North Dallas Forty **** (1979, Nick Nolte, Mac Davis, Charles Durning, Dayle Haddon, Bo Swenson, G D Spradlin, Dabney Coleman, Steve Forrest) – Classic Movie Review 12,768

Director Ted Kotcheff’s 1979 film North Dallas Forty stars Nick Nolte, who gives a bravura turn as the American football pro caught up in a complicated tangle of rigged games, macho attitudes, drug abuse, crazy fans and kooky romance.

This exhilarating study of the gridiron game is based on Peter Gent’s bestseller novel. Perhaps the plot is never easy to follow, and it is difficult to like any of the hard-boiled characters, but the movie is filmed with a genuine feel for the game, and acted with great vivacity and style.

North Dallas Forty is strong material: a must for the game’s fans and is a fine dramatic-comedic look at life on the touchdown line.

Also in the cast are Mac Davis, Charles Durning, Dayle Haddon, Bo Swenson, G D Spradlin, Steve Forrest, Dabney Coleman, and John Matuszak.

The screenplay is by Ted Kotcheff, Peter Gent and the film’s producer Frank Yablans.

As head of Paramount, Frank Yablans oversaw the release and marketing of The Godfather (1972), The Godfather Part II (1974), and Chinatown (1974). He was executive producer of Silver Streak (1976), The Other Side of Midnight (1977) and Congo (1995), and produced and adapted the screenplays for North Dallas Forty (1979) and Mommie Dearest (1981).

North Dallas Forty is directed by Ted Kotcheff, runs 119 minutes, is released by Paramount Pictures, is written by Frank Yablans, Ted Kotcheff and Peter Gent, is shot in widescreen by Paul Lohmann, is produced by Frank Yablans, and is scored by John Scott.

© Derek Winnert 2023 – Classic Movie Review 12,768

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