William Friedkin

By Thomas D. Clagett

Book Overview

Academy Award-winning director William Friedkin, long recognized for his dark, aberrant, visceral films, had a career that spanned more than 60 years, marked by some of the most contentious and compelling successes and failures in American cinema. Among his successes are two very popular and highly regarded films, The French Connection, Oscar winner for best picture, and The Exorcist, both considered classics of their respective genres.

Friedkin, who worked his way up in a Chicago television station from mailroom employee to director of local live broadcasts while still in his teens, was determined to make films. This updated, expanded, and final study of Friedkin's work (he died on August 7, 2023) examines his films, from his 1962 documentary, The People Versus Paul Crump, which saved a man from the electric chair, to feature films including The Night They Raided Minsky's, screen adaptations of Harold Pinter's play The Birthday Party and the off-Broadway play The Boys in the Band, Sorcerer, The Brink's Job, Cruising, Deal of the Century, To Live and Die in L.A., The Guardian, Rampage, Blue Chips, Jade, Rules of Engagement, and the much-publicized The Exorcist The Version You've Never Seen. New to this third edition are chapters covering The Hunted, screen versions of Tracy Letts's black comedy plays Bug and Killer Joe, the documentary The Devil and Father Amorth, and Friedkin's last film, The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial.

This insightful and engaging study of Friedkin's films, which is based on nearly 100 interviews with the director and his colleagues, pays particular attention to the evolution of his cinematic style, his choice of subject material, and his unique vison-fatalistic, violent, realistic-as well as examining each film aesthetically, dramatically, and thematically.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1953405061
• ISBN13: 9781953405067
• Release Date: March 2025
• Publisher: Thomas D. Clagett
• Length: 488 Pages
• Weight: 2.49 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.3" x 7.0" x 10.0"

Customer Reviews

An obsessed man in Hollywood

This is one of two books on William Friedkin, the other being the out-of-print Hurricane Billy, which is a straight biography. Clagett's work is more academic, but it's one of the better examinations of a director and his work, heavily relying on the thoughts and ideas of the filmmakers (collaborators included). The analysis is done through the filter of the thoughts, ideas, intentions, and inventions of the filmmakers. It chronicles Friedkin's influences and work from his television days right on through to Rules of Engagement (this volume is a revised edition, as the original 1990 one only went to The Guardian). The chapters are smartly broken up into two parts: one is a detailed reading of the film, noting the details and imagery, the other is about the making of the film, with comments from Friedkin himself, the best part of the book, and with the many collaborators and players. The result is a body of work that is consistent with Friedkin's personality and interests, if not consistent in overall quality. This serves as an excellent depiction of a strong personality, an obsessed man, in many ways, and the conflict of directing 'Hollywood' films but with an outlaw element. Friedkin's films do come off as consistent: there is a gritty, cynical attitude, and the endings are not typical--there's hardly a film in Friedkin's catalog that ends happily ever after. Overall, an excellent book. Friedkin comes across loud and clear in this book: obnoxious, intelligent, honest, funny, and a total character who made some excellent films.

William Friedkin : Films of Aberration, Obsession and Realit

I'm looking forward to seeing his new movie "rules of engagement". I have thought him the greatest director in the world for a long time. And this book certify you that I'm not wrong. Now I know his effort of making many famous pictures I already saw, for exanple, The French Connection & The Exorcist. And this book answers my curiosity about his steps of filmmaking from his early days as a TV director to recent day. You'll see that he's not a lucky guy but a talented genius like Spilberg.