Thursday, March 16, 2017

40 years since "The Deadliest Season"

Wow.  I'm piggybacking on Simply Streep's post about the 40-year anniversary of Meryl's TV movie The Deadliest Season. Although it's technically the second time Streep had been seen on television (she was seen in a filmed version of the play Secret Service two months prior on PBS), The Deadliest Season marks the first made-for-screen role of her career, and it happened to air on CBS exactly 40 years ago today.

It's astounding to think about how quickly Meryl's screen career skyrocketed in just a few short years following this TV movie.  Her feature film debut came later that year alongside Jane Fonda in Julia, and just one year after that, she would earn her first Academy Award nomination for her supporting role in The Deer Hunter.

I couldn't pass up the chance to recognize this milestone in Streep's career.  Incidentally, The Deadliest Season is the only screen performance of Streep's I haven't seen, as I've never been able to find a copy of it.  Five new clips from the film were released on You Tube last week, so I'll leave you with gem of scene of Meryl at the tender age of 27.

12 comments:

  1. Any news if this will be released on DVD at least?- Jamie

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    1. Nothing that I've ever seen despite searching. Kinda weird.

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  2. Got a copy of this on DVD last year on ebay. It was shipped from UK but was zone 1. Good movie.

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  3. Got a copy of this on DVD last year on ebay. It was shipped from UK but was zone 1. Good movie.

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  4. Jeff which of all the other projects do you feel were most difficult to get through in spite of Meryl? I cannot get through The House of the Spirits

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    1. Same, Charlie. Tried to watch it with a friend like two years ago and 15 minutes into it we both looked at each other and were like "I don't want to watch anymore." I'll also probably never watch Before and After Again. First Do No Harm, while a great public service announcement and with fine performances by Meryl and Allison Janney, had a lot of performers who were not professional actors (were patients who had benefited from ketogenic diet), and it's pretty bad at times.

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    2. I have not viewed House of the Spirits as yet so can't comment on it. For me, it's the 2007 films which are the worst or which I'll never watch again. Evening has to be one of the most boring movies I've ever seen through to the end. The other three from that year (Lions for Lambs, Rendition, Dark Matter), although not terrible movies, are ones I'll most likely never watch again in this lifetime. Rob in the Canadian Rockies

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    3. Oh my gosh yes, Rob. Evening is not a good movie. Agreed that the others from 2007 aren't awful, but not ones interesting enough to watch more than once or twice. I actually don't mind Dark Matter.

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    4. I agree with you, Jeff. I could probably watch Dark Matter again. Mainly because of the Chinese lead. But, Rendition and Lions for Lambs... doubtful. Maybe Rendition, if I'm desperate. But Evening.... Only when I need to be put down.

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    5. Total aside from all this, Jeff.
      I have done a "Weird Al" kind of thing from a song and would like to have someone other than myself hear it. How do I give you my email without giving it to the world to harass me? (Being Canadian, I guess some might consider my lyrics to be anti-Trump. THEY ARE.)
      Rob in the Canadian Rockies

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    6. Rob, feel free to email to me at wordonthestreep@gmail.com

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