John Huston: The Man, the Movies, the Maverick

John Huston: The Man, The Movies, The Maverick (1989)

*** 1/2 (out of 4)

The title pretty much tells you everything this documentary is about. Clocking in at 129-minutes, this documentary covers both the personal and professional life of director John Huston and features interviews with the likes of Paul Newman, Lauren Bacall, Evelyn Keyes, Michael Fitzgerald, Arthur Miller, Anjelica Huston, Tom Shaw and Michael Caine. Robert Mitchum serves as both host and narrator. I think the film deserves a lot of credit for being very open and honest about this subject matter and I'm glad that they didn't try and show Huston in some false light. This includes mentioning his killing a woman in the 30s by accidentally running over her, the various wives he had and other character flaws. We also get to hear several great stories about what he was doing before he came to Hollywood and then, of course, his Hollywood films speak for themselves. You really get a great idea of what Huston was like and this documentary makes you want to go out and see the films all over again. There are some great stories told by Bacall as she recounts several moments between Huston and her husband Humphrey Bogart. There are some great stories about being on the set of THE African QUEEN as well as others about KEY LARGO, THE MISFITS and countless other films. Overall this is a very well-made and an extremely detailed documentary that tries to cover just about everything Huston did. This includes his acting gigs, his WWII documentaries and his paintings. If you're interested in the director and his work you're not going to find a better movie than this. Even better are the countless interviews with Huston throughout his career so you get to hear from the man himself.