Screenwriter · 1922–1995

Calder Willingham

5: briefs
13:00: average
65 min: in total

On film.briefs5

One-Eyed Jacks

Marlon Brando · 1961

Marlon Brando’s 1961 Western One-Eyed Jacks follows Rio, a bandit seeking revenge on his former mentor Dad Longworth, now sheriff of Monterey. Shot in VistaVision across California and Mexico, it foregrounds psychological tension over action, with Brando starring and directing. Though critically mixed on release and commercially disappointing, its reputation has deepened over decades for its atmospheric realism, complex male relationships, and formal restraint. Restored in 4K in 2016, it remains Brando’s only film behind the camera.

13:00

Spartacus

Stanley Kubrick · 1960

Stanley Kubrick’s 1960 Spartacus adapts Howard Fast’s novel via Dalton Trumbo’s blacklisted script, telling the story of a slave revolt not as myth but as moral architecture. Kirk Douglas stars as Spartacus, with Laurence Olivier, Peter Ustinov, and Jean Simmons in key roles. Shot across California locations including Hearst Castle and Wildwood Park, its Oscar-winning art direction and cinematography render Rome as a study in hierarchy — accent, space, and light all coded by class. Though structurally uneven and romantically thin, its enduring power lies in its deliberate, collective gaze and the historic courage of its authorship.

13:00

The Graduate

Mike Nichols · 1967

Mike Nichols’ 1967 comedy-drama follows Benjamin Braddock, a recent graduate adrift in his parents’ Pasadena home, as he navigates seduction by Mrs. Robinson and infatuation with her daughter Elaine. Built on Dustin Hoffman’s restrained performance, Robert L. Surtees’ unadorned cinematography, and a Simon & Garfunkel–scored soundscape, it treats transition not as progress but as suspension — holding still long enough to see how social scripts smother agency.

13:00

The Bridge on the River Kwai

David Lean · 1957

David Lean’s 1957 war drama follows British POWs forced to build a railway bridge for their Japanese captors in Thailand. At its centre is Colonel Nicholson, whose obsession with discipline and engineering excellence leads him to collaborate with the enemy — not out of weakness, but conviction. With Alec Guinness, William Holden and Sessue Hayakawa, it is a tightly wound study of pride, obedience and the porous line between order and complicity.

13:00

Paths of Glory

Stanley Kubrick · 1957

Stanley Kubrick's 1957 film, adapted from Humphrey Cobb's novel based on the real Souain corporals affair, follows Colonel Dax as he leads a suicidal attack demanded by his superiors and then defends three of his own men, chosen at random, against a court-martial for cowardice. Shot in Bavaria because its portrayal of the French military barred it from filming, or release, in France for fifteen years, the film starred Kirk Douglas, whose production company financed it on a budget reported near $935,000, and drew acclaim that only grew once France finally allowed it to screen in 1972.