Mission: Impossible

Background:

“I've never been accepted as that conventional artist. Whatever you say about David Lynch or Martin Scorsese, they are considered major film artists and nobody can argue with that. I've never had that. I've had people say it about me and I've had people say that I'm a complete hack and you know, derivative and all those catchphrases that people use for me so I've always been controversial. People hate me or love me.” Brian De Palma

In the film industry since the 1960s, film director, writer and producer Brian De Palma has demonstrated his filmmaking talents in different genres. He is best known for directing the highly successful action film “Mission: Impossible” (1996), which became one of the biggest moneymakers of the 1990s, the horror movie “Carrie” (1976) and the crime drama “The Untouchables” (1987). Other notable directing credits include “Phantom of the Paradise” (1974), “The Fury” (1978), “Dressed to Kill” (1980), “Scarface” (1983) and “Carlito's Way” (1993). However, De Palma had a string of bombs after “Mission: Impossible” with “Snake Eyes” (1998), “Mission to Mars” (2000), “Femme Fatale” (2002), “The Black Dahlia” (2006) and “Redacted” (2007). Early in his career, De Palma frequently cast actors Amy Irving, Jennifer Salt, his former wife Nancy Allen, William Finley, and Charles Durning in his movies. It was he who helped discover the then-unknown Robert De Niro. They had worked together in “Greetings” (1968), “The Wedding Party” (1969), “Hi, Mom” (1970) and “The Untouchables” (1987). De Palma is also known for his partnership with actors John Travolta and Sean Penn as well as composers Bernard Herrmann and Pino Donaggio.

De Palma has been married and divorced three times. He has two daughters, Lolita (mothered by second wife Gale Anne Hurd) and Piper (mothered by third wife Darnell Gregorio-De Palma). His marriage to his first wife, actress Nancy Allen, produced no children. De Palma has also been romantically linked to Margot Kidder (together in the early 1970s), Betty Buckley (had a relationship before filming 1976's “Carrie”) and Beth Broderick (together from 1989 to 1990).

An admirer of Bruce Springsteen, De Palma directed his idol in the music video “Dancing in the Dark.”

Hitchcock

Childhood and Family:

Born Brian Russell De Palma on September 11, 1940, in Newark, New Jersey, Brian De Palma was raised by Anthony De Palma, an orthopedic surgeon, and Vivienne De Palma in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and New Hampshire. He has an older brother named Bart who is a photographer and a younger brother named Bruce. Educated at various schools, Brian developed an interest in physics and won a regional science fair for a project named “An Analog Computer to Solve Differential Equations” in high school. After graduating from Friends Central School in Philadelphia, he studied physics at Columbia University in New York, but became fascinated by films after watching such classic as Orson Welle's “Citizen Kane” (1941) and Alfred Hitchcock's “Vertigo” (1958). He made his first short film while a student at Columbia. In 1962, he received a BA in physics and fine arts from Columbia. He then pursued an MA degree at Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, New York. He became one of the first male students in the school's theater department and discovered enduring influences from legends like Andy Warhol, Wilford Leach, Alfred Hitchcock and Michelangelo Antonioni. Commenting about Hitchcock, he said, “He is the one who distilled the essence of film. He's like Webster. It's all there. I've used a lot of his grammar.”

On January 12, 1979, Brian married actress Nancy Allen (born on June 24, 1950), but they divorced in 1983. He married his second wife, producer and writer Gale Anne Hurd (born on October 25, 1955) on July 20, 1991. The couple welcomed their first child, daughter Lolita De Palma, on September 19, 1991, before divorcing in 1993. Two years later, he tied the knot with Darnell Gregorio-De Palma on October 11, 1995. The marriage ended in divorce on April 18, 1997, after producing one daughter, Darnell Gregorio-De Palma (born on October 21, 1996).

Carrie

Career:

A science fair prize winner, Brian De Palma changed direction from physics to films after seeing the work of Alfred Hitchcock and Orson Welles, among other directors. While attending Columbia, in 1960 he made his first short film, “Icarus,” which was followed by “660124: The Story of an IBM Card” in 1961 and “Woton's Wake” in 1962. “Woton's Wake,” which starred fellow Columbia student William Finley, won De Palma recognition and an MCA writing fellowship to Sarah Lawrence. He directed three additional shorts called “Jennifer” (1962), “Bridge That Gap” (1965) and “Show Me a Strong Town and I'll Show You a Strong Bank” (1966). He also helmed the documentary “The Responsive Eye” (1966).

While attending Sarah Lawrence, in 1963 De Palma joined forces with the school's theater professor Wilford Leach and schoolmate Cynthia Munroe to write, direct, produce and edit the independent film “The Wedding Party.” The production was completed in 1966, but the comedy was not released until 1969 after one of its supporting players, Robert De Niro, began to gain notice for his work off-Broadway and the release of De Palma's “Greetings.” The cast also included Jennifer Salt, William Finley and Jill Clayburgh.

De Palma next wrote, directed and edited the film “Murder a la Mod,” which was released in New York City in 1968. It starred Jared Martin and William Finley, who also provided the music. Later that same year, he cast Robert De Niro as Jon Rubin in “Greetings,” which De Palma co-wrote and co-produced with Charles Hirsch. The film won De Palma a Silver Berlin Bear at the 1969 Berlin International Festival. He also earned a Golden Berlin Bear nomination at the same festival. Under his direction, De Niro later reprised his role for the comedy “Hi, Mom” (1970), which De Palma also wrote with “Greetings” writing partner Hirsch.

De Palma received a Golden Bear nomination for the drama film “Dionysus” (1970), which he co-directed with Richard Schechner. The film was shown at the Berlin International Film Festival in June 1970. De Palma made his Hollywood debut two years later when he directed Tom Smothers, John Astin, Katharine Ross and Orson Welles in the comedy film “Get To Know Your Rabbit” (1972). The film, however, was largely ignored by audiences and immediately disappeared from theaters. He followed it up directing his first thriller movie, “Sisters” (1973), which was highly influenced by Hitchcock. The film was nominated for a Golden Scroll in the category of Best Horror Film at the 1975 Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Film Awards. De Palma also wrote the script based on his story. The film starred Margot Kidder, Charles Durning, Jennifer Salt and William Finley.

In 1974, De Palma resurfaced with the musical film “Phantom of the Paradise,” which he wrote and directed. Starring Paul Williams, William Finley and Jessica Harper, the film was a bomb at the box office. It also received negative reviews from critics. Thanks to an Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations that the film earned for outstanding music score, the film has since been reanalyzed and named a classic. For his efforts, De Palma was handed the Grand Prize at the 1975 Avoriaz Fantastic Film Festival, a Writers Guild of America nomination for Best Comedy Written Directly for the Screen and the Critics Award for Best DVD Single Disc at the 2007 French Syndicate of Cinema Critics.

Two years later, De Palma directed the psychological thriller “Obsession” (1976), which was scripted by Paul Schrader from a story by De Palma and Schrader. The movie starred Cliff Robertson, Geneviève Bujold and John Lithgow. Although the critical response to the film was mixed, the film was an unexpected commercial success. Costing $1.4 million in production, it earned more than $4 million in domestic rentals, becoming De Palma's first significant victory at the box office. “Obsession” was nominated for an Oscar for Best Music, Original Score (Bernard Herrmann) and a Golden Scroll for Best Horror Film at the 1977 Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films.

“Sissy's a phantom. She has this mysterious way of slipping into a part, letting it take over her. She's got a wider range than any young actress I know.” Brian De Palma

Later that same year, De Palma enjoyed even bigger financial success with “Carrie” (1976), a horror film adapted from the Stephen King novel of the same name. Starring Sissy Spacek as Carrie White, a socially friendless teenage girl who finds out she has telekinetic powers, the film grossed over $33 million at the U.S. box office against a $1.8 million budget. It earned primarily rave reviews from critics. Under De Palma's direction, Spacek was nominated for an Oscar for Best Actress in a Leading Role and Piper Laurie picked up another nomination for Best Actress in a Supporting Role. De Palma won his second Grand Prize from the Avoriaz Fantastic Film Festival for his work on the film. “Carrie” marked the director's initial collaboration with actors John Travolta and Amy Irving and composer Pino Donaggio. The film also became his first movie with his first wife Nancy Allen.

De Palma was reunited with Amy Irving for the 1978 supernatural thriller “The Fury,” scripted by John Farris and based on his own novel. The film also starred Kirk Douglas, John Cassavetes, Carrie Snodgress, Charles Durning and Rutanya Alda. “The Fury” grossed $24 million at the U.S. box office from an estimated $5.5 million budget. In 1980, he produced, directed and provided the story to the independent comedy “Home Movies,” which reunited him with Douglas and Allen. He also wrote and directed the suspense film “Dressed to Kill,” which starred Michael Caine, Angie Dickinson and Allen. He was nominated for a Saturn for Best Director and a Golden Raspberry for Worst Director for the latter film. He then directed and wrote the thriller “Blow Out” (1981), which reunited him with Travolta and became his last film with Allen before the couple divorced in 1983.

De Palma next directed Al Pacino in the crime movie “Scarface” (1983), which also starred Steven Bauer, Michelle Pfeiffer and Mary Elizabeth. Written by Oliver Stone, the film earned good reviews from critics but was criticized for its violence and graphic language. It was well received by audiences and took in a worldwide gross of nearly $66 million over its production cost of $25 million. De Palma was nominated for a Razzie for Worst Director for “Scarface.” After directing, co-writing and producing “Body Double” (1984) and directing Danny DeVito, Joe Piscopo and Harvey Keitel in the comedy “Wise Guys” (1986), De Palma enjoyed another massive commercial victory as the director of “The Untouchables” (1987), a movie with a script by David Mamet adapted from the ABC TV series of the same name (1959-1963). The $25 million film grossed over $76 million at the U.S. box office and received generally positive reviews from critics. “The Untouchables” marked the director's first reunion with Robert De Niro after a decade and served as Kevin Costner's vehicle to superstardom. It also brought Sean Connery an Oscar for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for his portrayal of Irish American officer Jim Malone. For his good work, De Palma nabbed a 1998 Blue Ribbon for Best Foreign Language Film and a César nomination for Best Foreign Film. Commenting about Robert De Niro, De Palma said, “He's very low-key and concentrated when he's working. The thing that gets in the way of his work is people staring at him. So what you have to do on the set when he's working is to get people who are just going to gawk out of his eye line. With the other actors he's very tuned, very responsive.”

The director closed out the decade by helming the highly praised war drama “Casualties of War” (1989), starring Michael J. Fox and Sean Penn.

Opening the 1990s, De Palma suffered a significant setback with the big screen adaptation of Tom Wolfe's novel “The Bonfire of the Vanities” (1990), which he directed and produced and starred Tom Hanks, Bruce Willis, Melanie Griffith and Kim Cattrall. The film was a disaster and received five Razzie nominations, including Worst Director and Worst Picture. After the blow, De Palma returned with the thriller “Raising Cain” (1992), which he wrote and directed. The film, starring John Lithgow, Lolita Davidovich and Steven Bauer, grossed over $21 million domestically against an estimated $11 million budget. He teamed up again with Al Pacino and Sean Penn for the crime movie “Carlito's Way” (1993), adapted from Edwin Torres' novel “After Hours.” The film earned mixed reviews and a reception at the box office, but has since achieved cult status. De Palma was put back in the spotlight as the director of the blockbuster “Mission: Impossible” (1996), which starred Tom Cruise as Ethan Hunt. An adaptation of the TV series of the same name, the film broke several records and grossed over $180 million in North America and over $276 million internationally for a worldwide total of nearly $458 million. It became one of the top 3 most successful films of the year. Despite huge box office success, the film earned mixed reviews from critics.

De Palma followed “Mission: Impossible” with “Snake Eyes” (1998), a thriller he directed, produced and wrote with David Koepp. Despite s promising opening, the film was considered a bomb with a worldwide gross of $103 million against a $70 million budget. In 2000, he directed Gary Sinise, Tim Robbins, Connie Nielsen and Don Cheadle in the science fiction film “Mission to Mars” and was nominated for a Razzie for Worst Director for his effort. Two years later, he resurfaced with “Femme Fatale” (2002), which starred Rebecca Romijn-Stamos and Antonio Banderas. The film proved to be a box office dud.

Following a series of failures, De Palma left the director's chair for several years and did not make a return until 2006 when he helmed Josh Hartnett, Aaron Eckhart, Scarlett Johansson, Hilary Swank, Mia Kirshner, Rose McGowan and Fiona Shaw in the feature film adaptation of James Ellroy's crime novel “The Black Dahlia.” Despite failing at the box office, the film was nominated for an Oscar for Best Achievement in Cinematography (Vilmos Zsigmond) and brought De Palma a Golden Lion nomination at the 2006 Venice Film Festival. The following year, De Palma wrote and directed “Redacted” (2007), starring Kel O'Neill and Daniel Steward Sherman. The film premiered at the 2007 Venice Film Festival and won the Future Film Festival Digital Award and Silver Lion for Best Director. It went on to win De Palma the Youth Jury Award at the 2008 Amnesty International Film Festival. “Redacted” earned mixed reviews from critics and a limited release in the United States.

“I have a reputation as an action director because I know how to kill, how to shoot people, how to spill blood.” Brian De Palma

Awards:

• Amnesty International Film Festival: Youth Jury Award, “Redacted,” 2008

• French Syndicate of Cinema Critics: Critics Award Best DVD Single Disc, “Phantom of the Paradise,” 2007

• Venice Film Festival: Future Film Festival Digital Award, “Redacted,” 2007

• Venice Film Festival: Silver Lion, Best Director, “Redacted,” 2007

• Blue Ribbon: Best Foreign Language Film, “The Untouchables,” 1988

• Avoriaz Fantastic Film Festival: Grand Prize, “Carrie,” 1977

• Avoriaz Fantastic Film Festival: Grand Prize, “Phantom of the Paradise,” 1975

• Berlin International Film Festival: Silver Berlin Bear, “Greetings,” 1969