Paul Bartel (1938 - 2000)
Related: American cinema - director - actor
Titles: Eating Raoul (1982)
Paul Bartel and Mary Woronov in Eating Raoul (1982)
Eating Raoul (1982) - Paul Bartel [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
Biography
Paul Bartel (August 6, 1938-May 13, 2000) was born in Brooklyn, New York, USA. He was an American actor, writer and director well known for his 1982 hit black comedy Eating Raoul, which he wrote, starred in and directed.
He appeared in many films. Some of his other well known appearances were in the 1975 cult film Death Race 2000 which he also directed, and the 1979 cult classic Rock 'n' Roll High School along side "Eating Raoul" co-star Mary Woronov.
He also made many guest appearances in many TV shows. Bartel died May 13, 2000 of a heart attack, following liver cancer surgery two weeks prior. --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Bartel [Jan 2006]
Obituary
Friday May 19 5:33 AM ET
'Raoul' Director Bartel Dies
By Todd McCarthy
CANNES (Variety) - Paul Bartel, the maverick independent director, writer and actor who made such darkly comic films as ''Eating Raoul'' and ``Death Race 2000,'' has died in New York of an apparent heart attack. He was 61.
Bartel, a cosmopolitan figure who for years was a regular at Cannes and other film festivals, had contracted a rare form of liver cancer. After surgery in Boston two weeks ago to remove half of his liver, he was given a hopeful prognosis and felt good, even leaving the hospital early to return to his New York apartment. He died Saturday in his sleep.
Born in 1938 in Brooklyn, Bartel developed an interest in films as a teenager and learned his craft while serving in the U.S. Army Signal Corps and then at the Centro Sperimentale in Rome. In the late 1960s, he made two highly influential shorts, ''Secret Cinema'' and ``Naughty Nurse.'' The former was one of the first works to play with the idea of a person whose actual life is being filmed.
After making his risque first feature, ``Private Parts,'' for producer Gene Corman in 1972, he joined forces with the latter's brother Roger during the heyday of B-movie powerhouse New World Pictures, where he directed the low-budget sci-fi classic ``Death Race 2000'' and car-race film ``Cannonball,'' both starring David Carradine.
The portly, bearded and avuncular Bartel also acted in numerous features at New World and elsewhere, notably in such indies as ``Hollywood Boulevard'' and ``Rock 'n' Roll High School.''
But his signature film was the 1982 black comedy ``Eating Raoul,'' in which he and Mary Woronov starred as a square couple who murder sexual swingers. Bartel shot the feature over weekends and whenever money was available.
He later directed ``Scenes From the Class Struggle in Beverly Hills'' (1989) and ``Shelf Life'' (1993). Other notable titles that he shot were ``Not for Publications'' (1984), ``Lust in the Dust'' (1985) and ``Long Shot'' (1986).
He continued to act and appeared in some 70 films, including ``Basquiat'' and as Osric in ``Hamlet,'' currently in release. At the time of his death, he was beginning to set up a 20-years-later sequel to ``Eating Raoul.''
Death Race 2000 (1975) - Paul Bartel
scene from Death Race 2000 (1975)
Death Race 2000 (1975) - Paul Bartel [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
Death Race 2000 is an action and self-described cult film directed by Paul Bartel in 1975; it is rated R. The movie takes place in a dystopian view of American society in the year 2000. David Carradine, Simone Griffeth and Sylvester Stallone played the star roles; Mary Woronov, Roberta Collins, The Real Don Steele, Joyce Jameson, Carle Bensen, Sandy McCallum and Harriet Medin co-star.
The screenplay was based on a short story by Ib Melchior, and inspired the 1976 video game Death Race.
A tremendous global economic crash had occurred in 1979. The current (as of 2000) American President took control to repair America, and since then has ruled the country from abroad with an iron fist. He is simply known as Mr. President, and is rarely seen in American public.
One of Mr. President's most famous decrees has been that of the Transcontinental Road Race, a violent spectacle that takes a small set of racers from New York to New Los Angeles. The event depicted in the film is the 20th annual Road Race; therefore, Mr. President started the event during his second year in office. --http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Death_Race_2000 [Mar 2005]
see also: satire - Roger Corman - cult film
Secret Cinema (1968)- Paul Bartel
Secret Cinema (1968)- Paul Bartel [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
Almost 30 years before Peter Weir brought us The Truman Show, cinematic cult figure Paul Bartel (of Eating Raoul and Lust in the Dust fame) was the 30-year-old auteur of this half-hour film, a somewhat sleazy bit of surrealism on a similar subject. Amy Vane plays a woman whose every move is recorded on film. She didn't ask for this scrutiny: the woman is the victim of a voyeuristic director, who contrives to hide cameras wherever she goes and show the results in a theater. It is just as warped as it sounds, but it has its own peculiar appeal. The videocassette version of The Secret Cinema includes The Naughty Nurse, a 7-minute chunk of erotica that is best ignored. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Lust in the Dust (1985) - Paul Bartel
After forming a match made in trash-movie heaven in John Waters's Polyester, Tab Hunter and Divine reunited for this deliciously tasteless Western comedy, which borrows its title from the nickname for Duel in the Sun, the turgid Western that inspired director Paul Bartel's affectionate spoofery. With Hunter wearing two hats as hero and coproducer, the movie indulges its own outrageous excess while staying true to the dustiest traditions of the Western genre. It's just good enough to watch without shame, and rude enough to hide from more offendable members of the family.
Nothing's sacred in Chile Verde, the wild western town where lone gunman Abel Wood (Hunter) arrives after rescuing corpulent saloon singer Rosie Velez (Divine) from being defiled by Hard Case Williams (Geoffey Lewis) and his gang of misfit gunslingers. Saloon owner Marguerita Ventura (Lainie Kazan) gets hot 'n' heavy for Abel's wood, and passions flare up in a race for hidden treasure, the map to which is tattooed in two sections on Rosie's and Marguerita's ample posteriors. To reveal more would spoil the wretched hilarity; one needn't love Westerns to enjoy this pig-wallow of a comedy, but it helps if you know the legacy of screen villains like Henry Silva, who's riotous here while barely shifting his vile expression. No doubt, this is the wackiest Western that ever cooked under the "blistering, burning, blazing, scorching, roasting, toasting, baking, boiling, broiling, steaming, searing, sizzling, grilling, smoldering, very hot New Mexico sun." --Jeff Shannon, Amazon.com
The Naughty Nurse (1969) - Paul Bartel
Naughty Nurse (1969) plot outline: A doctor and nurse sneak away for a kinky encounter, only to be interrupted by a cop...with a secret of his own. --http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0234320/combined [Jan 2005]
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