Hollywood -- "Quiz Show" is destined for the Academy Awards race. If you don't believe that, you should see this week's slickly turned-out, three-page trade paper spread placed by Disney's Hollywood Pictures -- trumpeting the movie's rave reviews, with plenty of references to its Oscar-worthiness. Clearly, Robert Redford has a winner with his smartly-turned out film, which goes into a wider release today. He also might have the year's most controversial movie.
Albert Freedman, a real-life producer of "Twenty-One," (who's portrayed by Hank Azaria in the film), is reportedly on the road to a lawsuit against Robert Redford and Disney over his portrayal, and has been talking to famed attorney Allan Dershowitz about the potential case. He might not be alone. Don Enright, son of the late producer Dan Enright, is also furious over the cheating he feels Redford did in portraying the story of cheating. Enright has been making his feelings known publicly, complaining that there's not so much as a disclaimer in the movie to let moviegoers know that dialogue was made up or that the film story is "based on" a real story.
Retired judge Joe Stone also is said to be outraged over his portrayal -- that has him in cahoots with the "Twenty-One" producers. Also, friends and associates of Enright and his late partner, Jack Barry, are smoldering. One of them comments, "The person who would really have a hell of a lawsuit if he chose to do it is Charles Van Doren." But would he? The patrician intellectual portrayed by Ralph Fiennes has led a very reclusive life since being disgraced for accepting the answers in advance on "Twenty-One."
In an odd sidebar twist to the story, questions have arisen about shades of anti-Semitism in "Quiz Show" -- enough so that the subject became a topic on Los Angeles talk radio the other day. A woman phoned station KLAC, claiming to have been Dan Enright's mistress, and told listeners that Enright had been anti-Semitic. That led to former Barry/Enright production chief Mike Wise telephoning the station, saying the woman was a fraud. Wise tells this column that Enright, who was Jewish himself, spent 12 years living and working in Israel after being blacklisted here, helping launch Israeli radio and TV stations and "giving to charity to make up for all this stuff." (The rigging scandal.) After Enright returned to the States, he became known for helping a lot of people in their careers, in addition to giving heavily to charity.
Says Wise, "His funeral was one of the most moving I've ever seen in this town. There were so many people there who had been helped by Dan." At least one person made out positively in "Quiz Show." According to Wise, "The way John Turturro played (Herbert) Stempel was much more attractive than Stempel really was."
Copyright (c) 1994 Beck/Smith Ent.
ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT HOLLYWOOD? BECK/SMITH WILL ANSWER THEM. GO EDRIVE AND POST YOUR QUESTIONS IN SECTION 13, BECK/SMITH HOLLYWOOD
