Most well-known for playing supernatural-style “heavies” in movies such as Manhunter and Robocop 2, he got his start in the 1960s experimental theatre scene in New York City, and in many ways he’s never really left that scene. He established his theatre company in 1983, where he developed projects, produced plays, etc. That’s the background for his first feature film, a two-hander called What Happened Was… First developed as a play at his theatre company, where he and Karen Sillas played the two roles, he then shot it very soon after. What Happened Was… is one of the great films about loneliness (and that’s a very short list!)
In 2019 I wrote about What Happened Was… – in DEPTH – for my column at Film Comment.
What Happened Was… came out in 1994, won a couple of pretty big awards (at Sundance and elsewhere) and then lapsed into cultural obscurity mainly because it was never released on DVD. All that changed last year. Oscilloscope stepped in and supervised a restoration of the film, and then released it (virtually), with a DVD/Blu release following in June. More info here. I was tapped to write the booklet essay – not a repeat of the Film Comment piece, but another one. That’s included with the release.
And after THAT, I was honored to be asked to interview Karen and Tom for the Film Forum’s premiere (virtually) of the restored film. I’d been obsessed with this film and these two performances for 20+ years and I finally got to ask everything I wanted to ask. The walls/curtains DID change color over the course of the film. Oh my God!!
It’s been an exciting time to be a fan of the film! This whole thing was a major moment for me, as a critic – especially since it wasn’t my intention (consciously) to bring the film back into the public’s consciousness – or, no, I DID want to highlight this special film – but I had no ulterior motive. But it felt like the piece started a conversation that then led up to what happened next. In fact, Noonan himself told me my piece was a huge part of why the film returned and was restored. So I’m proud of that.
Tom Noonan’s career has been diverse and fascinating and What Happened Was… is just a small part of it, but this is an important film, one of my favorites, and I’m so excited to have lived long enough to watch it come back into the landscape, and be widely available so more people can discover it.
New Oscilloscope trailer for the film: the trailer back in 1994 made it look like a romantic comedy/erotic thriller – complete category errors. This is more like it:
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Such a good movie. I’m glad I saw your recommendation and thought, “Hey, I have the house to myself tonight and I need something to watch….”
I’m so glad to hear that! It’s been basically un-seeable for almost 20 years. a travesty. Unless you have a VCR, which I do.
There are so many “lost” movies – not just old movies, silents or 30s movies – but in general. They’re still out there but they haven[t made the transition to streaming (which is the only thing that counts now – more’s the pity) – or, like What Happened Was – not even to DVD. so it just didn’t upgrade. the mid-90s movies are a huge casualty – everything was switching to DVD and lots of little movies didn’t make it.
Super happy this one is out there now!
love Tom Noonan’s cameo in Mystery Train. what a creep!
He plays such a great creep!
If you see What Happened Was … it’s kind of the private life of a person who probably is considered a creep out in the real world. It’s so honest, I can barely look at him in it.