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The late Gene Hackman starred in numerous movies that are now considered classics. From "The Conversation" to "The French Connection," "Unforgiven," and everything in-between them, his filmography is littered with projects that most actors would love to have on their resume, even though Hackman himself believed that he wasn't the right man for some of his iconic roles. That said, even the most successful actors have regrets, and for Hackman, one of his main ones was turning down the chance to star in 1980's "Ordinary People."

Directed by Robert Redford and written by Alvin Sargent (adapting the 1976 novel of the same name by Judith Guest), "Ordinary People" tells the story of a wealthy family that's overcome with grief following the death of one of their sons. Donald Sutherland's character, Calvin Jarrett, is the father tasked with trying to keep everyone together as his household begins to disintegrate in the aftermath of the tragedy,...

This article contains mentions of suicide.

The Hulu documentary Brats explores the Brat Pack era and its influence on Hollywood. Timothy Hutton, though not a core member, is considered an honorary part of the Brat Pack. The 1980 film Ordinary People, directed by Robert Redford and starring Timothy Hutton, remains critically acclaimed and accessible on streaming platforms.

The 2024 Hulu documentary Brats reminds people of the glory days when the Brat Pack dominated Hollywood, including Timothy Hutton's movie Ordinary People. Some might not consider Hutton a member of the Brat Pack, but a few lists include more people than the group's eight core stars, and Hutton is linked to that bigger ensemble. Plus, Brats features interviews with Hutton and discusses his 1980 drama film Ordinary People, so, it is safe to say that Hutton is at least an honorary Brat.

The main members of the Brat Pack are Emilio Estevez, Anthony Michael Hall,...

The Golden Globes telecast is heading back to CBS for the first time in more than four decades. The ceremony is a TV staple, with viewers having come to expect a show that’s looser than the Academy Awards, thanks in part to plentiful alcohol. But the Globes, which debuted in 1944 and could be seen on NBC in the 1960s, went unaired throughout most of the 1970s due to (yup) scandals surrounding the Hollywood Foreign Press Association’s voting process.

Its first CBS broadcast took place on Jan. 31, 1981, where the big winner was Ordinary People, the adaptation of Judith Guest’s 1976 novel about an affluent family devastated by loss. Produced by Ronald L. Schwary, the film landed eight nominations en route to five trophies, including those for best drama, best actress (Mary Tyler Moore) and best director (Robert Redford, in his feature debut behind the camera). Breakout star Timothy Hutton,...

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“Under The Veneer”

By Raymond Benson

Finally, a high definition Blu-ray disk of Robert Redford’s 1980 masterpiece, Ordinary People, has been released. To date, the film has existed on home video only on VHS and DVD, and the new Paramount Presents edition is most welcome.

People was Redford’s directorial debut, and at the time audiences and critics expected it to be good, but they didn’t count on it being that good. It took the Best Picture prize at the Academy Awards, along with a trophy for Redford for Direction, one for Alvin Sargent’s Adapted Screenplay (based on Judith Guest’s wonderful novel), and a most deserved Supporting Actor Oscar for Timothy Hutton. Granted, Hutton’s character, Conrad Jarrett, is really the protagonist, i.e., the lead in the movie, so it’s one of those infuriating cases in which an...

This celebrated dysfunctional family story won four Oscars, the most deserved easily being Alvin Sargent’s superb adapted screenplay. The viewer buzz initially centered on the surprise of Mary Tyler Moore’s unexpected casting against type, but even more alarming was author Judith Guest’s scary message that ‘perfect’ families are an illusion. We found the drama absorbing and bought the performances 100 — Sutherland, Hirsch, Hutton, McGovern. It’s clearly Robert Redford’s best job of direction.

Ordinary People

Blu-ray

Paramount Presents

1980 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 124 min. / Street Date March 29, 2022 / Available from Amazon and listed at Paramount / 25.99

Starring: Donald Sutherland, Mary Tyler Moore, Judd Hirsch, Timothy Hutton, M. Emmet Walsh, Elizabeth McGovern, Dinah Manoff, Adam Baldwin, Frederic Lehne, James B. Sikking.

Cinematography: John Bailey

Art Directors: Phillip Bennett, J. Michael Riva

Film Editor: Jeff Kanew

Original Music: Marvin Hamlisch

Written by Alvin Sargent from the novel by Judith Guest

Produced by Ronald L. Schwary...

Ronald L. Schwary, who won the Academy Award for Best Picture for producing Robert Redford’s “Ordinary People,” died on July 2 in West Hollywood, Calif. He was 76.

Schwary, an Oregon native, had broken into the entertainment business through his friendship with John Wayne while working as a manager of the USC football team. Wayne assisted Schwary in getting work as a stand-in for Dustin Hoffman on “The Graduate” and as an extra in “Planet of the Apes.”

Schwary also became a DGA Trainee, which led to the start of his career as an assistant

director in the early 1970s. He began working with Jerry Lewis, Elvis, Peter Fonda, Ann-Margret, Jack Lemmon, and Walter Matthau and eventually became a production

manager with the assistance of director Bob Butler, and producer Ray Stark.

Schwary was hired by Redford as the sole producer on “Ordinary People” after Schwary had worked as an associate...

Academy Award winner Alvin Sargent, who penned an extraordinary number of popular and critically successful films, from “Paper Moon” and “Ordinary People” to the “Spider-Man” sequels of the 2000s, died Thursday, his talent agency Gersh confirmed to Variety. He was 92.

Sargent won adapted screenplay Oscars for “Julia” in 1978 and “Ordinary People” in 1981 and was also nominated in the category in 1974 for “Paper Moon.” (He also received Writers Guild awards for all three films.) The writer worked with many of Hollywood’s top directors over the course of his career, including Alan J. Pakula, John Frankenheimer. Paul Newman, Peter Bogdanovich, Sydney Pollack, Fred Zinnemann, Robert Redford, Martin Ritt, Norman Jewison, Stephen Frears and Wayne Wang, though not always when those helmers were doing their best work.

Sargent started as a writer for television but broke into features with his screenplay for 1966’s “Gambit,” a Ronald Neame-directed comedy thriller starring Michael Caine,...

This story originally appeared as the cover story in Issue 330, November 13th, 1980.

It's eight o'clock and everyone's here... well, almost everyone. There's Carl Reiner, and there's Gavin MacLeod, and there's Betty White and Allen Ludden. They're all here, in this awkward white screening room up four flights of stairs and down a winding hallway deep in the bowels of Paramount Studios. It's a hybrid crowd – TV people and movie people, performers and people from behind the scenes, chorus girls and choreographers, even a few who are just regular people with...