Friday, August 15, 156O 69

THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

Hollywood News

By HERBERT G. LUFT

(Copyright 1980, JTA, Inc.)

The brilliant career of
Peter Sellers came to an end
on July 24. The 54-year-old
actor, who had portrayed a
vast array of comical char-
acters, accents and voices in
roles that ranged from a
wild nuclear scientist to
that of a duchess, died after
he was stricken with a heart
k, his third during the
a
p, 20 years.
His career culminated
with an Academy Award
nomination last spring for
his role in "Being There."
Just before he was stricken
with the fatal heart attack,
Sellers had completed the
screen comedy The Fien-
dish Plot of Dr. Fu Manchu"
for producer Zev Braun in
the studios of Paris, with
Sid Caesar as his sidekick.
He also was set to.portray
the central character in an
updated version of Preston
Sturges' classic, "Unfaith-
fully Yours," with Howard
Zieff directing. Last, but not
least, Sellers was consider-
ing to essay the role of Char-
lie Chaplin on the Broad-
way stage in a musical now
in preparation.
MARTIN POLL, who
recently returned from a
trip to Israel and Europe,
has purchased, in conjunc-
tion with Capital Studios of
Jerusalem, screen rights to
the autobiography of Moshe
Dayan either for a feature
film production or for a net-
work television series.
Poll confirmed that he
also is going ahead with an
earlier project, "Bridges of
October" (originally titled
"Bridges of Suez") for which
Harold Livingston cur-
rently is writing the
screenplay. Basically a love
story backgrounded against
the Middle East, the story
opens on the eve of the Yom
Kippur War and the effects
on the lives of both Israelis
and Egyptians. It will be
filmed with the full coopera-
tion of Premier Menahem
Begin and President Anwar
Sadat and commences
photography towards the
end of the year on locations
in Israel, Egypt and France.
Veteran producer Poll,
Academy Award winner for
The Lion in Winter," most
recently completed in New
York, London and Paris
" hthawks," an adven-
tory dealing with in-
tional terrorism and
celiarring Sylvester Stal-
1 with Rutger Hauer
electrified audiences
the world over with his per-
formance in the Dutch-
made "Soldier of Orange," a
picture reflecting the spirit
of his people during the
Nazi occupation of Holland.
Poll currently is editing,
"Nighthawks" at Universal
Studios.
CLAUDIA WEILL who
made herself a name with
her very first feature film,
"Girlfriends," completely
shot on the streets of New
York and on actual loca-
tions, now is directing a
major studio production,
"The Perfect Circle," star-
ring Jill Clayburgh,
Michael Douglas, Charles
--Grodin and Beverly Gar-
-

,

land. Jay Presson Allen,
herself a novelist and
screenwriter of note, serves
as executive producer with
Eleanor Bergstein as the
scripter.
The Perfect Circle" is a
contemporary drama deal-
ing with human relations
and is being photographed
in Gotham and at the
studios in Hollywood.
AARON SHAYER, an
Israeli film distributor
(himself a survivor of Nazi
concentration camps), came
to my office to introduce me
to one Elya Baskin, for-
merly a member of the Mos-
cow Comedy Theater who
left the Soviet Union three
years ago for a career in
American films. In the
meantime, Baskin ap-
peared in "Being There,"
"Butch and Sundance" and
"The World's Greatest
Lover."
When we attended the
press screening of "Raise
the Titanic" at the
Academy, he talked to us
during the reception and I
was astonished to see him
on the screen afterward in
the featured role of a Soviet
Embassy functionary who
tips off his chief intelligence
officer as to the plans of
American research scien-
tists.
FINAL
THE
COUNTDOWN," an un-
usual suspense drama set
aboard the aircraft carrier
U.S.S. Nimitz during a
Pacific cruise, had its .
American premier in Wash-
ington, D.C. as a benefit for
the Navy Memorial Found-
ation.
The story by Thomas
Hunter, Peter Powell and
David Ambrose tells of a
strange storm of hurricane
force that transports ships
and crew back in time to
Dec. 7, 1941, when the
Japanese fleet and air ar-
mada are on their way to at-
tack Pearl Harbor. Kirk
Douglas portrays the cen-
tral character, with Martin
Sheen, Katharine Ross,
James Farentino and
Charles Durning at his side.
WALTER MATTHAU
and Jack Lemmon co-star in
MGM's "Buddy, Buddy," to
be directed -by Billy Wilder
from a screenplay by Wilder
and his long-time col-
laborator Iz Diamond. The
forthcoming adventure
comedy marks the third
teaming of the trio of Lem-
mon, Matthau and Wilder,
who were together for "The
Fortune Cookie" (which
won Matthau a 1966
Academy Award), as well as
for the 1974 production of
"The Front Page."
WOODY ALLEN cur-
rently is engaged as
writer-director-star of a still
unnamed comedy-drama
with an undisclosed plot
line. Robert Greenhut pro-
duces for Allen's team of
Charles Joffe and Jack Rol-
lins who were at the helm of
his series of successful
films.
Britain's Charlotte Ram-
pling, France's Marie-
Christine Barrault, and
Hollywood's Jessica Harper
appear opposite Allen.

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