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Richard Lester | |
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.jpg) Lester in 2014 | |
| Born | Richard Lester Liebman (1932-01-19)January 19, 1932 (age 93) Philadelphia,Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Other names | Dick Lester |
| Education | University of Pennsylvania (BA) |
| Occupation | Film director |
| Years active | 1959–2006 |
| Known for | |
| Spouse | [1] |
| Children | 1[2] |
Richard Lester Liebman (born January 19, 1932) is an American retired film director, who spent the majority of his professional life in theUnited Kingdom. He is known for the fast-paced, flamboyant directing he brought to his comedy films, most notablythe Beatles' vehiclesA Hard Day's Night (1964) andHelp! (1965), andThe Knack ...and How to Get It (1965).
Originally fromPhiladelphia, Lester began his career directing television, moving to the United Kingdom in the mid-1950s. He collaborated withPeter Sellers andSpike Milligan, onThe Goon Show andThe Running Jumping & Standing Still Film. After breaking into film directing through his Beatles collaborations, he helmed various productions including thesuperhero filmsSuperman II (1980) andSuperman III (1983),[3]A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1966),Petulia (1968),The Three Musketeers (1973) and its two sequels, as well asRobin and Marian (1976), andButch and Sundance: The Early Days (1979).
A two-timeBAFTA Award nominee, Lester is an Honorary Associate ofLondon Film School[4] and aBFI Fellow. According to theBritish Film Institute, "if any single director can encapsulate the popular image of Britain in theSwinging Sixties, then it is probably Richard Lester. With his use of flamboyant cinematic devices and liking for zany humour, he captured the vitality, and sometimes the triviality, of the period more vividly than any other director."[5]
Richard Lester Liebman was born on January 19, 1932, to a Jewish family inPhiladelphia.[6][7][8] Achild prodigy, he graduated from theWilliam Penn Charter School, aQuaker school in Philadelphia, and began studies at theUniversity of Pennsylvania[9][10] at the age of 15, graduating with a degree in clinical psychology in 1951.[8][11]
Lester started in television in 1950, working as a stage hand, floor manager, assistant director, and eventually a director in less than a year, because no one else was around who knew how to do the work.[2]
Lester was the music director onAction in the Afternoon, an American western television series that aired live on CBS from February 2, 1953, to January 29, 1954. The series originated from the studios and back lot of CBS'sWCAU-TV, which was then in Philadelphia; it was broadcast Monday through Friday regardless of the weather. The half-hour series aired variously at 3:30 pm or 4:00 pm, throughout its run.[12]
In May 1955, after a period spent busking around continental Europe,[11] Lester moved to London and began work as a director in television, working for the low-budget producersthe Danziger Brothers on episodes ofMark Saber, a half-hour detective series.[8]
He worked as a writer onCurtains for Harry (1955)[13] and for a few weeks,The Barris Beat (1956).[14]
A variety show he produced caught the eye ofPeter Sellers, who enlisted Lester's help in translatingThe Goon Show to television asThe Idiot Weekly, Price 2d (1956). It was a hit as were two follow-up shows:A Show Called Fred (1956) andSon of Fred (1956).[2][15][16]
Lester recalled thatA Show Called Fred was "broadcast live and that's why I went into film directing where you can do a second take!"[17]
He wrote and directed episodes of the TV seriesAfter Hours (1958).[18]
Lester received acclaim withThe Running Jumping & Standing Still Film (1959), a short film he made withSpike Milligan andPeter Sellers.[8] He did another short titledThe Sound of Jazz (1959).
His first feature as director wasIt's Trad, Dad! (1962),[19] a low-budget musical.[20] His second wasThe Mouse on the Moon (1963), produced byWalter Shenson forUnited Artists starringMargaret Rutherford, a sequel toThe Mouse That Roared (1959).[21] He returned to TV, directing episodes ofRoom at the Bottom (1964).[22]
The Running Jumping & Standing Still Film was a favourite ofthe Beatles, particularlyJohn Lennon. When the band members were contracted to make a feature film, they chose Lester from a list of possible directors.A Hard Day's Night (1964) showed an exaggerated and simplified version of the Beatles' characters and proved to be an effective marketing tool. Many of its stylistic innovations survive as the forerunner of music videos; in particular, the multi-angle filming of a live performance. Lester was sent an award from MTV as "Father of the Music Video".[23]
A Hard Day's Night was a huge critical and commercial success. Lester then directed the first of several quintessential "swinging" films, the sex comedyThe Knack... and How to Get It (1965). It was the first of three of his films with actorMichael Crawford, and the first out of four credited collaborations with screenwriterCharles Wood. The film won thePalme d'Or at theCannes Film Festival.[24]
Lester followedThe Knack... and How to Get It with the Beatles filmHelp! (1965).[25] A spoof of the popularJames Bond spy thrillers, it was the second collaboration with screenwriter Charles Wood and another huge commercial success. Lester received a Hollywood offer to direct the film adaptation ofA Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1966).[8]
He then made the darkly surreal,satirical anti-war movieHow I Won the War (1967) co-starring Crawford and Lennon, which Lester referred to as an "anti-anti-war movie". He explained that anti-war movies still took the concept of war seriously, contrasting "bad"war crimes with wars fought for "good" causes like the liberation fromNazism or, at that time,Communism, whereas with screenwriter Charles Wood, Lester set out to show war as fundamentally opposed to humanity.[citation needed] Although set in World War II, the film serves as an oblique reference to the Vietnam War, and at one point, breaking thefourth wall, references this directly.
He madePetulia (1968) withJulie Christie andGeorge C. Scott, and a score byJohn Barry (who had also scoredThe Knack).[26] He returned to his anti-war theme with the post-apocalyptic black comedyThe Bed Sitting Room (1969),[27] based on a play by Spike Milligan andJohn Antrobus.[28] The screenplay was the fourth credited collaboration between Lester and Charles Wood, but Wood provided uncredited production rewrites for more films of Lester.
How I Won the War andBed Sitting Room performed poorly at the box office; Lester found himself unable to raise funds for a series of projects, including an adaptation of theFlashman novels.[29]
Lester's career revived when he was hired byAlexander andIlya Salkind to do a version ofThe Three Musketeers (1973), based on a script byGeorge MacDonald Fraser. The producers decided to split the first film into two after principal photography was completed, the second titledThe Four Musketeers (1974). Many of the cast principals complained to the Salkinds, stating that they were only contracted to make one film, and they arrived at an agreement to avoid attorneys' fees.[30] Both movies were critically and commercially successful.[31]
He was called in at the last minute as a replacement director onJuggernaut (1974), a thriller set on a cruise liner. The success of theMusketeers films enabled Lester to raise the finances forRoyal Flash (1975), based on the second of theFlashman novels byGeorge MacDonald Fraser. Lester followedRoyal Flash withRobin and Marian (1976) which was adapted from a script byJames Goldman and starredSean Connery andAudrey Hepburn. He then madeThe Ritz (1976) which was based on a play byTerrence McNally.[31]
Lester also directedButch and Sundance: The Early Days (1979) andCuba (1979) with Connery; neither film was successful commercially.[8]
Lester's next film,Superman II, was a huge success. Production onSuperman II began beforeSuperman was completed, and had to be halted to concentrate on getting the first movie completed. After the first film was released in late 1978, the Salkinds went back into production onSuperman II without informingSuperman directorRichard Donner and placed Lester behind the camera to complete the remaining 25 percent of the film. Although Donner had shot 75 percent, a majority of what was planned for the film, much of his footage was jettisoned or reshot during Lester's time on the project.[32]
Gene Hackman, who playedLex Luthor, refused to return for the reshoots, so Lester instead used abody double to insert the character into new scenes, as well as a voice impersonator to record additional dialogues and occasionally loop Luthor's lines onto footage of Hackman shot by Donner.[33] Some of Donner's original footage was integrated into television versions of the film. In November 2006, Donner's footage was re-edited intoSuperman II: The Richard Donner Cut, consisting primarily of his footage with Lester's footage used only for scenes not shot during Donner's principal photography of the movie.[32]
Richard Lester directedSuperman III (1983), but this third installment was not as well received as its predecessors.[34] Nonetheless, it was considered a box office success, ranking 14th in that year's worldwide box office.[35]
In 1984, Lester directed the comedyFinders Keepers, starringMichael O'Keefe,Louis Gossett Jr., andBeverly D'Angelo.[36] It had a domestic total gross of $1,467,396.[37] The film generally received good reviews.[38][39][40][41][42][43] Richard Freedman in his review published inThe Montana Standard found the film to be "wonderfully wacky" and concluded that "a movie consisting almost entirely of pratfalls and sight gags can wear you down after a while, but everybody involved inFinders Keepers ensures, that this is one comedy that makes nobody in the audience a loser or a weeper."[44]
In 1988, he reunited most of theThree Musketeers cast to filmThe Return of the Musketeers, released the following year. During filming in Spain, actorRoy Kinnear, a close friend of Lester, died after falling from a horse. Lester finished the film, then retired from directing. He returned only once more to directPaul McCartney's concert filmGet Back (1991).[31]
In 1993, he presentedHollywood U.K., a five-part series on British cinema in the 1960s for the BBC.[45]
DirectorSteven Soderbergh is among many who have called for a reappraisal of Lester's work and influence. He wroteGetting Away with It, published in 1999 about Lester's career;[46] the book consists of interviews with Lester.
In 2012, theBritish Film Institute awarded Lester a Fellowship, the British film industry's highest honour, in recognition of his work. The award was presented in a public ceremony on March 22 at the National Film Theatre, and was followed by a screening of Lester'sRobin and Marian. The citation for his fellowship recognises that "Richard Lester has created a unique body of work which has enriched the lives of millions with his brilliantly surreal humour and innovative style. Although born in the US, he has lived inBritain for 60 years and created some of the most enduring and influential creations of British cinema."[47]
In Soderbergh's bookGetting Away with It, Lester reveals that he is a committed atheist and debates with Soderbergh (who was then an agnostic), largely based on the arguments ofRichard Dawkins.[46] While Lester studied at the University of Pennsylvania, he was a member of the Beta Rho Chapter of theSigma Nu fraternity.[48]
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