{"id":161137,"date":"2025-09-02T09:00:28","date_gmt":"2025-09-02T13:00:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/?p=161137"},"modified":"2026-02-15T13:43:04","modified_gmt":"2026-02-15T18:43:04","slug":"its-hal-ashbys-birthday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/?p=161137","title":{"rendered":"&#8220;Reach out, take a chance, get hurt even, play as well as you can.\u201d &#8212; Hal Ashby"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/dgaq1002_books_halashbyb.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-161140\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/dgaq1002_books_halashbyb.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/dgaq1002_books_halashbyb-200x113.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/dgaq1002_books_halashbyb-400x225.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/dgaq1002_books_halashbyb-100x56.jpg 100w, https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/dgaq1002_books_halashbyb-768x432.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>\nIt&#8217;s his birthday today.<\/p>\n<p>One of the leading lights of the New Hollywood, bringing fresh energy into a landscape that was busy cracking-apart, and holding on tightly to old stable familiar forms. He believed in the crack-up. He helped the crack-up accelerate. <\/p>\n<p>He started out as an editor, and had a very successful career at it. He won an Oscar for <i>In the Heat of the Night<\/i>. He and Jack Nicholson went way back, a relationship that would bear major fruit later on. It&#8217;s all about relationships. He edited many of Norman Jewison&#8217;s films &#8211; <i>The Cincinnati Kid, The Russians are Coming The Russians are Coming<\/i> and <i>The Thomas Crown Affair<\/i> &#8230; and if you think of that last film, think of how much of it had to do with the cuh-ray-zee way it was edited. Case in point: <\/p>\n<p>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/k5bN73OnGmo\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>\nHe directed his first film in 1970 &#8211; the wild rule-breaking <i>The Landlord<\/i>, starring Beau Bridges and Lee Grant. It got great reviews. <\/p>\n<p>His second film was the iconic <i>Harold and Maude<\/i>, a high watermark of all kinds of genres, all mashed together. It&#8217;s hilarious, it&#8217;s tragic, it&#8217;s romantic, it&#8217;s dark. It sacrifices nothing. <\/p>\n<p>\n<img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/tenor.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"498\" height=\"282\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-161141\" \/><\/p>\n<p>\nI came to <i>Harold and Maude<\/i> late. It was one of my dad&#8217;s favorite movies, and he told me about it, and started laughing so hard about all the suicide attempts he could barely continue. I hadn&#8217;t seen the film so I was like &#8230; &#8220;The suicide attempts are &#8230; funny?&#8221; Seeing <i>Harold and Maude<\/i> finally, at the Music Box Theatre in Chicago, is one of my most memorable moviegoing experiences, for multiple reasons, but the movie itself was central. I&#8217;ve written about it before. I had never seen it. I went with a guy I was dating (let&#8217;s be honest: I was stringing him along) &#8211; and Ted, whom we both took acting classes with. The weird thing was: I made a decision that night &#8211; quietly &#8211; to cut the guy I was dating to the curb, and the OTHER guy, whom I didn&#8217;t really know, is still a really good friend of mine. We just Zoomed a couple weeks ago. Weird how things work out. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/?p=5404\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">I wrote about this whole thing here<\/a>, a long ago piece when I used to write personally here. Here it is boiled down: Both men were so excited to see <i>Harold and Maude<\/i> through my eyes. I flipped out, and in the scene where Uncle Victor&#8217;s pinned-up sleeve salutes all on its own, and gets caught in the repeat salute, I started laughing so hard and so loud it actually became a disturbance. <\/p>\n<p>\n<img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/unnamed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"454\" height=\"246\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-161143\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/unnamed.jpg 454w, https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/unnamed-200x108.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/unnamed-400x217.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/unnamed-100x54.jpg 100w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 454px) 100vw, 454px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>\nI couldn&#8217;t stop. Ted was DELIGHTED &#8211; he was totally into how much the scene hit me &#8211; while the guy I was dating &#8220;Shhh&#8221;-ed me. I kicked him to the curb the next time I saw him. You NEVER &#8220;Sh&#8221; me especially when I&#8217;m LAUGHING. There&#8217;s a reason Ted and I are still friends. We went into that night just acquaintances, and we left friends. And we&#8217;re still friends. I credit <i>Harold and Maude<\/i>. And Uncle Victor&#8217;s poor arm. <\/p>\n<p>After <i>Harold and Maude<\/i> Hal Ashby went on a tear of absolutely incredible films, American classics, all. <i>The Last Detail, Shampoo, Bound for Glory, Coming Home<\/i> and <i>Being There<\/i>. WHAT. This was done in just 8 years. Incredible.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/aadb91194e7161f2effa3160cb5c7915.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"419\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-161138\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/aadb91194e7161f2effa3160cb5c7915.jpg 640w, https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/aadb91194e7161f2effa3160cb5c7915-200x131.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/aadb91194e7161f2effa3160cb5c7915-400x262.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/aadb91194e7161f2effa3160cb5c7915-100x65.jpg 100w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><br \/>\n<i>Hal Ashby, Warren Beatty, Robert Towne, talking &#8220;Shampoo&#8221;<\/i><\/p>\n<p>Ashby died at the age of 59, his career was cut tragically short. In a perfect world, he would have had another productive 20, 25 years in him. He was such a singular and unique artist. Pure counter-culture, but with a sharp disciplined eye. He did whatever the fuck he wanted; his filmography is so impressive. He is heavily imitated, to this day.<\/p>\n<p>Hal Ashby was the genuine article: anti-establishment, a hippie, against &#8220;The Man,&#8221; a man who marched to the beat of his own drum, and in so doing he helped transform the industry. This is the way it&#8217;s done. Create work that matters to you. Do what you want to do. Don&#8217;t try to fit in. Fuck that. Make your own way. <\/p>\n<p>For <i>Sight &#038; Sound<\/i>, I <a href=\"https:\/\/www2.bfi.org.uk\/news-opinion\/sight-sound-magazine\/october-2018-issue\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">wrote about the final shot of <i>Shampoo<\/i><\/a>, my favorite final shot in all of cinema: <\/p>\n<p>\n<img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/shampoo_warren_beatty_laszlo_kovacs.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"833\" height=\"453\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-161139\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/shampoo_warren_beatty_laszlo_kovacs.jpg 833w, https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/shampoo_warren_beatty_laszlo_kovacs-200x109.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/shampoo_warren_beatty_laszlo_kovacs-400x218.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/shampoo_warren_beatty_laszlo_kovacs-100x54.jpg 100w, https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/shampoo_warren_beatty_laszlo_kovacs-768x418.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 833px) 100vw, 833px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>\nHal Ashby died way too young. Huge loss. But what an impact!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It&#8217;s his birthday today. One of the leading lights of the New Hollywood, bringing fresh energy into a landscape that was busy cracking-apart, and holding on tightly to old stable familiar forms. He believed in the crack-up. He helped the &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/?p=161137\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[24,4,39],"tags":[1151,1277],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/161137"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=161137"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/161137\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":161145,"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/161137\/revisions\/161145"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=161137"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=161137"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=161137"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}