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First name that came to me was Jeff Lynne, the genius behind the Electric Light Orchestra, as well as member of the Traveling Wilburys, produced the Beatles Anthology project, as well as writing and producing songs for dozens of artists. Knew or knows everyone in the business.
Hope to see him again this Fall…..calling America
There have been a lot of films relating to the Beatles and Elvis as well as the likes of Sid Vicious and Nancy Spungen, Elton John, Freddie Mercury, Ian Curtis, Amy Winehouse etc.
They are currently in the process of making one about The Who's drummer Keith Moon, and I suppose the likes of Jimi Hendrix, David Bowie, Marc Bolan, Kurt Cobain etc would also be interesting.
In terms of movie stars, I think Richard Burton would be an interesting choice, whilst in terms of fascinating historical figures the likes of figures as diverse as George Orwell, Arthur C. Clarke, Aleister Crowley, Karl Marx, William Blake, Alexander Pope, Edgar Allan Poe, H. G. Wells etc would all be quite interesting.
Last edited by Brave New World; 04-26-2024 at 12:34 PM..
JIM CROCE
If there was ever a rags to riches love story cut short by heart-rending tragedy, it is the life story of Jim Croce.
Great choice! I saw a documentary about him on PBS maybe twenty years ago, and there was a lot more to him than "Time in a Bottle" and "I Got a Name" and his other songs.
Somewhat similarly, Harry Chapin. I won't say that a lot of his story songs are autobiographical--I doubt very much that he drove a truck into Scranton, Pennsylvania, lost control, and spilled 30,000 pounds of bananas all over Scranton, for example--but he obviously met a lot of people with a lot of different experiences that must have inspired him. I'd love to know the story behind "Taxi" and "Sequel," where it came from, and who Sue was; and where he got the idea for "Better Place to Be." I wouldn't be surprised at all to hear that he was in that early morning barroom in Watertown, and overheard a conversation between the little midnight watchman and the big ol' friendly waitress.
One that really interests me would be Wolfman Jack. One of America's best-known radio on-air hosts in his day, he was the one who set up 500,000 watt transmitters in Mexico, so he could broadcast to all of the United States and parts of Canada (the FCC only allowed 50,000 watts from American transmitters). Then, interest in him was revived by his appearance in the movie American Graffiti, and he again hosted a syndicated radio show after, bringing him to a new generation of fans.
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Originally Posted by ChevySpoons
Great choice! I saw a documentary about him on PBS maybe twenty years ago, and there was a lot more to him than "Time in a Bottle" and "I Got a Name" and his other songs.
Somewhat similarly, Harry Chapin. I won't say that a lot of his story songs are autobiographical--I doubt very much that he drove a truck into Scranton, Pennsylvania, lost control, and spilled 30,000 pounds of bananas all over Scranton, for example--but he obviously met a lot of people with a lot of different experiences that must have inspired him. I'd love to know the story behind "Taxi" and "Sequel," where it came from, and who Sue was; and where he got the idea for "Better Place to Be." I wouldn't be surprised at all to hear that he was in that early morning barroom in Watertown, and overheard a conversation between the little midnight watchman and the big ol' friendly waitress.
One that really interests me would be Wolfman Jack. One of America's best-known radio on-air hosts in his day, he was the one who set up 500,000 watt transmitters in Mexico, so he could broadcast to all of the United States and parts of Canada (the FCC only allowed 50,000 watts from American transmitters). Then, interest in him was revived by his appearance in the movie American Graffiti, and he again hosted a syndicated radio show after, bringing him to a new generation of fans.
I'm totally on board with these choices. Harry Chapin was arguably the greatest singer/storyteller in the American lexicon. And Wolfman Jack was IMO the penultimate promoter of pop music in the 50's and 60's, only outweighed by Dick Clark in this arena. Come to think of it, Dick Clark would be a pretty good biopic as well.
Agree with many mentioned and would also agree as Harrychickpea mentioned it can obviously muddy the waters on historical perspective. I think the best types of these films especially those with lots of material to cover would best be treated as TV miniseries or simply focus on a part of their life much like Martin Scorsese did with Howard Hughes and focused on the making of the film Hell's Angels from late 1920s to early 40's.
I'm not a big fan of biopics for a couple of reasons - when you put one in front of the population, they start to confuse it with reality. As someone who tries to understand history, that becomes so much static and a muck to wade through in trying to understand the real individual. Secondly, these are by definition biased views of a person, where the earned fame is used as a source of income for someone else.
That said, a real biopic of Vlad the Impaler could be interesting.
That's very true. Both The Buddy Holly Story and A Beautiful Mind were mostly fabrications. Good movies, but not even close to the factual truth.
That's very true. Both The Buddy Holly Story and A Beautiful Mind were mostly fabrications. Good movies, but not even close to the factual truth.
I still haven't seen A BEAUTIFUL MIND, but yes, THE BUDDY HOLLY STORY is a great movie. More drama than fact? Yes. Absolutely.
Biopics are hard to do well. On the one hand, a strict adherence to all the facts doesn't always make for good drama, and a movie --- as opposed to a documentary --- has to succeed as a drama or it will fail the audience. On the other hand, if you stray too far into outright fanciful fiction, the audience might cry foul. It's hard to do well.
The movie MICHAEL COLLINS is a great movie. But accurate history? Nope. It isn't the outright fabrication that movies like BRAVEHEART or TOMBSTONE are (both still great movies, by the way), but it certainly isn't a completely historically accurate tale of Michael Collins.
When it comes to biopics, if I am entertained, I'm happy. As long as it isn't completely changing the real person, I'm not going to cry too much.
But Buddy Holly would be a great choice. THE BUDDY HOLLY STORY and documentaries have largely focused on his music, which makes sense. I'd love to see a movie that concentrated more on his life and particularly his relationship with his wife MarÃa Elena Holly (Santiago).
We definitely need one on SAM HOUSTON and why he retreated to what would become the Republic of Texas in the first place.
Especially, since he he was being groomed to be a President of the United States.
That's the story- WHY he had to head to Texas when he had such a notable life before that decision.
Then he led the Texian Army to a Victory over the newly independent Mexico, became the first President of the Republic of Texas, and then led helped with their entry into the United States.
There are some that wanted the Republic of Texas to expand West, all the way to California.
Had that happened Same Houston would easily be viewed as George Washington 2.0.
To this day, is there another US Politician, with this resume:
Veteran of the War of 1812
Governor of Tennessee
Congressman, from Tennessee
General of the Texian Army
President of the Republic of Texas
Governor of Texas
Senator, from Texas
US Presidential Candidate (1856 & 1860) as an anti-secession candidate from the South. A stance which got him removed from his Texas Governor's role.
I always thought a biopic of Stephanie St. Clair should have been made by now. Known as the "Queen of Harlem," St. Clair established the largest numbers operation in New York City and fought a war against Dutch Schultz. If you've ever seen the movie HOODLUM with Laurence Fishburn, St. Clair is depicted as some frightened damsel when in reality she was pretty ruthless.
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