Memorable for roles in films such as Inside Daisy Clover, The Horse Whisperer and All the President's Men, Robert Redford, the recipients of numerous accolades over five decades celebrates his birthday on August 18. Born in 1936, the actor, who began his career in films with War Hunt, went on to have a successful stint as a director, starting with the 1980 film Ordinary People. The actor-turned-director received an Academy Award for Lifetime Achievement in 2002. In 2010 he was made a chevalier of the Légion d'Honneur. In his illustrious career, the actor has won BAFTA, Directors Guild of America, Golden Globe, and Screen Actors Guild awards. He is also the founder of the Sundance Film Festival.
On Robert Redford's 83rd birthday, here's looking at five movies starring the ace actor you must watch.
Inside Daisy Clover (1965): The film that won Redford a Golden Globe for the best new star is based on Gavin Lambert's 1963 novel of the same name. The film saw Natalie Wood play Daisy, an eponymous tomboy who becomes a Hollywood actress and singer. Redford played the role of an actor Wade Lewis, who asks Daisy to marry him. However, it soon turned out that Wade was a closet homosexual. The film was a box office dud at the time of its release but later gained a cult following. At the time of its release, homosexuality was a highly taboo subject matter within American society, and the film is generally recognized for one of the early depictions of a gay or bisexual character in American cinema who is not ashamed of his sexuality and does not commit suicide.
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969): The George Roy Hill American-Western 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). They are on the run from a crack US posse after a string of train robberies and flee to Bolivia in search of a more successful criminal career. In 2003, the film was selected for the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."
The Sting (1973): The George Roy Hill directorial saw two professional grifters (Paul Newman and Robert Redford) trying to con a mob boss (Robert Shaw). Inspired by the story of real life cons perpetrated by brothers Fred and Charley Gondorff and documented by David Maurer in his book The Big Con: The Story of the Confidence Man, The Sting was hugely successful at the 46th Academy Awards. It was nominated for ten Oscars and won seven.
All the President's Men (1976): The American neo-noir political thriller was about the Watergate scandal, which brought down the presidency of Richard M. Nixon. The film was based on the 1974 non-fiction book of the same name by Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward, the two journalists investigating the Watergate scandal for The Washington Post and starred Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman as Woodward and Bernstein, respectively.
The Horse Whisperer (1998): Based on Nicholas Evans' 1995 novel of the same name, the film saw Redford play the role of a talented trainer who had the gift of understanding horses. He is hired to help an injured teenager (played by Scarlett Johansson) and her horse back to health following a tragic accident.
Comments
0 comment