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An illuminating biographical portrait of two intensely driven actors and their sometimes-contentious, ultimately rewarding relationship, A Father... a Son... Once Upon a Time in Hollywood profiles Kirk and Michael Douglas individually and collectively. At the film's core are intimate conversations between the two; these frank, poignant discussions touch on the highs and lows of both lives, as well as the ironic twists and turns in their own relationship.
Kirk and Michael's freewheeling conversations expose long-simmering rifts between these two ambitious, multi-talented entertainers, including a little-known dispute over the casting of 1975's Oscar®-winning Best Picture One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. Kirk starred in the stage version and at one point even owned the film rights to Ken Kesey's groundbreaking novel, but after Michael took over as producer, Jack Nicholson landed the starring role, for which he won an Oscar®. The documentary also takes an honest look at Kirk's legendary womanizing and Michael's alcohol use, and the toll they took on those closest to them.
Adding depth to the profile are numerous clips from both actors' films, as well as insights from family members and friends, including: Kirk's other sons Peter Douglas and Joel Douglas (both producers), Kirk's wife of 50 years, Anne Douglas; Kirk's ex-wife (and Michael's mother) Diana Douglas; Kirk's sister Fritzi Becker; Michael's wife Catherine Zeta-Jones; former MPAA president & CEO Jack Valenti; former Paramount chairman & CEO Sherry Lansing; actors Karl Malden and Kathleen Turner; producer George Schlatter; writer Kenny Solmes; Rolling Stone publisher Jann Wenner and critic Peter Travers; and artist Gerard Hagerty.
A true movie legend, Kirk Douglas was the first actor to buck Hollywood's studio system by producing his own films. He hired young Stanley Kubrick to direct him in 1957's Paths of Glory and 1960's Spartacus, and defied the establishment by crediting blacklisted writer Dalton Trumbo in Spartacus' onscreen credits. Oscar®-nominated as Best Actor for 1949's Champion, 1952's The Bad and the Beautiful and 1956's Lust for Life, he won an honorary Oscar® in 1996 for "50 years as a creative and moral force in the motion-picture community." Among his 86 films: 1957's Gunfight at the OK Corral, 1952's The Big Sky, 1950's Young Man with a Horn, 1954's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and 1986's Tough Guys.
Michael Douglas forged his career in the shadow of his father, first as a TV actor in the '70s series The Streets of San Francisco and then as a producer, starting with One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. He went on to produce and star in such hits as 1976's The China Syndrome and 1984's Romancing the Stone; as a producer he scored with 1990's Flatliners, 1997's Face/Off and 1997's The Rainmaker. He won a Best Actor Oscar® for his role as Gordon Gekko in 1987's Wall Street, also starring in 1987's Fatal Attraction, 1992's Basic Instinct, 1993's Falling Down, 1994's Disclosure, 1995's The American President, 2000's Wonder Boys and 2000's Traffic.
A Father... a Son... Once Upon a Time in Hollywood was directed by Lee Grant and produced by Joseph Feury. The two also directed and produced (respectively) the 1986 Academy Award®-winning feature documentary Down and Out in America for HBO. In addition to directing nearly 60 TV and feature films, Lee Grant also won a DGA Award for the drama Nobody's Child. Grant is a prolific actress who won a Supporting Actress Oscar® for the 1976 comedy Shampoo and was nominated for three other films, including 1976's Voyage of the Damned, 1970's The Landlord and 1951's Detective Story (starring Kirk Douglas).
CREDITS: Directed by Lee Grant; Produced by Lee Grant and Joseph Feury; co-produced by Roberta Morris Purdee; executive producer, Allen Burry; director of photography, Hart Perry; edited by Milton M. Ginsberg; original score by John Califra.
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