Friday, June 8, 2012 - 6:33 PM CDT

After BLOW OUT the THE FURY is my second favourite film by De Palma. The article mentions THE DEMOLISHED MAN. It's one of the best psychic sci-fi novels ever written and has been languishing in development hell for over 30 years! After the spectacular box-office success of MISSION:IMPOSSIBLE De Palma should have tried to get THE DEMOLISHED MAN into production. It was a missed opportunity and instead after SNAKE EYES made the bland MISSION TO MARS. One helluva missed oportunity. If it does get made with De Palma I would try and cast Leonardo Di Caprio after the success of INCEPTION.

Friday, June 8, 2012 - 7:02 PM CDT

Glad to hear you rate THE FURY so high, Harry-- I love it, too, and, while I guess I can understand when some people say they don't know what to make of it because of its shifts in tone, etc., to me that is one of the things that makes it so great. It's an action movie juxtaposed with a sci-fi/horror hybrid, and John Williams' excellent score helps tie it all together beautifully.

I would love to see De Palma direct THE DEMOLISHED MAN with Leonardo DiCaprio. Maybe Scorsese should put a word in to Leo.

Sunday, June 10, 2012 - 2:44 PM CDT

Thanks for these! "The Fury" remains one of my favorite films. Great to see such an old interview with Amy Irving.

Sunday, June 10, 2012 - 7:22 PM CDT

Wow, thanks for posting this, Geoff. One thing I would love to see again from around that time is a very lively, hour-long Dick Cavett interview with BDP and Scorsese seated side by side. It ran on public television in two parts, I think a few months after THE FURY's release. I wonder if it's survived.

Sunday, June 10, 2012 - 10:02 PM CDT

Oh, wow, Bill, I didn't even know such a thing existed. I'll definitely keep an eye out for that!

Sunday, June 10, 2012 - 11:13 PM CDT

Oh my god!  This is incredible!!

Tuesday, June 12, 2012 - 11:42 AM CDT

Can anyone tell me why the hell Kirk Douglas drives his car into the river in THE FURY?

Wednesday, June 13, 2012 - 7:25 PM CDT

Hi, Jeremy-- The short answer is that he doesn't want to be followed.

That said, here's the way I see it. Peter (Kirk Douglas) and Childress were colleagues who admired each other, and now, of course, hate each other's guts. Peter has been on the run from Childress for many months, and has had to outwit him to stay alive as he searches for his son (Robin). Since each of them (Peter and Childress) is very very good at what they do, this has resulted in sort of a game of one-upmanship between the two, with the stakes particularly serious for the desperate Peter.

The one-upmanship begins in the film's opening sequence, when Peter rises from the water and shoots Childress' arm. He then makes his escape-- thought dead, Peter becomes a ghost, and a thorn in Childress' side, albeit one he treats with disdainful respect. Before driving the car into the river, Peter establishes himself with the cops as rather insane, even though all he does is tell them the truth. He gives them a verbal message to give to Childress before he drives off, sounding even crazier, and with a crazy look in his eyes. Peter has made it look as though he decided he can't take the constant surveillance and paranoia anymore. Knowing that Childress himself will be there to see whether or not Peter is in that car when it is raised out of the water, he relishes imagining the look on Childress' face when the car comes up with no body inside.

Wednesday, June 13, 2012 - 10:23 PM CDT

Thanks Geoff for your thorough explanation of the logic behind that bizarre moment---I love THE FURY btw, one of my favourite De Palma films with so many great visual set pieces. 

 I'm hoping you can get another interview with Brian once PASSION comes out, Geoff! :)