TV Spot Not on the DVD: Eyewitness (1981, Peter Yates)

Peter Yates and Steve Tesich followed up their award-winning Breaking Away collaboration with this early 1981 NYC-set thriller starring William Hurt, Sigourney Weaver, Christopher Plummer, and James Woods.  Eyewitness (aka The Janitor) was not the critical or financial success that Breaking Away was and it's not a top-grade mystery by any means.  What it does offer, however, is an outstanding collection of leading and character players in well-written, interesting roles and, of course, some choice New York locations, circa 1980.  This is the kind of character-driven, slightly offbeat, mid-range studio picture that went out years ago.  Those looking for an edge-of-your-set, nail-biting suspense picture will be disappointed, as this moves at a leisurely pace and revels in the quirks of its characters more than the machinations of the plot.  The narrative revolves around a Vietnam-vet janitor (a largely sympathetic Hurt, playing one of his few working-class characters) who discovers the murdered body of a wealthy (and criminally-connected) Vietnamese businessman in the office building where he works.  The janitor pretends to know more than he does in order to gain favor with the television newswoman (Weaver) he loves from afar, thereby arousing the interests of the killer, the associates of the murder victim, and the police.

Christopher Plummer co-stars as Weaver's Israel-lobbying fiancé and James Woods is Hurt's unstable best pal and fellow vet.  The cast is filled out by Steven Hill and Morgan Freeman as the lead detectives on the murder case, Pamela Reed as Woods' sister and sometime lover of Hurt, Kenneth McMillan and Alice Drummond as Hurt's parents, Irene Worth and Albert Paulsen as Weaver's parents, Jimmie Ray Weeks as a tv producer, and Chao Li Chi (memorable from Big Trouble in Little China) as Mr. Wong, the murdered man at the center of the story.

The film, Hurt's second, came in the middle of a very impressive 8-month run for the actor, which included his feature film debut, Ken Russell's Altered States (released Christmas '80) as well as Lawrence Kasdan's Body Heat (released late August '81).  Meanwhile, as Eyewitness opened in theaters, he starred in the Circle Repertory's production of Childe Byron.

For those who are interested, as I am, in practical locations (i.e. real locations used for filming), as well as set design, Hurt's workspace was built at the Kaufman-Astoria Studios (formerly Paramount Studios) by production designer Philip Rosenberg.  You can see that very impressive set in the below lobby card:

"Who Is That Guy?!": Kenneth McMillan

One of my all-time favorite character actors, Kenneth McMillan's is a face any fan of the cinema of the '70s and '80s will remember. Even though liver disease took him way too early, at age 56 (January 8th marked the 22nd anniversary of his passing), and his film career spanned less than 20 years, his film resume is chock full of fine projects: Serpico, The Taking of Pelham One Two Three, Girlfriends, Carny, Bloodbrothers, Runaway Train, Chilly Scenes of Winter, Ragtime, Eyewitness, The Pope of Greenwich Village, True Confessions, Amadeus, and Reckless. TV roles included spots on Rhoda, Dark Shadows, Starsky & Hutch, The Rockford Files, Kojak, Magnum, P.I. and myriad telefilms and mini-series. This was a working actor. And, that's not even including his roles in the original Broadway runs of David Rabe, Joe Papp, and Mike Nichols' Streamers and David Mamet and Ulu Grobard's American Buffalo, alongside Robert Duvall and John Savage.

My earliest childhood memory of McMillan onscreen is of watching him countless times in the memorable "The Ledge" episode in Lewis Teague's Cat's Eye. This guy is just so damned pleased with himself after he captures his wife's lover (Robert Hays) and makes the pretty boy walk around the ledge of his Atlantic City high-rise. Who can forget McMillan cackling and howling while jumping up and down on his bed in a satin robe? I sure as hell can't!

As a kid, I'm pretty sure I had this action figure of his character from Dune:

So, obviously, as evidenced by Dune, Cat's Eye, Ragtime, and other roles, it was easy for filmmakers to use his physique and facial features for villainous parts or as cops, but my favorites remain those that utilized his working class, New York Irish persona: Bloodbrothers, as a paralyzed bar owner who shares a heartbreaking scene with co-star Paul Sorvino, Reckless, as Aidan Quinn's hard-boozing old man, Eyewitness, as Bill Hurt's paralyzed pop, and, most especially, Chilly Scenes of Winter, in which he plays Gloria Grahame's loving husband and stepfather to John Heard. Heard is hard on the guy, but eventually McMillan's old softie is able to crack Heard's exterior as symbolized by the young man's acceptance of his gift of Turtle Wax. I've missed McMillan's high-pitched, New York-accented voice on screen for the last couple decades, but I'm thankful the actor was so busy during his two decades of performing, leaving behind plenty that I still have not seen.

McMillan almost has as much screen time in this trailer for Blue Skies Again as star Robyn Barto and Obscure One-Sheet sure is thrilled about that:

After all of the Stephen King cinematic references, watch McMillan chew scenery at the expense of Robert Hays and the titular cat: