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Franklin J. Schaffner is a Director and Producer American born on 30 may 1920 at Tokyo (Japon)

Franklin J. Schaffner

Franklin J. Schaffner
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Birth name Franklin James Schaffner
Nationality USA
Birth 30 may 1920 at Tokyo (Japon)
Death 2 july 1989 (at 69 years) at Santa Monica (USA)
Awards Primetime Emmy Award, Academy Award for Best Director

Franklin James Schaffner (May 30, 1920 – July 2, 1989) was an American film director best known for such films as Planet of the Apes (1968), Patton (1970), Papillon (1973), and The Boys from Brazil (1978).

Biography

Fils de missionnaires protestants, Franklin Schaffner est né en 1920 à Tokyo, où il passe une partie de son enfance. Par la suite, il étudie le droit à l'université Columbia et sert dans la marine pendant la Seconde Guerre mondiale.

Schaffner commence sa carrière de réalisateur à la télévision où il dirige plusieurs dramatiques présentées en direct. Ainsi, en 1954, il réalise le télé-théâtre Douze hommes en colère, qui sera porté au grand écran en 1957 par Sidney Lumet.

En 1962, il réalise le documentaire écrit par Jacqueline Kennedy A Tour of the White House, durant lequel la femme du président John Fitzgerald Kennedy présente au public l'intérieur de la Maison-Blanche nouvellement restauré. La collaboration de Schaffner avec Alfredo Antonini (Directeur Musical au réseau de télévision Columbia Broadcasting System) a été appréciée par plus de 80 millions de téléspectateurs partout dans le monde. En conséquence, Schaffner a été nommé en 1963 pour le prix "Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Television" par la Directors Guild of America.

C'est en 1963 que Schaffner présente son premier film pour le cinéma, The Stripper, adaptation d'une pièce de William Inge. En 1964, il dirige le drame social Que le meilleur l'emporte, sur la lutte de deux aspirants à la direction de leur parti politique. Inspiré d'une pièce de Gore Vidal, le film, qui oppose Henry Fonda et Cliff Robertson, reçoit un accueil critique favorable mais connait un succès commercial limité.

En 1965, Schaffner réalise Le Seigneur de la guerre, avec Charlton Heston, qu'il retrouve en 1968 pour un des chefs-d'œuvre de la science fiction : La Planète des singes, d'après le roman de Pierre Boulle. Rod Serling, précédemment créateur et narrateur de la série La Quatrième Dimension, en écrit le scénario ; le film a un énorme succès, donnant naissance à quatre suites ainsi qu'une série télévisée et une série animée.

Dès lors, Schaffner enchaîne les réussites artistiques et commerciales.

Il réalise ainsi Patton en 1970, biographie du général George S. Patton. Le film, mettant en vedette George C. Scott dans le rôle-titre et dont Francis Ford Coppola est un des scénaristes, récolte 7 Oscars dont ceux du meilleur film et du meilleur réalisateur. Franklin J. Schaffner enchaine avec un autre film historique, Nicolas et Alexandra, évocation des derniers jours du régime tsariste. Curieusement, Nicolas et Alexandra sera nommé pour l'Oscar du meilleur film, sans que Schaffner soit nommé pour celui du meilleur réalisateur.

Avec Papillon en 1973, il réunit un casting de stars avec Steve McQueen et Dustin Hoffman pour raconter la vie du bagnard Henri Charrière et ses tentatives d'évasion du bagne de Cayenne en Guyane. Le film rencontre un grand succès public et critique.

En 1977, il travaille à nouveau avec George C. Scott pour le drame familial L'Île des adieux, adapté du roman d'Ernest Hemingway. Schaffner adapte aussi un roman d'Ira Levin (auteur de Rosemary's Baby) : Ces garçons qui venaient du Brésil, avec Gregory Peck et Laurence Olivier, le film raconte le projet insensé d'un ancien nazi, le docteur Josef Mengele, désirant fonder un Quatrième Reich en clonant des enfants.

La suite de la carrière de Schaffner est moins éclatante. Ni le drame d'aventure Sphinx, ni la comédie romantique Yes, Giorgio ne remportent l'adhésion du public ou de la critique. Pire encore, son avant-dernier film, Cœur de lion, réalisé en 1986, n'est quasiment pas distribué dans les salles de cinéma et sortira directement en vidéo.

Il décède en juillet 1989, alors qu'il termine son dernier film, Welcome Home, qui sort aux États-Unis quelques mois après, dans une totale indifférence.

Franklin J. Schaffner a été président de la Directors Guild of America (DGA) de 1987 jusqu'à son décès en 1989.

Best films

Patton (1970)
(Director)
Papillon (1973)
(Director)
Planet of the Apes (1968)
(Director)
Nicholas and Alexandra (1971)
(Director)
Yes, Giorgio (1982)
(Director)

Usually with

Robert Swink
Robert Swink
(6 films)
Gil Parrondo
Gil Parrondo
(5 films)
Arthur Morton
Arthur Morton
(3 films)
Source : Wikidata

Filmography of Franklin J. Schaffner (14 films)

Display filmography as list

Director

Welcome Home, 1h32
Directed by Franklin J. Schaffner
Origin USA
Genres Drama
Themes Political films
Actors Kris Kristofferson, JoBeth Williams, Sam Waterston, Brian Keith, Kieu Chinh, Thomas Wilson Brown
Rating57% 2.8561652.8561652.8561652.8561652.856165
Jake Robbins went off to Vietnam, leaving his wife behind to mourn when he is reported missing, presumed dead. Seventeen years later, he unexpectedly returns.
Lionheart
Lionheart (1987)
, 1h44
Directed by Franklin J. Schaffner
Genres Drama, Adventure
Themes Political films
Actors Eric Stoltz, Gabriel Byrne, Nicola Cowper, Sammi Davis, Nicholas Clay, Dexter Fletcher
Rating51% 2.5559552.5559552.5559552.5559552.555955
Au Moyen Âge en Europe, un jeune chevalier exilé, Robert Nerra, va prendre en charge une bande d'orphelins pour rejoindre la troisième sainte croisade menée par Richard Cœur de Lion. Il devra les protéger du Chevalier noir, un ancien croisé devenu un marchand d'enfants qu'il destine à l'esclavage...
Yes, Giorgio, 1h50
Directed by Franklin J. Schaffner
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Comedy, Romantic comedy, Musical, Romance
Themes Films about music and musicians, Musical films
Actors Kathryn Harrold, Eddie Albert, Paola Borboni, James Hong, Beulah Quo, Patrick Cranshaw
Rating38% 1.919131.919131.919131.919131.91913
Luciano Pavarotti plays a world famous Italian tenor opera singer by the name of Giorgio Fini. While in Boston for a concert Fini gets a phone call asking him to perform at The Met. The call brings up bad memories from his disastrous appearance there seven years earlier. It scares him to the point where he cannot sing at rehearsal. Everyone panics thinking he is losing his voice.
Sphinx
Sphinx (1981)
, 1h58
Directed by Franklin J. Schaffner
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Thriller, Fantasy, Action, Adventure, Horror
Themes Films set in Africa
Actors Lesley-Anne Down, Frank Langella, Maurice Ronet, Behrouz Vossoughi, John Gielgud, John Rhys-Davies
Rating51% 2.556462.556462.556462.556462.55646
Dedicated Egyptologist Erica Baron is researching a paper about the chief architect to Pharaoh Seti. Soon after her arrival in Cairo, she witnesses the brutal murder of unscrupulous art dealer Abdu-Hamdi, meets a French journalist named Yeon, and is befriended by Akmed Khazzan, who heads the antiquities division of the United Nations. When she journeys to the Valley of the Kings in Luxor to search a tomb reportedly filled with treasures, she finds herself the target of black marketeers determined to keep the riches themselves.
The Boys from Brazil, 2h3
Directed by Franklin J. Schaffner
Origin United-kingdom
Genres Drama, Science fiction, Thriller, Horror
Themes Clonage, Films based on science fiction novels, Hitler, Political films
Actors Gregory Peck, Laurence Olivier, James Mason, Lilli Palmer, Steve Guttenberg, Denholm Elliott
Rating69% 3.497973.497973.497973.497973.49797
Young, well-intentioned Barry Kohler (Steve Guttenberg) stumbles upon a secret organization of Third Reich war criminals holding clandestine meetings in Paraguay and finds that Dr. Josef Mengele (Gregory Peck), the infamous Auschwitz doctor, is with them. He phones Ezra Lieberman (Laurence Olivier), an aging Nazi hunter living in Vienna, Austria, with this information. A highly skeptical Lieberman tries to brush Kohler's claims aside, telling him that it is already well known that Mengele is living in Paraguay.
Islands in the Stream, 1h45
Directed by Franklin J. Schaffner, Kurt Neumann
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Adventure
Themes Seafaring films, Transport films, Political films
Actors George C. Scott, David Hemmings, Gilbert Roland, Susan Tyrrell, Claire Bloom, Richard Evans
Rating64% 3.2478753.2478753.2478753.2478753.247875
Artist Thomas Hudson is an American who has left the civilized world for a simple life in the Caribbean. Schaffner tells the tale in four parts:
Papillon
Papillon (1973)
, 2h5
Directed by Franklin J. Schaffner
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Thriller, Biography, Action, Adventure, Crime
Themes Seafaring films, Prison films, Transport films, Évasion
Actors Steve McQueen, Dustin Hoffman, Victor Jory, Don Gordon, Bill Mumy, George Coulouris
Rating79% 3.9988953.9988953.9988953.9988953.998895
1930's France. Henri Charrière (Steve McQueen), a safecracker nicknamed Papillon because of the butterfly tattoo on his chest, is wrongly convicted of murdering a pimp, he is being framed for the crime. He is sentenced to life imprisonment within the penal system in French Guiana. En route, he meets a fellow convict, Louis Dega (Dustin Hoffman), a forger and embezzler who is convinced that his wife will secure his release. Dega hires Papillon as his bodyguard, but the two eventually develop a friendship.
Nicholas and Alexandra, 3h9
Directed by Franklin J. Schaffner
Origin United-kingdom
Genres Drama, War, Biography, Historical, Romance
Themes Politique, Political films, Films about capital punishment, Films about royalty
Actors Michael Jayston, Janet Suzman, Roderic Noble, Ania Marson, Lynne Frederick, Candace Glendenning
Rating71% 3.596743.596743.596743.596743.59674
The story begins with the birth of Tsarevich Alexei on 12 August 1904 during the Russo-Japanese War. Tsar Nicholas (Michael Jayston) is warned by the Prime Minister Count Witte (Laurence Olivier) and his uncle Grand Duke Nicholas (Harry Andrews) that the war is futile and costing too many lives. They tell him the Russian people want representative government, health care, voting and workers' rights, but Nicholas wants to maintain the autocracy. Meanwhile, underground political parties led by Vladimir Lenin (Michael Bryant), Joseph Stalin (James Hazeldine) and Leon Trotsky (Brian Cox) have formed.
Patton
Patton (1970)
, 2h52
Directed by Franklin J. Schaffner
Origin USA
Genres Drama, War, Biography, Action, Historical
Themes Films set in Africa, Seafaring films, Transport films, Political films, Children's films
Actors George C. Scott, Karl Malden, Michael Bates, Karl Michael Vogler, Stephen Young, Carey Loftin
Rating78% 3.947973.947973.947973.947973.94797
The film's beginning has General George S. Patton (George C. Scott) giving a speech to an unseen audience of American troops (based on his speech to the Third Army), with a huge American flag in the background. The scene then shifts to North Africa at the start of 1943, where Patton takes charge of the demoralized American II Corps in North Africa after the humiliating defeat at the Battle of the Kasserine Pass. After instilling discipline in his soldiers, he leads them to victory at the Battle of El Guettar, the first American victory over the Axis, though he is bitterly disappointed to learn afterward that Erwin Rommel (Karl Michael Vogler), whom he respects greatly as a general, was not his opponent. Patton's aide, Captain Jenson, is killed in the battle. Shortly after the battle, a new member of his staff, Lieutenant Colonel Codman assures Patton that, though Rommel was absent, that if Patton defeated Rommel's plan, then he had defeated Rommel.
Planet of the Apes, 1h52
Directed by Franklin J. Schaffner
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Science fiction, Action, Adventure, Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction
Themes Films about animals, Films about computing, Post-apocalyptic films, Psychologie, Films about racism, Films about religion, Time travel films, Films based on science fiction novels, Films set in the future, Films about apes, Political films, Cyberpunk films, Dystopian films, Children's films, Mise en scène d'un mammifère, Arme nucléaire, Disaster films, Lobotomie
Actors Charlton Heston, Roddy McDowall, Maurice Evans, Kim Hunter, James Whitmore, James Daly
Rating79% 3.9973.9973.9973.9973.997
Astronauts Taylor (Charlton Heston), Landon (Robert Gunner), Dodge (Jeff Burton) and Stewart are in deep hibernation when their spaceship crashes in a lake on an unknown planet after a long near-light speed voyage, during which, due to time dilation, the crew ages only 18 months. As the ship sinks, Taylor finds Stewart dead and her body desiccated. They throw an inflatable raft from the ship and climb down into it; before departing the ship, Taylor notes that the date is November 25, AD 3978, approximately two millennia after their departure in 1972. Once ashore, Dodge performs a soil test and pronounces the soil incapable of sustaining life.
The Double Man, 1h45
Directed by Franklin J. Schaffner
Origin USA
Genres Thriller, Spy
Themes Spy films, Political films
Actors Yul Brynner, Britt Ekland, Clive Revill, Anton Diffring, Moira Lister, Lloyd Nolan
Rating59% 2.951192.951192.951192.951192.95119
Dan Slater (Yul Brynner) est un agent de la CIA qui enquête sur l'« accident » mortel de son fils, survenu dans les Alpes autrichiennes. Basé à Washington, il se rend sur place pour les obsèques et tombe dans un piège monté par les services secrets est-allemands qui veulent le remplacer par un sosie, Kalmar.
The War Lord, 2h2
Directed by Franklin J. Schaffner
Origin USA
Genres Drama, War, Adventure, Historical, Romance
Themes Seafaring films, Théâtre, Transport films, Films set in the Viking Age, Films based on plays
Actors Charlton Heston, Richard Boone, Rosemary Forsyth, Maurice Evans, Guy Stockwell, Niall MacGinnis
Rating65% 3.296363.296363.296363.296363.29636
Chrysagon de la Cruex (Heston) is a Norman knight charged with defending a Druid village. At the heart of the story is a doomed romance which defies the social norms and sparks a growing confrontation with Chrysagon's brother, Draco (Stockwell).
The Best Man, 1h42
Directed by Franklin J. Schaffner
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Comedy, Comedy-drama
Themes Politique, Théâtre, Political films, Films based on plays
Actors Henry Fonda, Cliff Robertson, Lee Tracy, Margaret Leighton, Edie Adams, Ann Sothern
Rating75% 3.795763.795763.795763.795763.79576
William Russell (Fonda) and Joe Cantwell (Robertson) are the two leading candidates for the presidential nomination of an unspecified political party. Both have potentially fatal vulnerabilities.
The Stripper, 1h35
Directed by Franklin J. Schaffner
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Romance
Themes Théâtre, Films based on plays, Children's films
Actors Joanne Woodward, Richard Beymer, Claire Trevor, Robert Webber, Carol Lynley, Louis Nye
Rating65% 3.2835453.2835453.2835453.2835453.283545
She dreamed of a career in the movies, but Lila Green has found little success. She joins a group of traveling entertainers and is abandoned near her Kansas hometown by manager and boyfriend Ricky Powers.

Producer

Sphinx
Sphinx (1981)
, 1h58
Directed by Franklin J. Schaffner
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Thriller, Fantasy, Action, Adventure, Horror
Themes Films set in Africa
Actors Lesley-Anne Down, Frank Langella, Maurice Ronet, Behrouz Vossoughi, John Gielgud, John Rhys-Davies
Roles Executive Producer
Rating51% 2.556462.556462.556462.556462.55646
Dedicated Egyptologist Erica Baron is researching a paper about the chief architect to Pharaoh Seti. Soon after her arrival in Cairo, she witnesses the brutal murder of unscrupulous art dealer Abdu-Hamdi, meets a French journalist named Yeon, and is befriended by Akmed Khazzan, who heads the antiquities division of the United Nations. When she journeys to the Valley of the Kings in Luxor to search a tomb reportedly filled with treasures, she finds herself the target of black marketeers determined to keep the riches themselves.