Winter Kills (1979)

Stuart's Nite

Via William Richart's site:

Helming his own adaptation of Richard ("The Manchurian Candidate"; "Prizzi's Honor") Condon's novel, Richert crafted a jet black comedy starring Jeff Bridges as the younger brother of an assassinated president who becomes embroiled in a mind-boggling conspiracy as he searches for the real assassin. Though "Winter Kills" was his first fiction feature as a director (having previously helmed several "cinema verite" documentaries), Richert managed to round up an extraordinary cast in support of Bridges including John Huston as the patriarch power broker, Anthony Perkins, Toshiro Mifune, Sterling Hayden, Eli Wallach, Dorothy Malone and Elizabeth Taylor. Not surprisingly, his powers of persuasion are legendary.

Production began in 1976 and screeched to a halt a few weeks before completion when union representatives arrived on the set. "Winter Kills" was shut down for non-payment of salaries. MGM impounded the negative and the production went into bankruptcy. A bad situation became surreal as one of the neophyte producers was found dead in his apartment, handcuffed and shot through the head, while the other was arrested for drug smuggling as part of the biggest marijuana bust in California history. The making of the film had become every bit as dark, convoluted and absurd as its plot.

While struggling to raise money to complete "Winter Kills", Richert scripted (from a Larry Cohen story) and directed another off-beat satire starring Jeff Bridges, "The American Success Company/American Success/Success" (1979). The targets were capitalism and machismo as Bridges portrayed a rich and passive young man who spices up his life by developing an alternate persona. Made in Munich with German tax shelter money, the film was barely released to mixed reviews. Deemed quite funny but uneven, "The American Success Company" has its share of ardent admirers including Steven Spielberg who owns a print that he shows to friends.

Meanwhile, Richert convinced Avco-Embassy to put up the money for two more weeks of shooting on "Winter Kills". He reassembled the necessary cast members and finally finished the film in late 1978. The $6 million budget had inflated to $8 million but many creditors were never paid. "Winter Kills" was released briefly in 1979 to mostly perplexed reviews and quickly pulled by the studio in favor of a less estimable flop, "Goldengirl", with Susan Anton. In contrast, the reputation of Richert's film has only grown over the years.

In 1980, Richert and former studio exec Claire Townsend formed the Invisible Studio, an unorthodox distribution company which re-released "The American Success Story" as "American Success" in 1981 (the title was later shortened to "Success"). "Winter Kills" was revived, re-edited and re-released with its original ending restored in 1983.