The Big Lebowski

When my eldest son Zeb said can I do Jeffrey ‘The Dude’ Lebowski on the toilet from the Coen brothers cult classic The Big Lebowski – I had to say yes! Zeb is writing the ‘Score of Scores’ for the Hullywood Icons projections and here he is as ‘The Dude’ played by Jeff Bridges in the film.

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The Big Lebowski is a 1998 American crime comedy film written, produced, and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen. It stars Jeff Bridges as Jeffrey “The Dude” Lebowski, a Los Angeles slacker and avid bowler. He is assaulted as a result of mistaken identity, after which The Dude learns that a millionaire also named Jeffrey Lebowski was the intended victim. The millionaire Lebowski’s trophy wife is kidnapped, and he commissions The Dude to deliver the ransom to secure her release; but the plan goes awry when the Dude’s friend Walter Sobchak (John Goodman) schemes to keep the ransom money. Julianne Moore and Steve Buscemi also star, with David Huddleston, John Turturro, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Sam Elliott, Tara Reid, David Thewlis and Flea appearing in supporting roles.

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid

The Mc Glinchey’s approached me about recreating the famous  scene from the 1969 American Western film Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid in which Paul Newman as Butch Cassidy and Robert Redford as the Sundance Kid make a leap of faith.

The film  directed by George Roy Hill and written by William Goldman is based loosely on fact, the film tells the story of Wild West outlaws Robert LeRoy Parker, known as Butch Cassidy (Paul Newman), and his partner Harry Longabaugh, the “Sundance Kid” (Robert Redford), who are on the run from a crack US posse after a string of train robberies. The pair and Sundance’s lover, Etta Place (Katharine Ross), flee to Bolivia in search of a more successful criminal career, where they meet their end.

The Mc Glinchey’s made their leap at the Khyber Pass in Hull’s East Park

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Brief Encounter

Helen Marie Smith got in touch with me about recreating the iconic farewell scene from Brief Encounter at Hull’s Paragon Station. Brief Encounter is a 1945 British romantic drama film directed by David Lean about British suburban life, centring on Laura, a married woman with children, whose conventional life becomes increasingly complicated because of a chance meeting at a railway station with a stranger, Alec. They inadvertently but quickly progress to an emotional love affair, which brings about unexpected consequences.

Helen enlisted the services of her friend Gary Crossman to play Trevor Howard in the shoot.

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Here are some other shots from the session.

The Invisible Man

David Osgerby approached me about playing Dr Jack Griffin  to recreate the classic 1933 B movie The Invisible Man. A science fiction horror film based on H. G. Wells’ science fiction novel of the same name, published in 1897, as adapted by R.C. Sheriff, Philip Wylie and Preston Sturges. Produced by Universal Studios, the film was directed by James Whale and stars Claude Rains, in his first American screen appearance, and Gloria Stuart. It spawned a number of sequels, plus many spinoffs using the idea of an “invisible man” that were largely unrelated to Wells’ original story.

Rains portrayed the Invisible Man (Dr. Jack Griffin) mostly only as a disembodied voice. Rains is only shown clearly for a brief time at the end of the film, spending most of his on-screen time covered by bandages.

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George was so taken by his role that he is planning some performances as ‘The Invisible Poet’ at the Union Mashup in 2017.

 

 

Taxi Driver

I arrived at Mark Pollard’s house and he said let’s pop around the corner to my mate’s house we need to pick up the shooter…  Let me explain we were recreating a scene from Taxi Driver  a 1976 American vigilante film with neo-noir and psychological thriller elements, directed by Martin Scorsese and written by Paul Schrader. Set in New York City following the Vietnam War, the film stars Robert De Niro as Travis Bickle who Mark portrays admirably in the ‘are you looking at me scene’.

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