin and M. Emmet Walsh costar. Reviews were moderate. Narrow Margin opened at #4 behind Ghost with $3.6 million on 1,132 screens. It eventually earned $10.8 million domestically.

Funny About Love
Gene Wilder stars in this romcom from director Leonard Nimoy about a cartoonist named Duffy Bergman who suddenly feels his biological clock ticking but has trouble with the relationships it would take to have a child. Christine Lahti plays his wife, and Mary Stuart Masterson plays a romantic interest. Reviews were abysmal, and the movie still scores a 0% at Rottentomatoes.com. Nonetheless the movie managed to make a showing, opening at #5 with $3.0 million on 1,213 screens. It eventually earned $8.1 million.

Also debuting in limited release: Don’t Tell Her It’s Me (Shelley Long and Steve Guttenberg), The Tall Guy (Jeff Goldblum and Emma Thompson), and Miller’s Crossing (on one screen - I’ll cover this movie in a future edition).

30 years ago - September 20, 1985

Creator
Seven-time Oscar nominee Peter O’Toole stars in this light romantic comedy-drama based on Jeremy Leven’s novel about a scientist who hopes to clone his deceased wife until he falls for a colleague in the process. Mariel Hemingway, David Ogden Stiers, Vincent Spano, and Virginia Madsen costar. At this point in his career, O’Toole was as famed for his charm as for his accolades. He once again got favorable reviews in this movie. With only 820 screens, Creator opened at #2 behind Back to the Future (which crossed the $150 million mark this weekend) with $2 million. Eventually it earned $5.3 million.

Plenty
A drama based on the play by David Hare. Meryl Streep stars as an Englishwoman who helps the French Resistance during WWII and then returns to a quieter life in England after the war. Tracey Ullman, John Gielgud, Sting, Ian McKellen, and Sam Neill costar. Critics were most appreciative of the acting. Streep was already a five-time Oscar nominee (and two-time winner) by this point, which surely led audience interest. Though she missed for this one, Gielgud and Ullman were both nominated for BAFTA Awards. Plenty opened in very limited release but with a very strong $18,177 per screen average, and eventually earned $6.1 million.


And as a bonus this week, 35 years ago - September 19, 1980...

Ordinary People
The first film directed by Robert Redford is a drama about a family suffering from the death and near death of their sons. Timothy Hutton plays the surviving son seeing a psychiatrist played by Judd Hirsch. Donald Sutherland and Mary Tyler Moore play his parents. The movie was a huge hit, grossing $54 million and earning Oscars for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Supporting Actor (Hutton), and nominations for Mary Tyler Moore and Hirsch. This was the movie that prompted new popular appreciation for Pachelbel’s Canon.


Come back next week for another installment of Marquee History!

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