Too many good movies to count. Some of my all-time favorites. What a storyteller. I’ve seen his stage productions, too. (In August, 2001, I slept outside – in Central Park, no less – to get free tickets to Mike Nichols’ production of The Seagull. I wrote up that unforgettable experience here.)
This is the clip I went to this morning when I first heard the sad news that he had died at the age of 83. It is my favorite Nichols & May sketch. (You can read an excerpt from a New Yorker essay on Nichols and May here.)
The sketch below is 10 minutes long. Submit to it. It is a tour de force of acting and behavior.
Favorite films? My God. So many.
Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
The Graduate
Carnal Knowledge
Catch-22
Silkwood
Working Girl
Postcards From the Edge (“I don’t have a generation.” “Then I think you should get one.”)
The Birdcage
Angels in America
The precious Gilda Live
He helped clarify for me, very early on, what storytelling meant, what it looked like, and he also taught me a lot about style. But one of the reasons I cherish his movies so much is because of the performances of the actors in them. He gave actors so much space. He cast brilliantly, then got out of the way.
I miss him already.
Sheila –
That’s such an impressive list of films. Would you say he had a particular style or particular themes? I don’t see something in common beyond telling good stories and liking or respecting the characters in them. Maybe a basic humanity and a skillful way of framing a story. What are your thoughts?
And that’s not even mentioning his stellar career directing stage productions. He did Neil Simon plays in the 60s, smash-hits, he just did Death of a Salesman on Broadway with Philip Seymour Hoffman – he had a Midas touch – especially with comedic material!
I don’t think looking at Mike Nichols’ career from the “auteur” point of view reveals much. I suppose you could say he was interested in the battle of the sexes – which you can see in his first two films (Virginia Woolf and The Graduate – I mean, those were his FIRST TWO FILMS – he wasn’t even 30 years old yet!!) – as well as Carnal Knowledge and Closer. His work with Elaine May was often in that arena as well. But that doesn’t really hold up.
I see him as an old-school old-fashioned showman. He liked HITS. And so he was drawn to material that would be a HIT. Not always, there are some clunkers – but I’m sure he went into most everything thinking it would be a hit. He was an extremely driven man. (I just posted a link to my friend Dan’s obituary – it’s wonderful).
He liked making vehicles for movie stars he loved – the biggest stars of his/our day. Big movie stars like Meryl Streep trusted him. And Harrison Ford trusted him enough to take the “girlfriend” part in Working Girl. He was in his 20s when he directed Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor. That takes a certain kind of balls. He always had that.
But I think, in general, more than being drawn to a specific topic (which we can certainly say about directors like Sidney Lumet or Scorsese) he was drawn to material that would appeal to a mainstream audience. he had a feel for it. He had an uncanny ear for comedy. He escaped the Holocaust as a child. He was GOING to be a success.
Oh – and it’s interesting that you mention “style” – I wrote a piece about Mike Nichols’ style a while back. He’s often been accused of not really having a style. Or that his style changes from picture to picture. (This accusation is thrown around by critics who have never been in show business themselves, I imagine. Of course his style should change from picture to picture. What works for Carnal Knowledge will not work for Postcards From the Edge. Sheesh!!)
I think he has a very classical style – nothing too flashy – or if it’s flashy it’s for a joke (like the huge long tracking shot that makes up the opening of Postcards – it’s a trompe l’oeil – we think we are watching something real, we think we are watching Meryl Streep, of all people, give a very bad performance – how can this be?? – until finally it is revealed that she is an actress, coked out of her mind, shooting a fictional movie.) Nichols used whatever style was appropriate to the material. The Graduate was all self-conscious and chilly – blues and greens – the alienation of an entire generation in every single frame. It’s a very very lonely movie. Carnal Knowledge is extremely deliberate, with soft browns and camel colors, but the entire world is breaking apart underneath those soft tones. He films that one like a surgeon. The closeup of Candice Bergen laughing uproariously as Jack Nicholson and Art Garfunkel sit offscreen vying for her attention is one of my favorite Mike Nichols directed scenes.
Nichols’ style was in service to the story. He didn’t dominate his story with his own personal style – like, say, Scorsese does. But he knew how to set up a shot, and he knew how to reveal information, and he also knew (maybe from stage experience) how to just let the events unfold. You can see that so clearly in Virginia Woolf.
His most successful movies play like bats out of hell. There’s no fat on them. He moves shit along.
He also could be brutal. I heard a story from an actress who was cast in one of his stage productions, I can’t remember which one. Nichols had the cast gathered on the stage on the first day of rehearsal – and he was talking about the play, and what he envisioned for the production, the set, the play, it was introductory remarks, and a young actress (this was her first big job) said something like, “So in that scene at the end, where I come on – will the sight lines be a problem?” Or something like that – she asked about how she would be seen in her final big moment, if the audience would be able to see her. Nichols didn’t answer the question, there was a slightly awkward moment in the group, the conversation moved on, and the actress who told me the story said that she saw Nichols lean over to the stage manager and say privately, “Fire her.”
She was fired later that day.
I can understand why he fired her, by the way.
But he could be QUITE scary.
“snif” this makes me sad. Mike Nichols! I went to IMDB to get a full list of movies and I have seen almost all of them and loved or at least really enjoyed them all. The women in these movies stand out for their complexity, humour, and partnerships. I remember SO much from so many of these films; little details and large full performances, I have used dialogue from these movies as shorthand; Sigourney Weaver’s character in Working Girl scared the crap out of me… ah, just too much! Well, I am grateful he did what he did while he was around. I will toast to him tonight.
Heather – I know – so many of those movies are movies I watch all the time, continue to watch, and some (like Postcards) I can quote from beginning to end.
“Your problem is you want instant gratification.”
“Instant gratification takes too long.”
He was a GREAT director of women. I loved Closer, too – which was extremely bleak and chilly – in the Carnal Love wheelhouse of Nichols’ psyche. Pretty brutal and unblinking – and four terrific performances!
And finally: one day at around 1 in the afternoon, I was walking across town on 58th Street – I can’t remember why. It took me by the famed Russian Tea Room, with its red awnings and revolving doors. It was a wintry afternoon – and as I walked by, the revolving doors swooshed around revealing Mike Nichols and Diane Sawyer – in the middle of the day – clearly tipsy – giddy with tipsiness – laughing and talking, both too tall and glamorous to be anything other than what they were: total A-list celebrities. I mean, even if you didn’t recognize them, you’d be like, “Who are THEY?” A car was waiting for them, and still jabbering away, having had 3 Bloody Marys apiece, I’m thinking, piled themselves into the car and roared off.
Whenever I think of their long relationship, that’s the moment I think of. It was a beautiful glimpse.
Sheila The stories you told about Mike Nichols in the comments alone, just amazing. His style,”fire her” (yikes!) how they looked on the street, (great sighting!) glamorous, of course. His drive and ambition. He did so much, and such great work! What a mystery he was too, the best always are. He doesn’t fit into certain box. I always wanted to work on Virginia Woolf but I don’t know how I would do that outside of an acting class or just for the sheer fun of it because that movie is perfection. I didn’t know MN was only in his twenties!
Can you imagine having to direct Taylor and Burton when it’s your first film?? Richard Burton wrote in his diary (have you read them yet??):
“Aug 20 71 Last man to give me direction which I found interesting & followable & enthrallingly brilliant was Mike Nichols.”
I agree that the best are mysterious. He worked because he liked working and he worked for all kinds of reasons. And how awesome is it that he was also part of Nichols & May – that that is part of his legacy.
Have you seen May’s tribute speech to him at his AFI Award? It is SO funny. Let me track it down and I’ll post it.
What a talent, what a great career!
Here is Elaine May’s tribute speech to Nichols!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AgjBxiDmJyU
The audience (including him) is basically rendered useless by the end of it, everyone is laughing so hard.
To anyone reading: favorite Mike Nichols movie??
I have a hard time with that. Postcards From the Edge is a constant for me. The Graduate continues to be prophetic, and certainly a defining moment in American cinema. I love Silkwood. Carnal Knowledge is brilliant. The Birdcage is hilarious and sweet. I love Catch-22 although it was a bomb at the time.
Would to hear others’ thoughts.
It’s hard to call Carnal Knowledge a “favorite” given the hell where Jack Nicholson’s character ends up: a hell he furnished completely on his own. For me, it is his most impactful movie.
Totally. And that SCENE with Ann Margret in the bedroom. Holy mackerel.
Sheila: I would say The Graduate and second Who’s afraid of Virginia Woolf. I love Silkwood too. And Carnal Knowledge. I think I’m going to rent Postcards from the Edge today. I know I saw it, but I’m blanking on it and forgetting a lot of it.
Oh man, it’s so much fun!! Definitely lighter fare than some of his other movies – but God, it’s entertaining.
“You could have had Joan Crawford for a mother. Or Lana Turner.”
“Joan? Lana? These are the options?”
And Silkwood. Kurt Russell. Good Lorf.
It’s an impressive list of films that he directed. If I had to find a common denominator, I’d say in each film he showed a pretty particular viewpoint on the human condition. He seems to view humans as deeply flawed, yet also treats his characters with tremendous understanding, if not outright compassion.
He is not afraid of lead characters that don’t fit the normal “Hollywood” types, and shows those characters in three dimensional performances that are “warts and all” showcases. As you mentioned Sheila, he gets GREAT performances from his actors by letting them have space. And he does this in comedies and drams. AND, as you say, he is interested in hits, and made hits.
It’s not easy to make “intelligent” movies that appeal to the masses, but Nichols did. It’s quite a feat actually.
I love this personal quote of his from IMDB:
“I love to take actors to a place where they open a vein. That’s the job. The key is that I make it safe for them to open the vein”
Silkwood to me is his best, but so many good ones. I love the opening shot of Working Girl. And I’m a huge Postcards fan too. How about the “sing-off”?! Great director.
And the Elaine May speech, wow!
“And little Igor said: How can I explain to dinner guests that Relative time=Distance over Speed without sounding pedantic?”
Hahaha. Great clip.
Todd – Yes, he is very much interested in how human beings are, what they do to one another. He came and spoke at my school and he said something I’ll never forget:
When he sits down to make a movie and thinks about the characters and the situations, he asks himself the question: “What is this REALLY like?” Almost like a surgeon. He takes nothing at face value. He has to cut under the skin to see what is REALLY going on. That’s why I think some people find him a bit … chilly. But I think that’s just a realistic outlook on human beings and who we are and how we act sometimes. He’s willing to ask the question “What is this REALLY like?”
If you have a second, look up Nora Ephron’s speech at the same AFI event. It’s hilarious. He loved funny people. Funny women, especially. I mean, think of the opportunities he gave to some people – that he would cast Cher in Silkwood. That was a bold bold choice, and people snickered about it. Until they saw what she did with the role. He had a real eye.
I didn’t realize Mike Nichols did Closer. That was my first movie after I got to Korea. I was so transfixed by it, I went back and saw it again the next night.
SUCH a good acting movie. LOVE all of those performances.
Hey Sheila I happened on your site and read your long love letter to Mike. I did Biloxi Blues with him as my first film and wrote on me Facebook page and blog about him. Perhaps it’s worth a read for you. I have so many stories about him, he was a massive influence on me. Clearly you cared about him, meeting and working with him was like a class on how to do everything. What he was really was smarter than everyone, ever. Really. He just had a mind that held and used everything. Your bolg and site are well done.
Markus
Markus – wow, how great to hear from you, and thanks so much! I will definitely check out your site. Would love to hear your anecdotes!
Thanks again!