Winter Kills ** (1979, Jeff Bridges, John Huston, Anthony Perkins) – Classic Movie Review 9,009

Jeff Bridges, John Huston and Anthony Perkins head an eccentric all-star cast in writer-director William Richert’s wild and baffling 1979 satirical black comedy paranoia political thriller Winter Kills about a presidential assassination.

As written and directed by Richert from the 1974 novel by Richard Condon (author of The Manchurian Candidate), it is a quirky, splashy, erratic, off-target film, stylishly lensed by Vilmos Zsigmond. The makings of a witty thriller are here, but the screenplay hesitates between wanting to get laughs and having something serious to say.

As always, there is an honourable, appealing performance by Jeff Bridges as the US President’s brother Nick Kegan on the trail of his killer, while John Huston’s playing of the randy old patriarch Pa Kegan is irresistible. Anthony Perkins plays John Cerruti and Eli Wallach plays Joe Diamond. Elizabeth Taylor’s star cameo  as Lola Comante is unbilled.

Winter Kills has plenty of interest, but it ends up infuriating as a wasted opportunity.

If nothing else, the extraordinary star cast qualify it for worth a look: Jeff Bridges, John Huston, Anthony Perkins, Elizabeth Taylor, Sterling Hayden, Eli Wallach, Dorothy Malone, Tomas Milian, Richard Boone, Toshiro Mifune, Ralph Meeker, Belinda Bauer, Donald Moffat, David Spielberg, Brad Dexter and Joe Spinell. But prepare for frustration and disappointment. The Winter Kills title is equally frustrating.

Winter Kills is directed by William Richert, runs 97 minutes, is made by Winter Gold Productions, is released by AVCO Embassy Pictures, is written by William Richert, is shot by Vilmos Zsigmond, is produced by Fred Caruso, and is scored by Robert Boyle.

The film’s original producers were wealthy dealers who had worked on the US release of the Emmanuelle films. Financing was erratic and it went quickly over budget. People agreed to continue working free until union officials found out and shut the production, forcing it to declare bankruptcy. Richert, Bridges and Bauer then went to Germany to film the comedy The American Success Company, whose distribution rights the enough money for Richert to fund completing Winter Kills. But distributor Embassy Pictures had the final cut.

It was released on May 17, 1979.

Unsurprisingly, it was not a success. Costing $6,500,000, it grossed $1,083,799 in the US. Embassy Pictures pulled the film from cinemas soon after its release. Richert acquired the film’s rights and re-released a Director’s Cut in 1983. It includes different scenes, including the original ending and more footage of Ms Taylor.

William Richert (1942 – July 19, 2022) is remembered for writing and directing the feature films Winter Kills, The American Success Company also with Jeff Bridges, and A Night in the Life of Jimmy Reardon.

The cast are Jeff Bridges as Nick Kegan, John Huston as Pa Kegan, Anthony Perkins as John Cerruti, Eli Wallach as Joe Diamond, Sterling Hayden as Z K Dawson, Dorothy Malone as Emma Kegan, Tomas Milian as Frank Mayo, Belinda Bauer as Yvette Malone / Jenny O’Brien, Toshiro Mifune as Keith, Ralph Meeker as “Gameboy” Baker, Richard Boone as Keifitz, David Spielberg as Miles Garner, Brad Dexter as Captain Walt Heller One, Michael Thoma as Ray Doty, Ed Madsen as Captain Walt Heller Two, Irving Selbst as Irving Mentor, Gladys Hill as Rosemary, Joe Spinell as Arthur Fletcher, Lissette Álvarez as Soledad, Byron Morrow as the Secretary of State, Tisa Farrow as a nurse, Gianni Russo as an airline pilot, Kim O’Brien as a blonde girl, Erin Gray as ‘beautiful woman’, John Warner as Timothy Kegan, and Elizabeth Taylor as Lola Comante.

Many interior scenes were shot in 1977 at the Greystone Mansion in Beverly Hills, then home to the American Film Institute’s film school.

© Derek Winnert 2019 Classic Movie Review 9,009

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